I've measured the EOTF tracking in the faithful display mode on a handful of phones and found that iPhones and Pixels track the piecewise sRGB curve but Samsung tracks a 2.2 power law/gamma 2.2. Technically, the IEC 61966 standard suggests an sRGB display should follow a 2.2 power law EOTF, so Samsung is doing it right and the others are wrong. However, if I would share photos for primarily an iPhone/Pixel target audience, I now cannot easily edit it to look the same on those devices. Windows in HDR has also adopted the piecewise sRGB curve, as has the ACES color image encoding system, so the piecewise sRGB is quite widely adopted despite it being technically 'wrong'. It would be great if we could have a system-wide setting (perhaps in the developer settings) that would let us use the piecewise sRGB curve.
Secondly, I also think the transition from iPhone to Samsung is not eased by the different EOTF targets. As someone who cares about accurate color reproduction, if I already had an iPhone, the lack of a piecewise sRGB mode may keep me from switching. Especially now tech giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft seem to embrace the piecewise sRGB curve, Samsung seems to be the only major player in the way of a more united sRGB standard. If I edit a photo to have good contrast on my Samsung, the shadows will now look lifted and the image looks flatter on an iPhone and Pixel. On the other hand, if an iPhone user posts a picture with good contrast on the iPhone, shadows will look crushed and the image will look more contrasty/punchier. If I were an iPhone/Pixel user and saw photos coming from Galaxy devices look flat, I'd probably avoid switching. However, as a Samsung user, seeing a contrast boost in iPhone/Pixel photos may look more appealing to many, as we know high contrast and saturation sells.
