Seeing sample photos alone may not reveal the changes Harman had implemented. Side-by-side comparisons can be helpful, but we don’t have those either.
Thankfully, I have spec sheets with film characteristic curves from both versions of this film, which reveal quite a bit of info about the changes the company made to Phoenix II.
The pink lines that illustrate the dynamic range of Phoenix II (drawn in colour), whereas the black lines are Phoenix I. The new film appears to have an extra stop of DR, which may result in slightly more detail in the highlights and shadows of high-contrast scenes. Though not as wide as that of Kodak Gold, a budget emulsion that offers 8 stops of dynamic range (analog.cafe/r/kodak-gold-f…), Phoenix II shows a significant improvement.
Another thing that those graphs reveal is the density of the negatives. On the right, the numbers indicate the level of opacity the film may exhibit once developed; note how the new film, Phoenix II, displays significantly less overall density. This can make scanning this film easier on some devices. Which is nice!
Dmitri