Are higher refresh rates on smartphone displays a gimmick or the real deal?

Smartphone displays have embraced a new trend of looking beyond the standard 60Hz refresh rate. The Razer Phone was the first to feature a 120Hz LCD panel when it launched in 2017. The first ROG Phone by Asus continued the trend by introducing a phone with 90Hz but on a superior OLED screen. Today, the Asus ROG Phone II has set a new standard in display technology with a 120Hz AMOLED screen.

But it isn’t just Asus, Chinese smartphone brands like OnePlus and Nubia have already released phones with 90Hz AMOLED screens. Google, Huawei, Realme, Oppo, and Xiaomi all have plans to introduce smartphones with higher refresh rates.

But have you ever stopped to ask if the higher refresh rates actually make a difference or are just gimmicks to make next-gen devices look more appealing on a spec sheet? Well, let’s find out.

A 90Hz refresh rate means your display is going to render an image 90 times per second, enabling smooth motion (Scrolling and Animation) and the ability to output 90 frames per second. Users with smartphones that support higher refresh rates will also have an advantage in gaming. And, while few mobile games support above 60 fps, that isn’t going to be the case in the future.

Asus recently revealed a list of popular mobile games that will support 120 fps including Alto’s Adventure, Real Racing 3, Dead Trigger 2, Mortal Kombat, Plague Inc, Injustice 2, Riptide GP: Renegade, Shadow Fight 3, and many more.

Both versions of the Razer Phone feature 120Hz LCD panels, while the Asus ROG Phone, OnePlus 7 Pro, Nubia Red Magic 3, Sharp Aquos R3, and some upcoming phones are equipped with 90Hz AMOLED screens. The ROG Phone 2 is the only handset with an AMOLED panel to support a 120Hz refresh rate. While LCDs have an advantage over their OLED counterparts in brightness, Samsung’s AMOLED panels are visible in bright light and offer excellent colour accuracy.

For now, higher refresh rates are somewhere in the middle of gimmicky and useful. But that’s just for now. Once more games and more apps get support for higher refresh rates, the feature will breeze past its gimmicky phase and become an excellent feature to have on a handset.