Smartphone screens with 90Hz refresh rate, higher than the typical 60Hz, attracted plenty of attention this year. With this feature being available only to a few devices, phone makers including OnePlus, Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple are eying the even higher 120Hz displays.
OnePlus 8 Pro may equip with 120Hz display
High-refresh rate displays are once relegated only to gaming-focused smartphones, the OnePlus 7 Pro and Google Pixel 4 have pushed high-refresh rates into the mainstream with 90Hz screens.
One of the highlights of the OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro is that they all have 90Hz screens, which is higher than the typical 60Hz smartphone refresh rate and promises to make interactions feels much more smooth.
But apparently OnePlus was stopping there, as it’s rumored that the company will equip the OnePlus 8 Pro with a higher 120Hz screen.
Twitter user Max J., a self-proclaimed “industrial leaker” most known for Samsung leaks, posted a tweet of an image of the phrase “120 Hz” with the caption “Be a ‘pro’” on Nov 8.
Be a "pro". pic.twitter.com/h4UwnOXn8H
— Max J. (@Samsung_News_) November 7, 2019
Although he didn’t specifically say this will be on the next OnePlus phone, he did mention “1+” while answering follower’s question in the comments area.
OnePlus routinely puts at least a few high-end features in its aggressively-priced handsets, so a 120Hz AMOLED screen isn’t out of the question.
Since Max J. specifically mentioned the Pro, it’s unlikely that the standard OnePlus 8 will have a 120Hz screen. That too would make sense, as OnePlus won’t want the two handsets to be overly similar.
Xiaomi testing 120Hz internally
According to Weibo user @数码闲聊站, Xiaomi is internally testing 120Hz AMOLED displays for their smartphones, which willl be ready for commercial use by next year.
This is also backed up by the MIUI 11 beta, which surprisingly contains options that refer to the presence of a 120Hz display.
According to XDA Member kacskrz, there is evidence that Xiaomi has added code for a refresh rate display setting in the latest MIUI 11 betas.
The description for the setting says that higher refresh rates “[make] the picture smoother” while lower refresh rates “[save] battery,” which is similar language you’ll find in refresh rate settings pages on other flagship smartphones.
Digging further into the code, XDA discovered that this setting is currently coded to show two entries: 60Hz and 120Hz, suggesting Xiaomi’s upcoming flagship smartphone will support switching between 60Hz and 120Hz.
It’s worth noting kacskrz managed to get this in-development refresh rate setting to appear on his own device, though since his device doesn’t actually have a high refresh rate display, the setting doesn’t work.
iPhone 12
The iPhone 12 series are expected to have 5G and besides that, reports are also claiming the devices will feature 120 Hz refresh rate.
A Digitimes report late last month said that next year’s iPhone will feature a 120Hz screen like the ProMotion iPad Pros, except the iPhone will be a high refresh rate OLED panel whereas the iPad is LCD. All iPhones to date include 60Hz displays.
Apple first introduced 120Hz screens to iOS in 2017 with the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
The refresh rate doubling dramatically improves the responsiveness of the user experience with user gestures more quickly being translated into on-screen motion.
This means scrolling and swiping feels significantly more fluid. 120Hz also allows the screen to accurately depict 24 FPS, 48 FPS, and 60 FPS video content.
That will make the iPhone 12 superb for gaming, as well as feel more responsive during swipes and other screen interactivity.
Samsung Galaxy S11
Samsung is also expected to equip higher display refresh rate on some of the Galaxy S11 versions, with one insider speculating that Samsung might favor 120Hz screens over 90Hz.
According to prolific leaker Ice Universe, if the S11 uses a high refresh rate screen, the probability of using 120Hz is greater than 90Hz, but he won't say more until a more accurate message appears.
If the S11 uses a high refresh rate screen, the probability of using 120Hz is greater than 90Hz, but I won't say more until a more accurate message appears.
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) November 8, 2019
A previous Galaxy S11 leak mentioned the Galaxy S11 will pack bigger batteries, which would help out with features like 5G connectivity and high refresh rate displays.
Not a new concept
In fact, even a 120Hz screen wouldn’t be a totally new concept.
The Razer Phone 2 and Sharp Aquos R3 both have 120Hz LCD panels while the ASUS ROG Phone II and Sharp Aquos zero2 have a 120Hz and 240Hz OLED panel respectively.
But according to XDA’s Mishaal Rahman, he doesn’t see 120Hz as much of an upgrade over 90Hz after having extensively used both the ASUS ROG Phone II and OnePlus 7 Pro.
However he did mention that he would never go back to a phone with a 60Hz panel after using two phones with high refresh rate panels, though.
From Rahman:
Once you try a phone with a 90 or 120Hz refresh rate display, you’ll never want to go back to a 60Hz phone because it’ll just feel laggy.
A bump in refresh rate is especially noticeable on smartphones because of how much we have to scroll, though the list of mobile games that can run at over 60fps is sadly not that large.
