When Razer
announced the world's first "gaming phone", they put a 120hz LCD
display in their phones. First, of its kind, that display was praised by many
although the phone was not good as such. Razer phone did not make its mark in
the industry but left geeks wishing for high refresh rate displays in all
phones.
OnePlus answered
the geeks and introduced a 90hz AMOLED display in its new OnePlus 7 Pro. Having
personally used it, I can say that this is something that needs to be on all
flagship phones. Let's talk more about these new displays!
What
is Refresh Rate?
Technically, the
refresh rate is the number of times a display's image is repainted or refreshed
per second. So, if a display has a 90hz refresh rate, it means the display
refreshes 90 times per second. This means that everything is displayed on your
screen will refresh 90 times per second. Higher the refresh rate, smoother the
actions on display.
A typical phone
screen, like the one in iPhone X or Galaxy S10, has a 60hz refresh rate. While
they are really smooth, they look outdated in front of any high refresh rate
display.
Use
of a Higher Refresh Rate Phone in Real Life
Now that we
understand what is refresh rate, let us understand its real-life applications.
System UI
You spend a lot of
time on your phone using system UI. Although your interaction with it may
comprise of only a few seconds at a time, it is essential to have a smooth UI.
System UI interactions mean scrolling through apps, opening apps, turning on
switches and much more. A higher refresh rate means all these actions will be
smooth. OnePlus 7 Pro, Razer Phone and ASUS ROG Phone exhibit this perfectly.
Gaming
This is the primary
reason why these displays were introduced on phones. While gaming, a lot of
movement happens on display. For example in PUBG, your character is constantly
on the move. You switch guns, scope in and out, jump and run. Wherever movement
is there, a higher refresh rate can smooth it up.
The issue is, no
popular game actually supports a high refresh rate right now. Neither PUBG nor
Fortnite can take advantage of your OnePlus 7 Pro display. Rest assured, if
this display trend continues, sooner or later we will have games support.
Everyday Apps - Social Media and More
Do you love to
scroll endlessly on Instagram or browse pages on Facebook? With these new
displays, your experience will improve a lot. I have tried using Instagram on a
OnePlus 7 Pro. Changing between Instagram stories never felt smoother.
The
issues with High Refresh Rate
Everything is not
so good about these new displays. One issue is that they can only work properly
with powerful hardware.
Razer Phone,
OnePlus 7 Pro and all other 90/120hz phones come with Snapdragon's latest
hardware. This means we would not see this display's on mid-range or budget
phones. Most of these phones also have 1440p resolution, which means even more
power is needed to drive the display.
Battery life
suffers from a high refresh rate and resolution. Already, most flagship
smartphones struggle to give a full day's battery life. With these displays,
even less battery performance is expected, especially in the long run.
One last funny
issue is that, once you use a 90/120hz display for a while, your eyes start to
expect the same smoothness every time. But because not all display's around you
are the same, any old 60hz display, like your laptop or old phone, will feel
strange.
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So, would you buy a
phone with a high refresh rate display? It is definitely worth giving it a go
in my opinion :)
Author Bio:
Kirat is a tech-enthusiast who runs
a YouTube channel and
a Tech Blog. You can read
his articles on www.kirat.in and
watch his videos on YouTube. He likes to write about tech companies, new
gadgets, and innovative products. Kirat is always up-to-date about the tech
world! Follow him on Instagram (@KiratAlreja).
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