The best smartphones with 90 and 120Hz displays

Pedro Santamaría

12 minutes

Screen OnePlus 7 Pro

What began as a feature focused on gaming terminals has become a trend in 2020. We are talking about the displays with a refresh rate of 90Hz or more. But is this really an important feature that affects the experience and warrants making certain compromises? The answer is yes.

Advantages of 90Hz or higher screens

As with gaming monitors, phones that offer a screen with a refresh rate greater than 60Hz have their advantages and disadvantages, although in the telephony sector there are aspects that can weigh more than a simple increase in the final price. of the product. Of course, we warn you that there are very cheap devices with this type of screen.

However, the first thing is to talk about its advantages and here The first and most obvious is fluency. By being able to "draw" the interface elements more quickly, the user experience offered by these phones when scrolling through the system menus, running video games compatible with 90Hz or more and the rest of the applications is very satisfactory. So much so that it is appreciated as soon as you pick it up and use it for the first time that everything goes much smoother, more like real life.

Oneplus 7 Pro

Then there is the issue of the response, by having a higher refresh rate they also offer a greater sampling than Allows you to detect touches on the screen more accurately and quickly. Therefore, if you play intensively with your smartphone and its touch controls, you are interested in having such a panel.

Finally, there are also advantages at the level of perception, although this point is less interesting in mobile phones and more important in work monitors and televisions. A faster refresh rate makes our eyes less tired, since our eye will have more difficulty perceiving blinking.

Disadvantages of 90Hz or higher panels

The problem is that although a monitor with a high refresh rate for PCs has its price as a great counterpart, here we must add the higher energy consumption. Fortunately, the use of larger batteries and the efficiency of the rest of the components seem to be minimizing this reduction in autonomy. But you must bear in mind that using high refresh rates will consume the autonomy of the terminal before. So if you want to get to the end of the day, it's still worth going to 60Hz or turning on the dynamic tuning that many Android layers offer.

On the other hand, to be able to show the user interfaces in a more fluid way, also requires more graphics power. This extra has been achieved, but at a maximum resolution of 1080p. So some phones have had to go back in terms of screen resolution, going from QHD to FHD panels or forcing the user to go from a 2K interface to 1080p, as in the case of old Galaxy S20s that offer up to 120Hz but reducing the native resolution of the panel.

Anyway, the use of this display technology compensates and when you try a phone capable of exceeding the classic 60Hz there is no going back.

The phones with the fastest screens

There are already a wide variety of phones on the market that use screens with a refresh rate greater than 60Hz. The usual thing is to find screens with a 90Hz refresh rate, although there are also those who bet on the 120Hz. In the following sections we will show you a list of mobiles with this refresh rate that each company includes in its catalogue.

Xiaomi mobiles with 120Hz

Xiaomi, the Chinese manufacturer, is one of the manufacturers that includes the most devices with this high refresh rate.

If you would be interested in knowing a little more about some of these phones, we leave you below the video analysis of the models that we have tested:

Samsung mobiles with 120Hz

For their part, the Koreans from Samsung are not far behind with the number of devices with the 120Hz refresh rate. Among them, of course, we see the Galaxy S22, which are its flagship models this season.

Within this catalog of Samsung mobiles, we have had the opportunity to analyze some of them. So, if you are interested in getting to know them a little more thoroughly, we leave you their respective videos on YouTube below:

POCO mobiles with 120 Hz

POCO is another Xiaomi brand that has surprised us with its great value for money. The mobiles of this brand have high-end terminal specifications, but they are quite affordable. The most outstanding POCO models with 120 Hz screens are the following that we leave you below:

  • Little X3
  • Little X3 GT
  • Little F3 GT
  • Little F4 GT
  • Bit X4 Pro 5G

If you are interested in knowing a little more about the terminals of this brand, here we leave you some of our video analyzes of their terminals.

Redmi mobiles with 120Hz

Although it is one of the brands that is under the umbrella of Xiaomi, it is still a separate company with its own catalog. So, below we leave you all the Redmi mobiles that, to this day, include a refresh rate of 120Hz.

  • Redmi K30
  • Redmi K30 Ultra
  • Redmi Notes 9 Pro 5G
  • Redmi K40
  • Redmi K40 Pro
  • Redmi K40+
  • Notes redmi 10 Pro
  • Redmi Note 10 Pro Max

In the case of this list of Redmi mobiles, only the Note 10 Pro has passed through our hands. So, below, we leave you our video analysis in case you want to take a look at it:

Apple mobiles with 120Hz

The company with the bitten apple has been one of the last to jump on the bandwagon of mobile phones with a 120Hz screen. Specifically, there is only its latest addition, such as the iPhone 14 and the previous generation of 2021:

  • iPhone 13 Pro
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone 14 Pro
  • iPhone 14 Pro Max

Thanks to this new improvement, iPhones now not only have one of the best OLED screens on the market, but also have a flicker rate that matches that of its competition. If you want to see our video analysis of the iPhone 13 Pro, we leave it below:

And of course, here you have our analysis of the announcement of the latest iPhone 14 Pro which hit stores in September 2022.

Asus mobiles with 120Hz

A company like Asus could not be missing from this collection of mobile phones, especially considering its commitment to more gamers.

Huawei mobiles with 120Hz

The manufacturer Huawei also has a couple of devices in its catalog that have this 120Hz refresh rate.

  • Huawei Nova 8 Pro
  • Huawei P50 Pro

realme phones with 120Hz

One of the manufacturers that has hit the hardest in recent years has been Realme without a doubt. Among its already extensive catalog includes different phones with panels that run at 120Hz.

Some of these devices have passed through our hands and, of course, we tell you all about them in their respective video analysis:

Oppo mobiles with 120Hz

Oppo's company is usually one of the pioneers when it comes to innovation. And, of course, they could not be less in including screens with this high refresh rate among their smartphones:

If you want to know a little more about any of these devices, some of them have already passed through our hands. We tell you everything through our YouTube channel:

Sony mobiles with 120Hz

For its part, although its focus seems to no longer be on the smartphone market, Sony has several units with a 120Hz refresh rate among its ranks.

Oneplus mobiles with 120Hz

Oneplus is another of the manufacturers that has joined the bandwagon of 120Hz screens and, luckily for its users, they have been doing so in their last 2 releases.

We have been able to test all these smartphones. So, if you want to know them in depth, you should go through our video analysis:

Motorola phones with 120Hz

Motorola continues to add to current trends to bring them to its audience. These are the smartphones that currently have this refresh rate in their catalog:

Honor phones with 120Hz

Finally, we want to review those Honor phones that have this 120Hz refresh rate.

  • Honor V40 5G
  • Honor 50 SE
  • Honor 50
  • Honor 50 Pro
  • Honor Magic 3
  • Honor Magic 3 Pro
  • Honor Magic 3 Pro+
  • Honor X20 5G

From added value to must-have feature

After seeing both the advantages and disadvantages of using this panel technology and the phones that today opt for this type of screen, it is clear that it is no longer just an added value. Currently having a panel with a refresh rate of 90Hz or more is a essential feature to be competitive in 2020. And not only in the high-end, but also in the mid-range, as can be seen with more and more models available.

In any case, even though it is something that brings undoubted benefits on a day-to-day basis, it must not be forgotten that there are other characteristics that must also be kept in mind. Because in the end, the best product is not the one that has the best component in a specific section, but the best set to offer a balanced experience in each of the aspects that we usually value from a mobile.