Until just 3 years ago, the mobile industry was mainly focused on increasing the size and resolution of smartphone screens. However, at some point manufacturers realized that fluidity is also an important factor in user experience. For this reason, in recent years smartphones have begun to appear whose screens exceed the traditional 60Hz, reaching 120Hz and even 144Hz in some select mobiles. 

This time we will review some of the most popular smartphones that achieve this refresh rate. 

Best Flagships with 120Hz display: Samsung Galaxy S21 and S20 : The best Smartphones with a refresh rate of 120Hz

You don’t have to look far to find terminals with 120Hz displays. Let’s take the Galaxy S21 Ultra as an example; This 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED display Samsung flagship has a WQHD resolution (3,200 x 1,400 pixels) accompanied by a 120Hz refresh rate, so we can expect both a sharp image and a smooth experience.  

The great advantage it has over other terminals (including the Galaxy S20 series) is that it has an adaptive rate that alternates between 48Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz or 120Hz based on the task being performed, which saves battery in many settings. 

Best mobile phones for games : The best Smartphones with a refresh rate of 120Hz

If your priority is to take advantage of those juicy 120Hz for gaming, then look no further than the Asus  Rog Phone  2, a gaming smartphone with high-end features, notably a 6,000mAh battery to support long gaming sessions and a Snapdragon 855+ chip. accompanied by 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of internal storage. 

As if that were not enough, the ASUS ROG  Phone  3 reaches 144Hz and incorporates the Snapdragon 865 chip, but that is a topic for another time. 

Other high-end options 

OnePlus  is another manufacturer that has jumped on the 120Hz bandwagon with the  OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus  8T . A high refresh rate combined with the already fluid OxygenOS experience   is what awaits us on board these terminals. 

OnePlus 8T

Similarly, Chinese competitors such as Realme and  Oppo  have put interesting proposals on the market. The Realme X3 Series is a must-mention here, and the same can be said for the  Oppo Find X2 and X2 Pro . 

120Hz in the mid-range 

The 120Hz trend seems to be spreading quickly into the other ranges, which is a good thing for consumers who don’t want to pay the price for a Premium Smartphone but want to give this feature a try. 

As exponents we have the Xiaomi phones, specifically the Poco X3 and Poco X2 , which combine mid-range specifications (such as the Snapdragon 730G chip) with 120 Hz screens. Similarly, the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite does the same, and all without exceeding the threshold of 300 euros. 

Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite

Advantages and disadvantages of displays with 120 Hz 

Let us remember that the advantages of a screen with a higher refresh rate are practically palpable, and are not limited only to the rate of frames per second that we can obtain in games.  

The most obvious benefit comes in the form of greater fluidity, since being able to draw interface elements more quickly conveys a feeling of instant response. And speaking of the latter, a higher refresh rate is accompanied by a higher touch sampling rate, which helps detect screen touches more accurately and quickly. 

Like everything in life, high refresh rate displays are not without their buts and cons. Starting with the higher power consumption in the device, which in turn generates other disadvantages, such as the sacrifice of resolution, battery drain and increased stress on the CPU / GPU. However, manufacturers like Samsung have addressed this problem with adaptive refresh technology, which automatically adjusts the refresh rate based on the activity we are doing. 

Likewise, the increase in production costs is another factor to take into account, since it obviously contributes to raising the final price of the devices.