Smartphone makers must be ready for the high refresh rate future because last week’s poll shows that 4 out of 5 people consider it a desirable feature for their next phone. In fact, most of those think of it as a must-have.
Nothing too crazy, 120Hz seems to be the sweet spot with 90Hz being acceptable on the more affordable models. As for higher refresh rates, 144Hz and above, there seems to be very little demand for those (144/165Hz is typical of gaming hardware, both PC and smartphone).
It’s not just about the maximum refresh rate, however, the poll shows a very clear preference for LTPO panels. These tend to be more power efficient than LTPS (negating some of the battery life loss of HRR operation), but also offer variable refresh rate instead of being locked to specific rates.
We also asked a related question about high touch sampling rate – 2 out of 3 people say they have felt the benefit of it, so you can add this to the list of features that most phones in the near future must include.
A high touch sampling rate usually comes with HRR displays, but not always. Of course, the value of it diminishes on a 60Hz display since even if the phone can react to the touch fast enough, it will still be slow in updating the screen. This is why the two features usually go hand in hand.
There are some that are still unconvinced by the value of these higher refresh and touch sampling rates. Judging by the comments and our own experience, going from 60Hz to a HRR panel may not always feel mind-blowing, but once you get used to it, going back to 60Hz definitely feels like downgrade.