What Is a High Refresh Rate? Explaining 120 Hz on Phones, TVs, and Monitors

Many of our favorite TVs and monitors characteristic displays pinch precocious refresh rates, promising smoother on-screen action and a sharper picture. The aforesaid is existent for nan best Android phones and each of Apple's iPhone Pro models (since nan 13 Pro and onward). Today, every iPhone 17 model tin scope a 120-Hz refresh rate. It has go modular crossed nan board.

High refresh rates are often discussed successful gaming, wherever accelerated reactions and instant on-screen updates tin mean nan quality betwixt triumph and defeat. That includes gaming monitors and moreover gaming phones, which tin usually deed 144 Hz, 165 Hz, aliases higher. But what precisely does surface refresh complaint mean? We break it down.

Updated September 2025: We've added mention of nan latest iPhones, updates to surface technology, caller links, and refreshed copy.

What Is a Refresh Rate?

All contented connected your display, whether it's a telephone aliases machine monitor, is made up of individual still frames (photos) shown successful series astatine a very precocious speed. The refresh complaint is measured successful hertz (Hz), and it dictates really often nan framework tin change. A refresh complaint of 120 Hz allows a caller framework to beryllium displayed up to 120 times each second. A 60-Hz show tin only refresh nan surface 60 times per second. And you tin conjecture really galore times a 90-Hz surface tin refresh.

What About Frame Rate?

The imaginable use of a precocious screen-refresh complaint is constricted by nan framework complaint of what's playing connected nan screen. With videos aliases video crippled graphics, this is expressed arsenic frames per 2nd (fps). Movies typically tally astatine 24 frames per 2nd because it's a theatrical standard, while galore games tin tally astatine 120 fps.

And Touch-Response Rate?

To confuse you more, manufacturers sometimes database nan touch-response complaint (or touch sample rate) for touchscreen displays, which is besides measured successful hertz. This number relates to really often nan touchscreen scans for a touch from your finger. The higher nan touch-response rate, nan faster it responds to your touch.

How Refresh Rates Impact Your Phone

A higher refresh complaint allows a phone's show to support up pinch gaming action and reduces mobility blur connected video, but it tin besides make navigating astir nan interface consciousness much responsive than it would connected a show pinch a little refresh rate. Games look little choppy during frenetic action, video footage of fast-paced sports action appears smoother, and immoderate jerkiness erstwhile scrolling a agelong web page is reduced. To get nan afloat use of a precocious refresh rate, you besides request a precocious framework rate, and ideally, nan 2 match.

The costs is often your artillery life. Refreshing nan image connected a show much times per 2nd requires much artillery power. Processing powerfulness is besides needed to tally graphics astatine a higher framework rate. Processors person improved enormously, but artillery life is still constricted connected smartphones. For that reason, astir phones pinch precocious refresh rates do not tally astatine nan highest complaint each nan time.

Higher refresh rates first came to smartphones pinch nan gaming-focused Razer Phone successful 2017, past manufacturers for illustration Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, and Google adopted them successful flagship devices for illustration nan iPhone range, Galaxy series, and nan Pixel range. Apple calls its type “ProMotion.”