What Is a High Refresh Rate? Explaining 120 Hz on Phones, TVs, and Monitors
Many of our TVs and favorite monitors have screens with high cooling rates, a promising more fluid screen action and a clearer image. The same goes for the best Android phones and all Apple iPhone Pro models (from the 13 pro and forward). Today, each iPhone 17 model can reach a 120 Hz cooling rate. It has become standard in all areas.
High refresh rates are frequently discussed in games, where rapid reactions and instant updates on the screen can make the difference between victory and defeat. This includes game monitors and even playing phones, which can usually reach 144 Hz, 165 Hz or more. But what exactly does the screen refresh rate mean? We decompose it.
Update in September 2025: we added the mention of the latest iPhones, updates to screen technology, new links and a refreshing copy.
Table of contents
What is a refresh rate?
All the contents of your screen, whether phone or a computer monitor, is made up of individual fixed frames (photos) illustrated in very high speed sequence. The refresh rate is measured in Hertz (Hz) and dictates the frequency at which the frame can change. A 120 Hz refreshment rate allows you to display a new frame up to 120 times per second. A 60 Hz screen can update the screen only 60 times per second. And you can guess how many times a 90 Hz screen can update.
What about the frequency of images?
The potential advantage of a high screen rate is limited by the image frequency of what plays on the screen. With videos or video game graphics, this is expressed in frames per second (FPS). The films generally operate at 24 frames per second because it is a theatrical standard, while many games can operate at 120 IPS.
And the touch response rate?
To confuse you more, the manufacturers sometimes list the rate of tactile response (or the touch sampling frequency) for touch screens, which is also measured in Hertz. This number concerns the frequency at which the touch screen scans for a touch of your finger. The higher the tactile response rate, the faster it responds to your contact.
How refreshment rates have an impact on your phone
Google via Simon Hill
A higher refresh rate allows a phone’s screen to follow the game action and reduce motion blur on the video, but it can also make navigation around the interface more reactive than on a screen with a lower refresh rate. The games seem to be less jerky during the frantic action, the video sequences of the fast sporting action seem smoother and all shaking up when scrolling a long web page is reduced. To fully benefit from a high refresh rate, you also need a high image frequency and, ideally, the two correspond.
The cost is often the lifespan of your battery. Refresh the image on a display more than times per second requires more battery power. A processing power is also necessary to execute graphics at a higher image frequency. The processors have improved enormously, but the battery life is always limited to smartphones. For this reason, most phones with high cooling rates do not work at the highest rate all the time.
Higher cooling rates first arrived at smartphones with the Razer phone focused on the game in 2017, then manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Google adopted them in flagship devices such as the iPhone range, the Galaxy series and the Pixel range. Apple calls for its “promotion” version.
