What is the high update rate? Explanation of 120 Hz on phones, televisions and screens
Many of us Favorite TVs and screens feature features with high update rates, a more smooth node on the screen and a more clear picture. The same applies to the best Android and all iPhone Pro models (13 Pro and Fov). Today, each iPhone 17 can reach the update rate of 120 Hz. It has become a record in all fields.
High update rates are often discussed in games, as rapid reactions and instant updates on the screen can mean the difference between victory and defeat. This includes gaming screens and even game phones, which can usually reach 144 Hz, 165 Hz or higher. But what exactly what the screen update means? We dismantle it.
Updated in September 2025: We added the latest iPhone, updates to screen technology, new links, and a refreshing version.
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What is the update rate?
All content on the display, whether it is a phone or a computer screen, consists of individual frames still (photos) showing the sequence at a very high speed. The update rate is measured in Hertz (HZ), and the number of times the frame can change. The update rate of 120 Hz allows for a new frame to 120 times every second. Only 60 Hz screen can refresh the screen 60 times per second. You can guess the number of times you can update the 90 Hz screen.
What about the frame rate?
The potential benefit of the screen height rate on the screen is limited to the average frame of what is running on the screen. With videos or video game graphics, this is expressed as a second framework (FPS). Films usually work on 24 frames per second because they are a theatrical standard, while many games can work at 120 frames per second.
And the rate of response?
To confuse you more, manufacturers sometimes list the touch response rate (or touch sample rate) for touch screen screens, which are also measured in Hertz. This number is associated after the number of times the touch screen wipes a touch of your finger. The higher the response rate for touch, the fastest to the touch.
How the update rates affect your phone
Google via Simon Hill
The higher update rate of the phone allows to keep pace with the games and reduce the blur in the video, but it can make the movement around the interface more responsive, which may be on a lower display. Games look less cut while feverish movement, and video footage of a fast -sighted sporty movement looks smoother, and any jerk when passing a long web page. For the full benefit of the high update rate, you also need a high frame rate, perfectly, the match.
The cost is often the battery life. Updating the image on the screen requires more times the battery capacity. The treatment force is also needed to run the graphics at a higher frame rate. The processors have improved significantly, but the battery life is still limited on smartphones. For this reason, most phones with high update are not operated at the highest rate all the time.
The higher update rates came first to smartphones with the Razer phone, which focuses on games in 2017, then adopted manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Google on major devices like the iPhone, Series Galaxy and Pixel. Apple calls its “promotion” version.