Weekly poll: how important is a high refresh rate screen to you?

Months ago we asked you about what the ideal smartphone screen looks like and the answer was a flat 120Hz panel with 1080p resolution. That more or less describes the iPhone 13 Pro/13 Pro Max screen, doesn’t it?

Now that Apple finally took the plunge and offered a high refresh rate screen on mobile (something it has done for tablets since the 2017 generation of iPad Pros), we wanted to ask again – how important is 120Hz? Or any other frequency above 60Hz?

Weekly poll: how important is a high refresh rate screen to you?

The higher refresh rate makes the screen better at showing different kinds of content, e.g. it can display 24 fps footage without pull down. Apple jumped straight to using LTPO panels, which offer a much more fine grain control over the refresh rate, unlike simpler solutions which can only do predetermined frame rates (e.g. 60/90/120 Hz with nothing in between).

LTPO is better able to match the content, which especially important for games since (more often than not) they don’t run at a fixed frame rate, unlike video. And it has advantages in power usage too. This helped Apple improve battery life while adding the high refresh rate option.

To be clear, we’re not asking just future iPhone buyers but everyone – do you care about high refresh rate screens on mobile and what kind?

If you’re having troubles with the embedded poll widget above you can cast your vote here.

You can also vote here.

We also have a related question about touch sampling rate. While the 13 Pro duo are the first iPhones with a high refresh rate screen, Apple has been doing high touch sampling rates since the iPhone X.

This enables the phone to react to touch input faster. Naturally, it is a boon in games that require fast reaction times, but it also improves the feel of the user interface as well – combined with the smoother animations it feels snappier. Or does it?

If you’re having troubles with the embedded poll widget above you can cast your vote here.

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