Newsletter
It seems like all upcoming Samsung Galaxy S20 smartphones will be set to 60Hz out of the box, not 120Hz. This information comes from Max Weinbach, who already shared a bevy of S20-related information.
All Galaxy S20 handsets will support 120Hz refresh rate, but will be set to 60Hz by default
As most of you know, all three Galaxy S20 handsets are coming with a 120Hz display. That means that their displays support 120Hz refresh rate, compared to 60Hz displays on Samsung’s current flagships.
Those three Galaxy S20 handsets will be the first smartphones that Samsung introduced to support high refresh rates. It seems like Samsung will limit them out of the box, though.
This move is not surprising at all, if I’m being honest. Samsung did limit QHD phones to fullHD resolution out of the box, so this was kind of expected. You will be able, of course, to go into display settings, and change from 60Hz to 120Hz.
That will make things look far smoother on the display itself. If you’ve used a 90Hz or a 120Hz smartphone already, you probably noticed the difference, and know exactly what to expect.
Do note that increasing the refresh rate will make the phone use more battery. That is almost certainly why Samsung will limit all devices to 60Hz out of the box. Most regular consumers probably don’t even know what a 120Hz display is, nor that it is included on all S20 units.
Many people would say that Samsung is wrong to do this, but there you have it. It makes sense, in a way. Most people wouldn’t really care about the difference anyway, and most of them wouldn’t even notice it, so offering them better battery life instead kind of makes sense.
As already mentioned, Samsung did something similar with display resolution. The company limited its QHD flagships to fullHD resolution, and people did not notice at all. So… this is not surprising at all.
You won’t be able to use 120Hz refresh rate and QHD+ resolution at the same time
Speaking of display refresh rates and resolutions, do note that the Galaxy S20 phones will not be able to take advantage of that high refresh rate at QHD+ resolution. 120Hz display will be limited to fullHD+ resolution, the moment you switch the refresh rate to 120Hz, the display resolution will change as well.
We still do not know if the Galaxy S20 series will be set to fullHD+ or QHD+ resolution out of the box, in addition to being 60Hz. Both resolutions will be available at 60Hz, so… it’s anyone’s guess. If we had to guess, we’d say that they will be set at 60Hz and fullHD+ resolution, but we’ll see.
All three Galaxy S20 handsets will become official on February 11 in San Francisco. Samsung scheduled that press conference a while back.
In addition to those three phones, the company is allegedly planning to announce its second foldable handset. The Galaxy Z Flip is expected to launch, though nothing has been confirmed yet.