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Samsung is reportedly working on an update that would bring a 120Hz option to the 1440p resolution or WQHD+ resolution on the Galaxy S20 series. The update won’t be out for a bit though.
Currently, the Galaxy S20 series can only do 120Hz at FHD+ or 1080p resolution. It was unclear at Unpacked, if the limitation was due to conserving battery, or performance. But considering Samsung is working to bring the option to the full resolution of the display, it may not have been either one.
Remember that Samsung smartphones are still set to 1080p or FHD+ resolution out of the box.
Update will be available in “1 to 3 months”
This information all comes from Max Weinbach, who has been spot on with Samsung leaks over the past couple of months, leading up to the Galaxy S20 launch last week. So there’s good reason to believe this.
In his tweet, Weinbach mentioned that the software update that would bring 120Hz to WQHD+ resolution won’t be available for one to three months. Which is quite a ways down the road, when it comes to smartphones. But that is going to give Samsung some time to test it out and make sure it is working properly before it rolls out the update.
It’s important to mention that there was a “if all goes well” at the end of the tweet. Implying that Samsung could decide not to roll out this feature if it is not satisfied with the performance, battery life, or another reason that would affect consumer experience. So do keep that in mind.
It’s good to have options
More than likely, most people will leave the Galaxy S20 series on the default FHD+ setting, and just use that at 120Hz. But for those of us that are hardcore users and want all the pixels, being able to turn on 120Hz when it is at WQHD+ resolution, is a nice option to have. Not to mention it’ll make gaming a lot more fun.
120Hz makes the entire phone feel a lot more snappy and fluid, which is why a lot of smartphones are moving towards faster refresh rates. After some gaming smartphones did the same a few years ago. So expect most smartphones to come with 120Hz refresh rates in 2020.
Unfortunately, it looks like this update won’t be available before the Galaxy S20 series launches on March 6 (remember, pre-orders start this Friday, February 21). But it should hopefully be available before the summer.