List of Samsung Phones with High Refresh Rate (And Top 5)

One of the top trending smartphone technology is the display’s refresh rate and in this write-up are Samsung phones with high refresh rate of 90Hz and 120Hz as well as what it means.

List of Samsung Phones with High Refresh Rate

Top 5 Samsung Phones with High Refresh Rate

1.) Samsung Galaxy S23 Series

Samsung S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra come with an adaptive 120Hz high refresh rate. The S23 Ultra’s refresh rate can vary between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on what is on the screen. However, the S23 Plus and S23 can only vary between 48Hz and 120Hz depending on what is on the screen.

The S23 is 6.1 inches in screen size, the S23 Plus is 6.6 inches in screen, and the S23 Ultra is 6.8 inches in screen size.

These three phones are equipped with Dynamic AMOLED 2x display panel which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 which is the same material protecting the back of these devices.

2.) Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Samsung S22 Ultra’s 120Hz refresh rate is just one of the things that makes it an amazing display smartphone. It also comes with a 6.8 inches screen featuring QHD resolution, 500 PPI pixel density 1750 nits brightness, and HDR10+ support.

The S22 Ultra is the first Samsung S series flagship to come with an in-built S-Pen. It is also usable under water of 1.5 meters deep for 30 minutes thanks to its IP68 certification.

Its Dynamic AMOLED display panel is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ which is also protecting the back of the device.

S22 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and currently runs on One UI 5 based on Android 13.

3.) Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

Samsung A53 5G is a 6.5 inches Super AMOLED display smartphone with FHD+ screen resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It also has a maximum brightness of up to 800 nits and a pixel density of 405 PPI.

While its display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the back and frame are plastic. It has IP67 ratings which means it can go under water of less than 1 meter deep and for less than 30 minutes.

It is powered by a 5nm Exynos 1280 chipset with Mali-G68 GPU in its corner handling graphics related tasks. It currently runs on One UI 5 based on Android 13 but was announced with Android 12.

4.) Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Alongside Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s Dynamic AMOLED 6.8 inches big display and QHD+ resolution are 120Hz refresh rate, 515 PPI pixel density, 1500 nits brightness, and HDR10+.

This device was announced back in January of 2021 and almost two years later, it is still among the top smartphones when it comes to display quality.

Both the display and the back of the S21 Ultra are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus while the frame is aluminum. It is also water resistant with an IP68 rating. The S21 Ultra supports Stylus Pen but is not in-built.

Samsung S21 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chipset with Adreno 660 GPU on board.

5.) Samsung Galaxy A23 5G

Samsung A23 5G is a budgeted device but that didn’t stop it from having a 120Hz high refresh rate which is a rare case. However, unlike other phones on this list with AMOLED display, it comes with a PLS LCD display.

The A23 5G still boasts of a big 6.6 inches screen size and FHD+ resolution which makes it a cheap display champ phone.

There is no stylus pen support and it is not water resistant either. Its display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 while the back and frame are plastic.

Samsung A23 5G is powered by a 6nm Snapdragon 695 5G chipset which has Adreno 619 GPU on board handling graphics intensive tasks.

History of Samsung High Refresh Rate Phones

Samsung flagships since 2020 have come with a high refresh rate and some of their upper mid-range A series phones of 2021 and 2022 also have the feature.

Refresh rate in this context is the number of times that a smartphone’s display refreshes every second. The most common refresh rate seen on phones these days is 60Hz and I think that’s about to change.

Let me break things down a little. A smartphone with a 60Hz refresh rate has a display that refreshes 60 times every second.

Similarly, phones with high refresh rates such as 90Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz have a display that refreshes 90 times, 120 times, and 144 times every second respectively. Display with a higher refresh rate is smoother while scrolling and better for gaming and videos than ones with lower.

When you move from a smartphone with a 60Hz refresh rate to one with a 90Hz refresh rate, you will notice it is easier than moving from 90Hz to 120Hz. It is also easier to spot the smoothness when you moved from 120Hz to 144Hz.

The first smartphone with this display feature is the Razer phone (120Hz) launched in 2017 but it didn’t become the talk of the town or a trend until it was used on OnePlus 7 Pro in May of 2019 and again on the 7T and 7T Pro in September and October of 2019 respectively.

About 5 months later (March 2020), Samsung launched the S20 series with a 120Hz refresh rate, and then in August of the same year, they introduced an Adaptive refresh rate with the launch of the Note 20 Ultra.

In February 2021, Samsung announced the S21 series. While both the S21 and S21 Plus have 120Hz adaptive refresh rate up to 1080P resolution, the S21 Ultra took it a notch higher with support up to 1440P.

Final Thought

A high refresh rate is fast becoming a normal feature for a smartphone display. The list of Samsung high refresh rate phones now includes their flagships, their mid-range phones, and even the A22, A23 5G, A22 5G, and A23 5G which are budgeted phones.

What I think we will start seeing is an even higher refresh rate such as 144Hz or higher. Because right now, most phones with a 144Hz refresh rate are gaming phones; talking about the likes of Black Shark 4 from Xiaomi.

As that happens, this page will be updated to reflect new changes and smartphones with this display feature. In the meantime, you might also be interested in the list of Samsung phones that have high pixel density.