Leaving a high refresh rate locked on costs extra display power for the whole time that lock stays on, which is the price of smoother scrolling. Leave adaptive refresh on for a mixed day of reading and scrolling, use the standard rate when the day has to last and you mostly read, and use a high rate only for the session where smoothness matters.
A 120 Hz panel updates twice as often as a 60 Hz panel while that rate is active, so the extra power shows up during screen-on time, especially while the picture is moving. The useful choice is the mode your phone actually offers: a lock at the standard rate, a lock at the high rate, or an adaptive range. Battery Saver can cap the rate at 60 Hz or lower while it is on. This page is part of the Android product guides. If the charge falls with the screen off, start with the battery drain and performance guide instead of a display setting.
| Input | What the source says | Why it matters on your phone |
|---|---|---|
| 60 Hz | The panel redraws 60 times a second | The standard rate most phones can hold |
| 120 Hz | Twice as many redraws each second while that rate stays active | Smoother motion, and more display work, during that time |
| Battery Saver | AOSP restricts refresh rate to 60 Hz or lower in low power mode. Document last updated 2026-07-13 | A system cap, separate from the menu you picked |
| Pixel Smooth Display | Pixel 4 and later, including Fold: Settings, Display & touch, Smooth Display, then turn it off. Pixel battery help, read 2026-10-11 | A Pixel path. The page does not state a battery percentage for the switch |
| Named task measurement | ViserMark, read 2026-10-11: around 10% extra power drain scrolling Gmail, 60 Hz to 120 Hz; up to 30% extra power drain browsing Chrome articles at 144 Hz versus 60 Hz | Extra power during those tasks. ViserMark says this is not a 30% cut in overall usage time |
Which refresh mode to use
Match the mode to the day in front of you. The table is a choice for one phone, not a ranking of phones.
| Your day | Choose | What you should see | What to record |
|---|---|---|---|
| You mostly read, and the charge has to last | The standard rate your phone offers, often shown as 60 Hz | Motion looks less smooth while the lock holds | The menu label, and the overlay if you turn it on |
| Reading and scrolling share the day, and the phone has an adaptive or smooth mode | Leave that mode on | On phones that implement it, the rate can rise while you touch and fall when the screen is still | Whether the overlay changes between a still page and a scroll |
| One game, or a long scroll, where smoothness matters | The high rate for that session, then return to the previous mode | The panel stays at the high rate for the session, including on still frames if the mode is a lock | Start and end battery percent for that session |
| Battery Saver is already on | Expect the AOSP cap: 60 Hz or lower | The high mode may not stay on | The overlay while Saver is on |
Takeaway: Adaptive fits a mixed day. A lock is a session you chose, and you put it back when the session ends.
What 60 Hz, a locked high rate, and adaptive each do
Refresh rate is how often the panel redraws. At 60 Hz it redraws 60 times a second. At 120 Hz it redraws 120 times a second. You notice the difference while the picture moves: scrolling, games, and animated menus. A still page has less to gain from the higher rate, which is why an adaptive mode exists.
Android 11 added platform support for more than one refresh rate. AOSP’s multiple-refresh-rate document, last updated 2026-07-13 UTC, splits the decision in two. DisplayManager sets a default config and a minimum and maximum. SurfaceFlinger then picks a rate inside that range, in the same config group, from the layers that are updating.
DisplayManager’s inputs, in the same document:
- A default refresh rate from the device overlay, used for animations and touch.
- A peak refresh rate from
Settings.System.PEAK_REFRESH_RATE, which changes when you use a menu. - A minimum refresh rate from
Settings.System.MIN_REFRESH_RATE. AOSP’s default is 0, so there is no minimum until a menu or overlay sets one. - An app can request a display mode. In most conditions DisplayManager then sets the minimum and maximum to that mode’s rate.
- Battery Saver, through
Settings.Global.LOW_POWER_MODE, restricts the rate to 60 Hz or lower.
Adaptive behavior depends on flags the device sets. If the idle timer is greater than 0, the minimum rate is used after the screen stops updating for that timeout. If the touch timer is greater than 0, the default rate is used while you touch the screen, for that timeout. If content detection is enabled, SurfaceFlinger estimates a rate from the frames layers are posting even when an app did not request one. AOSP’s example: layers at 24 and 60 frames per second lead SurfaceFlinger to pick 120 Hz when 120 Hz is available, because 120 is a multiple of both. That example is about matching frame rates. It is not a battery percentage.
Show refresh rate sits under Settings, System, Developer options. It draws the current rate on the screen. It does not lock the rate. If Developer options is off, record the menu label instead.
Takeaway: Adaptive means the phone may move inside a minimum and maximum. It does not mean every Android phone drops to a single shared floor. The timer lengths are per device, and AOSP does not publish one number for all of them.
The measured power figures, with their conditions
This page did not run a battery test. The only power percentages below are the ones ViserMark states in its own post, read on 2026-10-11.
ViserMark names two phones: an Oppo Find X2 Pro with a 120 Hz Quad HD panel, and a Xiaomi Mi10T Pro with an LCD that can refresh up to 144 Hz. The tasks were scrolling up and down in Gmail, and browsing a selection of articles in Chrome. The post’s text does not give a test date, a brightness, or a duration.
On Gmail browsing, ViserMark measured around 10% extra power drain when switching from 60 Hz to 120 Hz. That sentence does not name which of the two phones. On Chrome browsing, ViserMark measured up to 30% extra power drain when selecting 144 Hz. The chart caption says the Chrome comparison is 60 Hz versus 144 Hz on a Redmi 10T Pro. The intro says Xiaomi Mi10T Pro. Those labels are not the same, so this page keeps both as written.
ViserMark also says you cannot conclude that overall usage time will be reduced by up to 30%. The higher rate costs more power while that task is on screen. The rest of a day includes screen-off time and other work. Adaptive modes exist so the panel does not have to stay at the high rate on a still page.
A February 2020 Wccftech article restates a Tom’s Guide browsing session on a Galaxy S20 Ultra. The original Tom’s Guide write-up was not part of the sources read for this page, so those hours are not repeated here.
Takeaway: The 10% figure is extra power during ViserMark’s Gmail scrolling, from 60 Hz to 120 Hz, on an unnamed one of the two phones. The 30% figure is extra power during Chrome article browsing at 144 Hz versus 60 Hz, with the model name differing between the intro and the caption. Neither figure is your full day.
Log the comparison on your own phone
Use one phone. Change only the refresh mode between the two passes. Hold brightness, resolution, network, place, and the task still. A question that pits 120 Hz at FHD+ against 60 Hz at WQHD+ changes rate and resolution together, so one sitting cannot say which variable cost the charge.
Turn on Show refresh rate before you start if your phone offers it, and write down the number on screen during the task. A menu that says High or Smooth is the setting name. The overlay is the rate.
Use the same duration for both passes. Half an hour of the same scrolling is long enough to fill the log. That length is a way to keep the passes matched. It is not an AOSP test standard, and this page has no result for it.
| Field | Pass A | Pass B |
|---|---|---|
| Date, clock start, clock end | ||
| Phone model and Android version | same phone | same phone |
| Refresh mode, as the menu names it | ||
| Overlay reading during the task | ||
| Resolution | same | same |
| Brightness | same slider, or adaptive brightness off | same as Pass A |
| Network and place | same | same |
| Task and duration | same | same |
| Battery percent at start | ||
| Battery percent at end | ||
| Screen-on time, if Battery usage shows it | ||
| Anything else that changed | none, or name it | none, or name it |
| Keep this mode? |
Copy a blank row into your notes:
Phone / Android version:
Pass A mode / overlay reading:
Pass B mode / overlay reading:
Brightness / resolution / network / place:
Task / duration:
Pass A start % and time / end % and time:
Pass B start % and time / end % and time:
Anything else that changed:
Mode to keep:If the percents differ and something else also changed, a download, a hot room, or a different network, run the pair again. Keep each phone’s log separate.
Common mistake: Treating a forum percentage as this log. Replies that offer a round number without brightness, duration, and a method are not a measurement of your phone. The Note20 Ultra thread that asks about 120 Hz at FHD+ versus 60 Hz at WQHD+ is useful as the question. Its comment percentages are not used here.
Pixel Smooth Display, and where that path stops
Google’s Pixel battery help, read 2026-10-11, lists turning Smooth Display off among settings that use less battery. Open Settings, tap Display & touch, tap Smooth Display, and turn Smooth Display off. The heading covers Pixel 4 and later, including Fold. The same help page says some of its steps work only on Android 11 and up. It does not state the refresh rate that remains after you turn Smooth Display off, and it does not give a percentage or a milliamp-hour figure for the switch. If you need the rate, read the overlay.
Battery Saver is a separate control. While low power mode is on, AOSP restricts the refresh rate to 60 Hz or lower. Check the overlay if you want to see the rate your phone is using with Saver on.
Other phones use their own names and their own floors. A Pixel menu is a Pixel menu. If your phone has no Smooth Display row, use the display control it does have, and write that label in the log.
When this does not apply: Charge lost with the screen off is outside refresh rate. Use the battery drain and performance guide. For one app that keeps running in the background, use the background app restriction steps. A phone whose panel only offers 60 Hz has no high rate to lock.
Method and sources
Sources were read on 2026-10-11. This page was published on 12 October 2026.
- Android Open Source Project, “Multiple refresh rate,” last updated 2026-07-13 UTC. Used for the minimum and maximum policy, the Battery Saver cap of 60 Hz or lower, the idle and touch timers, the 24-and-60 frame-rate example, and the Show refresh rate developer option.
- Google Pixel Help, “Get the most life from your Pixel phone battery.” Used for the Smooth Display path and for the Pixel 4 and later, including Fold, scope. No battery percentage for that switch appears on the page.
- ViserMark, “The Impact of Screen Refresh Rate on Smartphone Battery Life and Performance.” Used for the Gmail and Chrome power figures and for ViserMark’s statement that the Chrome figure is not an overall usage-time cut. The post’s text, as read, gives no test date, brightness, or duration, and the Chrome phone name differs between the intro (Xiaomi Mi10T Pro) and the chart caption (Redmi 10T Pro).
