“Samsung is working on 120Hz refresh rate at the highest resolution Galaxy S20”

Samsung is reportedly working on the option to refresh the screen at 120Hz if users opt for the wqhd+ resolution with the new Galaxy S20 devices. Currently, the screen can then refresh itself with a maximum of 60Hz.

Max Weinbach, author of XDA Developers, reports on Twitter that Samsung is in the process of optimizing its software to allow a refresh rate of 120Hz when setting the wqhd+ resolution, or 3200×1440 pixels. Independent of Weinbach shows Twitter user Ice Universe a screenshot of a firmware version still under development, which seems to indicate that Samsung will enable 120Hz in combination with the highest screen resolution.

According to Weinbach, Samsung will release this feature sometime in the next one to three months, although Samsung has not officially said anything about the new option or the expected release period of the update. Currently, the refresh rate at a resolution of 3200×1440 pixels is 60Hz; 120Hz is now only possible if users opt for the resolution of 2400×1080 pixels. This applies to all devices in the S20 series.

Enabling 120Hz at the higher resolution will result in reduced battery life. It is not exactly clear why Samsung seems to be introducing this option in the coming period. Perhaps the company is responding to the wishes of users or has managed to contain underlying issues related to the expected higher battery consumption. Compared to their predecessors, the S20 devices have batteries with a relatively high capacity of 4000, 4500 and 5000mAh for the S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra respectively.