Best Affordable Phones with High Refresh Rate Screens Above 90Hz
High refresh rate screens offer the best in viewing experience especially when scrolling on your app or browser and enjoying high action content be it games or video streaming. Typically reserved for high-end phones, all major flagship smartphones come with at least 120Hz AMOLED or OLED panel. What if you want that same fluid experience without paying over the odds? Here are affordable handsets with panels that support high refresh rate.
In the last two years, features typically reserved for high-end phones trickled down to the less expensive, mid-range or even budget handsets. In fact, we are at a point today that high refresh rate are becoming common enough that you can enjoy the same fluid screen on a reasonably affordable handset, without sacrificing anything else in your mobile investment.
Why do you need a high refresh rate display?
Simply put, high refresh rates make screen visuals look considerably smoother than when they are rendered at the typical 60Hz. This is because, with more frames squeezed into every second, more slices of movement can be shown, adding to the fluidity of the motion in whatever it is you are accessing or browsing.
When coupled with a sufficiently powerful processor, graphics and big memory, the high refresh rate screen adds to the overall snappiness of the system. As such, it is not just out of preference but a necessity to make the most of your hardware, to not only be capable of rendering every frame but be able to show it quickly on the screen.
Can you even see the difference?
When using the high refresh rate screen for the first time, you will notice a considerable transition to the smoother frames of your 90Hz+ screen compared to older 60Hz ones. Depending on the person, this may or may not be significant, but this is still quite noticeable and would change your perspective of lower refresh rate screens to a certain degree (especially when factored in the aforementioned system snappiness).
That being said, after some “grace period” has passed, your eyes would start to adjust to the refresh rate and it would feel normal. Only after going back to 60Hz would you feel again the “choppiness” of the lower refresh rate screen. Visually, this may be a turning point for many users. The important thing is that you have a handset that is accessible and responsive without being held back by a slow display.
Top 8 Best Affordable Phones with High Refresh Rate Screens Above 90Hz
The 120Hz Cost-to-Performance Realm
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
- Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro
- Realme 7 5G
The 90Hz Bang-for-the-Buck Territory
- Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro 5G
- Realme 8 5G
- One Plus Nord N10 5G
- One Plus Nord N200 5G
- Samsung A22 5G
1. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (120Hz)
| Display | 6.67-inch 1080×2400 120Hz AMOLED |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 108MP (wide), 8MP (u-wide), 5MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 16MP (wide) |
| Battery | 4.0/5.0 (Great) |
Search Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro on Amazon
What? Don’t we ever feel sick of featuring this phone on any budget article? Well, we just have to. After all, even Mrwhosetheboss is adamant that this is the absolute best budget phone ever in 2021. Super affordable, very excellent specification, amazing cost-to-performance ratio, and the most important for our purpose… a 120Hz 1080p AMOLED screen. Pair that with the overclocked Snapdragon 732G and very decent battery life, and you’ll never see this phone leave any budget phone list for a good while… probably until the Redmi Note 11 gets officially released.
2. Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro (120Hz)
| Display | 6.67-inch 1080×2400 120Hz IPS |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 48MP (wide), 8MP (u-wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 20MP (wide) |
| Battery | 4.0/5.0 (Great) |
Search Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro on Amazon
Another very fine runner-up for the best budget phone in 2021 is… another Xiaomi phone. It’s from the Poco lineup this time. For the purpose of our line-up, it is yet another spot taken for the 120Hz category. While the Snapdragon 860 wins big over the 732G in terms of raw number-crunching performance, the phone itself loses out on many other specifications compared to the Redmi Note 10 Pro. Most notably the switch back to IPS from the already gorgeous AMOLED display. At the very least, however, this is properly equated in cost, making it the alternative option if you only really care about performance.
3. Realme 7 5G (120Hz)
| Display | 6.5-inch 1080×2400 120Hz IPS |
| CPU | MediaTek Dimensity 800U |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 48MP (wide), 8MP (u-wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 16MP (wide) |
| Battery | 3.0/5.0 (Average) |
For the past two years, Realme chooses to focus on rolling out mid-tier and entry-level lineups… a strategy that seems to work for the company. The Realme 7 5G, released at the tail end of 2020, spec-wise, still hasn’t really left the spot as the company’s most reliable mid-tier offering even after Realme 8 was released (more on that later). As such, we recommend it here for its custom mix of 1080p IPS 120Hz display, competitive (albeit not as efficient) use of MediaTek’s Dimensity 800U, and a healthy dose of 6 or 8GB. Internal storage remains at 128GB only with no option for bigger storage.
4. Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro 5G (90Hz)
| Display | 6.5-inch 1080×2400 90Hz IPS |
| CPU | Mediatek Dimensity 700 (5G) |
| RAM | 4GB, 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 48MP (wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 8MP (wide) |
| Battery | 4.0/5.0 (Great) |
Search Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro 5G on Amazon
The Poco M3 Pro 5G makes its triumphant return to our budget list! This time, we focus on its adequately gorgeous 90Hz IPS display, offered with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G, and a generous amount of RAM/storage for a very nice price. Quality and build-wise, you’re actually not missing out too much on Xiaomi’s more premium Poco offerings. Users are still being treated to that nice, super-efficient power usage that makes forgetting a day of charge or two a complete non-issue.
5. Realme 8 5G (90Hz)
| Display | 6.5-inch 1080×2400 90Hz IPS |
| CPU | MediaTek Dimensity 700 (5G) |
| RAM | 4GB, 6GB, 8GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 48MP (wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 16MP (wide) |
| Battery | 2.5/5.0 (Standard) |
The Realm 8 5G, unfortunately, takes a back seat to this list, not just because the Realme 7 5G offers the better 120Hz display. But, it also kind of just makes no sense as a numbered mid-tier flagship. Well sure, its specs are more than enough to do the job of all other phones on this list, including that 90Hz IPS display for smoother phone browsing. But when compared side-to-side with its predecessor, it’s not even considered a side-grade. It’s basically a rebranded Realme 7, offered at a slightly lower cost, at the expense of slashing off just a tiny bit off what makes the Realm 7 5G such a serious budget offering last year.
6. One Plus Nord N10 5G (90Hz)
| Display | 6.49-inch 1080×2400 90Hz IPS |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 (5G) |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 128GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 64MP (wide), 8MP (u-wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 16MP (wide) |
| Battery | 2.5/5.0 (Standard) |
Search OnePlus Nord N10 5G on Amazon
Not to be confused with the N100 (which is not exactly as impressive as the N10, sadly), the Nord N10 5G remains one of our best recommendations for that bang-for-the-buck budget offering. The Snapdragon 690 may not be as competitive, but the entire package is offered at a much more affordable price, making it practical for more casual users who just want a snappy phone to check stuff with. In fact, its 90Hz display contributes to this experience quite well. Disadvantages include having only one single storage option, and battery life being so-so compared to others in this list.
7. One Plus Nord N200 5G (90Hz)
| Display | 6.5-inch 1080×2400 90Hz IPS |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 (5G) |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 13MP (wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 16MP (wide) |
| Battery | 3.0/5.0 (Average) |
Search One Plus Nord N200 5G on Amazon
If you happen to be shopping for the Nord N10 5G above and it’s not available, you might want to ask for this one instead. It shares some of the specification of the N10. For standard use, it will not be anything too different, even with just 4GB RAM under the hood. What you will noticeably miss though, is the 64MP camera, which is now just a “paltry” 13MP one. Battery life is slightly better than the Nord N10 5G, at least.
8. Samsung Galaxy A22 5G (90Hz)
| Display | 6.6-inch 1080×2400 90Hz TFT |
| CPU | MediaTek Dimensity 700 (5G) |
| RAM | 4GB, 6GB, 8GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB (internal) |
| Rear Cam | 48MP (wide), 5MP (u-wide), 2MP (depth) |
| Front Cam | 8MP (wide) |
| Battery | 3.0/5.0 (Average) |
Search Samsung Galaxy A22 5G on Amazon
While we would have wanted the A32 5G to retain its position for the purpose of this article, the confusing availability of two models (one 60Hz and the other 90Hz) makes it difficult to recommend as a high-refresh-rate offering. Instead, we go a step back to the Galaxy A22 5G, which definitely uses a 1080p 90Hz screen in all its iterations. TFT panels… are a bit of a mixed bag in 2021, but they definitely look a lot better when you actually have it in front of you. Besides, that’s just part of what makes this phone convenient to use. We recommended to 6GB RAM 64GB internal version if you want the best combination of cost and medium-level utility.
