In the world of competitive gaming and eSports, frame rates are often the most talked-about aspect that actually affects the gameplay experience. So when PUBG announced that high refresh rate support will be coming to the mobile game, fans were delighted.
Fast forward to September 2020, and the update is about to roll out to all supported smartphones, in a move that will surely please high-end smartphone owners. In case you’re wondering how much of a difference it makes and why it is such a big deal, here’s our experience testing out PUBG Mobile at 90fps.
While the feature will be publicly available to other smartphones starting September 8, OnePlus smartphones got early access to the 90fps setting. It’s still unclear which phones will join the list, but we expect all high-end Android smartphones with a high refresh rate display to be supported.
Our testing was limited to the OnePlus 8 Pro over the last month. It is powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset, along with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. Basically, the performance was never a bottleneck. To complete the experience is a curved 6.68-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a QHD+ resolution and 120Hz display. With the new update for PUBG Mobile, the higher refresh rate is more appreciable.
Going into my regular gaming session, I thought that there would just be some visual differences and nothing much beyond that. However, it only took me a couple of games to realise that it was a lot more than that.
Playing PUBG Mobile at 90fps can actually make you a better gamer
Firstly, the jump to 90fps from the usual 60fps is definitely noticeable – each time I’d run, pan or attack, all actions just felt a lot more instant and immersive. The other aspect was responsiveness, which can be a little more difficult to see but easier to feel. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a touch response rate of 240Hz, which is amongst the highest on any smartphone. It basically refers to how fast the display registers your input. For a game like PUBG where you switch between taps and swipes many times each second, the small increments do make a significant difference. In short, gaming at the higher frame rate felt a lot more immersive.
Interestingly, even running at these higher settings didn’t tax the phone enough to cause unwanted heating or throttling. Yes, it was a little warmer than the usual, but nothing alarming. If your phone supports, we definitely recommend trying out gaming at 90fps to feel the difference for yourself. Going back to 60fps almost felt like the game was lagging.
It’s great to see one of the most popular mobile games finally make the leap to higher refresh rates. Mark your calendars for September 8, when PUBG Mobile will be updated to version 1.0, adding 90fps support, Ultra HD graphics, and Erangel 2.0.