The OnePlus 7 Pro comes with several unique and exciting features, and one of them is the 90Hz refresh rate. Most smartphones offer a refresh rate of 60Hz. The OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate appears to be a feature ahead of its time because many browsers don’t yet support it.
Which browsers support 90Hz refresh rate?
One major benefit of the 90Hz refresh rate is with gaming. The feature is also helpful in normal use as it makes scrolling through the interface smoother. Users can even feel the difference in the refresh rate while navigating through system animations and browsing webpages.
Since the difference between the 90Hz refresh rate and 60Hz is so obvious that some OnePlus 7 Pro users were able to spot when the 90Hz refresh rate was not working on some apps. Affected users found that some browsers don’t support the OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate.
According to them, Microsoft Edge and Firefox do not support the OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate.
“…my OnePlus 7 Pro changes the refresh rate from 90 to 60Hz when using Microsoft Edge and Firefox. If I go into the menu of Firefox it goes back to 90, but once I open a website it drops to 60Hz again and stays there until I close the app or go to the menu again,” one Reddit user said.
The 90Hz refresh rate is supported on the regular Google Chrome (stable) or Chrome webview-based browsers. One Reddit user even shared a list of browsers that support the OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate. According to the list, the browsers that support the 90Hz refresh rate are Chrome, Chrome Beta, DuckDuckGo, Opera, Opera Touch and Via Browser.
The list of browsers that don’t support the 90Hz refresh rate is a long one that includes names like Brave, Bromite, Chrome Canary, Chrome Dev, Chromium, Chromium Latest, Edge, Firefox, Firefox Preview, Firefox Focus (Alternates between 60Hz and 90Hz engines), the Samsung Browser, the Kiwi Browser and the Yandex Browser.
Is the issue with OnePlus or app developers?
Some users notice strange behaviors with a few browsers.
“There’s something strange happening with Firefox Focus aswell [sic]. I tested it couple days ago and got 90 Hz, tested it today and now it gives 60 Hz while some users are reporting 90 Hz,” one Reddit user said.
Some also questioned if OnePlus or app developers are to be blamed for the browsers that don’t support the OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate. One app developer said they don’t have to do anything extra to make their apps support the higher refresh rate.
“I’m an Android developer and I haven’t had to do anything to enable 90Hz support. All of the apps that I have written are running in 90Hz out of the box,” the app developer said.
The app developer suggests the issue is on OnePlus’ side because the company is using algorithms that “dynamically change the refresh rate depending on the app and/or content being displayed.”
As of now, there are no comments from OnePlus on the matter. Hopefully the Chinese company will make its faster refresh rate available on more browsers soon.
How the OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate affects battery life
The OnePlus Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate and the high-resolution panel make for a deadly combination aimed at boosting the overall user experience. However, it has one side effect as well. Such a high refresh rate may impact battery life. The display settings also play a part in battery drain.
By default, the OnePlus 7 Pro ships with the resolution set to dynamic, which allows it to switch between the Full HD+ and Quad HD+ on the basis of the content being displayed.
To determine if a higher refresh rate and display settings affect the battery life, AndroidAuthority ran a few battery benchmarks with different settings on the OnePlus 7 Pro. The tests found that the battery life is best when the display is set to Full HD+ (2,336 x 1,080) and the refresh rate is 60Hz.
With this setting, the battery life stretches up to 692 minutes of web browsing. When the refresh rate is set at 90Hz, the battery life drops to 498 minutes of web browsing.
If the screen resolution is increased to Quad HD+ (3,120 x 1,440) resolution, the battery life drops to 552 minutes of web browsing at the 90Hz refresh rate. When combining the same resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate, the battery life jumps to 605 minutes of browsing time.
