One of the best features of the OnePlus 7 Pro (and Pro 5G) variant is the 90Hz refresh rate. However, as we reported earlier, the 90Hz refresh rate does not support all the browsers and apps. But, there is a simple trick that can unlock the OnePlus 7 Pro 90Hz refresh rate for all apps.
A hidden option to enable true 90Hz refresh rate
Currently, users have an option to switch between a 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rate, as a higher refresh rate results in higher battery drain. Moreover, all the apps and browsers do not support the higher refresh rate as well. For instance, browsers including Edge, Firefox, Chromium and more do not support the OnePlus 7 Pro 90Hz refresh rate.
Several users reported the same thing on OnePlus forums and Reddit as well.
“So 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 user complained on Reddit.
At the time, it was believed to be an issue on OnePlus’ side. Now, it seems that the Chinese company did this intentionally for reasons unknown.
An XDA Contributor C3C076, who reverse engineered the OxygenOS framework, found a secret option to adjust the refresh rate, according to tech site PiunikaWeb. As per C3C076, the 90Hz mode under Settings is set to auto mode (2), while the true 90Hz mode should be “0.”
OnePlus, however, removed the option to set the actual 90Hz mode. Use of the auto mode is the primary reason why users see auto-switching between the 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rate.
“90Hz mode as can be seen in the settings is in fact mapped to AUTO_MODE (0x2) which most likely is the reason why we can observer [sic] some auto-switching which is based on screen content (e.g. video playing, etc.). Using mode 0 should in theory enable full-time 90Hz without auto-switching,” C3C076 said.
How to unlock OnePlus 7 Pro 90Hz refresh rate for all apps?
So, users who wish to have a true 90Hz refresh rate or unlock the OnePlus 7 Pro 90Hz refresh rate for all apps can set the value via adb. PiunikaWeb was able to successfully test the trick and unlock “90Hz on previously unsupported apps/browsers.”
It must be noted that after setting the value as “0,” none of the existing options – 90Hz and 60Hz refresh rate – will be selected. Also, the option of showing the screen refresh rate will remain at 60Hz after unlocking the true 90Hz option. However, it is just a visual glitch and won’t affect the performance.
The “option summary text in Display settings will show 60Hz which is a bug – simply they did not account for a fact that somebody can change the value to something else from outside,” C3C076 said.
One can also revert back easily to the default setting, where the display switches between the 60 and 90Hz refresh rate, by setting it using the GUI option or via adb.
For more information on this trick to unlock the OnePlus 7 Pro 90Hz refresh rate for all apps or any related issue visit this link.
Refresh rate – what it means?
The OnePlus 7 Pro display features QHD+ resolution, along with HDR10+ certification and a 90Hz refresh rate. Apart from gaming centric phones, such as the Razer Phone 2 and the ROG Phone, there are no other smartphones in the market offering such high refresh rates.
A refresh rate is basically the number of times a display refreshes the image on the panel in a second. The content displayed on your screen while watching a video or playing a game is a multitude of frames per second. A game can be played at 30, 60, 90 or even 120fps depending on the hardware and software capabilities.
If a game supports 90fps, but the display is at 60 fps, then the game will also fall back to 60fps. On the other hand, if the display is at 90fps, then the game will need to be optimized to give out that many frames per second. Thus, it is always better to have a display with a higher refresh rate as optimizations on the game and OS would result in an improved refresh rate.
