Google’s 90Hz OLED display on Pixel 4 and 4XL hogged the limelight during launch. The higher refresh rates should ideally help in offering a better user experience. Now it has come to the light that the 90Hz refresh rate on Pixel 4 and 4XL comes with a caveat.

Reddit users claim that the Pixel 4 refresh rate will automatically drop to 60Hz once the brightness is below 75 percent. In other words, brightness needs to be more than 75 percent for the refresh rate to remain at 90Hz. This is a huge problem as most of us use automatic brightness settings. When the device is indoors, the brightness level will automatically drop and so will the refresh rate.

On the brighter side, Droidlife has figured out that you can open the developer settings and toggle the 90Hz to be always on, irrespective of brightness level. That being said, forcing 90Hz might affect battery life. Google says that it will switch the display rate to 90Hz for some content. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 7T display is always running at 90Hz. Google is yet to release a statement on why it brings down refresh rates with brightness levels.

Why Screen Refresh rate matters?

The refresh rate is the pace at which the screen refreshes itself. The higher refresh rate is very crucial when it comes to gaming, watching sports, or overall experience on your smartphone. However, the higher refresh rate will most certainly draw more battery power. Meanwhile, a powerful GPU is important for a device with a higher refresh rate.