120 FPS Test
The 120 question
Are you really getting 120 FPS?
The gauge on this page is fixed at 120. Full ring, you have it. Half ring, you are at 60 — and the reason is almost always one of five things.
- Gauge fixed at 120, not your rate
- Answer in five seconds
- 120 against 60, side by side
- Works on phones and monitors
Moving blocks reveal judder. Watch the fastest one.
Estimated refresh rate
— Hz
Measuring quietly in the background.
Not measured
The ring is scaled to 120 here, not to your detected refresh rate. A half-full ring means 60. That is the whole test.
Your display and device
Read from your browser on your own device. Some of it is deliberately vague — browsers round or hide these values to make you harder to track — so "not reported" is a normal answer.
Proof
Can you see the difference?
If your screen is running at 120, the top two lanes look different. If it is at 60, they look identical — the clearest proof you can get without a second device.
A display cannot show more frames than it refreshes. On a 60 Hz screen the 120 and 240 lanes look alike, and that is the honest result rather than a bug.
Why does my 120 Hz device show 60?
Almost nobody ships a panel that runs at 120 Hz all the time — refresh rate is a power setting on modern hardware. Work through these in order, they are ranked by how often each one turns out to be the cause:
- Battery. Low power mode caps the panel at 60 on iPhone, and most Android skins do the same.
- A system setting. Android: Display → Motion smoothness or Refresh rate. Windows: Display → Advanced display. macOS: Displays. All default to something conservative.
- The cable. On a desktop, old HDMI will run 1440p at 60 and refuse anything higher. Use DisplayPort or HDMI 2.1.
- A second monitor. Mixed refresh rate setups still confuse Windows. Try fullscreen on the fast screen alone.
- Hardware acceleration off. You will not get near 120 in a browser without it.
Is 120 FPS actually better than 60?
Yes, and the difference is bigger than it sounds. Going from 60 to 120 halves the frame time from 16.67 ms to 8.33 ms, so everything responds sooner and moving objects are sampled twice as often. Scrolling is where most people notice it first.
8.3 ms saved per frame. Obvious in scrolling, camera pans and mouse movement.
Another 4.2 ms. Real, much subtler, worth it mostly in competitive shooters.
Do I need a 120 Hz screen to benefit?
To see it, yes. A 60 Hz display physically cannot show more than 60 images a second, so the extra frames are discarded. Rendering above your refresh rate still shaves a little input lag, but you will not see them.
How to use it
How do I test for 120 FPS?
-
1
Plug it in
The big one. Most phones and laptops drop to 60 Hz on battery, and they do it silently.
-
2
Go fullscreen
Press F. Some devices only unlock the high refresh mode for whatever is genuinely in front.
-
3
Watch the ring
Full and green: you are getting 120. Stuck at half: read the next section, in order.
Reference
Where does 120 Hz turn up?
And what one frame costs at each rate.
| Rate | Frame time | How it looks |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Hz | 41.67 ms | Cinema. Films have been shot at this rate since the 1920s. |
| 30 Hz | 33.33 ms | Broadcast television and most streaming video. |
| 60 Hz | 16.67 ms | The default almost everywhere: office monitors, laptops, phones. |
| 90 Hz | 11.11 ms | The comfort floor for VR headsets. |
| 120 Hz | 8.33 ms | Modern phones, tablets, consoles and most gaming laptops. |
| 144 Hz | 6.94 ms | The classic gaming monitor rate. |
| 240 Hz | 4.17 ms | Competitive esports panels. |
FAQ
Common questions
How do I know if my screen is really 120 Hz?
Run this plugged in and fullscreen. A reading near 120 means the panel is running at 120. Stuck at 60 means either the panel is 60 Hz or something is capping it.
My phone is 120 Hz but shows 60. Why?
Check the battery level and power saving first, then the display refresh rate setting. Many phones only run the high rate for a fullscreen app in the foreground.
Can a browser even reach 120 FPS?
Yes. Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all paint in step with the display and hit 120 or higher when the hardware allows.
Is 120 FPS the same as 120 Hz?
No — they need each other. 120 Hz is the display refreshing 120 times a second, 120 FPS is your device producing 120 frames. You need both.
Why does it read 118 instead of 120?
Normal. The browser occasionally misses a frame, and many "120 Hz" panels actually run at 119.88. Anything from 115 up is a clean pass.
Keep going
More tools
Everything here runs in your browser, free, with no sign-up.
Find out if you are getting 120
Plug in, go fullscreen, press start. Five seconds is enough.
Run the 120 FPS test