Smartphones today offer many features. Some would say too many, with the settings menu featuring dozens of drop-down menus, toggle switches, and small text explainers that let you customize your phone in countless, virtually unnoticeable ways.
As a result, users can easily toggle on a feature without realizing how it might affect their experience.
That’s what happened to me when I toggled on the Smooth Display feature on the Google Pixel 10 Pro, expecting noticeably better video, and that’s it.
Tragically, that was not the case.
The Smooth Display feature
What does it do, really?
Smooth Display isn’t new, especially for an avid Google Pixel loyalist like me.
The 90Hz version debuted in October 2019 on the Pixel 4, and the current 120Hz version launched in October 2022 with the Pixel 7 Pro. Suffice to say, I should’ve known better by now.
Smooth Display is a setting available on Google Pixel phones and some Samsung devices.
Smooth Display adjusts the physical screen’s refresh rate for smoother scrolling, transitions, and UI interactions. It does not modify or upscale the frame rate or video quality of media files.
As the small text explainer under the toggle button in the Display & touch settings menu says, Smooth Display “automatically raises the refresh rate up to 120Hz for some content.”
It’s supposed to give users a smoother, snappier, more responsive experience when watching video content on their device from streaming services, social media, or anywhere else.
However, that’s not the most important part of the small text explainer underneath the toggle button in the Display & touch settings menu. Read the next phrase, and you’ll understand this feature comes with a serious caveat.
It’s a battery-draining feature
A pretty substantial one at that
Directly under the explanation of what the Smooth Display feature does, it includes an important note for users: “Increases battery usage.”
To be fair, many features that I enjoy increase battery usage. The music identifier that runs constantly in the background and the 4K video recording are both notable battery drains, and I’m not going to stop using those.
Gemini — more specifically Gemini Live — will take you from 100% to battery-saver mode faster than you can imagine.
However, the Smooth Display feature had to go.
Having tested the Pixel 10 Pro’s battery, I know it takes serious power to drain it to zero in a single day.
Still, with Smooth Display combined with my rampant TikTok usage — which is mostly video content that is likely being raised to the refresh rate of 120Hz — my efforts to drain the battery in a single day have become easier.
However, after a quick search for tips to improve the Pixel 10 Pro’s battery life, nearly every tech guide and Reddit expert suggested turning off Smooth Display immediately because it drains the battery.
Online estimates show a wide range for Smooth Display’s impact on your smartphone battery, with some saying it can be as high as 2% per hour.
When it comes to battery life, the difference has been noticeable.
That new-phone feeling is back, and I’ve almost forgotten to charge my phone throughout the day because the yellow, or, heaven forbid, red, battery icon doesn’t appear nearly as fast as it did over the last few months.
On the other hand, the lack of Smooth Display is barely noticeable. TikTok still looks like TikTok, with no discernible difference in my device’s smoothness or responsiveness on any video content.
I’m sure a side-by-side would reveal a slight difference, but for everyday use, it was a moot feature.
Smooth Display isn’t for me
To each their own
I’m not saying Google should get rid of the Smooth Display feature.
I’m almost certain many people who use their phone for things other than TikTokwould benefit greatly from a 120Hz refresh rate, so much so that they would sacrifice a bit of battery to do so.
I am not one of those people. For me, battery life almost always trumps the latest features, new innovations, and fanciest functionalities, which is why I turned off Smooth Display, and I am not going back.
