One UI 6.0 adds high refresh rate support to screen recorder feature

Samsung is getting closer and closer to the official public release of the Android 14 and One UI 6.0 update for its devices and has been busy fixing bugs that have been discovered in the One UI 6.0 beta software for the Galaxy S23 and other Galaxy devices.

You would assume bug fixes are all Samsung would focus on in the final few days / weeks of the One UI 6.0 beta, but that's not the case. The company continues to add new functionality, and in the fifth major One UI 6.0 beta update for the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung has updated One UI's screen recorder feature with the ability to record videos at a frame rate higher than 60 frames per second (fps).

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Samsung has a lot of phones with high refresh rate screens. All of its flagships get 120Hz displays while mid-range Galaxy devices either use a 90Hz or 120Hz panel (or 60Hz, if their specs don't include a high refresh rate screen). But screen recordings made using the official screen recorder feature on most Samsung phones and tablets are limited to 60 fps, or at least they were before the new Galaxy S23 One UI 6.0 beta released earlier today.

Screen recorder decides refresh rate based on display settings

On the latest Android 14 and One UI 6.0 beta firmware for the Galaxy S23 series, the built-in screen recorder can record videos at up to 120 fps, which makes these videos look smoother when played back on a device with a high refresh rate display. We say “up to 120 fps” because it seems the frame rate in screen recordings can vary depending on what is being recorded.

Samsung also isn't providing the option to manually switch between 60 fps and 120 fps through the screen recorder settings. Instead, the frame rate used for the recordings switches between 60 fps and 120 fps based on whether you have the system-wide high refresh rate setting (accessible through the device's Settings » Display menu) enabled or disabled.

Here's a screen recording made with the Galaxy S23's high refresh rate setting turned off:

And here's one with the display's high refresh rate turned on:

The difference in the two videos might not seem too big (especially since YouTube limits videos to 60 fps), but you should still be able to notice that the video with the higher frame rate is smoother when doing things like scrolling through the browser and in the animations that play when switching between apps or going to the home screen.

This is one of those features that aren't necessary but are nice to have, and we can expect it to be available on most Galaxy devices that are eligible to get Android 14 and One UI 6.0 in the coming months, provided those devices have a high refresh rate display.

In the meantime, if you have never used the screen recorder feature on your Galaxy smartphone or tablet, how about taking it for a spin now? You can start recording the screen using the screen recorder toggle in the quick toggles area of the notification shade (keep in mind that the screen recorder may not be available on all Galaxy devices, especially the ones with ultra affordable price tags).