Evaluating refresh rate expectations for modern mid-range phones

Samsung’s Galaxy M17 5G arrives in a moment where refresh rate has become one of the most argued numbers in mid-range smartphone marketing, especially in the UK where buyers now compare display fluidity almost as actively as camera performance. In previous years, 60Hz was normal and 90Hz felt premium. In 2025, however, the field has moved forward, and many rival mid-range models are advertising 120Hz panels with variable refresh optimisations. That raises a direct question for this model: does 90Hz still feel good enough in day-to-day life, or does the number now look outdated on spec sheets?

The Galaxy M17 5G uses a bright Super AMOLED panel which is tuned for clarity, contrast depth and stable readability in mixed indoor and outdoor conditions. The visual richness of AMOLED makes a direct difference in content viewing, and in real-world usage the display character matters just as much as pure refresh number. Smoothness is not handled by refresh rate alone, and colour depth, touch response and interface optimisation all work together in how fluid the phone feels while scrolling.

It is also important to factor battery efficiency into the judgement. A higher refresh rate takes more panel power and more GPU cycles to maintain. For a mid-tier device, that trade-off can lead to more visible battery drop when 120Hz is locked in full time. A 90Hz panel hits a more balanced sweet spot for this chipset class, where the interface still feels faster than legacy 60Hz behaviour without pushing the battery to drain aggressively. For UK users who regularly push a phone across long workdays and heavy messaging patterns, this matters more in practice than a headline figure.

Another angle is what tasks actually benefit from ultra-high refresh. Social media feeds do get a bit more fluid at 120Hz, but video playback on mainstream services does not always step beyond its usual frame counts. That means a large amount of regular entertainment content is not meaningfully upgraded by crossing 90Hz into a higher bracket. The smoothness advantage is visible, but it is not dominant in every scenario. In everyday scrolling across apps, 90Hz still feels notably fresher than 60Hz, and most users transitioning from older hardware should feel a clear improvement immediately.

Mobile gaming is the category where number chasing carries more influence. Certain fast titles look cleaner at 120Hz and above, and some rival mid-range models push that marketing angle hard. Samsung has not tuned this device to be a competitive gaming machine, and instead prioritised balance, stability and battery predictability. For mainstream gaming, 90Hz does hold up acceptably well and the overall experience is stable rather than erratic. For buyers who want maximum frame count for competitive play, higher refresh models will always attract that niche.

Software also plays a significant role in how refresh feels. One UI 7 has been built around smoother animation blocks and improved gesture transitions, and those improvements help compensate for not pushing the panel number higher. The interface feels cleaner, more deliberate, and the lock-screen to home-screen flow is less noisy. Samsung’s software design makes better use of 90Hz than some devices that use 120Hz without matching software polish. That means the real-world feeling is broader than the number on the box.

The question in 2025 is not whether 90Hz is technically behind 120Hz. It is. The real question is whether it holds up acceptably for a modern mid-range user. For most typical UK usage patterns including messaging, scrolling, news apps, photo browsing and casual streaming, 90Hz remains entirely comfortable. There will still be buyers who demand higher numbers purely because rivals have them. But value-balanced mid-range phones are judged by consistency, not by single-point spec highs.

Samsung clearly chose 90Hz as a measured compromise rather than as a cost-cut. The company aims for stability, battery durability and a polished everyday interface rather than chasing the most aggressive single metric. For UK buyers who want consistent performance and long-term usage comfort, the 90Hz panel on the Galaxy M17 5G remains a solid fit in 2025, and while the industry has moved higher on paper, the daily experience still feels modern and fluid without unnecessary battery penalty.