OnePlus 8 will get PUBG Mobile at 90 FPS before everyone else

(Image credit: Aakash Jhaveri)

PUBG Mobile has been one of the best games to play on the go, and now it’s getting even better by raising its visuals to a crisp 90 frames per second – and if you’ve got a recent OnePlus flagship, you’ll be able to enjoy it for a month before everyone else.

Starting Thursday, August 6, owners of the OnePlus 8 line of phones, OnePlus 7T series, and OnePlus 7 Pro – the phones that pack a 90Hz refresh rate display or better – will get exclusive access to PUBG Mobile in 90 FPS until Sunday, September 6, after which the feature opens up to other phones.

What will 90 FPS look like in PUBG Mobile? The higher frame rate should allow ‘clearer and sharper views’ while moving on foot or in vehicles, according to a press release, which should help players track enemies. The smoother visuals will supposedly help aiming accuracy in dense areas of maps (like the Pochinki, Sosnovka and Military Base areas of the Erangel map).

That’s not guaranteed to improve your performance, but ask any console or desktop PC gamer how they feel about higher FPS counts and they’ll likely tell you how hard it is to go back after the smoother visual experience.

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The just-announced Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 120Hz screen, too

90 FPS in mobile games, finally

While not everyone is a PUBG fan, this feature should excite any mobile gamer out there: as more and more phones increase the maximum refresh rates on displays, there’s more reason for games to support higher frames-per-second options.

Flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra max out at 120Hz (the Note 20 is stuck at 60Hz, oddly), and so does the OnePlus 8 Pro and both Razer Phones, while the Asus ROG 3 has a 144Hz screen. The cheaper OnePlus 8 has a 90Hz refresh rate, as does the Google Pixel 4 line, the Motorola Edge, and Motorola Edge Plus. All of these will be able to select the in-game option to pump PUBG Mobile up to 90 FPS.

The iPhone 11 Pro stands alone among flagships for retaining a 60Hz refresh rate, though we could see the iPhone 12 follow the industry trend. And while mid-range phones haven’t adopted a higher refresh rate, that could be the next thing that they inherit from pricier phones – and features like this one in PUBG Mobile could encourage it.

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.