What is touch sampling rate?

This is one tech jargon in smartphones that you have probably encountered numerous times but probably haven’t given it much thought. It is usually mentioned in spec sheets of gaming smartphones like the new ROG Phone 5 or the Legion Phone Duel 2, but what is the touch sampling rate? Do I need to take note of this feature when choosing a smartphone? Let’s find out below.

The touch sampling rate is basically the number of times the screen registers a user’s touch input per second and is represented by the unit of frequency hertz (Hz). Touch sampling rates differ depending on the device. Low-end models don’t usually have their touch sampling rates published in their spec sheets, but you’ll see it in more powerful models with high refresh rates.

Most smartphone touch sampling rates start at 120Hz, or it will look for a user’s touch input 120 times a second. High-end models, especially gaming smartphones, have higher touch sampling rates. The ROG Phone 5, for example, has 300Hz, while the Legion Phone Duel 2 has 720Hz. To put it into a different perspective, a 120Hz touch sampling rate would mean the display is ready to accept touch input every 8.33ms, a 300Hz touch at every 3.33ms, while 720Hz is 1.38ms.

The higher the touch sampling rate, the faster it is in registering touch inputs. A low touch sampling rate would result in a delayed response.

Do note that this is different from a screen’s refresh rate, which is how many times a screen refreshes itself in a second. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother animations and transitions. However, these two rates go hand-in-hand to provide a highly responsive and smooth experience, especially with gaming.

Do you need a smartphone with a high touch sampling rate?

If you need a smartphone that responds quickly to your touches, then the answer is yes. Competitive mobile gamers will greatly benefit from this hardware advantage as it will allow them to pull the trigger faster in split-second situations. Check out this video of the Black Shark 3S:

But if you’re just a regular user, this shouldn’t be your top priority in choosing a device. You might want to look at screen refresh rates or resolution instead. But in the case that you get a device with a high touch sampling rate, that’s still good news.