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Comment by jsheard | Hacker News Reader

IME Android phones tend to feel smoother nowadays thanks to 120hz displays becoming widespread even in the midrange. Apple has 120hz on their Pro models but if you drop just one notch down from that $1000+ flagship then you're immediately back at 60hz.

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My experience, sadly, has been the opposite. I had an iPhone 13 Pro Max with 120hz, and switched to a S22 Ultra, and although I can see the animations at 120hz, most of the time they feel stuttery.

I always was an Android user until that iPhone, I had it for about a year, and switched back to Android again because I thought I was missing some stuff, but I was wrong, I don't miss a thing of current Android, I think current iOS is simply smoother and more fun to use, and stutter free 95% of the time.

Years ago, back when Androids had even worse animations, I would just speed them up to the maximum (via developer settings), or disable entirely. I got used to it and still do it today. Action feedback is faster, and I don't need my device to be visually awesome anyway.

True of flagships, but even some low-midrange Android devices struggle to animate at even 60hz without frame drops. My late 2022 Android test device tablet that had an MSRP of about $300 when I bought it is like this, while an entry level iPad from 4 years ago running the latest iPadOS has no such problems.

I haven’t actually sat down and compared specs but I’m guessing this happens because Android devices tend to skimp hard on their GPUs at midrange and below.

60 vs 120 hz doesn’t explain animations without v-sync.

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