Believe it or not, the display Google included on the Pixel 6a can technically run at 90Hz. As most of you know, this display is limited to 60Hz, and we assumed it’s that way because of hardware limitations. Well, not really, it seems.
Someone managed to get the Pixel 6a display to run at 90Hz
A Twitter user referred to as ‘TheLunarixus’, managed to get the phone’s display running at 90Hz. How? Well, this display has a lot of similarities to the display on the Pixel 6. Why is that important? The Pixel 6’s display runs at 90Hz.
Mishaal Rahman of Esper decided to chime in, and explain things. He says that this is indeed possible, but that there are some serious caveats you should consider. He said that he tried to get it to run at 90Hz, but failed.
He added that if this ends up being possible through a tweak, that optimizations will be necessary in order for everything to be stable. He also added that people shouldn’t get their hopes up.
Rahman also added that while there are similarities between the two panels, the Pixel 6 and 6a don’t use the same display. They do seem to share the same display controller, though.
Don’t get your hopes up, though
All in all, a hack may come down the line, but it likely won’t be immensely easy to activate, and who knows if everything will work properly following it. It remains to be seen. We would not hold our breath, though.
The question remains, though, why did Google limit this panel to 60Hz if it has the ability to run at 90Hz? Well, there may be a number of reasons, and we can only guess.
If it ran at 90Hz, it would be even more similar to the Pixel 6. It would possibly deter people from getting the Pixel 6. On the flip side, this way, the Pixel 6a does offer better battery life, and Google possibly figured that a 60Hz display is more than enough for the vast majority of people who will get the Pixel 6a. Only the company knows what’s true, though.
We’ve already reviewed the Pixel 6a, by the way, and it turned out to be a great device, especially at that price tag.