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Refresh Rate Test Shows 30 FPS On My Laptop When Unplugged, Is My Screen Broken?

Asked by Amira S.0 views

My laptop has a 144Hz screen and when it's plugged in your test shows 144. But on battery it shows 30, sometimes 60. Games feel fine on battery though. Is the screen broken or is the battery doing something?

Brand
Not stated
Model
Gaming laptop with 144Hz panel
Connection
Built-in
System
Windows 11
Browser
Chrome 148
Screen And Display TestsWindows PC
Short Answer

The screen is fine. On battery, Chrome's Energy Saver can limit how often web pages redraw, which shows as about 30 FPS in a browser test, while games run outside the browser. Windows or the laptop's own software can also drop the panel to 60 Hz on battery.

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Isabela Costa
Isabela CostaVerified Gamepad Tester team memberGamepad Tester Team
Front-End Performance Engineer · Answered Jun 1, 2026

Your screen is fine, and the fact that games feel normal is the clue. Two separate power-saving features are at work, one in the browser and one in Windows.

Chrome has an Energy Saver mode that kicks in on battery, either whenever you unplug or only when the battery is low, depending on your setting. One of the things it does is limit how often web pages redraw. A browser-based FPS or refresh rate test measures exactly that redraw rate, so it reads around 30 instead of 144. Games are not web pages, so they are not affected.

Windows can also lower the display refresh rate. Dynamic refresh rate lets Windows drop the rate when little is moving on screen, and many laptop makers switch the panel to 60 Hz on battery through their own control software. That explains the readings of 60.

So the 30 comes from the browser and the 60 from Windows or the laptop's software. Turn each one off for testing and the browser should read the panel's full 144 on battery too, at some cost to battery life. For everyday browsing, leaving them on is perfectly sensible.

One more tip for accurate readings: keep the test tab in front and the window on the laptop screen. Every browser throttles background tabs.

Step By Step Fix
  1. Open Chrome settings, then Performance, and turn Energy Saver off or set it to only turn on when the battery is low.
  2. Open Windows Settings, System, Display, Advanced display, and check the refresh rate while on battery. If Dynamic is selected, choose 144 Hz for testing.
  3. Check your laptop maker's control app for a battery or eco mode that limits the display refresh rate.
  4. Unplug, close other tabs and run the FPS test for 10 seconds.
  5. If it now reads close to 144 on battery, nothing is wrong. Re-enable the power savings afterwards if you like.

Tested on: Applies to Windows 11 laptops with high refresh panels and Chrome or Edge. Display settings per Microsoft's refresh rate support article.

Sources
  1. Change the refresh rate on your monitor in Windows
  2. Low Power Mode and ProMotion refresh rate discussion

Checked by Simon Fletcher on . How we verify answers

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Community Replies 3

  • Accepted Solution
    Omar KhalilCommunity Member

    Energy Saver was exactly it. Switched off, and the test reads 144 on battery.

  • Amira SalehCommunity Member

    Yes! Energy Saver was on when unplugged, and Windows was set to dynamic. Now 144 on battery in the test. Thank you.

  • Yu-Ting ChenCommunity Member

    MacBook users, Low Power Mode does something similar and caps the screen at 60.

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Isabela Costa
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Isabela CostaVerified Gamepad Tester team member

Front-End Performance Engineer at Gamepad Tester

Isabela works on graphics performance. A test that polls a controller continuously and repaints an SVG on every frame can saturate a budget phone's CPU, and once the frame rate drops the readings stop being trustworthy. Her work is keeping the overlays and animations cheap: minimal repaints, fewer live nodes, and a render path that degrades gracefully instead of stuttering. On Gamepad Tester she is responsible for the performance of the tools on mobile and low-end devices.

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