Using SCRCPY to mirror your smartphone onto your computer, you will definitely see how differently your device works depending on whether it operates at 60 FPS smoothly or stutters constantly.

It becomes especially clear during the gaming process, scrolling apps, or recording of your smartphone screen.

The best part is that sometimes, you do not really need more powerful devices to change the quality of their work.

Several modifications to the parameters of resolution, bitrate, FPS limitation, and connection can be very helpful.

In this guide, we will discuss how to increase FPS in SCRCPY and eliminate stuttering.

What Determines FPS in SCRCPY?

But before making any changes to increase FPS in SCRCPY, one should note that increasing the FPS doesn’t mean your phone creates more frames per second.

SCRCPY captures the Android screen, encodes the video on the device, sends it to your computer, decodes it, and then displays it. Each part of that process can become a bottleneck.

Your actual FPS can be affected by:

• Android device performance
• Screen resolution
• Video encoder performance
• Video bitrate
• USB or WiFi connection
• PC decoding performance
• The application you’re mirroring
• Device temperature

SCRCPY also uses a variable frame rate. If there is not much change in the content of your phone, the number of frames sent can decrease.

And this is why it is better to optimize the whole configuration than just to set 120 FPS in one place.

10 Methods to Increase FPS in SCRCPY

1. Start With a 60 FPS Limit

For most users, 60 FPS is a sensible target.

You can start SCRCPY with:

scrcpy --max-fps=60

This tells SCRCPY not to exceed 60 FPS.

If your phone and setup can handle it, you can experiment with higher limits:

scrcpy --max-fps=90

or:

scrcpy --max-fps=120

Keep in mind that the maximum value is only a limit. It doesn’t guarantee that SCRCPY will actually deliver 90 or 120 FPS.

If you’re currently experiencing inconsistent performance, I’d start with 60 FPS rather than immediately jumping to 120.

2. Lower the Mirrored Resolution

This is one of the most useful changes to increase FPS in SCRCPY when SCRCPY feels sluggish.

Capturing, encoding, transmitting, decoding, and presenting a picture from a high-resolution Android device is a task that requires more effort than from a lower-resolution one.

Try:

scrcpy --max-size=1280

For an even lighter configuration:

scrcpy --max-size=1024

SCRCPY preserves the device’s aspect ratio when it reduces the maximum size.

For example, if you’re playing a game and don’t really need the full resolution of a modern phone, 1280 pixels can be a good compromise.

A good starting combination:

scrcpy --max-size=1280 --max-fps=60

If this feels smoother than your normal configuration, you have probably found one of the main performance bottlenecks.

3. Adjust the Video Bitrate

Bitrate controls how much data is used for the video stream.

A higher bitrate can improve image quality, but it also means more data needs to be processed and transmitted. SCRCPY’s documented default video bitrate is 8 Mbps.

You can reduce it with:

scrcpy --video-bit-rate=6M

For a more aggressive performance-oriented setup:

scrcpy --video-bit-rate=4M

You don’t want to reduce the bitrate unnecessarily, though. If the image becomes noticeably blocky, increase it again.

For many setups, something around 6–8 Mbps is a reasonable place to start.

4. Use USB When You Want Lower Latency

Wireless screen mirroring is convenient, but it may cause other issues.

In case you have any random screen freezes when mirroring over WiFi, use a USB cable and type the following command:

scrcpy

Wired connection eliminates any possibility of wireless interference and congestion. Even though excellent WiFi works perfectly, USB is more dependable when dealing with FPS or latency issues.

5. Don’t Confuse FPS With Latency

A high FPS doesn’t always guarantee that the experience will be responsive.

Think of it this way – when SCRCPY shows you 60 FPS, yet there is some delay on account of your wireless connection.

That’s why it’s useful to consider both:

• FPS: how frequently frames are displayed
• Latency: how long it takes for your action to appear on the mirrored screen

For gaming, both matter.

SCRCPY normally avoids video buffering to keep latency low. Additional buffering can reduce jitter, but it also increases delay.

6. Close Unnecessary Apps on Your Phone

It is not always the case that SCRCPY is the cause; sometimes it is because the phone itself is busy.

Furthermore, ensure you close any applications running in the background, particularly on older phones.

A cleaner test is simple:

• Close unnecessary applications.
• Start the game or application you want to mirror.
• Connect the phone to your PC.
• Start SCRCPY.
• Compare the result.

This makes it much easier to determine where the performance problem is coming from.

7. Keep Your Phone Cool

The heat can affect the performance of your phone. Playing games, recording, and mirroring for a prolonged period can cause the phone to heat up and decrease performance.

It is worth checking if your phone heats up and the performance decreases.

Try:

• Temporary removal of the thick casing from the phone.
• Avoid direct exposure to sunlight.
• Closing unused applications.
• Rest period between gaming.
• Ventilation of the phone.

In case the FPS reduces when the phone is heated up, simply changing the SCRCPY settings won’t help.

8. Check Your Actual FPS

Instead of guessing whether a change helped, measure it.

scrcpy provides the --print-fps option to display the actual capture frame rate.

Try:

scrcpy --print-fps

Then compare different configurations.

For example:

scrcpy --print-fps --max-fps=60

and:

scrcpy --print-fps --max-size=1280 --max-fps=60

This gives you a better idea of whether reducing the resolution actually improved the capture performance.

9. Try Different Encoder Options

Video encoding happens on the Android device, so the available hardware encoders can influence performance.

If you want to investigate this area, SCRCPY can list the available encoders:

scrcpy --list-encoders

Not all phones use the same encoder. Begin by trying the easy solutions such as USB, resolution, bitrate, and FPS. If those fail, try to troubleshoot the encoder.

10. Find the Right Balance Between Resolution and FPS

The tendency is to always go with the max:

4K resolution + 120 FPS + high bitrate

But that’s rarely the best approach.

A more practical setup might be:

scrcpy --max-size=1280 --max-fps=60 --video-bit-rate=8M

If that works well, you can increase one setting at a time.

For example, increase the resolution first:

scrcpy --max-size=1920 --max-fps=60 --video-bit-rate=8M

If the performance is stable, then you may try with a higher FPS cap.

Modifying only one parameter at a time makes the troubleshooting process far simpler since you know what factor led to the difference.

Final Thoughts

Boosting FPS in SCRCPY is all about getting the right balance between fluidity and quality. Connect via USB, reduce the resolution, tweak the bitrate, and apply an appropriate FPS cap.

In most cases, 60 FPS that runs reliably is much better than high FPS that runs unreliably. With the right configuration, your SCRCPY experience will be much smoother.