In the realm of fast-paced gaming, gaming monitors with VA panels not only costs less than an IPS one but also delivers fair and crisp image quality from a competitive perspective. There certainly is no right or wrong answer of whether each of them is better than the other, going for a monitor with a VA panel can be a smart choice if you want to save up some bucks. And if we are being honest, you won’t be missing out on that much of a visual performance either.
The MSI Optix-G27CQ4 is the latest addition to their Optix gaming monitor lineup that is utilizing the perks of a VA panel to deliver you smooth and responsive gameplay. This 27-inch Quad HD monitor is basically a perfectly balanced curved screen for most competitive gamers in general. Fortunately, we got the chance to get our hands on one of these and unboxed, tested, and reviewed to see whether it’s up to the mark. Let’s go through them one by one.
Unboxing & Assembly
Inside the box, a handful of display accessories including the power cord, power brick, HDMI cable, and the ergonomic V-Shaped Stand can be seen. The monitor can be found wrapped up in a white cover under the styrofoam.
Design Aesthetics
Design-wise, MSI has done an amazing job with this one as this sleek monitor goes perfectly well with the V-Shaped metal base that not only looks good but also provides reliable structural support to the entire monitor.
The super-slim bezels look impressive too, providing greater screen space to play games on while the 1500R curvature ensures a wide viewing angle which will come in handy to help you get a competitive edge on FPS games.
Adjustability
Adjustability is quite subtle with this monitor as you can only tilt the display up and down from -5° to up to 20° for finding the ideal viewing position that suits you the best and in term reduce neck pain in the long run.
Ports
Looking at the ports, we can see 1 DisplayPort 1.2 capable of sending 165Hz video signal and a duo of HDMI 2.0 ports with 144Hz. Other connectivity options include a headphone jack and the power port just beside the display connections.
Menu
The menu can be toggled by pressing the tiny joystick located at the back of the monitor and feels really comfortable to navigate with. From this intuitive menu, you will be able to adjust the game mode to a specific game type, tweak response time and refresh rate as well as change the contrast, sharpness, and color temperature as you see them fit.
Specifications
Now onto this monitor’s spec breakdown. Out of the box, this 27-inch curved monitor has a native resolution of 2560x1440p with a refresh rate of up to 165Hz and a response rate of only 1 millisecond which combined makes it a well-balanced gaming monitor.
If we further emphasize on the VA Panel, it has a peak brightness level of 250nits that makes images appear a lot more detailed and vibrant while the 178° of wide viewing angle maintains a good overall balance throughout the curvature of the monitor. A distinctive thing about this monitor’s VA panel is that the images coming out of it felt really crisp and rich which is most of the time lacking from traditional monitors with VA panels.
It doesn’t stop right there as this high-performance gaming monitor has a 92% DCI-P3 color gamut along with 115% of sRGB for greater in-game immersion. Naturally, the screen supports Anti-flicker and emits minimal blue light so that you experience less eye strain during long practice sessions. The AMD FreeSync support on the other hand ensures frames appear less choppy by effectively preventing screen tearing resulting from a high refresh rate. With that being said, let’s put it to the test and see whether this monitor lives up to its expectation.
Performance Test and Comparison
In this MSI Optix G27CQ4 Review We have used the Eizo monitor test to benchmark this monitor’s color, gamma, and response rate accuracy and yielded some pretty good results. The colors appeared a lot more vibrant while the gamma performance was also up to the mark. The texts, no matter how small or big, have appeared seamlessly readable thanks to the crisp and high density of pixels of this monitor. We have also tweaked and played around with the response test too and it did feel smooth and soothing to the eyes.
Final Verdict
Everything aside, although the MSI Optix-G27CQ4 might not be an extraordinary gaming monitor, it does perform promisingly well in almost all aspects.
Whether it be the design, curvature, color performance, and responsiveness, this monitor maintains the perfect balance through all of it. The only downside is the HDR performance which honestly can be justifiable given its mid-range price point.
If you are aiming for a decent overall gaming monitor that won’t hurt your wallet that much, going for the MSI Optix-G27CQ4 can be a good decision. And if HDR performance is what you are prioritizing, we suggest you look elsewhere.
