@msigaming My review of the MSI 27" 1440p gaming monitor

Berrnard · August 3, 2020

@MSIGaming #ForEveryGamer

MSI MAG272CQR impressions

By: Thomas House

This was a giveaway item that I won and thought I would give my impressions so far.

Pulling this out of the box, it looked quite impressive. The build quality is good and there are some nice peels on the monitor for those satisfactions. This is a VA panel but looks good, almost IPS like and the specs are very good.

I plugged up power only to the monitor to see what the rgb looks like. It looks like what you would expect but I thought there was going to be more. There are little designs on the back that look like they would light up, but alas, they are just designs. This would have been a (nice)over the top feature in my opinion.

The stand is quite good with wide feet and a very stable base. The monitor moves up and down but I did miss the swivel. If nothing else, it helps with plugging in the monitor to power, video and USB. But that is more of a want and not a need. Also, it does have a nifty little pop out headset holder, nice touch.

Another item that stood out for me, you have to be plugged into a video source to go through the on screen display, OSD. But that is just a minor issue. The OSD is controlled by a toggle stick on the back or MSI’s OSD software. For my hands at least, the stick is a reach for me but works as intended. The OSD software mimics their dragon software but is a separate program. You have It would have been nice if the OSD could’ve been controlled by the already installed dragon software.

You can control almost everything with the software. I say almost because there are a few options missing for a current monitor. The monitor offers usb 3 ports but no option to keep power to them if the monitor is turned off. In my testing, all power is turned off when you turn off the monitor. Also for a “gaming” monitor I would expect to be able to turn off the power LED but there is no such option. There is a subdued LED in the bottom right corner. It is mostly on the bottom of the panel and see only part of it, but it is still there.

Now I got all my monitors moved and situated. I have a 3 monitor setup and I put the MSI in the middle(main monitor). Flat panels flank it on the side and the 1500R curve really stands out. I thought curved was just a gimmick but I can now see the appeal. Loading up call of duty, it felt more like an immersive experience just with the curved panel. 165hz is always a welcomed addition.

Plugged up and running, I thought games and productive software on the monitor looked good. I am not that advanced to go through the GTG and different color profiles but I left it stock and had to turn the brightness down. This can be a very bright monitor at 300 nits, which is above average.

In my specific monitor there were no dead pixels that I could find, which speaks to MSI’s QC. I own quite a few MSI products and more over the years, and have never had an issue so far.

Overall, this is a good monitor that won’t break the bank. As of writing, this model can be had for 399 at e-tailers. For a mid to high end gaming setup, you won’t be disappointed.