I have had this monitor for 4+ weeks now. This is my initial "pre-calibration" review. I am getting an an X-Rite i1 Display Pro soon and after I've gotten through the learning curve and calibrated it myself, I'll post a followup.(SEE END FOR FOLLOW-UP)
I bought the XB271HU after patiently reading every monitor review for the past years or so. I have a GTX 1080 TI and have been running it on a Dell U2415 at 60Hz since the spring. I wanted a very good monitor that could work well for desktop and gaming since my machine is heavily used for both. I had been wanting a GSYNC IPS or VA 2560x1440 monitor in the 30-32" range so the desktop DPI issue didn't become an issue but there are are none as of the moment. This monitor was one of the most highly reviewed 27" so I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try. After 4 weeks, here is my pro/con list: If you have read the reviews, none of these are a surprise.
Pros:
- Excellent gsync monitor
- 144/165Hz makes gaming fluid even with gsync off running a GTX 1080 TI
- Love the light anti glare coating
- Lots of screen real estate
Cons:
- UI is difficult to maneuver
- Out of the box: Colors are washed out. Whites are dull. Blacks are grey-ish. Blacks are crushed
- Yellowish tint obvious even when using commonly available ICC profiles from various review sites
- For desktop use, it's not nearly as nice as a quality desktop monitor but absolutely awesome as a gaming monitor
The DPI of this monitor causes me eyestrain and Windows 10 scaling (even with the creators update) helps but does not make it good -- But that's not the monitors fault. The real estate is nice but I have to strain a little to see the small stuff.
What is poor are the colors. I have tried a number of ICC profiles from review sites and none of them have resulted in what I would say are decent colors. Shadows are crushed to black and much detail is lost. Whites are not crisp. We'll see how this all fairs after I calibrate it myself.
So all in all, I it still earns a 5 because it is a gaming monitor and gaming at 144/165 fps is very pleasing. The DPI scaling doesn't present any problems with the games I play. Gaming with gsync and/or are high refresh rates is, as they say ,"buttery smooth" when you have your games tweaked for a 144/165 fps cap to match the monitor.
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EDIT 12/31/17 Follow-Up
I received my X-rite i1 display pro and spent several days learning how to use it with the DisplayCal software. After calibration, the picture significantly improved. I calibrated to 6500k, 140 nit (my preferred brightness level). Whites are much whiter now. Colors improved and blacks and shadow detail got much better. My black level comes in at .16 and black crush in several of my games disappeared. Contrast level is still a bit anemic at 880:1
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| Standing screen display size | 27 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 2560x1440 |
| Max Screen Resolution | WQHD (2560 x 1440) Pixels |
