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₹ 61,000
Khumail Thakur | 27 Dec 2021 04:57 PM
In a pool of gaming monitors, how do you find the most suitable for you? Even if you somehow go through the list of monitors, there are very few 4K high-refresh rate monitors buried in-between the much-reasonable 2K monitors and if you roll your eyeballs on the spec sheets, everything eventually starts to look the same.
We reviewed the LG 27GN950 4K last year and it sat on top of all the other gaming monitors in terms of resolution and colour accuracy. The Gigabyte here takes a bite into the 4K territory where very few dare venture. Is this the best 4K gaming monitor for your gaming tastebuds?
We need not repeat what has already been etched in stone; 4K monitors are razor-sharp and especially the ones squeezed into a 28in IPS display. The Gigabyte M28U doesn’t struggle with sharpness or brightness issues.
Armed with 94% DCI-P3 and 120% sRGB range, the colour quality and accuracy of the M28U is quite formidable. Enough to woo even the most colour conscious designers to its side. Although, if you’re looking for wee-bit punchier colours and contrast precision, the LG 27GN950 offers better colour accuracy.
That is not to prize away any merit from this fantastic IPS display. The Gigabyte M28U can punch above its weight and offers a great, if not the best colour on a gaming monitor. The high refresh rate of 144Hz is buttery smooth as well while the 1ms response time is great but it comes with a caveat.
The 1ms response time is achievable but not totally. You can ideally get accurate results with the high refresh rate and low latency but it’s not consistent. Even the LG was not without its issues but if you’re not nitpicky about the point millisecond shift in response time then that won’t be an issue here. Especially if you have a console hooked up to the monitor as well.
This has HDMI 2.1 and can deliver 4K at 120Hz on PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. Something the LG lacks. The Gigabyte strikes the perfect balance between console and PC gaming. The HDR is obviously marketing fluff. Many gaming monitors with HDR are not true HDR and so it’s best you don’t seek that with this too.
However, if you have multiple devices connected to one monitor, the KVM switch at the back is going to be really helpful. You can connect your keyboard and mouse to the monitor and then, everything else that is connected to the monitor can be controlled with that monitor and you can switch between the devices with the KVM switch. It’s all very simple and intuitive. We had the PS5, Windows PC and a MacBook Pro connected to the monitor at all times and everything worked flawlessly.
This is not under Gigabyte’s Aorus series but the M28U is still a gaming monitor at heart. So the OSD needs to have the necessary features for the few gamers that really want their monitor to help win that competitive round. The black equaliser and crosshair are some of the most common features that we see in all gaming monitors. It’s here and it works. Although the FPS and dashboard features are too chunky and take up a lot of space on the monitor. It’s also not the most neat-looking OSD out there.
Here’s where the monitor starts feeling a bit more complete than LG’s 4K offering. There are speakers on this thing. These are not as loud as the BenQ Mobiuz EX3210R but for its sleek profile, the Gigabyte is not bad too. It’s a bit more balanced than the ViewSonic Elite XG270Q’s speakers.
The Gigabyte M28U can dabble with all your devices with ease and it will work with them at the best possible resolution and frame rate. You might need the beefiest gaming PCs to achieve 144 frames at 4K but 120Hz at 4K on console is also possible. The Gigabyte M28U is also one of the few gaming monitors in India that comes with an HDMI 2.1 and if you’re swinging between MacBooks, PC and PS5. This is the best monitor to get.
The LG costs ₹1K less and if HDMI 2.1 is very important to you then Gigabyte M28U justifies that hefty ₹61K price tag. Although, if colour is serious business, then LG is probably the best option.
High refresh rate 4K monitors are far and few, and this is a close one, but for gaming, we’d choose Gigabyte.
It can do it all and some, the M28U is a proper high-spec partner for console and PC wizards balancing work and life