Gigabyte M27QA ICE 180 Hz QHD gaming monitor review: Solid performance with a unique look

The M27QA ICE is a 27-inch QHD IPS gaming monitor with 180 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR400, and a white finish.

Reviews
By
published
Gigabyte M27QA ICE
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

With so many OLEDs crossing my desk, it’s easy to become spoiled by premium technology. But when I get a bread-and-butter monitor like the M27QA ICE for review, I’m reminded just how close in capability most displays are. Though it costs less than half the price of a 27-inch QHD OLED, it performs very well.

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

By focusing on color volume, accuracy and video processing, Gigabyte has endowed the M27QA ICE with everything needed for a superlative gaming experience. The picture is bright, sharp and colorful thanks to plenty of light output and 95% coverage of DCI-P3. Accuracy is good out of the box and better with calibration. Video processing is about as good as it gets outside the OLED realm with precise overdrive and a backlight strobe that works along with Adaptive-Sync and has almost no visible artifacts.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

And one cannot deny the M27QA ICE’s styling is compelling. There aren’t a lot of white monitors out there, so if you crave something different, it’s almost a no-brainer purchase. It doesn’t cost a lot and it doesn’t sacrifice anything. There aren’t speakers or LEDs, but there is nothing else missing here that would detract from the gaming experience. It’s a complete gaming display with top performance and a colorful picture. If you can’t afford an OLED but want smooth performance and vivid color, the M27QA ICE is well worth checking out.

MORE:  Best Gaming Monitors

MORE:  How We Test PC Monitors

MORE:  How to Buy a PC Monitor

Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • GeorgeLY
    Thank you for the review!
    Two comments:
    1. Lack of the speakers is a pro, as monitor speakers are low quality and add to complexity, price and size.
    2. The biggest problem is that they have ports wrong: it should've had 2 or more Display Ports and 1 HDMI. HDMI is for consumer electronics not for the computing, which further illustrated by HDMI consortium stance on the Open Source drivers.
    Reply
  • Countess_C
    Are the subpixels BGR or RGB?
    Reply