Galax Vivance VI-01 Gaming Monitor Review: Solid Value and Performance

The Galax Vivance VI-01 is a 27-inch IPS/QHD gaming monitor with 165 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR and extended color.

Reviews
By Christian Eberle
published
Galax Vivance VI-01
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

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Galax Vivance VI-01
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The VI-01’s specs promise 350 nits, and my sample nearly delivered that. It’s off by 5 nits which is not noticeable to the naked eye. There is plenty of brightness here. Black levels are about average for the category, making contrast just a tad under my 1,000:1 benchmark.

After Calibration to 200 nits

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Galax Vivance VI-01
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Calibration increases contrast slightly to 1,001.1:1. While this is a seemingly small difference, the improved color saturation is not small. Coupled with a more neutral grayscale, calibration makes a significant and positive impact on image quality.

ANSI contrast is solid at 975.8:1. This speaks to the high quality of the VI-01’s build and component selection. Galax has not cut corners here. The price is low, but the build is excellent.

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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.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Kridian
    Amazon search for this monitor yields nothing. wtf?
    Reply
  • Sleepy_Hollowed
    Kridian said:
    Amazon search for this monitor yields nothing. wtf?

    The only country that they use Amazon with is India.

    You can buy on the Galax store in USA and they have a list of where to buy in other countries.

    To me that's an extra plus on why buy this monitor.

    I don't know if you all know, but Amazon is a dumpster fire of fake listings and a place where companies get their products' information stolen by Amazon and then used for their own knock offs: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/amazon-copied-products-rigged-search-results-promote-its-own-brands-documents-2021-10-13/
    Any company that uses them outside of pure necessity due to being a monopoly is insane.
    Reply
  • Kridian
    Visited the Galax store (USA/galaxstore.net) and has no monitors on their page.
    Visited the overall Galax site (galax.com) and there is no option to buy.
    There is a word I'm thinking here... fail, fail & fail some more.
    Reply
  • tylerwong2006
    Monoprice and multiple brands on Amazon says that QHD 165Hz IPS isn't expensive to be good
    Reply
  • GerarWolf
    Hello, could you please send me the icc profile of this monitor xd
    Reply