Review on Pixio PX277P 27" FreeSync Esports Monitor - 2560X1440P, Adaptive Sync, Flicker-Free, Frameless Design, Swivel Adjustment, HD Display by Donald Collins

I upgraded my gaming system earlier this year and finally got a GPU (5700XT) capable of driving a 1440p display. Unfortunately it was May and monitors were either becoming unavailable or expensive. I couldn't find high refresh rate 1440p monitors for less than $400, and I was only filming at 75MHz at the time. So I was pleasantly surprised when this new $310 Pixio (BF sale) was available with up to 165MHz over DisplayPort. After seeing the Hardware Unboxed review I pulled the trigger and bought two along with another one as gifts for my son. Good: It's just a great display. With the 5700XT I can get 60-90fps in high-end games and that's fine. One of the extremely useful features is the display of frames per second on the screen. This really helped when I was doing the initial setup as Windows has an annoying habit of resetting your display to 60MHz. When I was convinced that Windows had given up, I turned it off. Compatible with FreeSync and GSync. FreeSync is native and easy to enable, but you must enable it on the display and then enable it in Radeon Software. Again, the FPS counter was very helpful in confirming that adaptive sync was indeed enabled. There is some misleading information that FreeSync only works with DP, but it doesn't. DP is only needed for 165MHz as HDMI does not support frequencies above 144MHz. . Setting up GSync requires a bit more work, but it's there. Yes, and it's also compatible with FreeSync "Premium" - AMD's newer "non-free" version of FreeSync. - Good selection of ports with two HDMI ports and a display port. I have my main computer plugged into HDMI 1, RP4 into HDMI2 and an iMac into the displayport (as a second display). I'll probably switch my computer to a displayport because my setup has the second display for the iMac on the "wrong" side, and try as much as I can, I can't get used to it. - Decent adjustment controls with a joystick-like knob on the back on the right (if you're looking at it) so you can use your right hand to use it (sorry lefties). "Press right to select" is a bit counterintuitive. Not so good: - The biggest minus is quite large - zeroing. The stand is completely fixed - no tilt, no swivel, no height (EDIT: wrong, there is a tilt). Worse still, it's very small at 5 inches (12.7 cm) from the table surface to the bottom edge of the actual display (not the edges of the frame but parts of the display). In comparison, my iMac sits on a small stand (less than 2 inches) and the bottom of the display is just over 8 inches (20.3 cm). That being said, the stand is very strong and holds the monitor well, with one exception (see below). The stand is very wide - 16 inches wide. and 10 cm deep. I was able to find a suitable booth at Monoprice, but it wasn't easy. In retrospect, I should have bought a VESA compatible adjustable monitor stand. The monitor supports VESA 100 mounts, and Monoprice has a great one. Either way, fixing this issue with a stand costs $25-$30 (if that's a concern for you), meaning a competing monitor with a height-adjustable stand that costs $20 more is a better deal is. really cool except it's in a spot where your hand would naturally move the monitor. I almost dropped the display when I first set it up because I grabbed it by the quick release. Be careful! I'm having an annoying problem with a monitor that sometimes won't wake up from sleep mode. I couldn't figure it out as a monitor issue or GPU issue because I was having some weird sleep related bugs even with my newest monitor, but this is much worse. I have sent an email to Pixio technical support but no solution yet. EDIT: Great answer from Pixio. Most likely a bad HDMI cable. I switched to displayport and the problem was gone. All in all, this is a great monitor at a great price. If the stand was adjustable I would call it perfect. If you don't mind the display sitting low, or have a ready-made solution, I have no qualms recommending it. If you're doing a two-handed install, be sure to keep this in mind. You will hardly find a monitor with the features and quality of the P277 in this price range. Even if you spend $30 on an adjustable stand, it's still a great value. No regrets from me.