How Good Can a Budget-Friendly InnoView 27-Inch Gaming Monitor Be?

In this episode, we unbox and test out the InnoView 27-inch gaming monitor to see if budget-friendly means sacrificing features.

Gaming monitors, and computer monitors in general, have really come down in cost and gone up in size in recent years. In the past, 19 and 20-in monitors were considered to be huge, now they're diminutive compared to others out there. At my day job, I have a pair of 24-in monitors, which makes my day-to-day tasks much easier with that much real estate. The team at InnoView recently sent us their 27-inch gaming monitor, designed and optimized for gaming with 1080p full HD and a 100hz refresh rate.

To connect in and out of the monitor, it includes a VGA connector, one HDMI, and an audio output to connect to a soundbar or speakers. It does have a speaker built into it, but as you might expect it's fairly weak due to its size. I would prefer if this had multiple inputs of the same type, so two HDMI ports versus just one or eliminating the VGA connector for another HDMI or display port would be nice.

From the box, getting it set up for my desk was pretty easy. It includes a low-profile stand and a Phillips screwdriver to connect everything up. I have ordered a Vesa mount as this does have Vesa screw holes on the back. My goal for this will be mounted on the right side of my desk while my 32-inch Samsung HD Smart monitor will be on the left.

Going through the menu, it reminded me exactly of some of those smaller portable monitors that I've tested out in the past. The menu seemed virtually identical. You could adjust the picture style, turn HDR on or off, adjust contrast, turn the game mode on and off, and more. You navigate through these menu features through buttons on the bottom of the monitor, however, having a remote control would have made this a lot more convenient.

Connecting to my video game systems was pretty easy thanks to the HDMI input on it. I will say no matter what I did I could not get anything beyond a 60Hz refresh rate. I don't know if that's a limitation of my systems or if only the VGA connector does 100 Hertz, or what but I never saw anything over 60 Hertz.

As is common with monitors such as this, the black levels were absolutely crushed. No matter what I did they always had a blue or a soft tint to them. This was really noticeable in the title screen of Jedi Fallen Order. Looking at it on its own it's even noticeable, whereas with other monitors I've had to have it sitting next to something else with good black levels to be able to tell. Not so with this.

The audio is another weak point of this monitor as the onboard speaker is pretty terrible. I would definitely recommend using some kind of a sound bar or external speaker system in the future If you plan on using this for gaming. That's one of the nice things about the integrated audio port is the fact that you can go into a hardwired speaker for improved audio quality.

Why it RoX:
- Large display
- HDR compatible
- VGA and HDMI inputs
- Output for audio

What could be improved:
- I could never get the advertised 100 Hertz refresh rate
- Black levels are pretty awful
- Integrated speaker is anemic
- Menu system can be cumbersome to navigate

Should you buy one?
At $160 this is an interesting option, but I don't know that it provides the value that I would want. When I consider that I paid under $140 for a 32-in Samsung Smart monitor, this smaller screen at $20 more with a reduced picture quality does not quite deliver as I wanted. Adding the fact that I could never get the 100Hz refresh rate to work for me leaves me a little bit concerned. It's okay for what it is, but will not be my daily driver for my primary monitor.

#GamingMonitor #InnoView #ratchetandclank #AmazonMonitor