HP 27-inch QHD Gaming with Tilt/Height Adjustment with AMD FreeSync Premium Technology (X27q, 2021 model)

Got the HP X27q during the second treasure truck sale on July 13, 2022. As you see in some of the reviews after July 13 some have reported getting monitors with a BOE panel (BIM111) used instead of the LG panel (LIM101) in earlier manufactured models that got a lot positive reviews. There are other reports of people getting a newer revision LG panel (LIM111). Its a lottery at this point. In my case I would be considered lucky and got an old stock manufactured Aug 2021 with the LIM101 LG panel and monitor FW 1.1.1.0. No dead or stuck pixels. No flickering. The colors after using a color profile file from a review and their recommended settings and in 10bit the general output from the monitor looks great. This is my first IPS monitor so it was a bit of a sensory overload with picture quality after using TN monitors for so long. But thats kinda ruined as I got unlucky with the IPS glow lottery. The bottom left is pretty bad. If theres anything dark in that corner it will look washed out if sitting in the center. I can either sit a bit off to the left about an inch from the center or sit one and half arms length away to see that bottom left glow go away so things like watching movies from a further distance is unaffected. Included in the review is a pretty good representation of what I see using a solid black color and with the monitor brightness set at 5 at about an arms length away. Horizontal viewing angles are good. Vertical viewing angles are only good looking from below. From above its a bit washed out and gets worse when a horizontal angle is added. Looks like it comes from the IPS glow at the bottom. Compared to my Dell S2716DG with TN panel vertical viewing angle from above is much better. But honestly vertical viewing angles will never be a problem for me. Buttons in the back is just bad. Having a multi monitor setup and needing to press any buttons to switch input or make any other adjustment means I have to keep pivoting away my side monitor which Im glad I have monitor arms. Just have the buttons at come out the bottom of the bottom bezel. The forward facing power LED design placement is questionable as the placement is just there. By default on the white LED is not that bad during the day, but at night it will be noticeable and can be dazzling to the eyes. And it turns to a nice amber when it enters into sleep mode though I its still a bit bright at night. HP does give us the option to completely disable it. But there seems to be a bug with it. After turning off the power LED and the first time the monitor enters sleep mode the LED will stay off. But when you wake it up and the next it enters sleep mode with the no input message pops up the white LED will come on and stay on. It doesnt turn amber and stays white. The LED will then turn off the next time you wake it up. Warranty length is only a year. But for me after searching up my serial number my warranty started back in April 15, 2022 and ends May 9, 2023. So I have 10 months. Though Im pretty sure they have to grant my warranty started at the time of purchase July 13 and not April 15 with the invoice. So to rate the monitor. During the day time the IPS glow is not noticeable and the overall picture quality is great. In the evening/night the IPS glow is there but Ive found a good balance of brightness that works well that it limits the IPS glow and havent noticed it when just doing stuff. Though for others this might not be possible. The vertical angle that Im not bothered about but should be brought up. And the bug with the power LED can be a major issue for some. Finding out that I may have less than one year warranty really sucks so Im giving it a 3 star instead of a 4. If this monitor was to ever drop down to the treasure truck truck price of $175 I would try and get another one and would recommend giving it a shot. It is Amazon so returns is not that much of an hassle. At the regular price of around $250 I would really be looking at other monitors in this price range before considering this X28q. Something to note is other major electronic stores dont sell this model anymore and HPs own store website doesnt even have a page for it. Is it possible this treasure truck sale was to move the last major batch of these monitors before being discontinued?

For the price I paid of roughly 150 dollars you cant do better.

I read all the reviews and became scared of the panel lottery, but the price was just too tempting. And all this BOE fearmongering turned out to be nonsense. I think youre going to be subjected to panel lottery in general (not just BOE vs LG) and this will be your primary concern. For me, I got an absolutely immaculate BOE. Zero light bleed. Colors look great, a feast for my eyes. Very happy with my supposedly inferior panel. The only scenario where I could see this even being a small problem is if you plan to buy multiple X27qs. In that setup, ideally all your panels would be identical... but even then, these specs at this price point? Still compelling even with that caveat. Another huge bonus for me personally is the stand. It has a small footprint yet is very sturdy and has TONS of adjustment. Most cheaper monitors will cut corners on the stands, and I cannot understate how awesome it is to have the option for portrait mode and height/tilt adjustment out-of-the-box. Again, mind blowing at this price point. I primarily play a lot of fast-paced, flick-shot arena FPS on mouse and would notice any sort of delay or ghosting instantly - there isnt any. I dont own testing equipment to measure exact color accuracy and response time, but I am particular about image quality/delay and have daily-driven more displays than I can count, including 4k and 300hz displays. After 2 months of daily use, I can assure you that this thing punches WAY above its price range - assuming you dont get a dud. But that applies to pretty much any display you may be considering buying.

I bought two of these monitors at $175 and they have been amazing so far. If you’re on the fence about making the leap from FHD to QHD, I am telling you take it. The quality feels so much better and the 165hz screen is so smooth. The only negative is that there are no speakers. Most gamers wear a headset though, so shouldn’t be much of an issue.

I recently ordered January 21, received January 24. I got an LG panel, very happy with that over the BOE panel! The picture quality is miles better than 1080p, and the refresh rate is top notch. Cant compare this to other 1440p monitors, but I am highly satisfied. With some calibration, 10/10

You arent going to get a better monitor without spending double. There are cheaper monitors on the market, but they tend to have really dim light and poor color quality. This monitor is very bright, smooth, and has amazing color quality. It has some small backlight bleed, but it isnt much and of course you arent going to get rid of it with out spending at least double. Dont buy something cheaper, wait a while and get this one!

Would give it a 5 Star if the package didnt look like it got robbed from a Walmart. Monitor is overall probably the best you can get right now. 1440p, 165hz IPS for under 300$. Incredible. Monitor fits pretty good on my desk although its a little bit bigger than what Im used to.

Used opportunity for price drop and ordered. The quality as expected and child happy with gaming on it. The quality vs price-very good choice.

Dunno if I got lucky or what, but I got an LG panel and its basically perfect. Zero ghosting (I think that recent review complaining about ghosting has their settings wrong - setting Response Time to level 4 will introduce overshoot, I recommend setting it to level 2. Or theyre using variable refresh rate, which I havent bothered using yet), good colors + brightness, no dead pixels, and minimal backlight bleed. Only annoyances Ive had with it is: It installs Omen Gaming Hub on your PC automatically, completely unasked for (I uninstalled it and it never came back). Red colors are a smidge over-saturated and its difficult to reign it in with the settings. Though it may just be my old secondary Dell monitor, which looks a bit gray and washed out, in comparison. Otherwise, 100% recommended for anyone looking for a high refresh rate 1440p IPS panel monitor around $200, that doesnt have the awful VA panel black smearing that cheaper high refresh rate usually have (havent seen a single other monitor like this around $200 that isnt a VA panel). You also usually dont see fully height-adjustable stands at this price point, either. So I was a bit skeptical buying it for only $200. Wasnt expecting much considering the brand and the price, but Im pleasantly surprised. Update: I tried out Freesync, and it actually works better than the dedicated Gsync module in my old monitor. There is some very slight overshoot ghosting, but you really have to look for it to notice it.

Monitor is wonderful and great price for the quality. Easy to assemble and NO tools required. The brightness is a bit too much for me as a gamer, but other than that, amazing quality and packaged safely.