At a look

Professional’s Score

Execs

• Engaging design
• Nice distinction ratio
• Extraordinary shade gamut
• Tremendous-bright in each SDR and HDR

Cons

• No USB connectivity
• Out-of-the-box shade accuracy, gamma may very well be improved
• Mini-LED backlight can present blooming, particularly in HDR

Our Verdict

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i has a Mini-LED backlight with 1,156 dimming zones. That interprets to glorious HDR that’s on par with a few of the greatest screens from 2023, although acquainted Mini-LED points, like blooming, stay current.

Value When Reviewed

This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined

Finest Pricing Immediately

$329.99

Finest Costs Immediately: Xiaomi G Professional 27i

$329.99

Mini-LED screens are one of the vital attention-grabbing niches within the monitor market proper now. These shows use an array of LED lights behind the display screen to dynamically alter distinction. Though this expertise is usually costly to implement, just a few funds choices have emerged, such because the Xiaomi G Professional 27i. It’s not far more costly than fashions missing a Mini-LED backlight, both.

Xiaomi G Professional 27i specs and options

A lot of the Xiaomi G Professional 27i’s specs are typical for a 27-inch gaming monitor priced beneath $500. The 27-inch widescreen panel has a decision of 2560×1440 and helps a refresh price of as much as 180Hz. There are actually tons of of screens out there with an identical decision and refresh price.

• Show dimension: 27-inch 16:9 widescreen
• Native decision: 2560×1440
• Panel kind: Quick IPS with Mini-LED backlight with 1,152 dimming zones
• Refresh price: As much as 180Hz
• Adaptive sync: AMD FreeSync
• HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 1000
• Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm audio out
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Audio system: None
• Value: $329.99 MSRP

The Mini-LED backlight is Xiaomi’s secret sauce. Regardless of its value of simply $330, the Xiaomi G Professional 27i options 1,152 dynamic dimming zones. For those who wished that many dimming zones in 2023, you’d need to pay three or 4 occasions greater than what Xiaomi is asking right now.

Additional studying: See our roundup of the perfect gaming screens to find out about competing merchandise.

Xiaomi G Professional 27i design

A look on the Xiaomi G Professional 27i makes it clear the corporate’s designers took notes from Alienware. The monitor’s mixture of stark white and charcoal-black supplies, together with the distinctive retro-futuristic font utilized by the quantity “27” discovered on the again of the show, offers off a vibe much like Alienware’s distinctive “Legend” design language.

I’ve at all times felt Alienware’s screens are among the many best-looking within the trade right now, so emulating that design is a recipe for achievement. I used to be additionally shocked by how good the monitor appears to be like and feels given its $330 value. Not solely is it engaging, however it additionally holds up effectively when dealt with, as Xiaomi makes use of supplies and textures that assist the monitor stand out from the gang. It contains RGB-LED lighting on the rear of the show panel for further aptitude, although I didn’t discover it to be particularly vivid.

Xiaomi ships the monitor with a purposeful ergonomic stand that adjusts for peak, tilt, swivel, and may rotate 90 levels to be used in portrait orientation. Most screens priced equally supply an identical vary of changes, however it’s good to see Xiaomi didn’t sacrifice ergonomics to maintain the value low.

Nonetheless, Xiaomi opts for a somewhat extensive stand base which takes up extra desk area than needed. It’s flat, at the very least, so you’ll be able to nonetheless make some use of the area it occupies, however I desire the smaller hexagonal stand discovered on some current Alienware screens just like the Alienware AW2725QF.

The stand can also be tougher to arrange than normal, because it’s not secured with the standard thumb screw however as a substitute with 4 Phillips-head screws (a screwdriver is offered). A 100x100mm VESA mount is accessible to be used with third-party monitor stands and arms.

Xiaomi G Professional 27i connectivity and menus

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i has two HDMI 2.0 ports and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports for a complete of 4 video inputs. Solely the DisplayPort connections can deal with the monitor’s full decision and refresh price of 180Hz, whereas the HDMI ports are restricted to 144Hz. Ideally, all ports ought to help the complete decision and refresh price, however sticking with HDMI 2.0 is a compromise made by many reasonably priced screens.

Whereas the monitor provides loads of video connectivity, it lacks USB connectivity — there’s no USB-C, USB-B, or USB-A. This omission isn’t shocking, as many cheap screens skip USB ports altogether. Nonetheless, with USB-C gaining popularity annually, it could have been good to see it included. The Innocn 27M2V, a 27-inch 4K Mini-LED monitor, provides a USB-C port.

A 3.5mm audio-out jack rounds out the connectivity choices. The Xiaomi doesn’t have built-in audio system.

The on-screen menu system is managed through a responsive joystick situated on the precise aspect of the monitor. Like many monitor menu methods, Xiaomi depends on small textual content that may be a bit tough to learn from a distance. Nonetheless, the monitor provides vary of choices, together with picture changes for shade and gamma.

Gaming options are missing, although: The monitor has a Darkish Scene Increase characteristic to make foes simpler to identify in darkish areas, however it lacks an on-screen crosshair, timer, or FPS counter. It additionally doesn’t help the choice show dimension and facet ratio modes discovered on OLED gaming screens and lacks any picture-in-picture or picture-by-picture mode.

Whereas the on-screen menu system is nice, Xiaomi doesn’t supply a Home windows software program utility to regulate the monitor’s settings. Many monitor manufacturers, together with Alienware, Acer, Gigabyte, LG, and BenQ, now supply some type of Home windows utility, which is often extra handy to make use of than the on-screen menu. Xiaomi’s lack of a Home windows utility for this monitor isn’t a giant deal should you don’t plan to alter settings typically, however should you do, it’s a letdown.

Xiaomi G Professional 27i SDR picture high quality

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i’s Mini-LED backlight permits it to attain VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification, which is great for an reasonably priced gaming monitor. Nonetheless, SDR continues to be the primary use case for many PC video games and productiveness apps, in order that’s the place we’ll start.

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i is exceptionally vivid at its most setting. I measured a peak brightness of just about 800 nits, which obliterates the competitors.

In fact, it’s price asking whether or not this stage of brightness is helpful. In concept, this may very well be useful should you’re utilizing the monitor subsequent to a sunward-facing window or in a particularly vivid room, however in any other case, I don’t assume this stage of SDR brightness is critical. Personally, I discovered it comfy at round 25 p.c to 30 p.c of its most brightness.

Nonetheless, if you’d like vivid, Xiaomi delivers.

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i delivered a good distinction ratio of 8,530:1 at 50 p.c of its most brightness. This can be a good end result for an reasonably priced monitor, and in lots of conditions, it gained’t look a lot completely different from an OLED show. Xiaomi’s sturdy distinction, mixed with its brightness, makes it particularly well-suited to be used in brighter rooms. When used this fashion, darkish parts of the show seem extraordinarily deep, providing an amazing sense of immersion.

Nonetheless, the monitor faces stiff competitors from the AOC Q27G3XMN, one other reasonably priced Mini-LED show. The AOC has far fewer backlight zones than the Xiaomi (336 vs. 1,152), however in testing, the AOC achieved a greater distinction ratio at default settings. This was true throughout each greater and decrease brightness ranges. The Innocn 27M2V, an older 4K Mini-LED monitor, fell behind the Xiaomi, although it nonetheless carried out effectively for the value.

Coloration gamut is arguably the Xiaomi G Professional 27i’s best energy, because the monitor has a colourful Quantum Dot panel, which is phenomenal at this value level and delivers a shade gamut far wider than most opponents. We’re speaking 99 p.c of DCI-P3 and 98 p.c of Adobe RGB. These outcomes are among the many greatest out there at any value and defeat even QD-OLED screens, which many take into account the gold normal for a monitor’s shade gamut.

The Xiaomi’s glorious shade gamut supplies vivid, saturated visuals in video games, however it’s much more helpful for content material creators working with photographs, movies, or digital artwork. The monitor means that you can see a wider vary of colours than is typical for competitively priced shows. The Innocn 27M2V is a robust rival to Xiaomi on this space and in addition has 4K decision (which many content material creators will desire), however it’s roughly $150 costlier.

Coloration accuracy, then again, was a weak spot, as Xiaomi’s default shade accuracy was behind its closest opponents. This may be adjusted with calibration, and I managed to enhance the colour accuracy, bringing the common shade error right down to 1.66 with some tweaks. That stage of shade accuracy is powerful, although nonetheless not on the high of the pack.

I had some points with gamma and shade temperature. Initially, I measured a default gamma curve of two.9, which was far off the goal of two.2 and indicated a very darkish picture. This didn’t match what I used to be seeing, so I investigated additional. After some troubleshooting, I discovered that the Mini-LED backlight took a second to settle into the right brightness when shifting between gamma check photos, which skewed the outcomes. Turning off the dynamic Mini-LED backlight modified the gamma end result to 2.3, which is way nearer to the goal and supplies a extra correct picture. To be clear, I imagine a gamma 2.3 can also be what the panel produced with the Mini-LED backlight turned on however, due to the way it operated, I couldn’t get a end result I trusted.

The default shade temperature additionally skewed heat at 5900K, which can provide the picture a pink or rosy tint. This, too, is adjustable, and you’ll dial within the shade temperature to fit your choice. However I used to be by no means capable of hit my goal shade temperature of 6500K: The monitor was at all times a bit too cool or too heat.

Sharpness is okay. The Xiaomi’s 2560×1440 decision is a standard alternative for an reasonably priced 27-inch monitor, offering a pixel density of about 109 pixels per inch. That’s sufficient to look sharp in most conditions, although textual content can appear barely pixelated at occasions. I believe 1440p is a stable compromise for an reasonably priced 27-inch monitor, offering good sharpness at a decision that funds and midrange video playing cards can deal with extra simply.

Whereas the Xiaomi G Professional 27i’s SDR picture high quality is stable, particularly for a monitor at its value level, it has strengths and weaknesses. It’s the alternative of a show just like the Dell U2724DE. That Dell has picture high quality that’s good all-around however by no means the perfect. The Xiaomi, then again, is phenomenal in some areas (like brightness and shade gamut) however not so scorching in others (like shade accuracy and shade temperature).

Xiaomi G Professional 27i HDR picture high quality

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i claims VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification, which is great for a monitor at this value level. The monitor principally lived as much as the expectations set by this certification, although it’s not with out flaws.

HDR brightness is spectacular. It achieved a sustained brightness of as much as 902 nits when displaying a full-screen HDR picture calibrated for over 1,000 nits. Its HDR brightness ranges throughout the board are glorious for the value, although not so good as the AOC Q27G3XMN.

Nonetheless, the Xiaomi G Professional 27i’s HDR picture high quality is difficult to beat for the value. This isn’t solely as a result of its excessive HDR brightness but additionally using Quantum Dots, which supplies an distinctive shade gamut that advantages HDR. General, the HDR picture tends to seem barely hotter than it ought to, however to not the extent that the majority viewers would discover.

There may be one notable flaw, although, and it’s frequent to Mini-LED screens: blooming. The Mini-LED backlight’s dimming zones are bigger than the person pixels on the show, so when small vivid objects seem on a darkish background, a noticeable halo can “bloom” round them. The reverse can occur, too — when viewing vivid textual content on a darkish display screen, the textual content might seem dimmer than it ought to. It occurs most steadily round textual content, like subtitles, or small interface parts, like a mini-map in a technique sport.

I anticipated the Xiaomi’s dimming zones would reduce blooming, however I didn’t discover that to be the case. If something, it appeared to carry out worse than the Innocn 27M2V, which additionally has 1,152 dimming zones, and was merely on par with the AOC Q27G3XMN, which has simply 336. This was most noticeable within the case of inverse blooming: In some instances the Xiaomi had a tough time displaying small, vivid objects at an acceptable stage of brightness.

Xiaomi G Professional 27i movement efficiency

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i encompasses a quick IPS show panel with a most refresh price of 180Hz. It additionally helps AMD FreeSync and Adaptive Sync, which ought to work unofficially with Nvidia video playing cards.

Movement efficiency is nice, although your impression will rely in your perspective. The 180Hz refresh price delivers a a lot smoother expertise than a 60Hz monitor, with much less seen ghosting behind small fast-moving objects. Nonetheless, the Xiaomi’s movement readability isn’t any higher than different screens with an identical refresh price.

Testing with scrolling photos from video games like League of Legends and Dota 2 confirmed that character sprites and background terrain had been straightforward to make out, however the character names and well being bars may very well be a bit robust to see, particularly once they didn’t distinction effectively with the background. Once more, that is typical for a 180Hz show. Nonetheless, at this value level, it’s doable to search out 240Hz screens that ship even higher movement readability.

The Mini-LED backlight can even current points for movement readability, particularly when a small, vivid object strikes rapidly throughout a darkish scene. Sure colours on gray-ish scenes additionally appear to set off this habits. In both case, the blooming round vivid objects could make ghosting extra noticeable. Moreover, relying on the dimensions of the article and its velocity, the transition between backlight zones can typically change into apparent, giving a “chunky” or uneven look to movement.

Must you purchase the Xiaomi G Professional 27i?

The Xiaomi G Professional 27i is an efficient alternative should you’re on the lookout for an reasonably priced monitor that delivers stable HDR efficiency and achieves a class-leading shade gamut. In these areas, the monitor is ready to match and even surpass the efficiency of shows priced a number of occasions greater, which is, after all, spectacular. The Xiaomi can also be surprisingly effectively designed given its funds pricing.

Nonetheless, like many Mini-LED screens, the Xiaomi G Professional 27i can’t keep away from some frequent flaws. Regardless of its 1,152 dimming zones, blooming continues to be seen round vivid objects on a darkish display screen, and the reverse can happen with darkish objects on a vivid display screen. Movement efficiency can also be simply okay, and aggressive players on a funds might desire to stay with a 1080p monitor that lacks Mini-LED however provides the next refresh price, such because the Alienware AW2724HF.

That leaves the Xiaomi G Professional 27i with a well-defined area of interest. It’s an reasonably priced alternative for HDR video games and films, and a stable choose for content material creators who need an distinctive shade gamut at a low value.