HP OMEN - 27" IPS LED QHD FreeSync & G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor (DisplayPort, HDMI, USB) - Shadow Black

Choosing a monitor for your gaming PC is just as important as choosing what components go into your PC. What good is power without a screen capable of showing you what it can do? As the definition of a good framerate soared well past the 60 FPS mark in the era of eSports, so too have monitors evolved to accommodate gamers’ needs for speed. Having been in on the action for several years under the Omen gaming brand, Hewlett-Packard has several takes on high-refresh-rate monitors under its belt already, but their latest model seeks the ultimate in no-compromise gaming: a 165Hz refresh rate on a 1440p IPS panel. It’s a tall order, and not one without a few small missteps along the way, but the HP Omen 27i Gaming Monitor delivers. Of note, I am running this on a custom desktop with a Threadripper 2920X, 32GB of RAM, and two AMD Radeon Vega 56 cards in Crossfire. While I had little trouble reaching the performance limits of the monitor with this machine, your mileage may vary greatly depending on your CPU and graphics card combination. - Unboxing and Setup Packed efficiently and marketed subtly, the HP Omen 27i Gaming Monitor has premium ambitions. The included instructions are easy to follow, and the inclusion of both HDMI and DisplayPort cables is a welcome sight. Two integrated hex bolts connect the monitor to the height-and-tilt adjustable stand, which has plenty of heft. Adjustments are easy and hold firm. The stand has a cavity at the top of the support arm designed for holding headphones, which is a nice convenience feature that helps clean up desk space. Two USB 3.0 ports allow the monitor to be used as a hub for your keyboard, mouse, headset, or any other USB peripheral, and a combined headphone/microphone port allows you to plug your headset directly into the screen if you desire. One downside I noticed off the bat is that while the monitor is VESA compatible, the mounts are set at a 45-degree angle (a diamond pattern, whereas most others are square with the screen). If you are planning to mount this screen to a monitor stand or arm, make sure the mount plate can rotate freely! The power button and all menu controls are on the backside of the monitor, located along the right side from the viewer’s perspective. I found the positioning a little too inset from the edge of the chassis, making it hard to reach the power button if you’re not sitting in front of the screen. The monitor will automatically switch to the active input source when powering on, or last used if both are active. - Image Quality The “i” in the model name signifies that this is an in-plane switching (IPS) display. The previous Omen 27 screen used a twisted nematic (TN) display. Simply put, an IPS panel will usually have far superior color and viewing angles than a TN panel, but a TN panel will have higher refresh rates. The Omen 27i is a high-performing IPS panel capable of 165Hz, allowing for both rich color reproduction and high refresh rate gaming, making no major compromise for either. In a word, the screen on the Omen 27i is wonderful. The panel gets almost unbelievably bright, produces extremely vivid color, and exhibits minimal ghosting at its highest refresh rate. Backlighting is uniform with zero bleed, there’s no color banding to speak of, and the harshest color transitions (e.g. pure red against pure blue) remain incredibly sharp. While it may not support true HDR, it does support 10-bit color depth which unlocks four times as many possible displayed colors over the more common 8-bit depth, though 10-bit is only available at refresh rates 120Hz and below. One great touch is the external lighting both on the backside and bottom of the chassis. These LEDs illuminate the wall and desk, which in practice helps improve perceived contract and also serves to reduce eyestrain by balancing the light all around the monitor. I found it pleasing, if a little dim on the backside LED and a little too bright on the underside. - Gaming Performance High-refresh gaming spoils you. Within moments of playing my first game of Rocket League and exceeding the 60 Hz barrier I had grown accustomed to with older monitors, I was floored by just how much more fluid the game looked in motion. I will say it’s not as stark a contrast as moving from 30 FPS to 60 FPS is, but there is a definite improvement in visual clarity that high-refresh gaming brings. CS:GO and Overwatch were similarly absolute joys to play at 165 Hz, which was made all the better once setting the monitor’s response time to “Level 1 (Fastest),” reducing ghosting and motion blur to a level so minute I had to go looking for it in high-contrast scenes. Since you will need a very beefy computer to hit 165 FPS at 1440p in most titles, eSports or AAA alike, odds are you will not always be at or above this framerate, and as such the Omen 27i is compatible with VESA Adaptive Sync (branded here as AMD Freesync), which refreshes the screen as quickly (or slowly) as your graphics card draws a frame. What this means is the elimination of “screen-tearing,” and a consistent, stable image without the use of Vertical Sync (which increases control latency) when your system can’t keep up with the monitor. In testing, I found both Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Grand Theft Auto V dipped well short of the 165 FPS target, but with the monitor’s refresh range being 48Hz to 165Hz, FreeSync smoothed out the action when framerates fell dramatically. This range is also wide enough for Low Frequency Compensation to kick in, so that when framerates fall below 48 FPS the action will continue to be as smooth as possible by “doubling up” the refresh rate to match the framerate (e.g. at 47FPS the monitor will switch to 94Hz, 46 FPS switches to 92Hz, etc. until framerate recovers to 48 or higher). I was concerned that the size of the monitor was too small for 1440p resolution, at arm’s length the viewing distance is perfect for normal (100%) scaling within Windows, and the image still plenty large enough to enjoy. The image is just sharp enough that the additional render load of 1440p is justified, as I doubt 4K would look significantly better at 27” for how much strain it puts on a graphics card. - Firmware Troubles I encountered a few small issues in my testing with the monitor that can be attributed mostly to firmware bugs. At the time of this review I am using firmware version LIM111. The smaller issues include brightness settings for the ambient backlighting not holding after turning the monitor off (though it will remember on/off), only a few seconds timeout before switching from a “no signal” input to the active one, and the headphone/microphone port on the monitor itself exhibiting line noise in the form of an audible hissing that doesn’t exist on my PC’s other outputs. The first two could be easily remedied through a future firmware update, though I question whether the line noise is due to firmware code or a poor quality digital audio converter in the monitor. I experienced one significant issue otherwise. After about 30 minutes of desktop use at 165Hz, the monitor will flicker gray a few times over the course of a few seconds, then remain stable for about another 30 minutes before repeating. I did not encounter this problem with the monitor set to 144Hz. I’m not sure whether this is an issue with my graphics cards or an issue with the monitor itself; however, HP’s support site lists the Omen 27i as having a maximum vertical refresh rate of 144Hz. With the screen clearly advertised as having a 165Hz refresh rate, I question whether 165Hz is an overclock that the panel is not capable of sustaining at all times. - Bottom Line The HP Omen 27i Gaming Monitor doesn’t compromise picture quality to reach a high refresh rate, and has rightfully earned its place at the center of my PC gaming setup. Minor firmware inconveniences aside, the panel speaks for itself. It’s difficult to find anything this screen doesn’t do well when it comes to gaming, and it works plenty great as a daily driver for all but the most scrutinous video or photo editing work that calls for precise color. I’m enjoying this panel so much that I’m strongly considering picking up a second one to round out my setup rather than using any random monitor as my side screen, especially knowing that unlike random “gaming-focused” brands, this comes with the backing of an HP warranty. It’s premium and it’s priced accordingly, but the HP Omen 27i Gaming Monitor comes highly recommended!

I wanted to add a review highlighting that the monitor IS compatible with VESA mounts. The following video shows how to access the VESA mounting bracket. You must first remove the back 6-8 screws. It mounts at a 45 degree angle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CShNSLwHWIc Overall great monitor though, have had no issues whatsoever.

I have an ASUS FHD gaming panel that offers 144hz. I wanted something in between 4K and FHD. When I saw this gaming monitor in the store for $379, for Black Friday, I knew it was one I was looking for. So I spent the next couple hours researching this item. The only downside I see with this is the lack of HDR. But despite not having HDR its IPS color gamut is so great I don't think you'll even notice. I have my Xbox Series X attached to this monitor running at 1440p with 120hz with VRR and this is an amazing experience. Love all the enhancements that this console brings to older titles. Wait for another sale and purchase this monitor.

So I’ve had this monitor for over a month now, and I must say it’s a beast. I wanted a really good monitor that not only complimented the desk area, but also could show what my PS5 was really capable of. Even though this monitor does not have 4K capabilities, the colors and picture are so crisp that’s it’s hard to even tell that it’s not a feature. Picture setup was not too tedious and the fluidity of adjusting the height and angle of the monitor are effortless. Also the light on the back of the monitor is fairly bright as well. Right now I mainly play Apex Legends, COD, and single player games, and with the ability to play some games at 120 FPS, this monitor is a win win!!!

I upgraded from a HP 1080p 60hz monitor to this new HP Omen and I have this hooked up to my Xbox Series X and the colors and refresh rate is pretty good! I love the RGB lights in the back and customization you can do. Definitely a step up from my old monitor!

I really like this monitor!!! It was alot bigger than I expected when I pulled it out of the box!! Easy to put the stand on it. The picture looks great on it when I play anygame or watch a movie and definitely wanna buy another to fit beside it!!

I absolutely love this monitor. Picked it up for my ps5 and couldn’t be happier. I was hesitant at first because of the price, but it was worth it in the long run. Works great and I love the lights on the back. If you’re on a budget you might want to look at some other options, but if you have a little extra dough I’d definitely add this to the options.

(This is my sister’s Best Buy account but I am the one using it fyi) I was searching for a monitor for awhile because I was setting up my gaming setup and the 27i had been on my radar for awhile. I knew the standard specs of what I wanted for what kind of gaming I would be doing. -1440p -144 hz or more -1ms response time -Freesync and G-sync -Flat IPS panel I do my gaming on my xbox series x which I love. I also in the future plan to make a rig in which I can connect to this monitor through DisplayPort. This monitor checked all the specs that I wanted and added some flair. Really cool design. RGB lighting. Nice and simple software. Not to mention that whenever I hop into an fps like COD or Rainbow i feel silky smooth gameplay in rich 2k resolution. Freesync works well with the AMD chip in the series x. The monitor also has no dead pixels and minimal ips glow like other people have had issues with theirs. I feel like they just got defective units. Also, be smart people. If you are going to buy a monitor for $500 dollars, buy a warranty to make sure you get your money’s worth. I honestly could go on a long list of pros about the monitor but I do bot wish to make this review absurdly long. I do however have some minor cons because no product is perfect. -Lack of HDR for $500 -Poor Stand Mobility -Weird Diamond Vesa pattern -Although the software is nice and simple the buttons on the bank are kind of janky. I feel that for this monitor price range competitors have HDR but the reason I do not care for the lack of is because most monitors at this price point that have HDR are not that good. So missing out on a feature that would likely be sub par is fine by me. I also wish there was a swivel on the stand but its fine for what I meed but some others may want more mobility. Which leads to the weird VESA mount. It is Vesa compatible but the pattern is diagonal so you're stand might not fit if it cant rotate. Again not a problem for me but could cause issues for some other people. The buttons on the back are kind of weird but I don't mid because the software is convenient for what I need. The monitor is also pretty easy to clean. A microfiber cloth works well to swipe away some smudge and spots but don't be too hard because I feel like the screen is a little vulnerable. But I wouldn't worry too much about it since Im sure the durability of the screen is fine and plus I purchased a warranty. Overall Great monitor. I really recommend this for gaming. Plus I got a sweet black friday deal and got it for $380 plus a $60 warranty. Well worth the money and Im looking forward to using this monitor for as long as it will last me( hopefully a long time ) I will update my review if anything unpleasant happens to the monitor over time. Whether it be wear and tear or warranty issues. Thank you for your time!