MSI’s take on the killer 4K gaming OLED segment has always looked appealing. How so? In a word, price. At $899, it’s easily the cheapest of the bunch.
Of course, there’s a catch. You kind of can’t buy the MSI MAG 321UPX. At least, you barely ever could, it has been sold out almost all the time. But now you can for that $899 price from Newegg.
I reviewed this monitor back in May. At least, I reviewed the MSI MAG 321URX, which is identical save for having a USB-C interface with 90 W of power delivery. This 321UPX model (note the “P” second from last letter where the other model has an “R”) only serves up 15 W over its USB-C connection.
That detail aside, you’re getting the same stunning QD-OLED panel. Though it’s not perfect. Like all monitors using the Samsung QD-OLED panel tech, it’s a little on the warm side in terms of colour balance. And the quantum dot tech and lack of polarising filter means that the panel kicks some ambient light back out in really bright conditions, making black tones look a little grey.
Of course, like any OLED monitor, there’s always the worry of burn in, though you are covered by a three-year warranty for peace of mind.
All that understood, the combination of crispy 4K pixel density with OLED-powered HDR sizzle, perfect contrast and per-pixel lighting, plus outrageously fast response time is, well, it’s like no other current monitor technology on the market. It’s what you’ve always wanted from a high-end gaming monitor and a fantastic productivity panel, all in one.
It’s also worth noting that this latest QD-OLED panel tech from Samsung is much better than the first OLED monitors with LG WOLED panels when it comes to full-screen brightness. Sure at 250 nits, the full-screen SDR pop is merely acceptable rather than excellent. But it’s much less of an issue in most desktop computing scenarios than you might think. And it’s barely an issue at all actually in game.
One last proviso is that you’re obviously going to need one heck of a GPU to keep that 4K pixel grid humming at anything like the 240 Hz theoretical refresh rate. But then you knew that coming in. In reality, this remains a fairly rarefied beast at $899 plus the cost of a fast graphics card. But it’s still the best value 4K OLED by far.
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