HP OMEN 27i Gaming Monitor review – Responsive Gaming Window

A good gaming monitor should have minimal response times for a clear image in motion. It should have minimal input lag to keep up with the action. HP OMEN 27i passes these two checks and has plenty to offer on top. Not least the 165Hz output and 2K resolution in a 27-inch Nano IPS panel – it’s some cutting-edge stuff for an upper mid-range price.

A Good Omen

The monitor itself is a gorgeous object. The angular form, the matted darkness of its all-black colourway, the simple stand and foot design. It may be a design trend within gaming but minimalism and attention to macro detailing is stunning on a gaming monitor and HP OMEN 27i wears it very well.

The singular OMEN logo is the one non-black detail on the front of the panel. It sits on a small-but-perfectly-formed chin bezel. The rest of the frame is about 6mm wide – this three-sided nigh-on frameless design is another current device trend that OMEN 27i definitely pulls off.

The rear sports an OMEN name and a large OMEN-logo styled diamond with LED lighting that runs around the interface between this diamond and a grille that meets rear of the monitor proper. It’s a beautiful setup to look at and it means the LEDs are cast onto the wall behind the monitor. The other LED resides on the lower side centre and shines downwards to highlight a small glossy diamond on the matte diamond foot – an elegant draw to the simplified company logo that adds much.

Ergonomic

HP OMEN 27i has a considerate design and layout even though there are some concessions made to the look of the device. For one, HP OMEN 27i’s buttons are on the rear but they are where a right-handed user can easily access them. Another concession is the headphone hook – nice to have but it’s tucked away at the rear on the stand.

The massive OMEN-brand diamond on the rear actually adds to the ease of installation as well as the aesthetic design. These place all I/ O at a 45-degree angle so users can easily see the ports and insert cables from side-on and from below.

We can’t switch to portrait mode but there is a 5.1″ vertical travel on the stand. Adjustments can be made from 1.5″ to 7.6″ from the desk to lower edge of the monitor. It’s easy enough to move but still feels secure where you bring it to rest.

HP OMEN 27i can tilt its monitor from -20 to 5 degrees. These are standard enough numbers for this type of device – enough movement to keep the picture perfect for the majority of desk-bound users. There is no swivel so you will have to move the whole device for horizontal adjustment.

Gone Nano

The IPS panels that gaming monitors usually use come with few downsides. Nano IPS tries to address the most readily visible of these – colour. Going from a decent TV or phone to a regular IPS can be jarring – IPS panels can seem washed out or dull. Nano IPS offers greater coverage of the colour gamut with 98% of the DCI-P3 colour space.

OMEN 27i benefits greatly from the tech. While the contrast is still an IPS-typical 1000:1 static, the added colour gives the image a little more depth and a lot of vibrancy. The panel’s brightness of 350 cd/m2 is, again, standard for quality gaming monitors but the added colour stops higher brightness settings from washing the image out.

Horizontal viewing angles are standard for an IPS panel. Colour fades around 45 degrees from centre while colour balance starts to take a hit around 50. You can easily share the display with others sitting on your plane, playing multiplayer games or watching a film with three or four others.

Vertical viewing angle are a little worse but, again, standard for this type of panel. From above, washout begins at 35 degrees while colour shifts at around 30 – these numbers make HP OMEN 27i suitable for showing to a person standing behind you.

Fast Above All Else

As noted in our opening paragraph, the speed of gaming monitors is vital – input lag and pixel response time on OMEN 27i are excellent. A 1ms input lag is matched by superb moving image clarity at 60Hz, 120Hz and the max refresh rate of 165Hz. HP OMEN 27i is undoubtedly fast – performing its main duty admirably.

Rainbow Six Siege looks spectacular at higher frame-rates. Pixel-perfect preservation of quickly panning scenes particularly suits my twitchy, high-DPI playstyle. The busy and complex London of Watch Dogs Legion whizzes by with a little more detail for my digital tourist self to take in.

One Each

Port provision is average. You’ll find one HDMI port and one Display Port – 2.0 and 1.2 respectively. Both are up-to-date and support the latest signal standards and throughputs. Or at least the ones it can display properly.

FreeSync works over both the HDMI and Display Port while G-Sync is confined to the Display Port. Not a huge deal since PCs still favour DP.

HP OMEN 27i features the usual extra ports – 2x USB 3.0, 3.5mm audio out and a USB-B. These reside on the other side of the lower angle on the rear diamond. All of the ports are gently lit by the monitor when it’s plugged in – a nice touch.

Console Pleasant

More console gamers are interested in gaming monitors than ever before. For the first time, their machines are capable of outputting something common TVs just can’t handle – 120Hz. PC gamers have been playing at 120Hz+ for a few years now but the recent release of PS5 and Xbox Series X has brought the silk to consoles. FreeSync has also come to consoles and, thankfully, is available over HDMI as well as Display Port.

I tried both PS5 and Xbox Series X with OMEN 27i and both offered excellent experiences. However, it’s not all straightforward. For one, Xbox Series X wouldn’t output 2K@120Hz with VRR enabled on the console. PS5 outputs at 1080p or 4K so the image is ever so slightly softer than a native 2K image.

Both consoles feature a 3.5mm audio socket on their respective controllers so the traditional lack of built-in audio on most gaming monitors isn’t really an issue these days. As a cross-platform monitor, HP OMEN 27i’s picture is excellent and its very usable for someone more used to TV sets. One HDMI port and one Display Port will suit a console/PC setup.

Specifications

All-Rounder with One Standout Area

PC monitors can’t be good at everything but they can offset their weaknesses so their strengths can really shine. You aren’t going to be editing photos or film on an IPS panel and you won’t be sharing it with a room full of people but for everything else, it’s solid.

The extra colour of the Nano technology gives video a pleasing warmth while it’s bright enough for some multimedia use. The panel is good with fine detail and generally consistent with its backlighting – perfect for word processing and other work stuff.

At €520, HP OMEN 27i offers good value. It’s well-featured and a good all-rounder while serving its primary purpose: gaming.

Review unit provided by HP