MSI Optix MAG271CQR Gaming Monitor Review: Vivid and Versatile

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Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response and Lag

Viewing Angles

VA monitors’ off-axis image quality falls between that of IPS and TN. In the MAG271CQR’s case, light falloff is small at only about 30%, and the color shift is subtle. You can see a bit of green and red in the 30-50% steps, but other brightness levels are still neutral at 45 degrees to the sides. From the top, detail is reduced significantly, and light is reduced again by around 30%. This is better than average performance when compared to the majority of VA monitors.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

If you like playing games in the dark, there won’t be any bleed or glow artifacts to spoil the fun. Thin-bezel monitors sometimes show a little glow around the edges, but MSI avoided that pitfall. Our MAG271CQR sample displayed excellent screen uniformity. With an overall score of just 9.48%, we couldn’t see any light or dark spots anywhere.

Pixel Response & Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

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The MAG271CQR is one of the fastest 144 Hz screens we’ve ever tested. Not only does it post an excellent 7ms full-frame draw time, it only showed 25ms total lag in our mouse-movement test. Only a handful of higher-refresh-rate monitors are quicker and only by imperceptible amounts.

Our gaming experience was equally impressive with instant response to control inputs and no visible motion blur in any gaming or video content. You won’t need the backlight strobe feature with this monitor.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.