In Gigabyte’s top-of-the-range monitors, one that we had great interest in analyzing is this AORUS FI27Q-X . A monitor that brings the 2560x1440p panels to maximum performance by providing it with 240 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response. Designed for high resolution eSport gaming, it will extract the full capacity of the next generation AMD RX 6000 and Nvidia RTX 30 cards in competition.
In addition, it is a panel that is also committed to the maximum color performance, with HDR 400, IPS technology and 100% Adobe RGB color coverage . Will it be able to fulfill everything it promises? With AORUS we’re sure it does, so let’s start this review!
Bracket design
This AORUS FI27Q-X is using the same support system design as the rest of the brand’s monitors. It will arrive with separate legs and arm, so we only have to connect the two pieces and tighten the screw with a philips head that we have at the base.
The design is extremely aggressive while enjoying excellent quality, as it will be built almost entirely of aluminum . In the upper area we have a large handle to carry the complete monitor, while the rear area has a black plastic housing that will reveal a logo with RGB Fusion 2.0 lighting. Just below we have a huge hole to pass cables or simply for decoration and lighten the weight a bit.
It is a fairly heavy arm , which has a hydraulic mechanism with wide travel and smooth sliding to raise or lower the screen. In the support system we have a mechanism that allows us to orient the screen horizontally and vertically, as well as rotate it. Despite being quite mobile, it is quite stable and we will barely have rocking on mediocre desks.
The anchoring system for the display will consist of a custom version of the VESA 100 × 100mm with a decorative rear casing. We will not need to use screws, as it has two upper tabs where to hang the monitor and two lower anchors where to attach it. To extract it again, we only have to press two outer tabs inwards. The whole system is extremely worked and optimized to give us maximum stability and coupling, so we have no complaints whatsoever except that it occupies a depth of almost 24 cm.
Display Designed
Once the AORUS FI27Q-X is mounted, we can see that the minimum wingspan of the monitor will be almost 49 cm high, the support protruding above the screen in its lowest position, and 57 cm high with it unfolded . The depth as we have said will be around 24 cm and its width 62 cm.
The panel has been installed on an internal metal frame with a housing made of high quality rigid plastic . The frame area leaves us a physical thickness of just 2 mm for lateral and upper areas, making a total of 8 mm adding the frames integrated into the screen. The lower edge does have plastic frames, occupying a thickness of 25 mm with a new design that is sharper and better integrated with the panel.
In the rear area we observe an equally aggressive and well-worked design as in the base. The back case has a top area with a grill so that the heat generated by the hardware can be effectively expelled.
But the most interesting in terms of gaming aesthetics will be on both sides of the support with areas provided with RGB lighting , but giving it a style of movement that other models do not have. It must be said that this lighting is not too powerful , and it will hardly serve to illuminate the wall a little when we are in the dark. In the lower area of the frame we will have the OSD panel control joystick.
Ergonomics
After seeing how good this AORUS FI27Q-X looks, it is time to see its ergonomics and the possibilities it offers us, which are going to be very wide.
In the case of a 27-inch monitor and in flat format , we have the possibility of turning it clockwise and positioning it in reading mode or vertically. The monitor does not initially have a gyro sensor to rotate the image, so we must do it from the graphics card driver.
The main movement will be that of raising and lowering the panel , something that we can do thanks to the hydraulic mechanism of the support. The adjustment range will be no less than 130 mm from the lowest position of the screen at 44 cm to the highest at 57 cm , which is not bad at all.
The clamping mechanism allows us two more movements. The first one is used to orient the panel frontally, which we can turn down by about -5 ⁰ or up by about 20 ⁰. The second is the movement in the Z axis (sideways) in a range of 40⁰, 20 to the right and 20 to the left .
Connectivity
We now continue with the connectivity of the AORUS FI27Q-X which turns out to be the same as most of the manufacturer’s monitors. All of them will be located in the lower area, including the USB ports for peripherals, which we hope will move to the side area in the next generation.
In total we will have the following connections:
- 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
- USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-B (for data upload and download)
- 1x Display Port 1.4
- 2x HDMI 2.0
- 2x 3.5mm Jack for Headphones and Microphone
- Kensington slot for universal lock
- Three-pin 230V power connector
There are currently some units that already have a USB Type-C port with integrated DisplayPort, and it could have been an excellent complement to this monitor in order to differentiate itself more from its smaller brothers. It does not give up the two USB ports to connect peripherals or manage the monitor.
The preferred port to use will be the DisplayPort , as it will be the one that supports 2K resolution up to 240 Hz, while HDMI 2.0 will go well in this image format up to 144 Hz. In this case we do not see the need for HDMI 2.1, although Again, it could be a nice add-on to use with next-gen GPUs.
The 3-pin power connection implies that the AC / DC transformer is built into the monitor, so it will be one more element that produces heat. With this system we have the advantage of taking a direct cable from the power strip to the monitor, and thus not having pouches lying on the floor.
Panel features
Recently MSI presented one of its best 2K monitors with a 165 Hz panel that was doing great in image quality and gaming performance. But Gigabyte aims for supremacy in this resolution with its AORUS FI27Q-X , which, incidentally , is considerably more expensive to go to the extreme.
And it is that this panel with IPS technology and native resolution 2K (2560x1440p) is capable of reaching a refresh rate of 240 Hz . Therefore, eSport-level performance is combined with enormous sharpness and image quality by offering almost 110 dpi . Added to this is a typical contrast of 1000: 1 and a peak brightness of 400 nits , allowing it to be DisplayHDR 400 certified . The interpolated 10-bit color depth (8-bit FRC) is suitable for HDR10 support. The manufacturer specifies a maximum quality color coverage of 93% DCI-P3, 100% Adobe RGB and 142% sRGB.
Being a full-fledged gaming panel, it has an AMD FreeSync Premium dynamic refresh rate , which of course will be compatible with Nvidia G-Sync . The response speed in GTG (Gery to Gray) mode will be 1 ms, but in MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time) it offers a measurement of only 0.3 ms. Both measures are important, but the latter especially affects the blurring and ghosting of the moving image. So we expect great performance in this area, ideal for FPS and competitive games.
As if that were not enough, it also implements HBR3 (High Bit Rate) technology, which through DisplayPort allows to improve image blur. This technology provides a bandwidth of 32.4 Gbps to the interface to offer 2K, DisplayHDR, 240 Hz and 8 bits of color at the same time . The anti-glare finish on the AORUS FI27Q-X is as good as ever, so great job from the manufacturer.
As a good top-of-the-range monitor in this resolution, it has a wide range of technologies associated with games in addition to those that we have already seen:
- ANC 2.0 – New version of Gigabyte’s active noise cancellation technology . Allows ambient sound to be captured using the microphone located on the front bezel to override it and deliver a cleaner signal from the 3.5mm Jack port available on the monitor.
- Aim Stabilizer – Reduce motion blur for sniper action and FPS games.
Black Equalizer 2.0 : system for detecting dark areas in the image to automatically brighten them and improve user visibility. This new version makes 1296 partitions in the panel to only improve the affected parts. - Dashboard : on compatible computers or connections, it allows monitoring the properties and status of our CPU, GPU and DPI of our mouse. We will need to have the monitor connected by USB to the computer.
- Game Assist : They are different elements such as a timer, personalized crosshairs or manual image adjustments to improve the gaming experience.
- PIP and PBP : to be able to see different video sources simultaneously on the same monitor.
- OSD Sidekick – AORUS ‘quintessential monitor management software.
OSD menu and Sidekick Software
Another of the great allies of AORUS monitors is the integration and complete management of the monitor’s configuration menu through its own software. This AORUS FI27Q-X will not be the exception, although we are going to see what its integrated menu offers.
The control system is based on a 4-way joystick and central push , and with it we will control absolutely the entire monitor, shortcuts and even the power off and on. With the 4 directions we will activate the same number of quick menus, Black Equalizer (top), image mode (bottom), audio output volume (left) and video input (right.
In turn, we will access four menus or options after pressing the central button, main configuration menu (above), turn off the monitor (below), Dashboard (right) and Game Assist (left). We can position the Dashboard in the region that we deem appropriate, with a series of parameters that not necessarily all will work, depending on the hardware we have. With the second menu we will access an advanced image alignment system for multi-screen, timer or various crosshairs for FPS games.
The main menu has not changed over time in the models of this generation, so it is quite well known to us and we continue to love it for its cleanliness, distribution of options and accessibility. The first section will be the one that includes most of the options associated with the panel’s gaming features, for example, Overdrive to improve the response time of the panel, Super resolution to improve sharpness, or the activation of FreeSync Premium .
The other characteristics associated with the image such as brightness, color temperature, etc. They will be associated with each of the image modes represented in the following menu. In this way we can adjust the parameters we want in each profile without affecting others. The rest of the menu is really more secondary, highlighting the PIP / PBP, and being able to store up to three profiles on the screen.
As for the OSD Sidekick software , we basically have an extension of the OSD that we have already seen, but manageable from the operating system. We recommend installing it on any of the manufacturer’s compatible monitors, since it is a very direct way of interacting with the monitor in full.
In addition to all its options, it has a keyboard shortcut configuration system to activate gaming functions. The ANC section will also be more complete, as well as the lighting with RGB Fusion 2.0 .
Final Words
We finish this review of one of the best 2K monitors that we currently find on the market . It has everything you need for both professional eSport level players and image designers or content creators , as its panel has a fabulous image quality and capacity.
About the design we don’t have much to say, as we already know very well what AORUS offers and it is the best in terms of ergonomics , metal construction and stability. An aggressive and very gaming design, even with back lighting that on the other hand takes up a lot of space on the desktop due to its depth.
After a few days giving this monitor hard with multimedia content and Cyberpunk 2077 in this case, we cannot put any kind of hit on what it offers. It does not have Nvidia Reflex or 360 Hz, but it is the most powerful 2K panel on the market right now with its 240 Hz, FreeSync and even HBR3. Absolute sharpness in motion, just 0.3 ms response in MPRT, and no ghosting or other image artifacts. This monitor is going to show off with powerful GPUs like the Nvidia RTX 3080 or the Radeon RX 6800 XT, that’s the reality, since there are not many more that can give more than 140-160 FPS in 2K.
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