HP 27-inch QHD Gaming with Tilt/Height Adjustment with AMD FreeSync Premium Technology (X27q, 2021 model)

I bought this monitor to upgrade my gaming experience from 1080p to 1440p. I was also moving from a TN panel on my 1080p monitor and was amazed by the difference in color (mainly contrast) from TN to IPS. My monitor does have a BOE panel instead of the much reviewed an praised LG panel that these had when they first came out. I have not experienced any of the issues others have had with the BOE panel (I’ve had the monitor for less than a month at time of review). There is minimal backlight bleed that I’ve noticed, but I also dialed in settings for brightness, contrast, gamma, etc in windows when I first set it up and I mostly use it in a dark room. For 1440p gaming on a capable system this monitor is great, and at an affordable price. There are other options that are in the same price range that have better panels, but I rolled the dice on this one and it’s yet to disappoint. I will update this review if I begin having issues with the panel. Otherwise, I would recommend this monitor to anyone wanting a 1440p gaming monitor for a decent price.

I got this for $210 which for what it is, was an excellent deal. I ended up ordering a second and one was the LG panel and the other was the BOE panel. I really dont see a difference between the 2 panels. Yeah theres the usual IPS glow and if I am being super critical, the LG one has a little more glow on the top left than the BOE panel, but its totally acceptable for this price. The black frame insertion performance is great and the response time set to 2 looks perfect. The HDR looked super clipped and blown out no matter the settings on my PS5, but I didnt get this monitor for that feature. I wish VRR was supported on the PS5 for this one, but at least it works on the PC and Xbox consoles. I highly recommend this screen if you see it on sale and need a gaming monitor.

Great monitor! No backlight bleeding like the other, more expensive monitors I bought and had to return. If you are look for the best value monitor that checks all the boxes, this is it.

Fantastic entry level monitor for 1440p gaming. Bought from a review from @PCBuilderChannel on YouTube.

I usually buy monitors from Dell, but this monitor was a hundred dollars cheaper than the Dell equivalent (S2721DGF, which, apparently, has the same panel), with the only apparent downside being the lack of a USB hub, so I bought two. Both screens arrived in perfect working condition, with no visible backlight bleeding (surprisingly), and no dead pixels. Ive been using the monitors for almost a week, and so far, I havent experienced any issues that sometimes occur with cheaper monitors, like some patterns or colors triggering waves on the screen. The only complaint I have with this monitor is the placement of the buttons. They are simply infuriating to use, because they are at the back of the monitor and navigating the monitors menus involves constantly keeping attention to which button you have your fingers on. Also, a minor nitpick: in my experience, Dell monitors come with a sturdy briefcase-like box made out of thick cardboard, while these HP monitors come in a cheap box made out of thin cardboard. This, of course, is a very minor issue, but I am not sure I will be able to use the original boxes from HP to transport the monitors because one of the packages arrived with a tear starting from one of the handle cutouts.

Got the HP X27q during the second treasure truck sale on July 13, 2022. As you see in some of the reviews after July 13 some have reported getting monitors with a BOE panel (BIM111) used instead of the LG panel (LIM101) in earlier manufactured models that got a lot positive reviews. There are other reports of people getting a newer revision LG panel (LIM111). Its a lottery at this point. In my case I would be considered lucky and got an old stock manufactured Aug 2021 with the LIM101 LG panel and monitor FW 1.1.1.0. No dead or stuck pixels. No flickering. The colors after using a color profile file from a review and their recommended settings and in 10bit the general output from the monitor looks great. This is my first IPS monitor so it was a bit of a sensory overload with picture quality after using TN monitors for so long. But thats kinda ruined as I got unlucky with the IPS glow lottery. The bottom left is pretty bad. If theres anything dark in that corner it will look washed out if sitting in the center. I can either sit a bit off to the left about an inch from the center or sit one and half arms length away to see that bottom left glow go away so things like watching movies from a further distance is unaffected. Included in the review is a pretty good representation of what I see using a solid black color and with the monitor brightness set at 5 at about an arms length away. Horizontal viewing angles are good. Vertical viewing angles are only good looking from below. From above its a bit washed out and gets worse when a horizontal angle is added. Looks like it comes from the IPS glow at the bottom. Compared to my Dell S2716DG with TN panel vertical viewing angle from above is much better. But honestly vertical viewing angles will never be a problem for me. Buttons in the back is just bad. Having a multi monitor setup and needing to press any buttons to switch input or make any other adjustment means I have to keep pivoting away my side monitor which Im glad I have monitor arms. Just have the buttons at come out the bottom of the bottom bezel. The forward facing power LED design placement is questionable as the placement is just there. By default on the white LED is not that bad during the day, but at night it will be noticeable and can be dazzling to the eyes. And it turns to a nice amber when it enters into sleep mode though I its still a bit bright at night. HP does give us the option to completely disable it. But there seems to be a bug with it. After turning off the power LED and the first time the monitor enters sleep mode the LED will stay off. But when you wake it up and the next it enters sleep mode with the no input message pops up the white LED will come on and stay on. It doesnt turn amber and stays white. The LED will then turn off the next time you wake it up. Warranty length is only a year. But for me after searching up my serial number my warranty started back in April 15, 2022 and ends May 9, 2023. So I have 10 months. Though Im pretty sure they have to grant my warranty started at the time of purchase July 13 and not April 15 with the invoice. So to rate the monitor. During the day time the IPS glow is not noticeable and the overall picture quality is great. In the evening/night the IPS glow is there but Ive found a good balance of brightness that works well that it limits the IPS glow and havent noticed it when just doing stuff. Though for others this might not be possible. The vertical angle that Im not bothered about but should be brought up. And the bug with the power LED can be a major issue for some. Finding out that I may have less than one year warranty really sucks so Im giving it a 3 star instead of a 4. If this monitor was to ever drop down to the treasure truck truck price of $175 I would try and get another one and would recommend giving it a shot. It is Amazon so returns is not that much of an hassle. At the regular price of around $250 I would really be looking at other monitors in this price range before considering this X28q. Something to note is other major electronic stores dont sell this model anymore and HPs own store website doesnt even have a page for it. Is it possible this treasure truck sale was to move the last major batch of these monitors before being discontinued?

This monitor does what it’s advertised to do well. When plugged into a PC/laptop as external display, it runs games great at 1440p & 144hz (up to 165hz display port). It also runs certain PS5 games that have 120hz support at 1440p very nicely. The biggest drawback I have found is that console games capped 60fps are a hit or miss on this monitor. This monitor does not do 60hz well for some reason. Obviously 60hz is not its intended function, but many of the older PS4 games, like older CoD titles (which run at 60hz), look terrible on this monitor. There’s ghosting, screen tearing, and input lag, even with the response time set to Level 1 in the monitor’s OS, the lowest value. Even Battlefield 2042, which is a next gen game meant to run at 60hz has ghosting and a slight input lag with this monitor. It’s not a true, smooth 60fps. This wasn’t an issue with the generic 24” 60hz flatscreen I used to play my PS5 on, for PS4 or PS5 games running at 60hz. So if you’re a PS5 owner looking for a “do it all” monitor for your next and last gen titles, you may be disappointed to see your last gen titles don’t run as well as before. Overall, still a good buy and a no brainer for PC users looking for a budget gaming monitor, or next gen console gamers.

Zero complaints. Adjustable stand works, stand footprint isnt too big. Great picture quality, refresh rate, and latency for $210 dollars. At the price I bought it at it was an absolute steal. If anyone is looking for a 1440p monitor at a great price that checks all the boxes this is my #1 recommendation.

Dunno if I got lucky or what, but I got an LG panel and its basically perfect. Zero ghosting (I think that recent review complaining about ghosting has their settings wrong - setting Response Time to level 4 will introduce overshoot, I recommend setting it to level 2. Or theyre using variable refresh rate, which I havent bothered using yet), good colors + brightness, no dead pixels, and minimal backlight bleed. Only annoyances Ive had with it is: It installs Omen Gaming Hub on your PC automatically, completely unasked for (I uninstalled it and it never came back). Red colors are a smidge over-saturated and its difficult to reign it in with the settings. Though it may just be my old secondary Dell monitor, which looks a bit gray and washed out, in comparison. Otherwise, 100% recommended for anyone looking for a high refresh rate 1440p IPS panel monitor around $200, that doesnt have the awful VA panel black smearing that cheaper high refresh rate usually have (havent seen a single other monitor like this around $200 that isnt a VA panel). You also usually dont see fully height-adjustable stands at this price point, either. So I was a bit skeptical buying it for only $200. Wasnt expecting much considering the brand and the price, but Im pleasantly surprised. Update: I tried out Freesync, and it actually works better than the dedicated Gsync module in my old monitor. There is some very slight overshoot ghosting, but you really have to look for it to notice it.

product arrived without any imperfections, no dead pixels, and thankfully I got the version with an LG panel, not the lower quality one that i think its a chinese brand called obe or obo or whatever. Im so happy with this monitor!