The Lenovo D27-30 is an entry-level 27 inch monitor with a 1080p native resolution and a VA panel. As expected for a VA panel, it has impressive contrast and superb black uniformity, making it a great choice for a dark room. Sadly, visibility is an issue in brighter viewing environments, as it can't get bright enough to overcome glare, despite its good reflection handling. It has superb low input lag and FreeSync support for gamers, and the response time at 75Hz is good enough for most casual gamers. This monitor feels a bit out of place, as it has a somewhat dated design that doesn't feel very well-built, and its overall performance is very limited compared to most modern monitors. Even its inputs feel dated, as it lacks modern connectivity options like DisplayPort or a USB hub, but it has a VGA port for legacy devices.
Our Verdict
The Lenovo D27-30 monitor is okay for most uses. It's decent for gaming, with low input lag and a quick response time at the max refresh rate for gaming, and it supports FreeSync. It's okay for office use or media creation, with a decent amount of screen space for multitasking, but the low pixel density isn't great for text processing. Finally, it delivers an adequate movie-watching experience, especially thanks to its high contrast ratio and superb black uniformity, but it doesn't support HDR.
- Impressive contrast.
- Excellent gray uniformity.
- Superb black uniformity.
- Superb low input lag.
- Terrible ergonomics.
- Low peak brightness.
- Image degrades at an angle.
The Lenovo D27-30 is okay for office use. It offers a decent amount of screen space for multitasking, but the relatively low pixel density results in just okay text clarity. It has excellent gray uniformity, amazing gradient handling, and complete coverage of the sRGB color space, so it's great if your work requires accurate colors. Sadly, it has terrible ergonomics, so it's hard to place in an ideal viewing position, and it has narrow viewing angles.
- Excellent gray uniformity.
- Decent screen real estate.
- Excellent SDR color gamut & volume.
- Terrible ergonomics.
- Low peak brightness.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Poor accuracy out of the box.
The Lenovo D27-30 monitor is decent for gaming. It has superb low input lag, resulting in a responsive gaming experience, and it supports FreeSync to reduce screen tearing. It has a good response time at the max refresh rate, but it's not ideal for gaming at 60Hz, as the response time is quite a bit slower. It has a decent amount of screen space, but the relatively low pixel density results in a softer, less-detailed image when gaming.
- Superb low input lag.
- Good response time at the max refresh rate.
- FreeSync support.
- Terrible ergonomics.
- Slow response time at 60Hz.
The Lenovo D27-30 is adequate for watching videos in a dark room. It has impressive contrast and superb black uniformity, so blacks are deep and uniform, and it has excellent gray uniformity with very little dirty screen effect. It also has a decent amount of screen space. Unfortunately, it has narrow viewing angles and terrible ergonomics, so you can't easily share your screen, and it has low peak brightness, so it can't overcome glare in a bright room.
- Impressive contrast.
- Excellent gray uniformity.
- Superb black uniformity.
- Decent screen real estate.
- Terrible ergonomics.
- Low peak brightness.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Doesn't support HDR.
The Lenovo D27-30 monitor is alright for media creators. It has excellent gray uniformity, an amazing SDR color gamut, and excellent gradient handling. It also has a decent amount of screen space to work with. Unfortunately, it has terrible ergonomics and narrow viewing angles, so you can't easily share your screen with a colleague or client, and it has poor accuracy out of the box. It also can't easily overcome glare, meaning visibility can be an issue in a bright room.
- Excellent gray uniformity.
- Excellent gradient handling.
- Decent screen real estate.
- Excellent SDR color gamut & volume.
- Terrible ergonomics.
- Low peak brightness.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Poor accuracy out of the box.
The Lenovo D27-30 doesn't support HDR.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Lenovo D27-30, which is only available in a 27 inch size. There's also an IPS variant of this monitor known as the Lenovo D27-20. Since it uses a different panel technology, our results aren't valid, as we expect it to perform differently.
If someone comes across a different panel type or their D27-30 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between units.
Our unit was manufactured in December 2020, and you can see the label here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Lenovo D27-30 is a very basic 27 inch, 1080p monitor. It doesn't stand out in any way, but it's not terrible, either. If you're willing to spend a bit more, there are much better monitors available, like the ASUS VG279Q or the Acer Nitro VG271 Pbmiipx.
Also see our recommendations for the best monitors under $200, the best 1080p monitors, and the best gaming monitors.
The Gigabyte G27Q is much better than the Lenovo D27-30. The Gigabyte has a much faster refresh rate, a higher resolution screen, and better viewing angles. The Gigabyte also has much better ergonomics and a significantly faster response time. On the other hand, the Lenovo has better contrast, and it looks better in a completely dark room.
The Acer Nitro XV272U KVbmiiprzx is much better than the Lenovo D27-30. The Acer has a higher resolution screen, significantly better ergonomics, and better viewing angles. The Acer also has a much faster response time, making it a better choice for gaming. Finally, the Acer supports HDR, whereas the Lenovo only supports SDR.
The MSI Optix G272 is better than the Lenovo D27-30 for most users, and it's significantly better for gaming. The MSI has a faster refresh rate and a significantly faster response time, so motion looks better, with less blur behind fast-moving objects. The MSI also has better reflection handling and higher peak brightness, so it's better suited to overcome glare in a bright room. On the other hand, the Lenovo has better contrast and better black uniformity, so it looks better if you're in a completely black room.
The Acer Nitro VG271 Pbmiipx is much better than the Lenovo D27-30 for most users. The Acer has much better viewing angles, supports HDR, and is much brighter. The Acer also has a faster refresh rate and a much faster response time, so motion looks much smoother overall. The only advantage of the Lenovo is if you're in a completely dark room, as it has much better black uniformity and better blacks than the Acer.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, all of which we purchase ourselves, without cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized, custom tools to measure various aspects and deliver objective, data-driven results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance compared to the competition, and whether it's easy to find.
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