The LG UltraGear 27GL650F-B is a good 1080p, 144Hz IPS monitor with great gaming performance. It has an excellent response time resulting in clear motion, a black frame insertion feature to reduce motion blur, a low input lag, and a fast refresh rate. It delivers decent overall picture quality, with wide viewing angles, excellent gray uniformity, and great accuracy out of the box. Unfortunately, like most IPS monitors it doesn't look as good in a dark room, as it has a low contrast ratio and poor black uniformity. This monitor supports HDR, but this doesn't add much, as it can't get very bright in HDR and can't display a wide color gamut.
The LG 27GL650F-B is good for most uses. It's a great gaming monitor thanks to its excellent response time, incredibly low input lag, and high refresh rate. Its large screen size is good for productivity, but the 1080p resolution might be too low for some to watch videos. Unfortunately, although it supports HDR, it can't display a wide color gamut. However, it has wide viewing angles if you want to share your screen with others.
Good monitor for office use. The LG 27GL650F-B has wide viewing angles, great peak brightness, and decent reflection handling. The low native resolution might bother some people though, and it doesn't have a built-in USB hub. Luckily, it has great out-of-box color accuracy, so it doesn't need to be calibrated.
The LG 27GL650F is a great monitor for gaming. It has an excellent response time, incredibly low input lag, and an excellent refresh rate with support for FreeSync variable refresh rate technology. Unfortunately, the low native resolution isn't ideal for some games, and it doesn't look as good in a dark room, as it has a low contrast ratio and poor black uniformity.
The LG 27GL650F-B is a good monitor for multimedia. It has excellent low input lag, wide viewing angles, and excellent gray uniformity. Unfortunately, it isn't great for watching movies in a dark room, and the low resolution isn't ideal if you want to watch higher quality videos.
Good monitor for media creation. The LG 27GL650F-B has great viewing angles, a fast response time, and excellent low input lag. It has an excellent SDR color gamut, but the Adobe RGB coverage might be too low for professional photo editing.
The LG 27GL650F-B is decent for HDR gaming, mainly due to its great gaming performance. It has outstanding low input lag and excellent response time, and it supports FreeSync for a nearly tear-free gaming experience. Unfortunately, HDR doesn't add much, as it can't display a wide color gamut, and can't get very bright in HDR.
The LG 27GL650F-B shares the same style as most other LG gaming monitors. It's mainly black with some red on the stand and the back. There's a red circle on the back, but it's not illuminated like the LG 32GK850G.
Update 01/20/2021: For consistency, we've changed the swivel adjustment from N/A to 'No'. The score remains unchanged.
Disappointing ergonomics. It can rotate to portrait orientation, but only on one side. It's the same as the higher-end 27GL850.
There's a quick release on the back, but only basic cable management through a clip.
Like all IPS monitors, the LG 27GL650F-B has a mediocre contrast ratio. This results in grayish blacks, which is especially noticeable in dark scenes in a dark room. It has much better contrast than the LG 27GL850. If you want a monitor with a better contrast ratio, check out the Gigabyte G27QC.
This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. The above video is provided for reference only.
The LG 27GL650F has great peak brightness and should be able to combat glare in most rooms.
Decent HDR peak brightness with the 'Vivid' Picture Mode, but small highlights don't stand out as much as they should.
Like most IPS monitors, the image remains accurate when viewed from the side. This is great for co-op gaming or sharing your screen with a nearby colleague.
Like most IPS monitors, the image remains accurate when viewed from above or below. This is great if you plan on mounting the monitor above eye-level.
Excellent gray uniformity on the LG 27GL650F-B, nearly identical to the LG 27GL850. The sides of the screen are slightly darker, but this shouldn't be noticeable with regular content.
Great out-of-box color accuracy for the LG 27GL650. Most colors only have slight inaccuracies to them, and the color temperature is extremely close to the target of 6500K. Unfortunately, the gamma doesn't follow the target well and really bright scenes appear much darker than they should.
After calibration, the LG UltraGear 27GL650 has outstanding accuracy. Gamma follows the target curve almost perfectly, and any remaining inaccuracies aren't noticeable.
You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and should not be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model due to manufacturing tolerances.
Decent HDR color gamut. Unlike the LG 27GL850, it can't display a wide color gamut, which is disappointing.
The LG 27GL650F-B has okay reflection handling. It handles moderate amounts of light well but struggles with direct light. The LG 27GL850 has a bit better reflection handling.
Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
Excellent response time at its max refresh rate. The recommended Overdrive setting is 'Faster' as motion looks very clear. There's still overshoot in some transitions, and if that bothers you, the 'Fast' setting has significantly less overshoot, but the response time is slower, so there's more motion blur.
Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
The LG 27GL650F-B has a good response time at 60Hz, which is good news for console gamers. Unlike at 144Hz, the best Overdrive setting is 'Normal', so you might have to change your setting while gaming. This setting has the least amount of motion blur and minimal overshoot in most transitions.
The LG UltraGear 27GL650F-B has a black frame insertion feature to help reduce motion blur. It can be activated by enabling the 1ms Motion Blur Reduction setting from the 'Gaming' tab on the monitor's on-screen display. Note that this feature isn't available if FreeSync is enabled, which is normal for most monitors.
Update 02/27/2020: We've clarified the text below, as G-SYNC Compatible mode only works over DisplayPort.
The LG 27GL650F-B has an excellent refresh rate, and it supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate technology. It's also certified by NVIDIA as G-SYNC compatible, so it'll work with NVIDIA's adaptive sync drivers, as long as you have a recent NVIDIA graphics card, and only over DisplayPort. Certification for this monitor was added with NVIDIA Game Ready Driver version 436.30, so you might have to update your driver for it to work.
Incredibly low input lag, but it increases a bit with VRR enabled. Its input lag at 60Hz is low, but not as low as some other monitors, such as the ASUS TUF VG27AQ or the MSI Optix G27C4.