MSI Optix G273 Monitor Review

The MSI G273 has a pretty basic design, and it looks a lot like the other Optix monitors. It has extremely thin bezels on three sides, and the stand is simple but effective.

The MSI Optix G273 has decent build quality. The body is entirely made of plastic, and it flexes quite a bit, but it feels sturdy, and the plastic appears to be okay quality overall.

Unfortunately, the MSI Optix G273 has terrible ergonomics. Other than a basic tilt feature, it's hard to adjust the display to an ideal viewing position, so you might want to consider getting a VESA mount instead. If you want a similar monitor with better ergonomics, then look into the Dell G2722HS.

The back of the monitor is pretty simple, with a simple pattern etched into it but no RGB lighting. There's no cable management whatsoever.

The stand is very similar to most other MSI monitors, and it supports the display well. It has a wide footprint but doesn't take up much space overall, and you can still place other items in front of the monitor.

There's a single joystick on the back of the monitor used to navigate the on-screen display or change inputs. The power button is located just below it on the bottom bezel.

• Power adapter and cable
• DisplayPort cable
• Mounting screws
• User guides

Unfortunately, the MSI Optix G273 has just okay contrast, so blacks appear gray in a dark room, especially in otherwise bright scenes.

The MSI G273 doesn't have a local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming.

The MSI Optix G273 has great peak brightness in SDR. There's very little variation in brightness with different scenes, which is great, and it's bright enough to overcome glare in moderately lit rooms. The minimum brightness is a bit high, though, so it's not a good choice if you're planning on using it in a completely dark room and are sensitive to light.

The MSI G273 doesn't support HDR.

This monitor has a good horizontal viewing angle. It ensures that the image remains accurate at the sides if you're sitting close to the screen, and it also makes it a good choice for co-op gaming.

The MSI G273 has a mediocre vertical viewing angle. If you're looking at it from above or below, the image fades and appears washed out. Colors lose accuracy at a moderate angle, and the brightness decreases quickly as you move off-center.

The MSI G273 has great gray uniformity. There's very little dirty screen effect in the center, but the sides of the screen are noticeably darker than the center.

This monitor has just okay black uniformity. There's some noticeable IPS glow along the edges, but the overall screen isn't very cloudy, which is great. Sadly, there's no local dimming feature to improve black uniformity.

The MSI Optix G273 has great accuracy out of the box. The white balance is a bit off, as bright shades of gray aren't displayed accurately, but the overall color accuracy is good. Gamma is pretty close to the sRGB curve, but it's a bit too high, as most scenes appear darker than they should.

The sRGB mode does a great job limiting colors to the sRGB color space, so they don't appear oversaturated. Unlike most monitors, the sRGB mode leaves most picture settings unlocked. The color temperature is quite cool, resulting in a slightly bluish tint.

After calibration, this monitor has fantastic accuracy. The remaining issues in the white balance and color accuracy aren't noticeable at all, and the color temperature is very close to the calibration target. Gamma is also significantly improved and tracks the sRGB target curve almost perfectly.

The MSI Optix G273 has a superb SDR color gamut. It has nearly complete coverage of the sRGB color space used by almost all desktop and web content. It has decent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, but it's a bit limited for professional photo processing if you're used to working in that color space.

This monitor has fantastic color volume in SDR. Colors are just as vibrant as pure white, and it has nearly complete coverage of the sRGB color space. Due to the low contrast ratio, it can't display dark saturated colors very well, though.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

The MSI G273 has very good reflection handling. Glare isn't an issue in moderately-lit rooms, but it's still not a good idea to place it facing a window or bright light.

This monitor has just decent text clarity. With Windows ClearType off, diagonal lines and curves aren't very sharp, as shown in the bottom photo. Running the ClearType calibration wizard (top photo) significantly improves text clarity, but there are still a few issues with fine lines.

The MSI G273 has excellent gradient handling, but it's not performing as well as it should. Although it can accept a 10-bit signal, it doesn't display it properly, and there's noticeable 8-bit banding in all shades.

The MSI Optix G273 has an excellent refresh rate for gaming. It defaults to the max refresh rate without the need for an optional factory overclock, but it's limited to a lower refresh rate over HDMI due to the bandwidth limitations of its HDMI ports.

The MSI Optix G273 is certified by NVIDIA to work with their G-SYNC Compatible feature, which only works over DisplayPort. Although not certified by AMD, it also works with FreeSync sources over both HDMI and DisplayPort. It helps ensure a nearly tear-free gaming experience from any source that supports VRR.

The MSI Optix G273 has a decent response time overall, but it's quite a bit slower than most similar monitors. The 'Fastest' overdrive setting delivers the best result overall, but even it has a slow total response time. There's a bit of overshoot in some transitions with that setting, but it's not very noticeable. Lower settings have no overshoot, which is great, but their rise/fall time and total response time is significantly slower, resulting in a much longer blur trail behind fast-moving objects.

The response time at 120Hz is a bit worse than at the max refresh rate, and it's just okay overall. Sadly, there's more overshoot at 120Hz, and the total response time is a bit slow. The 'Fastest' overdrive setting still delivers the best results, so you don't need to adjust your settings if you switch from your PC at 165Hz to a console running at 120Hz, like an Xbox Series X or PS5.

The MSI Optix G273 has an alright response time when gaming at 60Hz. The overdrive modes behave a bit differently at 60Hz, as the previously recommended 'Fastest' setting now has a much slower total response time, so it's recommended to switch to 'Fast' when gaming at 60Hz. Unfortunately, due to the significant differences between overdrive modes at different refresh rates, there's no single "set and forget" mode, so you'll need to change settings when switching to some sources.

The MSI G273 has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion (BFI). Unfortunately, the pulse timing is a bit off, causing noticeable crosstalk, and there are no adjustment settings to improve the overall performance of the feature.

The backlight of the MSI Optix G273 is completely flicker-free at all brightness levels. It's great, as it helps reduce eye strain with longer play sessions.

The MSI Optix G273 has excellent low input lag. It's especially important for gaming, as it results in a responsive gaming experience, ensuring your actions are in sync with what you see onscreen.

The low pixel density of this display is just okay, as it doesn't give you a lot of space to work with, and it's not ideal for multitasking.

Unfortunately, the MSI Optix G273 has very limited compatibility with the PS5. It's limited to a 1080p resolution, and it can't downscale a 4k signal as it doesn't support MSI's 'Console Mode' feature.

This monitor has very basic compatibility with the Xbox Series S|X. It can't downscale 1440p or 4k signals, and it's limited to a 1080p resolution. It doesn't support HDR at all, but VRR works.

Unfortunately, this monitor doesn't have any USB ports.

There are no major issues using this monitor with a recent MacBook Pro. VRR works fine, with no flickering at low framerates. Windows return to their original place when your computer comes back from sleep mode, but they reset if you close the lid. It's a bit slow to wake from sleep.

This is a very basic monitor with no notable extra features. It has a virtual crosshair feature like most gaming monitors, and there are a few image adjustment options, including a low blue light mode and a dynamic contrast feature.

The on-screen display is basic but easy to navigate.