MSI Optix G273QF Monitor Review

The MSI Optix G273QF looks similar to other monitors from MSI, like the MSI Optix G27C5. It has a simple design with a wide V-shaped stand and thin bezels. It's mainly made out of matte plastic, and there's a bit of glossy plastic on the back. Although it's geared towards gamers, it shouldn't stick out in an office environment either.

The V-shaped stand takes up a lot of space, but there's enough room in front to place your mouse and keyboard. The feet are metal, and the stand supports the monitor well.

The ergonomics are terrible as it only has tilt adjustments.

The back panel is mainly matte with a strip of glossy plastic. Sadly, there's no cable management.

The MSI Optix G273QF's build quality is decent. It's made mainly out of plastic, except for the metal feet. The plastic feels a bit cheap, and the back panel near the inputs is a bit loose. The bottom bezel also isn't uniformly flushed against the screen. On the plus side, the stand supports the monitor well, and there isn't much wobble.

The MSI Optix G273QF has a mediocre contrast ratio, which is expected from an IPS panel. Blacks appear gray when viewed in the dark, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve it. It's higher than the advertised 1000:1 contrast, but this may vary between units.

This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. The above video is provided for reference only.

The MSI Optix G273QF has good peak brightness. It maintains its brightness extremely consistent across different content, and it gets bright enough to combat glare in most well-lit rooms. We tested peak brightness after calibration in the 'User' Picture Mode.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

The horizontal viewing angle is excellent, which is expected from an IPS panel. The image remains accurate when viewed from the side, making it a good choice for co-op gaming. The colors start to lose accuracy quicker from the right than from the left, but it shouldn't be noticeable to most people.

The vertical viewing angle is decent. You still see an accurate image if you mount the monitor above eye-level.

The MSI Optix G273QF has great gray uniformity. The edges of the screen are noticeably darker, but there's almost no visible dirty screen effect in the center. Uniformity is much better in near-dark scenes. Note that gray uniformity may vary between units.

Our unit of the MSI G273QF has bad black uniformity, but this may vary between units. There's significant clouding and backlight bleed throughout, which could get distracting when watching dark scenes in a dark room.

The out-of-the-box accuracy is mediocre, but this may vary between units. Most colors are inaccurate and white balance is noticeably off. Color temperature is colder than the 6500K target, giving the image a blue tint. Gamma follows the target curve well for the most part, but some dark scenes are over-darkened while bright scenes are slightly over-brightened.

After calibration, the accuracy is incredible. Any remaining color and white balance inaccuracies can't be spotted by the human eye. The color temperature is also really close to the target. Gamma follows the target sRGB curve better, but some dark scenes are too bright.

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.

The MSI Optix G273QF has an outstanding SDR color gamut. It has perfect coverage of the sRGB color space used in most web content. For photo editors, it has impressive Adobe RGB coverage.

The SDR color volume is remarkable. It displays bright colors well thanks to its good peak brightness but struggles with dark colors due to its low contrast ratio.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

There are no signs of temporary image retention, even immediately after displaying our high-contrast static test image for 10 minutes. This may vary between units.

Even though the MSI Optix G273QF doesn't support HDR, it still accepts an 10-bit signal and has incredible gradient handling. You shouldn't notice banding with most content.

Sadly, there's some vertical color bleed, which isn't ideal for content creation.

The MSI Optix G273QF's reflection handling is decent, almost exactly like the MSI Optix MAG274QRF-QD. It handles a moderate amount of light well, but it's best to avoid placing it opposite a window or a direct light source.

The MSI Optix G273QF has good text clarity. Using ClearType (top photo) improves the appearance of diagonal lines as seen on the letters R, N, G, and S.

The MSI Optix G273QF has incredible response time at its max refresh rate of 165Hz. Motion looks extremely smooth with almost no motion blur. The recommended overdrive setting is 'Fast' because it has quicker response time than 'Normal' and much less overshoot than 'Fastest'. However, it still has some overshoot in darker transitions. If that bothers you, 'Normal' has none, but has a slower response time.

The response time at 60Hz is outstanding. Once again, fast-moving content has almost no motion blur. The recommended overdrive setting is 'Normal' because it has significantly less overshoot than 'Fast' and 'Fastest'. This means that you may have to change the setting if the frame rate of your game drops.

The MSI Optix G273QF has a flicker-free backlight, which helps reduce eye strain.

The MSI G273QF has a Black Frame Insertion to help reduce motion blur. However, it only works within a narrow frequency range, it can't be used with VRR enabled, and you can't adjust the brightness when it's enabled either.

Note: The BFI score is based on the minimum and maximum frequency at which it can operate, not the BFI's performance.

The MSI Optix G273QF has a remarkable refresh rate. You can only achieve its max 165Hz refresh rate over DisplayPort because it's limited to 144Hz over HDMI. Although it's not officially listed on AMD's website, FreeSync works natively. It isn't officially listed as G-SYNC compatible on NVIDIA's website either, but it's marketed as G-SYNC compatible, and it's automatically enabled in the NVIDIA Control Panel. G-SYNC only works over a DisplayPort connection.

The input lag is incredibly low whether you're gaming at its max refresh rate or at 60Hz. It slightly increases with VRR enabled, but it shouldn't be noticeable at all.