- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Differences
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR is a decent 1440p monitor with a VA panel and a great design. It delivers great gaming performance, with an excellent response time, low input lag, and support for AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate technology for a nearly tear-free gaming experience. Unfortunately, the unit we tested has terrible black uniformity, and like most VA monitors the image degrades when viewed at an angle. The stand has a limited range of motion, so it might be difficult to place it in an ideal viewing position.
Our Verdict
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR is a decent monitor for most uses. It's designed with gaming in mind, and it delivers a great overall gaming experience. It isn't very versatile though, as it has limited ergonomics, disappointing viewing angles, and terrible black uniformity.
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Excellent response time and low input lag
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Excellent gray uniformity
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Image degrades at an angle
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Terrible black uniformity
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Limited range of motion on the stand
Decent monitor for office use. It has very good peak brightness and great reflection handling, so glare shouldn't be an issue in a bright office. Unfortunately, the image degrades at an angle, and the stand has limited ergonomics.
The Optix MAG271CQR is a great gaming monitor. It has outstanding low input lag, an excellent response time, and a fast refresh rate. The 1440p native resolution is great for gaming. There's an optional black frame insertion feature for clearer motion, and it supports FreeSync, for a nearly tear-free gaming experience.
Decent monitor for multimedia. The high-resolution, large screen is great for watching movies, and it has excellent low input lag. It has great reflection handling, so glare shouldn't be an issue in a bright room. Unfortunately, it doesn't look good in a dark room, as it has terrible black uniformity, and the image degrades at an angle.
Decent monitor for media creation. It has a great size and resolution, so you can see more of your work, and it has excellent low input lag. Unfortunately, the image degrades at an angle, and the stand has a limited range of motion.
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR doesn't support HDR.
- 7.2 Mixed Usage
- 7.2 Office
- 8.2 Gaming
- 6.9 Multimedia
- 7.0 Media Creation
- 5.5 HDR Gaming
- Updated Jul 06, 2020: Corrected an internal issue that caused some boxes to not appear.
- Updated May 29, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
Test Results
The stand has a large footprint, but it feels well-built and supports the monitor well, with almost no wobble.
Disappointing ergonomics. It can't swivel, and it can't rotate to a portrait orientation.
There's a quick-release button on the back, and cable management is handled by a hole near the base of the stand.
The borders of the Optix MAG271CQR are thin on three sides, great for a multi-monitor setup.
Due to the curvature of the screen, the MAG271CQR stands out more, even when VESA mounted. The stand is a bit thinner than the Optix MPG27CQ.
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR has great build quality. The stand is made of metal and supports the monitor extremely well. There's a pop-out headphone hanger on the side of the monitor, but it feels a bit flimsy.
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR has a great contrast ratio, resulting in deep blacks. This is especially noticeable in dark scenes in a dark room.
This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. The above video is provided for reference only.
Very good peak brightness, with almost no variation in brightness with different content. This should be more than bright enough for most viewing environments.
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR doesn't support HDR.
Like most VA panels, the image degrades when viewed from the side. The most noticeable issue is a sharp increase in black levels, when even slightly-off angle, causing the image to appear washed out. If you prefer a monitor with wide viewing angles, then consider the MSI Optix MAG274QRF-QD.
Like most VA panels, the image degrades quickly when viewed from above or below.
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR has outstanding gray uniformity. The sides of the screen are slightly darker than the rest of the screen, but this shouldn't be noticeable with most content.
Unfortunately, the MSI Optix MAG271CQR has terrible black uniformity, worse than the Optix MPG27CQ. There is noticeable backlight bleed and significant clouding throughout the screen. If you're looking for a similar monitor with better black uniformity, then check out the AOC CQ27G1.
Out of the box, the MSI Optix MAG271CQR has decent accuracy. Gamma doesn't follow the sRGB target curve at all, which causes dark scenes to appear too dark, and bright scenes to appear too bright. Most people won't notice any significant errors in color accuracy or white balance though.
After calibration, the MAG271CQR has excellent accuracy. Gamma is almost entirely corrected, so most scenes are displayed at the correct brightness. There are now no noticeable errors in color accuracy or white balance.
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.
s.RGB Picture Mode: User (calibrated)Adobe RGB Picture Mode: User
Excellent SDR color gamut, with nearly complete coverage of the sRGB color space, and great coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space, which is important for professional photo editing.
s.RGB Picture Mode: UserAdobe RGB Picture Mode: User
Outstanding color volume. Like almost all displays, it can't display very bright blues, but this isn't very noticeable.
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.
Good gradient handling, but there is noticeable 8-bit banding with some content.
There are no signs of color bleed on the MSI Optix MAG271CQR.
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR has great reflection handling. The curved screen helps to smear reflections across the screen, reducing their intensity.
| Mode | Response Time Chart | Motion Blur Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Photo |
The MSI Optix MAG271CQR has an excellent response time, resulting in clear motion with very little blur behind fast-moving objects. Unfortunately, with the 'Fast' Response Time setting there's noticeable over/undershoot, which can be distracting. If this bothers you, the 'Normal' setting has less overshoot, but there's a significant difference in the response time. If you want something with a quicker response time, check out the MSI Optix G273QF.
The backlight is flicker-free at all backlight levels, which is great. There's an optional black frame insertion feature, but like most FreeSync monitors it can't be enabled at the same time as FreeSync. The black frame insertion feature can be enabled by setting the Response Time to 'Fastest'.
The MSI MAG271CQR has an excellent refresh rate. It supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate feature, and although it isn't officially certified by NVIDIA, it also supports FreeSync when connected to a recent NVIDIA graphics card.