The Sony INZONE M9 II is a 27-inch, 4k gaming monitor with full-array local dimming and a 160Hz refresh rate. It replaces the original Sony INZONE M9 and is a part of Sony's INZONE gaming lineup that includes other monitors like the higher-end Sony INZONE M10S OLED, as well as other products such as the Sony INZONE H9 Wireless headphones. Unlike its competitors, such as the Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx, the M9 II has a number of unique features, such as backlight strobing with backlight scanning technology, a 24.5-inch mode for competitive and esports gamers, a stand with 360-degree swivel, and Auto HDR Tone Mapping with the PS5 and PS5 Pro. It also comes with more standard features you'd expect to find on a high-end gaming monitor, like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and a virtual crosshair.
The Sony INZONE M9 II is decent for PC gaming. Although its 160Hz refresh rate isn't high enough for competitive PC gaming, it's still good for most gamers. It also has low input lag for a responsive feel, and motion looks fairly sharp. It also gets bright enough for highlights to pop and has fairly vivid colors. However, its local dimming feature is only okay, and it has poor black uniformity, so the screen looks somewhat cloudy with some content, even with local dimming on.
160Hz refresh rate and VRR support.
Low input lag.
Fast response time at high refresh rates.
Full-array local dimming improves contrast.
Highlights get bright enough to pop.
Low native contrast ratio.
More blur at lower refresh rates.
Blooming around bright objects.
Cloudy screen.
The Sony INZONE M9 II is impressive for console gaming. It's ideally suited to the PS5 and PS5 Pro, as it uses Auto HDR Tone Mapping with the console. It has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth for 4k @ 120Hz performance with the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and its 4k resolution delivers detailed images. Plus, it has low input lag for a responsive feel, and there's minimal motion blur at most refresh rates. While it's a good choice for gaming in well-lit rooms because of how bright it gets, it's worse in dark rooms. Its local dimming feature is only okay, and it has poor black uniformity, so the screen looks somewhat cloudy with some content, even with local dimming on.
Low input lag.
Fast response time at high refresh rates.
HDMI 2.1 bandwidth for consoles.
Full-array local dimming improves contrast.
Highlights get bright enough to pop.
Low native contrast ratio.
More blur at lower refresh rates.
Blooming around bright objects.
Cloudy screen.
The Sony INZONE M9 II is great for office use. Its 4k resolution results in sharp text, and it has wide enough viewing angles that keep the image fairly consistent when viewing from the sides. It can even rotate around completely, making it easy to share your work with others. It also gets bright enough to fight glare in almost any environment, but its reflection handling is just decent, so having a very bright light shining on the screen can be somewhat distracting.
Bright enough to fight glare.
Great ergonomics.
Fantastic text clarity.
The Sony INZONE M9 II is good for editing. Its high resolution makes text and images look sharp. It also gets bright enough to fight glare in almost any environment, but reflections are distracting if you have it opposite a very bright source. Unfortunately, it's worse for editing content in dark rooms, as it has a low contrast ratio, and its local dimming feature is only okay.
Bright enough to fight glare.
Great ergonomics.
Fantastic accuracy before calibration.
Fantastic text clarity.
Low native contrast ratio.
Cloudy screen.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has excellent brightness. It easily gets bright enough to fight glare whether you're using it in SDR or HDR, and in HDR, highlights are bright enough to pop.
Bright enough to fight glare.
Highlights get bright enough to pop.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has a good response time, and there isn't very much blur with fast-moving objects.
Fast response time at high refresh rates.
More blur at lower refresh rates.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has okay HDR picture quality. It's mainly limited by its low contrast and okay local dimming feature that causes blooming and cloudiness. That said, it displays a wide range of colors that look fairly vivid.
Full-array local dimming improves contrast.
Blooming around bright objects.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has mediocre SDR picture quality. Its main advantage is the wide range of colors that it displays, but blacks look gray due to its low contrast ratio, and the screen looks cloudy.
Displays wide range of SDR colors.
Low native contrast ratio.
Cloudy screen.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has excellent color accuracy. The dedicated sRGB mode is extremely accurate, and you won't need to calibrate it unless you want access to settings that are locked out in the sRGB mode.
Fantastic accuracy before calibration.
Updated text about bright parts of scenes in Color Accuracy (Pre-Calibration) and Color Accuracy (Post-Calibration).
Added extra photos in Ergonomics for more visuals, including the cable management photo.
Updated DisplayPort version to 2.1 in Video and Audio Ports.
We tested the 27-inch Sony INZONE M9 II, which is the only size available, and the results are only valid for this monitor. It's very similar to the original Sony INZONE M9, though the original M9's stand and monitor back are white, while the M9 II is black throughout. You can see the similarities between the monitors below:
Model | Size | Panel Type | Resolution | Max Refresh Rate | HDMI 2.1 | Stand |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M9 II | 27" | IPS | 4k | 160Hz | Yes | Compact with 360 degree swivel |
M9 (Original) | 27" | IPS | 4k | 144Hz | Yes | Large tripod with no swivel |
Our unit's label indicates it was manufactured in July 2024. An additional label shows the model number. We tested our monitor on firmware M004.
The Sony INZONE M9 II is a 27-inch, 4k full-array local dimming gaming monitor with a 160Hz refresh rate. Monitors with advanced dimming technologies, including competitors such as the Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx and the INNOCN 27M2V, are ideally suited to someone who wants to use a monitor for work and gaming without worrying about burn-in. The M9 II is ideally suited to this type of situation if you're gaming with a PS5 and PS5 Pro, as it delivers a reasonably colorful HDR experience and has special PS5 features such as Auto HDR Tone Mapping. However, its local dimming feature, brightness, and colors aren't nearly as good as the Acer and INNOCN, and those monitors also have more productivity features like 90W of power delivery over USB-C, so they're better choices for most PC gamers.
Also, see our recommendations for the best Mini LED monitors, the best HDR monitors, and the best 4k 144Hz monitors.
The Sony INZONE M9 and the Sony INZONE M9 II are extremely similar 27-inch 4k gaming monitors with full-array local dimming. The M9 II is the better option for most gamers, as its local dimming system is slightly better at preserving details in dark scenes than the original M9 and looks slightly smoother with its higher 160Hz refresh rate. However, the original M9 looks less cloudy, particularly with static scenes, so you may prefer it if you find cloudiness or blooming distracting, particularly in slower scenes.
The Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx and the Sony INZONE M9 II are both 27-inch 4k gaming monitors with full-array local dimming. The Acer is the better option for most people, as it displays deeper blacks in a dark room with most content if you have local dimming on, has much brighter highlights, displays a wider range of colors more vividly, and has extra features such as USB-C connectivity with 90W of power delivery. However, if you like to game with the PS5, the Sony is a better option, as it has PS5-specific features such as Auto HDR Tone Mapping for the PS5.
The INNOCN 27M2V and the Sony INZONE M9 II are 27-inch 4k gaming monitors with full-array local dimming. The INNOCN is the better option for most people, as it has much brighter highlights in HDR, displays a wider range of colors more vividly, and displays deeper blacks in a dark room with most content if you're using local dimming. Additionally, it has productivity features such as USB-C connectivity with 90W of power delivery. However, the Sony is a better option if you like to game with the PS5, as it has features specific to the PS5, such as Auto HDR Tone Mapping.
The Sony M9 II has a simple design that's different from the original Sony INZONE M9. The monitor is now entirely black, including the plastic monitor backing. The new circular stand base has a plastic exterior, is sleeker, and takes up less space. The monitor fits in well to both an office or gaming environment.
The ergonomics are great. While it offers a wide range of adjustments other than rotation, its standout feature is its ability to swivel to any angle thanks to its circular base. This makes it easy to connect cables to the monitor by swiveling it completely around. It also comes with a rubber band for cable management.
The base is small for the size of the monitor, and it wobbles quite a bit when bumped. The height adjustment is at an angle, so the total thickness decreases as you raise the monitor. At its maximum height, it's 6.6 inches (16.7 cm).
Settings:
The local dimming feature is okay. It has 96 zones in an 8x12 array. The zones are too large to allow for precise dimming in dark scenes, and the algorithm tends to turn on more zones than needed. There's some noticeable blooming around bright objects, but very little black crush because of this. It isn't very good for subtitles, though, as it tends to light up large areas of the screen. Additionally, as you move off-center and view the screen from an angle, both black crush and blooming become notably worse.
That said, it keeps up with fast-moving content well, so you don't see a trailing bright edge behind fast-moving, bright objects. For comparison, you can also see the video when Local Dimming is set to 'Low.' While this results in a bit less black crush, 'High' still looks better overall because of its better contrast.
Settings:
This monitor has great brightness in SDR. It's bright enough to easily overcome glare in a bright room, and there's no variation in brightness between content.
If you turn Local Dimming on, there's variation in brightness between different content, as you can see below:
Scene/Window Size | Local Dimming: High | Local Dimming: Low |
---|---|---|
Real Scene | 429 cd/m2 | 415 cd/m2 |
Peak 2% Window | 362 cd/m2 | 382 cd/m2 |
Peak 10% Window | 420 cd/m2 | 430 cd/m2 |
Peak 25% Window | 447 cd/m2 | 453 cd/m2 |
Peak 50% Window | 473 cd/m2 | 475 cd/m2 |
Peak 100% Window | 484 cd/m2 | 484 cd/m2 |
Sustained 2% Window | 362 cd/m2 | 382 cd/m2 |
Sustained 10% Window | 419 cd/m2 | 430 cd/m2 |
Sustained 25% Window | 446 cd/m2 | 452 cd/m2 |
Sustained 50% Window | 473 cd/m2 | 474 cd/m2 |
Sustained 100% Window | 484 cd/m2 | 483 cd/m2 |
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL) | 0.017 | 0.014 |
Settings:
The HDR brightness is amazing. Highlights are bright enough to pop, and it easily overcomes glare in a bright room. Additionally, its PQ EOTF has a sharp cut-off at peak brightness, so highlights get as bright as possible.
If you want to adjust Brightness and Local Dimming, you can use the 'Game' Picture Mode, though it has slightly worse EOTF tracking.
The Sony INZONE M9 2 has a decent horizontal viewing angle. While it looks dark at wide angles, it's still fine if you want to share the screen with someone next to you for co-op gaming.
The Sony INZONE M9 2 has a great vertical viewing angle. The image remains consistent if you stand up and look down at the monitor.
Unfortunately, this monitor has poor black uniformity. Even with local dimming off there's noticeable clouding throughout. When local dimming is enabled uniformity is much worse. Zones light up many parts of the screen that aren't needed, causing worse uniformity and haziness around objects in slow-moving scenes. This is notably worse than on the original Sony INZONE M9, though it's less noticeable in fast-moving scenes.
The accuracy before calibration in the sRGB mode is fantastic. It locks colors to the sRGB color space effectively, so they aren't oversaturated, and both the white balance and color temperature are great, too. However, brighter parts of scenes are too dark. The sRGB mode also locks out the Gamma adjustment.
The accuracy after calibration is fantastic, and you can adjust the Gamma setting.
However, due to the monitor's EDID including an asterisk in its name, we were only able to adjust the monitor's settings, and couldn't apply an ICC profile. As a result, there's no improvement to the monitor's gamma accuracy, and bright parts of scenes are still too dark.
The SDR color gamut is fantastic. It displays virtually all of the sRGB color space used by most desktop and web content. It has good coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space, but it can't display the full range of greens in that color space and slightly oversaturates reds, so it isn't ideal if you need to edit in Adobe RGB.
The HDR color gamut is great. It has excellent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used by the vast majority of current HDR content. While its coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space is limited, there aren't many tone mapping issues with either color space.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has fantastic text clarity. Even with ClearType off (bottom photo), text looks sharp, and enabling it makes letters look bolder (top photo). These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.
The Sony INZONE M9 II has decent reflection handling. The matte screen coating diffuses light fairly well, but reflections are distracting if you place it in a very bright environment, like opposite a sunny window.
Despite trying different cables, computers, and graphics cards, the maximum refresh rate over HDMI is 144Hz.
NVIDIA - G-SYNC Compatibility Connection VRR Min VRR Max DisplayPort <20Hz 160Hz HDMI <20Hz 144Hz AMD - FreeSync Connection VRR Min VRR Max DisplayPort <20Hz 160Hz HDMI <20Hz 144Hz
On top of supporting FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility, this monitor also supports HDMI Forum VRR.
The motion handling is good across the VRR range. Although there isn't much motion blur, the 'Fast' overdrive setting has inverse ghosting as the refresh rate drops. The 'Standard' overdrive is better if you want more consistency across the VRR range, but it has more blur. The 'Faster' overdrive has such high CAD that it passes the limits of the chart, as you can see in an alternative chart.
The refresh rate compliance is good. Although its response time isn't fast enough to make full color transitions before the monitor draws the next frame at its max refresh rate, it's better at lower refresh rates.
The CAD at the max refresh rate of 160Hz is very good. Motion looks sharp with the 'Fast' overdrive setting, as it has less blur than 'Standard' and less inverse ghosting than 'Faster.'
The Sony INZONE M9 II has an optional backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur. It only works with fixed 160Hz or 120Hz signals and can cause image duplication. We didn't observe Sony's backlight scanning technology noticeably affecting strobing performance. As you increase the Effect setting from '0' to '2' persistence blur is less visible, as you can see below:
The Sony INZONE M9 II has low input lag, ensuring a responsive gaming or desktop experience at any refresh rate. Input lag changes slightly if the you use the Latency setting, as you can see below:
Latency Setting | 160Hz | 120Hz |
---|---|---|
0 | 4.3 ms | 4.6 ms |
1 | 4.3 ms | 5.5 ms |
2 | 4.2 ms | 5.3 ms |
The Sony INZONE M9 II is fully compatible with the PS5 and PS5 Pro. It also supports a few extra features specific to the PS5, including Auto HDR Tone Mapping, which optimizes your HDR experience to match the capabilities of your display.
Though it defaults to the 'Game' Picture Mode with the PS5, you can select another mode if you prefer. Additionally, while contrast is slightly improved with Local Dimming set to 'High,' there's blooming, and motion appears less smooth.
This monitor is fully compatible with the Xbox Series X|S. The Xbox doesn't support HDR with 1440p or 1080p signals, so this isn't a limitation of the monitor. Though it defaults to the 'Game' Picture Mode with the Xbox, you can select another mode if you prefer.
This monitor's DisplayPort 2.1 port has UHBR10 speeds.
Unlike the original Sony INZONE M9 this monitor doesn't have a USB-C port.
Connection HDMI 2.0 HDMI 2.1 USB-C to DisplayPort Max Refresh Rate 60Hz 144Hz VRR Range N/A 48-144Hz HDR Yes Yes Yes
This monitor works well with macOS. If you’re using a MacBook, you can close the lid and continue working on the screen, and after reopening the lid, windows return to their original positions. While HDR works, it looks washed out.
This monitor has a few extra features, including: