Snapdragon X Series processors redefine what modern portable computing can be by delivering both extensive battery life and unparalleled performance on a single processor. With up to 12 Oryon CPU cores, up to 4.6 TFLOPS of power from the onboard GPU, and 45 TOPS for AI calculations, the new Snapdragon processors can deliver incredible results in professional workloads and entertainment alike. What sets these chips apart is the incredible combination of power and efficiency – even amongst stiff competition from the latest generation of MacBooks and x86 Windows devices. Workers with high-powered laptops are used to having to plug them in regularly to maintain battery life and enjoy strong performance, but the latest generation Snapdragon laptops do things differently. With Windows on Snapdragon, you get incredible battery life with sustained performance even when unplugged, for a truly untethered, high-performance computing experience. These are the kind of laptop devices which let your workers stay productive for longer, wherever they are, without constraint. Most laptop owners are used to staying near a charger for maximum performance and expect far less than 10 hours of battery life between charges. With the new Snapdragon X Series laptops, however, you can upend their preconceptions with a new tier of performance and longevity. Snapdragon X Series laptops can offer up to 22 hours of battery life. That’s enough for multiple workdays, whether it’s back-to-back meetings, long-haul travel, or home-office marathons (with a quick streamed movie in their downtime). With its mobile heritage, Snapdragon power management is second-to-none in the PC industry. It’s the Snapdragon processors at the heart of these laptops that deliver such stellar battery life. The new Oryon cores offer comparable performance to the competition, but at a much lower power draw. When combined with an equally efficient, but powerful onboard Adreno GPU, you end up with devices that can compete on performance with the best the competition has to offer, whilst maintaining extensive battery life and portability. That means fewer interruptions and lower energy costs – the kind of benefits that can scale across a whole team. These processors are fantastic at single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads, too, making them excellent for multi-tasking, or focusing in on a demanding application. Video editing is a breeze, 3D design work is fast and responsive, and everyday apps like Chrome and Edge run faster on Snapdragon. Combined with excellent connectivity from the latest wireless connection standards, like Wi-Fi 7 and Dual Bluetooth, you can expect exceptionally fast and clean connections, with no drops, stutters, or buffering to be concerned with. To top off this potent combination, all Snapdragon X Series laptops come equipped with a powerful AI neural processing unit (NPU). This Hexagon processor delivers as much as 45 TOPS, making it one of the fastest and efficient dedicated AI accelerators in modern computing. It’s this tri-fecta of potent hardware choices that make the latest Snapdragon processors so impressive, and why Snapdragon hardware is at the heart of the new-generation of AI PC. Snapdragon processors have long set the standard for smartphones and smaller mobile devices, but now they’re bringing that blend of capability and longevity to the full Windows experience. The result is a seamless, uncompromising experience that keeps up with the demands of modern day professionals. With a Snapdragon X Series powered laptop, you get everything you need to do anything you want, for as long you want, wherever you want. View Snapdragon laptops for small businesses Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Great GeForce RTX 4060 performance High-end CPU Solid build quality Nice cooling and vent positioning Cons An RTX 4060 isn’t the fastest GPU Display is a little dim No fingerprint scanner or facial recognition hardware Battery life is on the low side Our Verdict The Lenovo Legion 5i is a great value — a 16-inch gaming laptop with a screaming-fast CPU that also squeezes a surprising amount of performance from its GPU. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The Lenovo Legion 5i is a 16-inch gaming laptop for the masses. While a GeForce RTX 4060 isn’t the highest-end GPU, Lenovo pairs it with a high-end Intel Core i9 CPU along with a great cooling system in an unabashedly chunky chassis. The result is a gaming laptop that delivers surprisingly high performance for the hardware — and at a very reasonable $1,399 retail price. Further reading: Best gaming laptops 2025: What to look for and highest-rated models Lenovo Legion 5i: Specs The Lenovo Legion 5i (Gen 9) is a 16-inch gaming laptop with a variety of configurations — but all of them have an Intel CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. We reviewed the Lenovo Legion 5i available through Costco for $1,399, although Lenovo offers other configurations elsewhere. The Costco model includes a 14th-generation Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU with 24 cores, GeForce RTX 4060 graphics, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. It pairs that with a 2560×1600 display with 165Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of brightness. On paper, it sounds like a solid gaming package for the price — not the highest-end GPU or display, but at a very reasonable price. The GeForce RTX 4060 graphics hardware here can run at up to 140W of TGP (total graphics power.) That’s one reason why it outshines other gaming laptops with RTX 4060 graphics, which may be running that hardware with a lower power draw. Model number: 16IRX9 CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX Memory: 32GB DDR5 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 IPS display with 165Hz refresh rate Storage: 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD Webcam: 1080p webcam with electronic shutter switch Connectivity: 3x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 2x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 1x combo audio jack, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ45 (Ethernet port), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DC power in Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, Ethernet port Biometrics: None Battery capacity: 80 Watt-hours Dimensions: 14.16 x 10.33 x 0.99 inches Weight: 5.2 pounds MSRP: $1,399 as tested The Lenovo Legion 5i is an all-around high-quality gaming laptop and a great value. Lenovo Legion 5i: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman This laptop has an understated design. It’s not the sleekest 16-inch gaming laptop. At an inch thick and 5.2 pounds in weight, it’s on the heavy side. The chassis is all grays and blacks. The lid and top of the laptop are made of metal, while the bottom is plastic. Aside from the laptop being on the chunky side and the word “LEGION” on the lid, there’s not anything here that marks this as a “gaming laptop.” However, the keyboard does have four different zones of LED lighting — that’s where the colorful gamer aesthetic comes in, if you like! The build quality feels solid. There’s no weird flexing when you hold the laptop, and it’s easy to open the lid with one hand thanks to all that weight. The hinge stays nicely in place. The hinge also tilts further back than the average laptop, going flat if you like. The laptop’s blocky and chunky design helps with cooling: The cooling system works well, blowing hot air out of the back of your laptop and not out of the left or right side onto your mouse hand. The WASD area of the keyboard stays rather cool to the touch while gaming. It’s a well-built gaming laptop for this price range, but it’s not a premium all-metal gaming laptop or the thinnest and lightest gaming laptop you’re going to find. There’s a typical amount of bloatware preinstalled — offers for McAfee and Dropbox will pop up, for example. I’d prefer to see none of these nags, but they’re not a big deal as you can uninstall them from the Control Panel. Lenovo Legion 5i: Keyboard and trackpad IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Legion 5i includes a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad. It has four zones of LED lighting, so you can configure the lighting however you like — one color, four different colors, animated transitions, or no backlight at all. The keys are a good size and feel decent to type on. This isn’t the snappiest keyboard I’ve ever used — it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of key travel. But the keys don’t feel mushy. It’s not the most premium keyboard, but it’s totally fine for gaming, typing, and anything else you might use a laptop keyboard for. The trackpad is a good size and is in a good position — a little to the left, below the space bar. It feels nice and responsive when moving the cursor around, and the click feels fine and not mushy or clunky. (I do prefer haptic trackpads, but those are still tough to find.) Lenovo Legion 5i: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Legion 5i includes a 16-inch IPS display with a 2560×1600 resolution and a 165 Hz refresh rate. On paper, that sounds pretty good — and it does look good when gaming. It’s a good screen. I was perfectly happy with it when playing everything from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to the new season in Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred. The display is on the dim side, though. It has 300 nits of brightness, I’d really like to see at least 400 nits. More premium displays often deliver much brighter screens as well as higher refresh rates. They may also use OLED panels — the IPS panel here doesn’t have the vivid colors you’ll find on a gaming laptop with a nice OLED display. These aren’t deal-breakers given the price of this machine, but you should be aware of what you can find in other machines. This laptop’s speakers are okay. They’re loud enough to outcompete the laptop’s fans while gaming, and they have decent clarity. As usual with laptop speakers, though, there’s just not enough bass. I’m almost never a huge fan of built-in laptop speakers compared to a good pair of headphones or external speakers, so I’m picky. The speakers here are very average. Lenovo Legion 5i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Legion 5i has a 1080p webcam. Webcam quality often isn’t a priority on a gaming laptop, but thee camera here captures an unusually good picture compared to the 720p webcams you’ll see on some gaming laptops. In fact, the picture seems clearer than some of the 1080p webcams I’ve seen on other gaming laptops. For a gaming laptop in this price range, this is a nice webcam. Lenovo also includes an e-shutter switch at the right side of the laptop. When flipped, this physically disconnects the webcam hardware from the laptop. It’s always nice to see this kind of physical privacy switch. The integrated microphone setup isn’t as impressive. It did a great job of canceling out background noise, but voice quality wasn’t as good as the best microphones I’ve used on other laptops. I’d classify it as an average microphone for a gaming laptop like this one. That’s fine as many gamers opt for external microphones or headsets. Unfortunately, this laptop does not have any biometrics — no fingerprint reader and no IR camera for facial recognition. You can’t use Windows Hello to sign in without adding some extra hardware. That’s disappointing, as the circular power button above the keyboard looks like a great place for a fingerprint reader. Lenovo Legion 5i: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Legion 5i has a good number of ports. In total, you get three USB Type-A ports and two USB Type-C ports. On the left, you’ll find one USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) port, two USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) ports, and a combo headphone jack. On the back bar, there’s a DC power-in port as well as an HDMI 2.1 out port. On the right, the machine has an Ethernet (RJ45) port, a microSD card reader, and two USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) ports. I would prefer to see more of the ports on the back of the laptop instead of the sides, but I’m pleased to see the power port on the back — it’s always nice to have that power cable out of the way. Most gamers will find everything they need here with no need for a dock or dongle. This laptop includes Wi-Fi 6E hardware as well as Bluetooth 5.2. The Wi-Fi worked well in our testing setup. It would be nice to see Wi-Fi 7 support. We’re right on the cusp of Wi-Fi 7 becoming widespread, and we should see it become standard in future gaming laptops with newer CPUs. Lenovo Legion 5i: Performance The Lenovo Legion 5i performed well in PC gaming and general desktop usage tasks. That’s no surprise — we’re talking about a machine with a beastly Intel Core i9 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics. It is worth noting that, despite the high-end CPU and generous amount of RAM and storage, the RTX 4060 graphics Lenovo includes here are far from the highest-end part. You may end up with better gaming performance with a gaming laptop that pairs and RTX 4070 with a lower-end CPU and less RAM. But benchmarks will tell the story. As usual, we ran the Lenovo Legion 5i through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. While it’s designed to be a holistic benchmark, the machine’s CPU is a huge factor in this benchmark. The Lenovo Legion 5i delivered a score of 8,751, which is a great score — largely thanks to its incredibly powerful CPU. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. The 24-core Intel Core i9 CPU in the machine delivered excellent performance here, too — a nice high score of 10,888 in the multithreaded benchmark. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Lenovo Legion 9i finished the encode process in 725 seconds, which is just over 12 minutes. That’s another great showing that demonstrates the high performance of the CPU and how well the Legion laptop’s cooling works. The laptop stays surprisingly cool and quiet throughout CPU benchmarks like this one. The keyboard warms up a bit, but it doesn’t get uncomfortable. The fans blow hot air out the back of the machine, but they aren’t particularly loud most of the time. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This is a gaming laptop, so GPU performance is critically important. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. With a score of 10,415, the Lenovo Legion 5i appears to squeeze a lot of performance out of its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics hardware. It comes out well on top of some other machines with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics we compared it to. But it still can’t keep up with a system with higher-tier Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics. IDG / Chris Hoffman Moving on to gaming benchmarks, we run a standard benchmark suite in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While this is an older game, it’s a great way to compare performance across different laptops. The Lenovo Legion 5i ran the benchmark at 138 frames per second. It’s getting great performance out of its GPU and CPU — impressively, it comes very close to the RTX 4070-powered Alienware m16 R2 in this benchmark. IDG / Chris Hoffman Finally, we run a benchmark in Metro Exodus. This is a very demanding game and we run the benchmark with high graphical settings. With an average FPS of 41, the Lenovo Legion 5i once again outcompeted the other RTX 4060-powered laptops we compared it to. But it came short of the RTX 4070-powered laptop, naturally. Overall, this machine delivers great performance. But don’t get too distracted by its high-end CPU when comparing machines — for most gaming tasks, the GPU is what matters most. Lenovo Legion 5i: Battery life The Lenovo Legion 5i has an 80 Watt-hour battery, which is a good size. But it’s also a 5.2-pound gaming laptop and those don’t tend to deliver the best battery life. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat in the Movies & TV app on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. (We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness and turn off the keyboard backlight for our battery benchmarks.) This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. In our standard battery life rundown test, the Lenovo Legion 5i lasted for an average of 303 minutes before suspending itself — that’s just over five hours. It’s a little on the low side for a gaming laptop thanks to that power-hungry CPU, but I’ve seen much worse from gaming laptops. Still, if battery life is a priority, this may not be the machine for you. Lenovo Legion 5i: Conclusion The Lenovo Legion 5i is an all-around high-quality gaming laptop and a great value. It’s not the most premium machine, but it’s a very good price for a gaming laptop with discrete Nvidia graphics, a screaming fast Intel Core i9 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB solid-state drive. While the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics here is far from the fastest part, this machine is set up to squeeze lots of gaming performance out of its hardware. Laptops with higher-end graphics — a GeForce RTX 4070 and up — will perform better in games, even if their other specs appear lower. But they’re also more expensive: That RTX 4070-powered Alienware m16 R2 we compared it to costs $1,849. That’s $449 more than the Lenovo Legion 5i. Of course, Nvidia’a GeForce RTX 50-series parts are on the way. Laptops like this one might end up on a good sale price soon. But, in the current market, this machine is a good buy even at its retail price. Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Attractive and approachable design Good connectivity including USB-C with 90 watts Power Delivery Google TV is easy to use and supports many entertainment apps Bright, crisp image Cons Low contrast ratio and modest color performance Bundled speakers are weak HDR doesn’t function in Windows Our Verdict The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC doesn’t deliver the best image quality, but it’s a good jack-of-all-trades for shoppers who need smart TV features in a small display. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC Retailer Price Asus $399.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Smart monitors (monitors that run a smart TV OS, like Google TV or Tizen) quietly became a trend in 2024 thanks to new releases from Samsung and LG, among others. Most of these monitors are larger, however, and target higher price points. The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC is a smaller, more affordable alternative that will appeal to people who care more about a smart monitor’s features than its image quality.   Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC specs & features At its core, the Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC is a run-of-the-mill 27-inch 4K monitor. It has a 27-inch IPS display with a native resolution of 3840×2160. While the display panel supports HDR, its specifications are otherwise mundane. It has a 60Hz refresh rate, lacks VESA DisplayHDR certification, and lacks adapative sync. Display size: 27-inch 16:9 widescreen Native resolution: 3840×2160 Panel type: In-Plane Switching Refresh rate: 60Hz Adaptive sync: None HDR: Yes, HDR 10 Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort and up to 90 watts of USB Power Delivery, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB-A 2.0 downstream, 1x 3.5mm audio out VESA mount: 100x100mm Speakers: 2x 5-watt speakers Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 Operating system: Google TV Remote control: Included, with two AAA batteries Price: $399.99 MSRP While the display panel is basic, Asus packs the monitor with many useful features. It ships with a remote and batteries used to control the Google TV operating system. It also has Wi-Fi (a must for the smart TV OS to work), USB-C with 90 watts of Power Delivery, and a pair of 5-watt speakers. Asus lists an MSRP of $399.99, but it appears to frequently go on sale for $369.99. Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products. Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC design The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC is among the more affordable smart monitors available right now, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at it. On the contrary, it provides a clean, premium aesthetic that should look excellent in any office or living room. From the front, the MS27UC has slim bezels on the top and sides, while the bottom is covered by an attractive grayish-white fabric that blends well with most rooms and lends the monitor an approachable, friendly feel. The fabric covering sweeps around the back of the monitor, where it joins silver plastics that look (but don’t feel) like metal. A remote comes bundled with the Asus MS27UC.Matthew Smith / Foundry The rear of the monitor also boasts a small shelf for rear storage, and Asus provides several peripherals (including the remote bundled with the TV) designed to perch there. While I rarely remembered to use it, this feature could be useful if you like a tidy setup. The monitor has a compact but effective L-shaped stand with a flat base. It takes up very little space on a desk and its compact form factor means the monitor can perch on even smaller surfaces, like a nightstand or cabinet (important if you plan to use it like a small television). The stand’s ergonomic adjustment is limited, however. It only adjusts for tilt and height and its range of height adjustment is a tad more limited than typical at 100mm of total travel.A typical 100x100mm VESA mount is available for attaching the monitor to a third-party stand or mount. The ports are rear-facing instead of downward-facing. While I generally prefer this, as it makes connecting devices a breeze, it could prove tricky if you want to wall-mount the monitor. Fabric accents give the Asus ZenScreen Smart MS27UC a premium feel.Matthew Smith / Foundry Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC connectivity The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC has a good range of connectivity. Video inputs include USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode, DisplayPort, and HDMI, for a total of three video inputs. While I would’ve preferred to see a second HDMI, this arrangement is probably fine for most owners. The USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode can also supply up to 90 watts of Power Delivery, which makes it useful for connecting and charging a laptop, tablet, or even a smartphone. While this is most useful in a home office, it could also be handy if you want play games on a connected laptop, smartphone, or handheld gaming device. Two USB-A 2.0 downstream ports and a 3.5mm audio-out jack round out the options. A USB-C downstream port would’ve been nice, but the MS27UC’s overall connectivity is good value for money. Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC Smart TV features Asus ships the ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC with Google TV, an Android-based operating system users might already be familiar with, as it’s commonly used by TVs from Sony, TCL, and Hisense, among others. Because it’s a smart monitor with an operating system, the MS27UC requires a bit of setup before it’s ready to use. You’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi, log in to a Google account, and complete a few optional personalization steps. I found this process a bit slower than on competing smart monitors due to several setup load screens that took a minute or two to complete. Still, I had the monitor ready to use in under 10 minutes. Once set up, I found the Google TV operating system familiar and easy to navigate. It really is Google TV, so apps you’d expect to work with a larger television running Google TV will work here. This includes streaming apps like YouTube (of course), Netflix, Amazon Prime, and so on. If you’d like, you can use the MS27UC like a 27-inch smart television without a device connected to a video input. The monitor also supports wireless video connections through standards like Miracast and Chromecast, meaning it’s possible to wirelessly stream video from select phones, tablets, and computers. Note, however, that the MS27UC lacks a TV tuner and won’t be able to connect to a coaxial cable source. This is also true of competitive smart monitors, however. The remote control is large, comfortable, and provides good access to video connections and display options. I found the menu system easier to navigate than those on the Samsung and LG smart monitors I tested the last year. And I had no trouble connecting a PC over HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C. The menu system is ever-so-slightly sluggish at times, but it’s minor and I expect many users won’t notice. However, the menu options are a bit confusing when using the display as a monitor. By default, the monitor switches to PC Mode (and this was used for most of our testing). This mode locks out some adjustments, such as color temperature. HDR also did not function in PC Mode. I also tried using Asus DisplayWidget, a Windows app that can control the settings of most Asus monitors and found it didn’t work with the MS27UC. A pair of 5-watt speakers wrap up the monitor’s smart TV features. They’re okay, but 5 watts isn’t a ton of power, and the monitor lacks a subwoofer to deliver low-end kick. As a result, the monitor’s sound comes across as tinny and thin. The speakers are passable for casual viewing, but owners planning a Netflix binge will want a better sound system.    The image won’t blow your socks off, but it’s bright, sharp, and easy to view in a variety of viewing conditions and with a wide range of content. Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC SDR image quality The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC has many features but, when it comes to image quality, there’s not a lot to talk about. Aside from a native resolution of 3840×2160, the monitor’s display is a rather basic IPS panel with a 60Hz refresh rate. That shows through in testing. Matthew Smith / Foundry First up, however, is a bit of good news. The MS27UC hits a maximum SDR brightness of 467 nits, which is extremely high for any monitor. An SDR brightness this high isn’t necessary for use in a typical home office, but it makes sense in a smart monitor that might replace a television. I expect the MS27UC will be used in brightly lit rooms, including living rooms and kitchens, where it’s an alternative to a budget smart television. The display’s brightness should keep it comfortable to view in most situations. Matthew Smith / Foundry On the flip side, however, the MS27UC achieved a modest measured contrast ratio of 850:1. That’s not great for a monitor in 2025, and it lands the MS27UC towards the low end of what’s typical. To be fair, most similarly priced monitors with an IPS panel deliver a similar contrast ratio. But those with a VA panel, like the AOC 27G15, achieve a much better contrast ratio that leads to a richer, more immersive image. Matthew Smith / Foundry I was a bit disappointed by the MS27UC’s color gamut, as it achieved just 99 percent of sRGB and 81 percent of DCI-P3. As the graph shows, that’s behind other monitors that are similarly priced, though it should be noted that LG’s smart monitor is listed at $600. Matthew Smith / Foundry Color accuracy is a win for the MS27UC. Although it doesn’t beat the field, all the monitors listed here perform well for the price and ultimately deliver color accuracy capable of a realistic and convincing image. Even users with a discerning eye for color are unlikely to see flaws. The MS27US also did well in gamma, as it achieved the ideal gamma curve value of 2.2. That indicates the image appears around as luminous as it should, which is key to preserving detail in shadows and highlights. Color temperature, on the other hand, was unusually high with a value of 8000K. That means the image appears cool and sterile. This can be a matter of personal taste, and the monitor provides options to change the color temperature through both preset color temperature modes and color calibration features, so users can change the color temperature to a warmer look. Still, a default color temperature this high (in PC Mode, which is flipped on by default when using the monitor with a PC) is a bit odd. Sharpness is a big perk and strength. A resolution of 3840×2160 across a 27-inch panel works out to about 163 pixels per inch and results in a tack-sharp look. The sharpness is equally excellent when viewing YouTube as when navigating an Excel spreadsheet in 8-point font. Look, I’ll be honest: The Asus Zenscreen Smart Monitor MS27UC’s image quality is just okay. But that doesn’t mean shoppers should write it off. A display like this is often built to be functional more than it is attractive, and that is as true for the monitor’s image quality as its features. The image won’t blow your socks off, but it’s bright, sharp, and easy to view in a variety of viewing conditions and with a wide range of content. Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC HDR image quality The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC supports HDR10, but I wouldn’t recommend buying it for HDR content. The monitor’s maximum brightness is excellent for SDR but insufficient to do HDR justice. It also lacks the color gamut and contrast required to help HDR content stand out from SDR. That’s not to say HDR looks bad. On the contrary, a high-quality 4K HDR clip can look great. This, however, is mostly thanks to the monitor’s sharpness, and HDR’s advantage over high-quality 4K SDR content is rather slim. I also found HDR didn’t work when using the monitor with a PC. Windows didn’t detect the monitor as HDR compatible, and HDR did not appear to engage automatically with compatible content. HDR only flipped on when I viewed streaming apps, like Netflix, through the Google TV interface. While none of this is positive for the MS27UC, it’s important to remember the price. Asus sells this monitor for less than $400. It’s hard to find a good HDR monitor for less than $400, so these flaws are excusable. Shoppers should expect to pay more for good HDR. Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC motion performance The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC doesn’t include features that might improve its motion performance. It has a 60Hz refresh rate and lacks adaptive sync for smooth frame pacing. That’s not to say it’s terrible. The IPS display panel’s pixel response times are reasonable and its motion clarity is typical for a 60Hz monitor. Ghosting and blur is noticeable on the MS27UC, but tolerable outside of competitive esports games, and no worse than other mid-range monitors. Shopper who aren’t picky about motion clarity will think it looks fine. Still, with 120Hz and 240Hz gaming monitors widely available at lower prices, it’s obvious the MS27UC is not a good choice for shoppers who care about motion performance. Should you buy the Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC? The Asus ZenScreen Smart Monitor MS27UC is a great pick for shoppers who want an affordable smart monitor that’s easy to use, can handle a wide variety of streaming apps, and looks attractive. Though it’s not a bad choice for a home office, the MS27UC is best in a studio apartment, kitchen, guest room, and any other space where a small, versatile display might be needed. The MS27UC is less appealing when used solely or mostly as a PC monitor, as its image quality and motion performance can’t match similarly priced PC gaming monitors that lack smart TV features. Read...

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