ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: One of the best 4K gaming monitors money can buy

4K gaming is still in its infancy due to the constraints on graphics cards. If, however, you are in the possession of a system that can handle high-resolution gaming at 60fps, the 27in ViewSonic XG2700-4K is one you might want to consider. There’s a lot the £540 monitor has to offer, but can it beat its rivals?

ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: What you need to know

The short answer to that question is yes. This is 27in 4K monitor that’s aimed principally at gamers but it’s no one-trick pony; it’s also good enough for anyone who wants a great-looking screen to edit photos on, and is crammed with features, too.

It has AMD FreeSync technology built-in, low input lag and a fast response time, and fantastic overall image quality. It’s a worthy competitor to our current favourite, the £536 Nvidia G-Sync-enabled AOC AG271UG and for some might be a better choice.

ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: Price and competition

The Viewsonic isn’t particularly cheap, though. It goes for £540 on Amazon and LaptopsDirect and it faces a lot of competition at this price. Its closest rivals are the AOC AG271UG (£536) and Acer Predator XB271HK (£680), however those two monitors offer Nvidia’s G-Sync technology instead of AMD FreeSync, so the ViewSonic is the best option for AMD graphics card owners.

ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: Features, design and build quality

The monitor isn’t particularly easy on the eye. It has wide, deep bezels that distract your eyes from the panel. Its plastic stand is cheap-looking, too, but in general the monitor is reasonably practical.

That stand is surprisingly sturdy and gives you the ability to rotate, tilt and adjust the height of the monitor. At the back there’s a retractable headphone arm and a carry handle, and if you want even more flexibility there’s a 100 x 100mm VESA mount on the rear so you can fit your own. As for connectivity, you get three HDMI ports (two MHL, 1 x HDMI 2.0), a DisplayPort and mini-DisplayPort, plus four USB 3.0 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

A selection of touch-sensitive controls sit at the front of the monitor but they’re poorly labelled, which makes the OSD a pain to use. On the plus side, the monitor’s OSD does have a comprehensive list of options.

Through it, it’s possible to adjust the contrast, brightness and colour (RGB, hue, saturation and offset). You can also tweak sharpness and response time and access options for sRGB, dynamic contrast, overscan, multi-picture, blue light filter, input lag mode, black stabilisation and enable/disable AMD FreeSync.

ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: Image quality

The ViewSonic monitor has a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) IPS panel that runs at 60Hz through its DisplayPort and HDMI 2.0 inputs.

To test picture quality I used an X-Rite i1 Display Pro calibrator and the free DisplayCAL software. Out of the box, the XG2700-4K delivers a maximum brightness of 320cd/m2 and contrast ratio of 1,060:1, which results in an eye-poppingly punchy image. I prefer the higher resolution that VA panels tend to deliver, but that’s just me being picky.

Switch over to sRGB mode for photo editing, however, and things change quite dramatically. With this setting enabled, the monitor reduces brightness to 162cd/m² and contrast to 539:1, which leads to a comparatively dull, dark display.

Low brightness in sRGB mode is relatively common, but the low contrast ratio figure took me by surprise. This feature is only available in a handful of pro-level monitors, which reduce contrast ratio in favour or better screen uniformity. This is important when you’re looking to edit photos or video in a professional capacity.

^Screen uniformity in sRGB mode

^Screen uniformity in Native mode

As you can see from the tests above, the XG2700-4K’s screen uniformity drastically improves in sRGB mode, making the monitor comparable with entry-level pro monitors costing considerably more.

The impressive display quality doesn’t stop there, though. With a measured 97.4% sRGB colour gamut coverage and an average Delta E of 0.44 (colour accuracy), the XG2700-4K will be just at home running Photoshop as it is Call of Duty.

READ NEXT: AOC AGON AG271UG review: The 4K monitor for casual gamers

ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: Gaming performance

First and foremost, you’ll need a graphics card that can consistently output 60fps at 4K in AAA titles. At this high resolution a cheaper graphics card will struggle to fulfill what the monitor has to offer. I’d suggest an AMD RX 480 or RX 580, and would even consider a CrossFire setup.

Assuming your setup is capable, though, the XG2700-4K is a decent gaming companion. It has a 4ms panel, which isn’t the fastest you can buy, but it is extremely responsive, especially with the screen’s Ultra Fast mode enabled in the OSD. Moreover, I saw barely any ghosting when I pushed the monitor’s response time settings to the limit.

Input lag is also pretty good, with hardly any delay between flicks of the mouse and the monitor’s ability to pick up the resulting motion at the end of the display chain. You need to enable Low Input Lag mode to get such impressive results, though.

READ NEXT: Best graphics cards 2017: The best AMD and Nvidia GPUs for 1080p and 4K gaming

ViewSonic XG2700-4K review: Verdict

In short, the ViewSonic XG2700-4K00 is fantastic for gaming enthusiasts who want to play in 4K. It has an excellent panel, which is both colour accurate and responsive. Its screen uniformity is unbelievably good in sRGB mode. Even in non-sRGB mode, the panel is one that competes with the very best.

Like most products it does have its flaws. The design isn’t all that attractive and its touch-sensitive buttons are a faff, but I’d be prepared to put up with that for such good all-round performance. And at £540 the price is in the same ballpark as the also-excellent AOC AGON AG271UG, a similar 4K 60Hz monitor, but one aimed at Nvidia graphics card owners as it includes G-Sync rather than AMD FreeSync.

If you’re considering both monitors, you should base your decision on which graphics card you have in your system. If you are currently on an AMD graphics card and plan on staying on team Red, get the ViewSonic XG2700-4K. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.