Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: An irresistibly cheap gaming monitor

The thought of buying a gaming monitor might put off those on a tight budget, but Iiyama’s GB2530HSU-B1 sits at an attractive price while offering a great set of features. On paper, it might just be one of the best budget monitors on the market – let’s find out if it lives up to its expectations.

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Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: What you need to know

The GB2530HSU-B1 is a 24.5in gaming monitor with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) TN panel. It runs at a native 75Hz refresh rate – although, thanks to AMD’s FreeSync technology, that can vary dynamically to ensure tear-free gaming. It also has an adjustable stand and a borderless design on three sides, which makes it look and feel more upmarket than it really is.

Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: Price and competition

The GB2530HSU-B1 costs just £125 from Amazon, and at this price, there’s very little in the way of direct competition. The AOC G2460VQ costs the same but lacks the adjustable stand. Otherwise, its closest rival is the AOC G2590VXQ, which costs £145.

If your priority is colour accuracy, the £150 Acer Nitro VG240Ybmii is worth a look as it has an IPS panel – although the refresh rate is lower. Alternatively, if you’re into competitive gaming, the Samsung C24FG70 is a fantastic 144Hz option, but at £220 it’s a fair bit pricier.

Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: Features, design and build quality

The GB2530HSU-B1 has a three-sided borderless design and it looks very elegant next to the AOC G2460VQ with its thick bezels. The stand is also a cut above Iiyama’s rivals: it provides height adjustment, tilt and swivel, and can also pivot by up to 90°. If you’d rather use your own stand (or mount the display on a wall), there’s a 100 x 100mm VESA mount on the back.

For video input, there’s VGA, DisplayPort and HDMI ports, plus two USB 2 ports and 3.5mm headphone input and output jacks. The built-in pair of 2W speakers are sufficient for Windows notifications, but if you want to properly enjoy games and music, you’ll want to attach external speakers or headphones.

The OSD is comprehensive and easy to navigate using the physical buttons located at the bottom-right edge of the monitor.

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Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: Image quality

The Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1’s matte TN panel doesn’t deliver the best viewing angles – if you’re not looking at it square on, the colours shift noticeably. It also has a rather low contrast ratio of 1,180:1, which is common with TN panels. IPS and VA panels are normally far superior in this department.

Colour coverage depends on your settings: you can switch between “Cool”, “Normal”, “Warm”, and “User color” modes. I found the Warm setting to be the closest to the sRGB colour gamut, although even here the monitor only covered 90.2% of the gamut.

Colour accuracy is somewhat disappointing, too. I measured an average Delta E of 2.42 and a maximum of 7.73, which means this monitor won’t appeal to photo or video editors. It’s fine for gaming – just don’t expect vivid, accurate colours in visually stunning games such as Destiny 2.

Brightness, meanwhile, depends on your colour settings. In Normal mode, I measured a maximum of around 240cd/m², but switching to “User color” enabled me to raise this to a peak of 297cd/m². This certainly isn’t the best I’ve seen, but it’ll suffice for late-night gaming sessions.

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Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: Gaming performance

The GB2530HSU-B1’s image quality might not be much to write home about, but its gaming performance is impressive. With a 1ms response time and a native refresh rate of 75Hz, this is a brilliant display for gamers on a tight budget. If you’re a competitive gamer, you’ll ideally want a monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate, but you won’t find one of those at this price.

For an extra boost, you can enable the monitor’s Overdrive setting. The higher you go, the more responsive the panel gets. However, with anything over the first setting of -2, you’ll experience some inverse ghosting and, if you push it up to +2 (the highest setting), there’s a noticeable purple trail – even in less graphically intense games. In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, I found the visual experience unbearable. I suggest you keep it down to +1 or 0 to minimise the unwanted effects or disable it entirely for the best visual experience. Even with Overdrive off, the monitor is surprisingly responsive, with minimal perceptible input lag.

The inclusion of AMD FreeSync technology also means that, if you’ve got a compatible AMD graphics card, you can benefit from tear-free gaming. Nvidia owners can resort to the software-based Adaptive VSync technology instead, which exchanges a degree of responsiveness for a tear-free experience – but, if your hardware can handle it, you can still get the benefit of Full HD at 75Hz.

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Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 review: Verdict

The Iiyama GB2530HSU-B1 isn’t the greatest monitor in the world but, in terms of value, there’s simply no other gaming monitor to match it. To my eyes, it looks just as good as the AOC G2460VQ and, with its adjustable stand and three-sided borderless design, it’s a great cheaper alternative to the AOC G2590VXQ.

If you’re not a competitive gamer, however, I’d recommend you consider an IPS panel instead, for the improved colour and brightness. And if you’re not on a super-tight budget, consider stepping up to the impressive Samsung C24FG70: at £210, it’s still great value and runs at a much slicker 144Hz.