LG 27QN880-B review: Clear desk, clear mind

The LG 27QN880-B Ergo is an unusual monitor. Instead of being supplied with a desktop stand, it comes with a clamp-type vertical stand that attaches to the edge of a desk.

The aim? To leave your desk clear so you can fill it with other stuff.

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LG 27QN880-B: What you get for your money?

The bundled stand means this is a great monitor for minimalist setups and smaller desks. It also allows for incredibly flexible screen positioning.

Once fitted to your desk, and with the monitor clipped on, you’re able to lift the display up and down by 130mm, rotate it all the way around, pull it back and forth, tilt by 25 degrees and spin it into portrait position. And all this while leaving the majority of your desk clear.

Aside from the stand, though, the LG 27QN880-B looks to be pretty standard 27in monitor fare. Its resolution is 2,560 x 1,440 ensuring a sharp picture at normal viewing distances and plenty of desktop real estate to play with. The panel type is IPS, so viewing angles are great.

LG 27QN880-B: What connections does it have?

The other key strength of the LG 27QN880-B is its broad array of connections. At the rear, you’ll find DisplayPort and two HDMI inputs plus a USB-C input, the latter capable of supplying up to 60W of power so you can keep your laptop charged while it’s connected to the monitor.

There’s also a two-port USB 3 hub to connect your peripherals to, and a 3.5mm headphone output. I’m none too keen on the positioning of these, though, right next to the video inputs. It would have been much more convenient to have them positioned on the bottom edge, the right or the left.

And despite the elegance of the stand, you’ll still have to find a place for the external power brick, so the design isn’t quite as convenient as it could have been.

LG 27QN880-B: How easy is it to use?

The monitor’s OSD (on-screen display) is accessed via a clickable joystick situated on the bottom edge of the monitor in the centre.

There are no other buttons to fumble about trying to find and the joystick itself is simple to operate, if a little on the small side.

However, the OSD itself is very sluggish. The monitor frequently takes a second or so to respond to clicks of the joystick, and sometimes it fails to respond at all. Changing settings is a real pain.

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LG 27QN880-B: What’s image quality like?

Oddly, the monitor doesn’t have a specific sRGB mode so I ran tests in a number of the monitor’s Picture presets until I found the best fit for its claimed sRGB colour gamut. In the end, I settled on Custom mode with the brightness turned up to 100, the black level set to low and the colour temperature set to Warm.

With these settings, the panel reached 99.4% sRGB coverage out of a volume of 109.1% and an impressive 1.27 average Delta E colour accuracy score within sRGB. Although brightness is fine, peaking at 339cd/m2, the contrast ratio is a rather disappointing 802:1. Enabling the HDR Effect picture preset bumps brightness up a touch and increases contrast a little but it comes at the cost of oversaturated colours.

Another weakness is that HDR support is limited. Although the monitor is HDR 400 certified, DCI-P3 coverage is only 73.6% from a volume of 75.2%, so you don’t get the rich colours HDR content is capable of, and peak brightness only reaches a maximum of 366cd/m2.

Not that this is strictly intended to be a gaming or entertainment monitor. Although it does support AMD FreeSync, the maximum refresh rate the panel can support is 75Hz. Those looking for the smoothest, fastest gaming experience should look for a monitor capable of at least 144Hz.

LG 27QN880-B: Is there anything else you should know?

It’s also worth highlighting the fact that, although the stand supplied with the LG is very well designed, you can buy one that achieves a similar effect for around £30.

There’s a plentiful selection on Amazon and, while not many of these have the easy height adjustment that LG’s stand does, you can fit them to any monitor that has VESA standard mounting points.

LG 27QN880-B: Verdict

So is the LG 27QN880-B worth paying nigh on £450 for? Alas, the answer to this question has to be no.

The stand is nice, and it’s certainly unusual to find one like this included in the box, but it simply isn’t worth paying this much of a premium when similar aftermarket stands are available for not much cash. Plus, the rest of the package has its fair share of weak points, with a sluggish OSD, lowish contrast ratio and limited HDR effectiveness.

Take our advice and choose a regular monitor instead, then buy a table clamp stand later if you think you need it. You’ll either save money or get a bigger, better monitor like the Philips 346B1C for a similar outlay.