Samsung LS27E330HZX/ZA 27-Inch Gaming WQHD Monitor (1ms / 60Hz / Game Mode)

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I had a really hard time reviewing this monitor. I dont even know if I want to give this monitor a good review or a bad review, because theres a lot to love with this monitor, but it has its problems too... in the end, ill give it 3 stars, but for some you may give it 5, and others 1, based on this review. The Good: Its Samsung... and Ive always liked Samsung monitors for reliability and picture quality... the picture quality on this S27E330 does NOT disappoint... the screen is very bright, the colors are sharp, and as a gaming monitor, the GAME MODE absolutely makes the colors in your games just pop and look fantastic! I cant say enough nice things about the picture quality, I really love how the colors and brightness look. For a TN display panel, it has really good viewing angles. As a gaming monitor, it also has 1ms refresh, which is really good, and the price for under $200 is great. If thats all you care about, this monitor could be a 5-star monitor for you. I dont blame anyone for picking up this monitor and running with it. The Bad: No controls on front... not one... nothing... if aesthetics are important to you, maybe you cheer this factor, but for anyone else that likes convenience in controls, I hate how you control this monitor... it has one mini joystick to control EVERYTHING this monitor does on the BACK of the unit... youre supposed to put thumb on front, fingers around the back to control the joystick, and ive seen other monitors with this feature, but I think its just a terrible design. you press it in to select and move the joystick around to control, but since its on the back and unseen, it just always feels a bit awkward... whats worse, as a "Gaming Monitor", the GAME MODE is selected with this joystick, and it takes something around 4 or 5 movements and presses to turn the game mode on... and another 4 or 5 movements to turn the game mode off. The game mode looks fantastic in games and terrible out of them, so its really something that should have a quick toggle on the front... nope... no such luck... if you want to toggle game mode on or off, youre going to be fooling with that joystick in the back for awhile. This really bothered me, because I loved the game mode, and older Samsung monitors had a simple one-button push on the front to toggle it on and off... this joystick ruins the convenience of game mode, it really does. One final bad about the joystick... its also the only way to turn the monitor on or off aside from the computer putting it in sleep mode. If you want to turn the monitor on or off, its several moves with the joystick in the back... no one button on or off. The Ugly: Its a gaming monitor and its 60hz... why is any monitor targeted at gamers only 60hz in 2018? We have 144hz and 240hz monitors out there for gamers, and this thing is still at 60hz like its 2008, not 2018. Yes, I know its a cheap monitor, but I just bought my son a $68 monitor and its 75hz... if im spending nearly $200, at LEAST make a gaming monitor 75hz if not more. I knew it was 60hz when I bought it, but I pretty much had buyers remorse right away as I kept thinking I should have at least gotten 75hz or more for gaming in 2018... finally, as a brand new monitor, I just paid nearly $200 for... I immediately noticed a stuck red pixel... and no matter what I did to try and resolve and unstick it... there was nothing I could do to eliminate the stuck red pixel, and at 1080p on a 27" monitor, thats a pretty big red pixel... once seen it cannot be unseen (see picture). Now I know its bad luck to get such a monitor, and that certainly doesnt mean every Samsung monitor comes with a stuck red pixel as "a feature", so im not really downing it for a stuck red pixel... you may get one with no stuck or dead pixels... but for Samsung, I really didnt expect bad right out of the box, and reading other comments, I apparently am not the only one who got a bad pixel with this model, so im wondering if its more common than it should be, which is why I mentioned it. Conclusion: I did a lot of research before buying this monitor, and I obviously was trying to keep to a budget (its easy to spend a small fortune on a gaming monitor). My big draw was that it was a name brand I have always trusted over the years that has never let me down. The "GOOD" I mentioned above really, Really, REALLY is good... theres so much about this monitor that I loved... but the Bad and especially the Ugly eventually put me in the reluctant, but necessary "returned for Refund" mode. I might have kept this monitor and lived with the bad joystick control if not for the stuck pixel... that was just the deal killer for me... and the joystick control instead of one-button toggle for gaming mode and the 60hz factor on a gaming monitor just made me decide to not bother seeking an exchange. The colors are really great on this monitor, and if for you, the joystick or 60hz refresh is not an issue, and you can get one without bad pixels, this monitor is a steal, and I recommend you get it. But if the joystick or 60hz would bother you like it does me, and/or you dont want to risk what seems to be a repeating issue for some with bad pixels... you might want to consider looking elsewhere. I tried to be as fair as I could with this review... its not like I dropped it down the stairs and hit it with a baseball bat then gave it a one star rating and said "not durable", like ive seen some people do. Theres a lot to love about this monitor, but it has issues too. I can see people keeping this monitor and having a great time with it... but for me, the bad controls, 60hz and stuck pixel was just too much to keep it, and I ended up spending a little more and getting a Viewsonic XG2702 instead... it cost a little more, but it was a solution to all the problems I had with this monitor.

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Excellent monitor for any purpose. I dont use it often for gaming but when I do it makes games look incredible when gaming mode is switched on. It took very minimal effort to adjust the screen perfectly to my liking, which is a huge factor for me. The out of box settings are probably fine for most, but I prefer my screen a bit darker, so I set the MagicBright template to standard and its exactly how I like it. As much as I like this monitor, I could not give it 5 stars due to 2 very minor yet manageable flaws. First is the power button. There sort of isnt one. The center button on the control panel (which is cleverly located on the back out of sight) will power the monitor on, but turning off is a bit different. You have to press the center button to open the menu, then scroll down to the power option and press the center button again to confirm. To me it just makes no sense to need three button presses to power off. The reason you will even need to power off the monitor is the second flaw to mention. The blue LED light on the bottom right corner is a bit of a nuisance to me. The light flashes constantly when the monitor is in standby mode or your computer goes to sleep. This can not be turned off, you have to either power off the monitor when not in use or cover the light with black tape. Overall these flaws do not make this a deal breaker and Im very satisfied with the monitor. It is certainly the best one Ive ever owned

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Ive been using Samsung monitors for many years. I have several that are close to ten years old and still working. Never had a stuck or dead pixel, ever. Some printed instructions for this monitor would be nice, but they dont exist other than some small pictures. Online instructions werent that great either. I bought two of these monitors and had to return one. That was when I discovered that you can tilt the thing forward or back. It was leaning forward on the stand when I set it up, which I hated. I was going to put something under the stand to fix it, but I found that if you hold the stand and push (or pull) the monitor from the top you can indeed adjust it. I must have missed that picture on the instructions! Getting the stand on the monitor was easy. Getting it off, not so much. That was when I discovered that you can tilt the thing. You have to tilt it all the way to get the monitor off of the stand. The other issue is with that lame control button on the back. Now that Ive figured it out, its really pretty nice. Heres a tip: To get into the control panel you first push the center button, then push the outer UP button, then push the center button again. The first time I managed to get into the control panel, I had no idea how I had done it, but I later figured it out. Once you are in the control panel, you can figure out how to maneuver around in it. I guess things have changed, but I could not find a way to move the display around on the screen. Maybe you dont have to do that anymore, I dont know. On the monitor that I returned, the display was too high, so that I couldnt see the top bar on a fully expanded window. I just had to guess where the mouse pointer was to pull the window down. I think I hit a "reset to default" or something in the menu and I think that must have been what fixed it. There were other problems with the monitor so I sent it back. The seller has been very attentive and cooperated with me during the whole event. I ordered a replacement monitor.

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I was so excited to get this monitor, and supremely disappointed when I turned it on. The image was over sharp an pixelated, but still had washed out colors. I spent an hour trying to tune it to no avail... The I saw it. One Pixel. Bright green in a sea of black. Lousy contrast and dead pixel aside, I tried gaming. It looked okay, but even with the 1 millisecond response time it wasnt astounding. In fact my 6 year old 24 inch Samsung monitors look better than this monitor. I have three other Samsung monitors, 24 in LEDs. They are many years old with no issues. I dont know whats going on with Samsungs quality control, but its nowhere near what it used to be. I dont feel like I can trust a Samsung product anymore. I will be returning this and getting an Asus.

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This is literally the last Samsung product that I will ever buy. Granted, it does have a gorgeous picture, as long as what is displayed remains static. You would think that, in 2017, a monitor with a refresh rate larger than 5ms would be unheard of (my monitor from 2012 has a 5ms rate, and is fine). But, nooooooo. Samsung has to cheap it out and put an 8ms monitor out there, and have the gall to advertise it as "lightning fast" for gamers. This is a flat out LIE, as the ghosting is through the roof. I bought it for a new computer build, ended up selling it as completely unacceptable for my purposes, and buying a ViewSonic with a 2ms refresh rate for the same price. The fact that their "Eye Strain" mode is little more than dropping the contrast and boosting the brightness (resulting in a picture that is hard to look at because it is so ugly), and that their "gaming mode" does the exact opposite (torch mode), just adds insult to injury. Avoid this manufacturer for everything AV (monitors, TVs, etc), as there are many much better alternatives in the same price range.

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So far monitor is great! For the price, it cant be beat. Im not a stickler for dead pixels and such... unless I notice something. Mind you... I dont notice any issues and the monitor is perfect! Just installed on the mount, plugged in, hooked it up... and turned it on.

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Pros: 1. Easy and relatively straightforward to install. On Windows 10, it functions properly right out of the box. Note, however, that it does NOT come with an HDMI cable, so if thats how you plan to use it, you must purchase that separately. 2. There is a good range of adjustment options available, so the monitor can be configured for a comfortable brightness / contrast, and it the color can be adjusted to an acceptable range. 3. Handles games extremely well. Cons: 1. Streaming video is jerky. The quality definitely degrades when watching streaming TV (typically on Cox Contour or on YouTube.) 2. Text is not as sharp as I would like it. 3. Adjustment controls are on the back of the monitor, not the front. This means that, while adjusting it, you are not sitting at the same viewing angle as when you are actually using the monitor. It also means you cant see the controls, and that does matter based on the way they designed one large button to do everything. Bottom line is that, while its a very inexpensive device, Im disappointed in it and would not recommend it for anyone looking to stream video, use large spreadsheets, or do photo editing.

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really nice screen... love the "on button" - you just pass your finger under it and it turns on.... great for me with my arthritic hands means I dont have to use any pressure or strength.... all the settings options are the same... LOVE IT! also screen was way too bright when I first turned it on - but adjusting it to suit my needs was super easy! also - its a second monitor for me - I have a Brix - so got a hdmi cable and an hdmi to display port adapter and hooked it up - worked perfectly on arrival! and I run linux on my system too! also - not too hard for me, an old 61 year old woman with arthritis in her hands, to put together... so, most anyone can do it.... Love Samsung - great quality (my other monitor is a Samsung too)

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Buyer beware, theres a general consensus that at around the 10 oclock on the monitor theres a single dead pixel. I can understand that if this was refurbished or used, but on a new monitor thats ridiculous. Not to mention everything is horribly ghosted. If the dead pixel was the only problem Id simply replace it and hope for the best, but Im processing a full refund. Highly disappointed because usually Samsung makes great electronics in general, but Id definitely stay away from this model.

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I decided to purchase this monitor to use with my PS4 Pro. The monitor arrived with one tiny lime green dead pixel in the top left, but I’m not terribly worried about it, as it doesn’t distract me from my games. Picture quality is good, the monitor’s design is simple and pleasing, and the screen has a matte finish. This monitor has one RGB input, one HDMI input, and no speakers, so you might have to get an HDMI splitter (like I did) if you’re hooking up a console and want sound output from something besides your headset. Overall a good buy. I’m satisfied.

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