The Mi Curved Gaming Monitor has a neat minimalist style with a versatile stand that can be slanted, rotated, raised, and lowered. The stand likewise includes magnetic covers that quickly pop on and off to help with cable management, and connecting the monitor itself was really easy.
Edge Score
Xiaomi is best known for its economical phones and devices, however the list of item classifications its ready to go into grows seemingly by the year. Among the current is gaming displays, with a 27-inch model released in June and a 34-inch ultrawide following last month. Ive been evaluating the latter, and its in fact really excellent for the cost of EUR399 (or ~$ 469– real-world euro-dollar conversions tend to be closer to 1:1, though that wont assist United States importers).
7.5 out of 10
The panel uses VA innovation and looks good. Ive had it set up next to my IPS Asus PG279Q, and the color recreation is at least as strong, with a declared 125 percent coverage of the sRGB gamut. The Xiaomi is a little dimmer at 300 nits to the Asus 350, but its not actually a problem other than when the early morning sun is streaming through the window with the curtains open. For a monitor that will likely stay in a fixed position, its not a huge offer, and I appreciate the lack of glare from the matte finish.
Restricted port selection
Awkward buttons
No HDR support
Budget friendly
Good panel quality
Minimalist style
Bad Stuff
The screens panel compares to what you d have likely anticipated from a high-end ultrawide a couple of years back, before HDR became more of a thing on PC. Its a 34-inch 3440 x 1440 display, which is the basic 21:9 resolution for that size– its basically like having a 27-inch 1440p screen with a 3rd more horizontal genuine estate. The screens curvature is 1500R, so its not as noticable as a few of Samsungs more severe current designs, however it feels natural for this size.
Excellent Stuff
Supports FreeSync, still deals with G-Sync
None of those are deal-breakers for the Mi Curved Gaming Monitors core functionality, though– at least not for me. If youve been believing about entering into ultrawide gaming or perhaps just getting more desktop real estate, I think this is an actually good worth alternative. Its definitely worth taking a look at if youre in Europe, Australia, India, or the other markets where Xiaomi has an existence.
The brightness does suggest theres no HDR support, not even the lowest-end DisplayHDR 400 spec. The refresh rate is 144Hz and works with FreeSync, which lets you play games at high, variable frame rates without tearing. Although FreeSync is created for AMD GPUs and I have an Nvidia GTX 1080, I did get it dealing with Nvidias “G-Sync Compatible” performance, in spite of the display not having been formally licensed.
Nvidias official line about utilizing an unverified FreeSync display like this is “it may work, it might work partially, or it might not operate at all,” so I cant assure across-the-board compatibility. I did discover that the Mi Curved Gaming Monitor might just run G-Sync at approximately 120Hz, however thats been more than enough to improve my 60fps-ish experience with the unsteady PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn.
The Mi Curved Gaming Monitor gets the essentials right, however it does avoid some of the nice-to-have functions youll find on higher-end items. The UI, controlled by 5 small buttons on the back of the display, is pokey and inefficient, and I never got utilized to working out which button was which by feel. I also discovered the screen to be uncommonly sluggish to wake up or switch inputs, taking several seconds for each operation.
Photography by Sam Byford/ The Verge
The Mi Curved Gaming Monitor gets the essentials right, but it does skip some of the nice-to-have features youll find on higher-end items. None of those are deal-breakers for the Mi Curved Gaming Monitors core functionality, though– at least not for me.
One of the latest is video gaming screens, with a 27-inch design introduced in June and a 34-inch ultrawide following last month. The monitors panel matches up to what you d have likely anticipated from a high-end ultrawide a couple of years back, before HDR ended up being more of a thing on PC. FreeSync is designed for AMD GPUs and I have an Nvidia GTX 1080, I did get it working with Nvidias “G-Sync Compatible” functionality, regardless of the display not having been formally accredited.
