Introduction
At this level nubia’s Purple Magic has stable traditions within the gaming smartphone phase and it felt assured sufficient to enterprise into the broader gaming world.
The Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor 27″ is the corporate’s first monitor and it is a beast. It impresses with a cutting-edge miniLED panel that boasts excessive most brightness, good distinction and 1,152 dimming zones for correct HDR expertise. The truth is, the panel helps HDR1000 normal, which is fairly spectacular for a PC monitor.
And since it is a gaming monitor, it has all of the hertzes and pixels. The 4K (3840 x 2560px) show can go as much as 160Hz and gives low latency too.
Clearly, with all that premium tech on board, the Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor would not come low-cost. With a launch worth is $869 it seems to be like Purple Magic is assured sufficient about its product to place it as a premium monitor, so let’s take a deep dive and see if its price your cash.
Unboxing the Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor
The monitor ships in a giant field with every part you’d must set it up. The system ships with an HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C and USB-A to USB-B cables. The ability adapter is exterior, which is fairly massive and hefty but when it goes bust, you possibly can simply change it for a brand new one as a substitute of getting to restore or substitute the entire monitor.
There are additionally 4 bolts for a VESA 75 x 75mm wall mount.
Design, ergonomics, stand
We would name the monitor’s design fairly constrained and even formal for a gaming-centric system. There aren’t any funky design components or flashy LEDs, besides the RGB LED-illuminated triangle on the again, which is fairly stealthy anyway. And you may solely see it from behind, so it will not be distracting in any respect. You may’t see it from the entrance even in a darkish room.
The enclosure is stable plastic with matte end and it is good to the contact. Sadly, the stand can also be solely product of plastic. Positive, it is sturdy and practical, however it will have been good to have a stable piece of steel retaining the monitor upright.
Nonetheless, the stand means that you can match the monitor in just about any working atmosphere. It gives vertical changes, it might swivel, tilt and rotate the monitor in portrait mode. And because the monitor has a built-in accelerometer, it routinely switches between the suitable modes in Home windows.
Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor
Alternatively, you possibly can mount the show on the wall utilizing the supplied extenders. It natively helps 75 x 75mm VESA mounts.
Moreover, the monitor contains a built-in stand to your headphones and the plastic peace comes off so you are able to do correct cable administration. You may run the cables by the stand as a substitute of leaving them hanging round.
Stand design
There is a joystick on the again used for OSD menu navigation however it’s positioned means too far up the again, so that you’d have to achieve for it each time you have to arrange one thing.
Joystick for navigation and fast shortcut buttons
The three shortcut buttons are even additional away and tougher to achieve. The highest one toggles the HDR mode on or off, the second is used to change between sources (you probably have a couple of system related to the monitor, you possibly can change between them on the fly) and the third one is a fast shortcut to the show modes, refresh price adjustment and a toggle for the built-in crosshair. These are the default assignments anyway, however you possibly can customise these shortcuts to your liking.
Connectivity
The Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor boasts a variety of connectivity choices however they’re all fairly arduous to achieve. We had a tough time setting it up as a result of the connectors are in a small compartment so plugging within the cables is a little bit of a problem.
Anyway, the monitor has 2x HDMI 2.1 ports, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C connector that helps as much as 90W charging, knowledge switch and video enter. There are additionally two USB-A 3.0 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Take into account that utilizing the HDMI 2.1 connectors would restrict the refresh price to 120Hz at 2160p, so if you need the quickest potential refresh price at 4K, you need to use the DisplayPort.
Gaming options and show modes
There are many gaming-specific options to undergo, however maybe a very powerful ones to recollect are the 160Hz refresh price, 1ms response time, overdrive of 4.5ms (in all probability gray-to-gray) and assist for FreeSync. And since Nvidia opened up its API a few years again, you possibly can nonetheless use the variable refresh price with an Nvidia GPU.
Gaming-related modes and options
The monitor allows you to tinker with most of these choices. You may arrange the refresh price, the response time and allow/disable FreeSync.
As anticipated, the show has a few gaming profile presets, relying on the style. It has MOBA and FPS. There’s additionally a built-in body price counter and a large selection of crosshairs. For example you do not just like the crosshair design in a specific sport or you’re are an avid AWPer in Counter-Strike and also you want that crosshair for simpler no-scopes. The Redmagic 4K monitor has you coated.
The remainder of the colour presets are sRGB, AdobeRGB, DCI-P3 and Eye care mode. however extra on these within the subsequent part.
To our shock, we weren’t in a position to activate the automated brightness, nor the dynamic distinction options. Not that we’d hold them on, however nonetheless.
Maybe that is the place we complain concerning the total OSD menu navigation. It is everywhere. Urgent down on the joystick key turns the monitor on and off, you possibly can’t use it for menu choice. A proper press selects the mode, the left one takes you again whereas up and down cycle between modes/menu picks. It’s totally unintuitive and bizarre. We additionally did not just like the menu translations. A few of them are complicated, even.
Picture high quality
For the reason that monitor contains a miniLED panel, we had excessive hopes for the general high quality. MiniLED panels are a extra superior model of the usual LED-backlit panels with extra backlight diodes. This allows extra lighting zones (1,152 on this case) and better most brightness. The backlight nonetheless shines by a coloration filter, although, so the underlying show expertise continues to be IPS LCD. That is why miniLEDs are far nearer to conventional panels than microLEDs.
microLEDs are nearer to OLEDs in a way that they do not want a coloration filter and every diode is self-emitting.
In any case, the marketed specs are fairly spectacular. Purple Magic lists 650 nits most brightness and 1,300 nits spot brightness when watching HDR content material, 1,000:1 distinction ratio, 10-bit coloration depth and 99% protection of all coloration areas – AdobeRGB, sRGB and DCI-P3. For the reason that panel has 1,152 lighting zones and excessive most brightness, the monitor is HDR100-certified. It is not the very best one however we take into account it as a correct HDR normal.
Extra image settings
The show seems to be nice. It gives vivid colours, deep blacks and although the anti-glare floor is not ideally suited, the Redmagic 4K will get vivid sufficient to compensate. With out additional ado, let’s get to the take a look at scores.
Brightness, distinction, coloration replica
We examined the colour replica, brightness and distinction within the sRGB, AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 coloration modes as a result of testing the colour accuracy within the Film, Eye care or within the gaming modes is pointless. It is apparent that coloration accuracy is not the precedence in these three modes. The Film, MOBA and FPS gaming modes colours are oversaturated fairly a bit.
Let’s begin with probably the most generally used sRGB mode. With the Normal coloration temperature preset, we obtained a mean dE2000 of three, which is okay however we did not just like the purple-ish tint of the grays and whites. Additionally, the utmost brightness was simply 474 nits. It is not unimpressive however it’s removed from the marketed 650 nits. Distinction is not spectacular both – 929:1.
sRGB preset: Normal • Heat
The excellent news is that the Heat coloration temperature preset fixes virtually every part. Brightness went as much as 532 nits, distinction was 1009:1 and the typical dE2000 was near-perfect at 0.7. We’re significantly impressed by the utmost deviation – simply 1.5.
We ran the identical take a look at at 200 and 140 nits to verify the consistency is sweet. We’re pleased to report that even at 140 nits, the typical dE2000 was under 1. So if you’re planning on doing some color-sensitive work or work on initiatives that require design for bodily prints, the Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor will do the job simply wonderful.
sRGB preset, Heat: 140 nits • 200 nits
We had comparable expertise within the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 modes as effectively. The Normal coloration temperature makes the whites and grays too purple and/or pink-ish. That is why we advocate you follow the Heat preset always.
Nevertheless, coloration accuracy in these two modes is not excellent, however it’s fairly stable nonetheless. In AdobeRGB, the show peaked at 521 nits, 996:1 distinction and dE2000 of two.5. The utmost dE2000, although, is a bit too excessive. The reds and greens, specifically, are oversaturated.
AdobeRGB: Normal • Heat
The DCI-P3 with the Heat preset gives higher accuracy at 522 nits (once more 991:1 distinction) with common dE2000 of solely 0.9. The reds spoil the near-perfect rating however that is the one noticeable anomaly.
DCI-P3: Normal • Heat
All in all, the Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor proves to be good not only for gaming however for color-sensitive work too, particularly within the sRGB mode. Video games, motion pictures, design work – it might do all of it.
HDR expertise
In comparison with the usual IPS LCD panels, the HDR expertise is stable for probably the most half. The distinction between non-HDR and HDR content material on the display screen is not putting however it’s positively noticeable. The darkish elements of the scenes in motion pictures are well-pronounced and video games like Cyberpunk 2077 look fairly good in HDR mode.
Nevertheless, leaving the HDR mode lively always might not be the very best thought, particularly when searching or simply navigating by Home windows. Distinction appears low more often than not and colours are washed out. The monitor would not help you change the colour mode when Home windows’ HDR toggle is lively.
Regardless of the small points, we imagine the HDR1000 implementation within the Redmagic 4K monitor is nice for gaming and not-so-amazing for every part else. Do not anticipate OLED-level HDR expertise however anticipate a significantly higher one than most LCD panels on the market.
Alternate options
Positive, there are many choices within the $800-1,000 worth vary however solely a handful of them provide a miniLED panel that may go as much as 160Hz at 4K decision. The ThundeRobot LU27F160M is considered one of them together with the ViewSonic VX2781-4K-PRO and the Innocn 27M2V. The truth is, all of them use the identical miniLED panel so the distinction between these is fairly minimal. They will also be discovered at roughly the identical worth.
Alternatively, the Coolermaster Tempest GP27U may spark your curiosity as it might do just about every part the remainder of the miniLED-powered screens can however it tops them with a Quantum Dot filter layer, G-Sync certification and it is promoting within the mid-$800s. Sadly, the native dimming zones are simply 572, albeit HDR1000 is within the specs sheet.
We’d additionally advocate looking on the LG UltraGear 27″ OLED Gaming Monitor. It is a stable sub-$1,000 various with a superior OLED panel. It has a better 240Hz refresh price, HDR10 normal and it is G-Sync-certified. The draw back is the decrease 2560 x 1400px decision. In spite of everything, OLED is OLED and that Grey-to-Grey response time of 0.03ms is fairly darn spectacular. To not point out the right blacks.
Verdict
In contrast to the Purple Magic telephones, the Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor will not shock you with affordability. It might price you simply as a lot as comparable miniLED screens. However its efficiency greater than justifies the premium.
When you’ve got the prospect to seize one, we will simply advocate it. It is not solely appropriate for gaming with its excessive decision, vivid colours, low response time and quick refresh price, however it’s additionally appropriate for HDR content material (HDR gaming too!) and color-sensitive work. We solely wished for a greater OSD menu navigation (the joystick navigation is a multitude and it is too far up the again making it tougher to achieve) and sturdier stand.
