MSI MPG 275CQRXF Gaming Monitor Review UK 2026

The MSI MPG 275CQRXF Gaming Monitor promises a lot for the money – 240Hz refresh rate, 0.5ms response time, and a curved VA panel with 1.07 billion colours. But as someone who’s tested countless displays, I know these spec sheet claims rarely tell the full story. After spending weeks with this 27-inch curved gaming monitor, I’ve measured the real-world performance, tested motion clarity in fast-paced games, and checked whether that “dynamic contrast” is marketing fluff or genuine improvement. Here’s what you actually need to know before buying.

MSI calls this a “Rapid VA” panel, which is their marketing term for a faster VA panel with improved response times. In practice, it’s still a VA panel with all the usual characteristics – excellent contrast ratio, decent colour volume, but some compromises in pixel response that I’ll detail in the motion section. The 240Hz refresh rate via DisplayPort 1.4a is the main draw here, though you’re limited to 144Hz over HDMI 2.0b.

One thing worth noting: there’s no proper HDR certification here. No DisplayHDR 400 badge, no local dimming zones, nothing. This is an SDR gaming monitor through and through, which is honestly fine at this price point. I’d rather have a good SDR experience than the fake HDR you get on most budget displays.

MSI claims a “dynamic contrast” of 100,000,000:1, which is complete nonsense. This is achieved by adjusting the backlight brightness based on scene content, and it creates distracting brightness shifts in real-world use. I turned it off immediately and suggest you do the same. The native 4000:1 contrast is excellent on its own merit.

Here’s where things get messy. MSI advertises 120% sRGB coverage, which sounds impressive until you realise there’s no sRGB clamp mode. This means colours are oversaturated by default, making everything look artificially vibrant. Reds are too punchy, skin tones look sunburnt, and if you’re doing any content creation, you’ll need to calibrate.

I measured a factory Delta E of 3.2, which is acceptable for gaming but not great. After calibration with a colorimeter, I got it down to 1.8, which is respectable. The 89% DCI-P3 coverage is decent for HDR content (if this monitor actually supported proper HDR), but again, without a colour space toggle, you’re stuck with oversaturated sRGB content.

Peak brightness measured 350 nits in my testing, which is adequate for indoor use but struggles in bright rooms with direct sunlight. The anti-glare coating is decent – matte enough to reduce reflections without being overly grainy.

Backlight Bleed: Minimal – slight brightness increase in bottom-left corner, only visible on pure black screens in dark rooms

Uniformity on my sample was acceptable for a VA panel. The panel lottery is real with VA displays – some units show significant brightness variation across the screen, while others are fairly consistent. Mine showed 4-9% variance from centre, which is good for VA. The bottom-left corner had slight backlight bleed visible on black screens in a dark room, but it wasn’t distracting during actual gaming.

Viewing angles are typical VA – shift your head 20 degrees off-centre and you’ll notice contrast shift and colour washing. This isn’t a monitor for sharing content with someone sitting beside you, but for solo gaming directly in front, it’s fine.

MSI’s “Rapid VA” technology genuinely seems to improve pixel response compared to older VA panels. In fast-paced shooters like Apex Legends and Valorant, motion clarity is good enough that I didn’t feel at a disadvantage. There’s still some dark-level smearing when transitioning from black to grey (typical VA weakness), but it’s less pronounced than on budget VA panels like the MSI MAG 32C6X.

The monitor offers three overdrive settings: Normal, Fast, and Fastest. I recommend sticking with Fast – it provides the best balance between response time improvement and minimal overshoot. Fastest introduces visible inverse ghosting (pixel overshoot) that creates bright trails behind moving objects. Normal is too slow and leaves noticeable blur.

Input lag measured 3.2ms at 240Hz, which is excellent. Combined with the decent pixel response, this monitor feels responsive in competitive games. The lack of motion blur reduction (backlight strobing) is disappointing – this feature can significantly improve motion clarity on sample-and-hold displays, and its absence is notable at this price point.

MSI includes the usual gaming gimmicks: crosshair overlays (useful for hipfire practice), an FPS counter (redundant if you use software overlays), and Black Equalizer (brightens dark areas, which I find makes games look washed out). The AI Vision feature is marketing fluff that over-sharpens the image and crushes blacks – I kept it disabled.

The HDMI ports support CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), which lets you control the monitor’s power state from connected devices. It’s a nice touch for console gaming – the monitor will wake when you turn on your PlayStation and sleep when you power it down.

There’s no USB-C input, no USB hub, and no built-in speakers. This is a gaming monitor focused on the essentials, which is fine. If you need USB connectivity, consider the LG UltraWide 34WR50QK instead.

The 3.5mm headphone jack is positioned on the rear left side, which is awkward to access. I’d prefer a front-facing jack or side-mounted port for easier cable management.

The stand is where MSI cut corners to hit the price point. You get tilt adjustment (-5° to +20°) and that’s it. No height adjustment, no swivel, no pivot. For a 27-inch monitor, this is disappointing – most users will need to prop the monitor on books or a riser to get it to eye level.

The stand itself is sturdy once assembled. It’s a V-shaped design that doesn’t take up too much desk space, and the monitor doesn’t wobble when you type. The matte black finish matches the display bezels nicely.

Thankfully, there’s a 100x100mm VESA mount on the rear, so you can replace the stand with a monitor arm. I’d strongly recommend this if you care about ergonomics – a basic gas spring arm from Amazon will give you far better adjustability than the included stand.

Build quality is typical MSI – plastic construction that feels solid enough but not premium. The bezels are thin on three sides (around 3mm visible bezel, 8mm total including the black border when the screen is on), with a slightly thicker bottom bezel housing the MSI logo.

The OSD is controlled via a 5-way joystick on the rear right side. It’s responsive and much better than the button-based systems on cheaper monitors. The menu layout is logical, though some settings are buried in sub-menus. There’s a quick access menu for common adjustments like input switching and brightness.

If you prefer IPS for better viewing angles and colour accuracy, the ASUS VG27AQL1A is worth considering. You sacrifice refresh rate (170Hz vs 240Hz) and contrast, but gain better colour reproduction and wider viewing angles. The Gigabyte M27Q X offers the best of both worlds with IPS and 240Hz, but costs £100+ more.

For curved VA alternatives, the KTC 32-inch 170Hz offers a larger screen at lower refresh rates, while budget options like the KOORUI 27-inch sacrifice panel quality but cost significantly less.

The MSI strikes a good balance – it’s not the fastest (AOC wins there), not the most colour-accurate (IPS panels win there), but it offers solid all-round performance at a competitive price. The 240Hz refresh rate at 1440p is the sweet spot for modern GPUs, and the VA contrast makes games look punchier than IPS alternatives.