HP Omen 27qs Review: 1440p 240Hz FreeSync IPS Gaming Monitor

Sure, the new 1440p 360Hz, mini LED and OLED gaming monitors are all great, but they are also quite expensive.

Most gamers spend around $300 – $400 for a new monitor, so a 27″ 1440p display with a high refresh rate and a good panel is sometimes all you need.

This is where the HP Omen 27qs comes in!

Image Quality

Thanks to its IPS panel, the HP Omen 27qs monitor provides you with 178° wide viewing angles, ensuring that the image remains consistent regardless of the angle you’re looking at it.

Moreover, it has a wide 95% DCI-P3 gamut coverage for more vibrant and saturated colors, equivalent to around 125% sRGB gamut volume.

It also has a built-in sRGB mode that clamps the gamut down to 100% sRGB for higher accuracy, though since over-saturation is mild, we find that most users will prefer the extra vibrancy of the native gamut.

The Standard color preset in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu uses the sRGB gamut in SDR and switches to the wide color gamut when an HDR signal is detected.

If you want to use the wide color gamut for SDR content, use the Gaming color preset instead.

Moving on, the monitor has a strong 400-nit peak brightness, meaning that it will be able to get bright enough to mitigate glare even in well-lit rooms.

As expected from an IPS panel display, there’s some IPS glow, but it’s manageable.

You also get a static contrast ratio of around 1,000:1, so blacks won’t be as deep as that of VA panels with ~3000:1 contrast ratio, but VA technology has other disadvantages, such as narrower viewing angles, VRR brightness flickering and slow pixel response time speed (in this price range).

While the HP Omen 27qs can accept the HDR10 signal and has VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 certification, it lacks proper hardware for a noteworthy HDR viewing experience. Therefore, we recommend ignoring HDR support on this monitor.

Related:What Is HDR For Monitors And Is It Worth It?

The 2560×1440 QHD resolution suits the 27″ sized screen of the monitor very well as you get a pixel density of roughly 109 PPI (pixels per inch).

As a result, you get plenty of screen space with sharp details and text, and without any scaling necessary. It’s also not nearly as demanding on the GPU as 4K UHD, allowing for higher frame rates even with a decent mid-range graphics card.

Performance

A 240Hz refresh rate provides you with buttery smooth motion clarity and responsiveness, and while the difference between 240Hz and 120Hz is not as noticeable as it is between 60Hz and 120Hz, it’s definitely there.

Keep in mind that in order to take full advantage of 240Hz, you’ll also need to reach 240FPS, which can be a challenge at 1440p even in the undemanding eSports titles.

Therefore, if you don’t have a good enough PC rig, you might want to consider getting a cheaper 1440p ~144Hz model – unless you want to future-proof your system, in which case the HP 27qs is an excellent option even if you can’t hit 240FPS that often.

The monitor has five response time overdrive settings, from Level 1 to Level 5. Level 5 adds too much overshoot, so we recommend using Level 4 at high refresh rates.

For variable refresh rate gaming around 60FPS, you should dial it back to Level 2 to avoid inverse ghosting.

The 1ms GtG pixel response time speed ensures that there’s no visible ghosting behind fast-moving objects, while the low ~3ms input lag makes for imperceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

Features

At the rear of the monitor, there’s a directional joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD menu.

Useful gaming features include Black Stretch (improves visibility in dark scenes), crosshair overlays, a refresh rate tracker and on-screen timers.

Variable refresh rate is supported via AMD FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible (official support coming with a future driver update) with a 60-240Hz range for tear-free gameplay up to 240FPS.

Alternatively, you can use the MPRT feature, which activates backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of picture brightness.

MPRT cannot be active at the same time as VRR and it introduces screen flickering that’s invisible to the human eye but can cause headaches after prolonged use to those sensitive to flicker.

The backlight is flicker-free (unless MPRT is enabled) and there’s a hardware low-blue light solution.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is sturdy and offers a good range of ergonomics, including up to 100mm height adjustment, -5°/20° tilt, +/- 90° pivot and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility, but no swivel to the left/right option.

You’ll also find customizable RGB lighting at the back of the screen.

Further, the screen has a light low-haze (25%) matte anti-glare coating that eliminates reflections without making the image too grainy.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports, a dual-USB 3.0 hub (with support for updatable firmware), a headphone jack and two 3W integrated speakers.

Note that the DP input doesn’t have DSC support, so you can’t use 2560×1440 240Hz with 10-bit color depth. Given that the difference between 8-bit and 10-bit color depth for SDR content isn’t that noticeable, this isn’t a big issue.

HDMI 2.0 is limited to 144Hz at 1440p (50-144Hz FreeSync range), but the 1440p 120Hz mode is supported for consoles.

Price & Similar Monitors

The HP Omen 27qs price ranges from $350 to $430, which makes it one of the most affordable 1440p 240Hz gaming monitors.

There are a few more 1440p 240Hz IPS gaming monitors that use the same (or a very similar) panel:

• LG 27GR83Q – no MBR support
• ASUS VG27AQML1A – MBR
• MSI G274QPX – USB-C with DP Alt Mode and 65W PD
• Gigabyte M27Q-X – built-in KVM switch
• Gigabyte GS27Q-X – cheapest model but it has a tilt-only stand and not as wide color gamut. It does support MBR though

Unless you need MBR, USB-C or KVM, we recommend getting whichever model is the cheapest as the image quality, performance and features are very similar across these displays. Acer also has a 1440p 240Hz IPS model, the XV272U W2, but it has bad quality control and overdrive implementation, so you should avoid it.

There are a few 1440p 300Hz models available too, such as the ASUS XG27AQMR and the Acer XV272UKF, but we find that the extra 60Hz and the still underwhelming HDR-600 support are not worth almost double the price of the HP 27qs.

If you want a monitor with proper HDR support around this price range, check out the AOC Q27G3XMN with a 336-zone mini LED FALD (full-array local dimming) backlight, though it doesn’t have as fast response time or as smooth VRR performance.

To learn more about monitors and ensure you’re getting the model most suited for your personal preference, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

Overall, the HP Omen 27qs is an excellent gaming monitor for the price! You get crisp details, vibrant and consistent colors, responsive gameplay and plenty of useful features, making it a great pick for anything from content creation to competitive gaming!

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	2560×1440 (WQHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	240Hz
Response Time	1ms (GtG)
Response Time (MPRT)	1ms (MPRT)
Speakers	2x3W
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync Premium, G-SYNC Compatible (60-240Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0
Other Ports	Headphone Jack, 2x USB 3.0
Brightness	400 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 95% DCI-P3
HDR	VESA DisplayHDR 400
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)