Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 32" Monitor Review
We have a very interesting production in the labs for review today. Corsair have made their very start monitor, which they are announcing today. They have sent units in accelerate to reviewers, then we take evaluated information technology comprehensively ahead of the official launch which shows some extra confidence on Corsair'south part.
It's called the Xeneon 32QHD165, with the letters and numbers soup indicating we're looking at a 32-inch monitor, with a QHD resolution (a.k.a. 1440p) and a 165Hz maximum refresh charge per unit. The category of 32-inch mid/high-refresh 1440p monitors has accelerated this yr with the introduction of quality IPS panels and that's exactly what Corsair are using in their offset display.
So information technology's big, it's apartment, and Corsair are quoting 100% Adobe RGB coverage in addition to 98% DCI-P3 thanks to Quantum Dot enhancement. On the refresh rate side of things, it tops out at 165Hz but it's too variable refresh compatible with AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync Uniform.
Corsair are gunning for the high-end segment with a price tag of $800, which puts information technology on par with the Asus ROG Swift PG329Q. Let's hope their execution is up to scratch to match that price point, always a alpine order when you lot're a newcomer, but I'm not going to write them off merely yet.
Blueprint and Features
On the design front, we take the top section which is fairly standard, merely also this bottom stand department which something we haven't seen before. It's somewhat hard to describe what'southward going on with the base of the stand, there's a large, elevated loop setup and likewise two minor backwards-facing legs for stability. While merely the front end bar section and the two modest legs make contact with your desk, it's a massive base of operations all things considered. It takes upwardly a huge footprint relative to what I've seen on other 32-inch monitors, which is not necessarily not bad.
Still, Corsair is using premium materials for the base and the stand pillar, which are more often than not metal and have a nice smooth finish. It makes the stand up sturdy with very little wobble, despite supporting superlative, tilt and swivel adjustment and a good range of motion in all those areas. The top department that houses the monitor is made of plastic, so not everything has received that premium affect.
With that said, Corsair has gone with a simple design for the rear which I actually like. No "gamer" patterns, no bulging thick rear casing to accommodate pointless features, only a clean black artful and a reasonably slim console housing. Corsair'south option to make most of this department out of a single piece of plastic has worked very well. On the front end you lot have typical bezel sizes with a small Corsair logo.
Much to my surprise, Corsair has not included any RGB LED lighting. On their peripherals and everything from AIO liquid coolers to RAM they dear to include RGB LEDs, which in most cases I've found to be rather pointless on a monitor. I'm glad Corsair have resisted the urge to include RGB – aside from the display panel itself – and are sticking to offering lighting on stuff where information technology's more than useful.
For ports we have ii HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort 1.4 along with a USB Blazon-C that operates in DP Alt Manner. Little disappointing the HDMI ports are but ii.0 as that limits them to 144Hz, HDMI 2.i would have alleviated this issue and allowed for the full 165Hz in line with what DisplayPort can do. At that place's too USB outputs and an audio jack.
As for the OSD, it'south controlled through a directional toggle on the rear of the brandish. Very basic setup here, and I think this is ane area that's near indicative of being Corsair's beginning e'er monitor. You do become diverse color controls and a refresh rate display, too as an sRGB style and backlight strobing, simply information technology's missing other gamer features that buyers of high-end Asus and Gigabyte monitors have been enjoying like cheat crosshairs, shadow boosters, KVM switches, and then on.
Corsair has integrated the 32QHD165 with their existing product line and iCUE software though, so you tin can control these OSD features through peripherals like the Stream Deck, so that's pretty dandy. It also supports optional accessories similar the Elgato Flex Arm that tin exist screwed into the meridian of the represent mounting a stream camera.
Display Performance
Of course, I was particularly interested to see how Corsair would handle motility performance on their very first gaming monitor so let'south have a look at that at present. Merely three overdrive settings in the OSD, and the kickoff of them is the Normal mode, which is a archetype overdrive off feel with minimal overshoot and middling response times around the 10ms mark. This really isn't too bad for default performance, then that suggests Corsair are using a decent panel here, simply functioning obviously could exist improved.
The Fast mode at 165Hz is a small-scale improvement on the Normal mode. The average response time has decreased to 8.60ms, and so a footling over a 1ms improvement, and that's caused a small improvement to cumulative deviation too. This has been achieved without impacting overshoot, though in full general the speed exhibited isn't fast enough for 165Hz gaming.
So we accept the Fastest way, which is the best way for gaming at the highest refresh rate, as indicated by the lowest cumulative departure figure we've seen and so far. This mode pushes us into overshoot territory, and seeing twoscore% of transitions with noticeable inverse ghosting isn't the best result. However, the actual amount of overshoot is low, then the level to which inverse ghosting is visible is quite limited and yous're only swapping out the mistiness trail from the prior Fast mode with a slight brilliant trail in the Fastest mode. Overall I call back the movement clarity is somewhat better in the Fastest mode though of course some may prefer the no overshoot experience of Fast.
In terms of response time average, 4.26ms is decent and a articulate improvement so overshoot is only one part of the story. Corsair claims a sub 3ms grey to gray average in their spec sheet and this isn't quite met with our new, strict response time testing methodology. Merely interestingly this fashion recorded in at 2.99ms using our older and more traditional method, so Corsair are existence reasonably accurate on the spec sheet which is a squeamish change from most monitors just throwing "1ms" on in that location without thinking.
While the Fastest fashion is the best for 165Hz gaming in my opinion, information technology'south not the best style for gaming across the refresh range with adaptive sync variable refresh rates. The lack of variable overdrive hurts the 32QHD165 here, equally at 144Hz and especially at 120Hz, the Fastest mode simply has too much overshoot and at present inverse ghosting trails are very noticeable. Then the Fastest mode is only suitable for locked 165Hz gaming, which you might get in an esports type title.
The best mode for adaptive sync is the Fast fashion, which keeps response times in control while limiting overshoot to negligible levels even down at 60Hz. For the most part cumulative deviation remains around 600 which isn't besides bad. Yet it'due south conspicuously a fair bit slower than the Fastest way in the best cases, so ideally I'd take liked to meet a mode between Fast and Fastest that could accept offered a more than optimized feel. Either that or a total overdrive slider that could accept provided fine tuning.
The results aren't the worst, merely unfortunately the Xeneon 32QHD165 does non have a unmarried overdrive mode feel which is a frustrating omission for a loftier end monitor. More overdrive modes, or variable overdrive, would exist required to reach the best single overdrive mode gaming. Equally it stands, about adaptive sync gamers should choose the Fast way, while those playing at 165Hz should use Fastest.
Compared to other monitors, the 32QHD165 is sitting right where it should be in the best atmospheric condition at the highest refresh charge per unit: in among other loftier-terminate IPS monitors which deliver betwixt a four.0 and 4.7ms response time boilerplate. Unfortunately though, the Corsair offering has the highest overshoot of the bunch by far, and so in that location's clearly some room for optimization here.
Competing monitors such as the Gigabyte M32Q and Asus ROG Swift PG329Q have lower overshoot at a similar response time boilerplate, while the LG 32GP850 backs off even farther to reduce overshoot. So from that sense this monitor possibly isn't as potent equally it's position in the chart would suggest.
Due to the limited range of overdrive controls, the 32QHD165 is not particularly amazing on average across the refresh range with settings optimized for variable refresh rate gaming.
The Fast manner doesn't take much overshoot, but it's quite a scrap slower than the Faster way, and that hurts the Corsair monitor's continuing in the nautical chart. For example, the PG329Q is able to offer nearly fifty% faster response times on average, with merely a small-scale increase to overshoot, as it includes variable overdrive while the Corsair monitor does not.
That's how key those sorts of inclusions can exist for high end products and unfortunately the Xeneon is missing out.
Still on the balance of things, the 32QHD165 still has pretty good response time functioning, and that's indicated past cumulative departure results. This metric tells united states how close each monitor's response curves get to the ideal instant response, and information technology quantifies the residuum between response times and overshoot.
Across the adaptive sync range, the 32QHD165 being a low-overshoot monitor helps in this nautical chart, and overall it's only slightly worse than other like loftier-terminate displays. For example the gap between the Corsair monitor and the Asus equivalent drops to 19% in favor of the Asus model – so yeah the PG329Q is even so better but information technology'south not that much ameliorate, and the divergence is even smaller to a product similar the 32GP850.
Of class I'd still like to see this number optimized farther through things like variable overdrive and more than overdrive controls on a time to come Corsair monitor, but they're clearly using quite a good console on the 32QHD165 and that leads to okay motion operation.
At 120Hz the Corsair monitor is not particularly impressive and this is where it suffers the virtually in comparison to other high-stop displays of similar specs. Better overdrive tuning would accept led to a better effect hither. Then for 60Hz, this performance is quite important equally the Xeneon does include a panel mode that accepts 4K 60Hz inputs and downscales them to 1440p. The low level of overshoot is dainty but performance is even so somewhat below other monitors of a like spec like the M32Q.
Input lag is strong, the 32QHD165 has a processing delay below 1ms so that'south a non issue and the merely other thing with a major bear upon on latency is the refresh rate. 240Hz monitors are also available at a like price and due to their higher refresh charge per unit, they have lower latency.
The Corsair monitor has similar efficiency to a product similar the Asus PG329Q, which makes sense as I believe both apply an AU Optronics console. Notwithstanding this panel is not the most efficient on the marketplace, with lower power consumption figures seen from monitors such as the LG 32GP850 and Gigabyte M32Q. Non a big deal in the grand scheme of things though.
I'k pleased to see the Xeneon include backlight strobing support, though information technology's limited in its functionality. Corsair only supports this mode with FreeSync disabled, in dissimilarity to a product like the Gigabyte M32Q that now supports backlight strobing and adaptive sync simultaneously. I did go the feature working as low equally 100Hz, merely 60Hz strobing is not possible. In that location's also no fine tuning possible for strobe timing or length, it's just an on-off switch.
Despite all of that, backlight strobing really works pretty well. The fact this console uses Quantum Dot Enhancement instead of a KSF backlight is a big boost for strobing clarity – no ruddy fringing seen hither.
At that place is a faint double image as the panel'southward response times aren't quite fast enough to proceed upwards at 165Hz, but overall clarity in this way is amend than the M32Q, much amend than the 32GP850 and very similar to the PG329Q. It'south worth experimenting with this style particularly for fixed 165Hz refresh gaming in competitive titles, though the lack of compatibility with variable refresh rates isn't going to get in a go-to choice for anybody.
Color Functioning
Color Infinite: Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 - D65-P3
Next upwardly nosotros have color functioning and as advertised, the 32QHD165 is an extremely broad gamut display. I recorded 95% DCI-P3 coverage, so a little shy of the advertised 98%, but I was able to validate 100% Adobe RGB coverage. The high coverage of iii gamuts (including sRGB also) makes this an extremely versatile brandish for content creation, with total Rec. 2022 coverage of 83% right up there with the all-time monitors on the market today. You're getting a full 20 percentage point increase on gamut coverage over a product like the M32Q which is massive.
Default Color Performance
The out of the box experience is pretty standard. Corsair accept opted for flat two.ii gamma instead of sRGB gamma, which is fine merely non accurate for PC usage every bit Windows defaults to using sRGB. My unit of measurement also had a slight red tint from the factory. DeltaE greyscale performance was pretty boilerplate every bit a result just not terrible.
The bigger issue for factory calibration is more than the extremely wide gamut, which is left unchecked by default. This leads to high levels of oversaturation when viewing standard sRGB or Rec. 709 content, such as YouTube videos. This level of wide gamut commonly leads to the sunburned skin effect where pinky-brown tones are shifted into the blood-red zone.
Then in comparison to other displays the 32QHD165 is mid-tier for grayscale calibration, nothing too wrong hither, but color accuracy is very bad straight out of the box and I would not recommend people employ the display in that way.
Luckily, Corsair do include an sRGB way, so that's a tick for their get-go always monitor, I'thousand very glad to see they've realized that they need to do something near the huge gamut on offer. And the mode is very effective at clamping the gamut and completely eliminating oversaturation for everyday content. Unfortunately though, greyscale performance is pretty similar to the default mode, and Corsair locks you lot out of any white residuum controls, which is pointless and annoying.
Calibrated Color Performance
The only fashion to improve performance from hither is to fully calibrate the display using DisplayCAL or, in this case, Calman Ultimate. Considering information technology has no issue roofing the unabridged sRGB gamut, it's very piece of cake to calibrate and get good results for sRGB, and even other color spaces like Adobe RGB or DCI-P3. In fact calibration is basically required for Adobe RGB and DCI-P3, as the gamut exceeds both in the default mode, and Corsair don't offer built in modes for those gamuts like they do for sRGB. That'south another surface area of comeback though I would look about pro or semi-pro users to calibrate it themselves anyway.
Effulgence is right on what Corsair says at a touch over 400 nits, so that's plenty bright for almost apply cases and slightly brighter than most of its competitors. Minimum brightness is likewise corking, at 40 nits, and so the panel tin comfortably used in dark rooms.
The contrast ratio is pretty good for an IPS monitor, my unit recorded over 1100:1 which I suspect will be on the high stop once panel variance is taken into account. Still, that'southward on par with the Gigabyte M32Q and improve than other competitors similar the 32GP850 and PG329Q which both have poor dissimilarity ratios for an IPS. Nevertheless, IPS panels in general have bad dissimilarity ratios, particularly compared to VA monitors, and so this is a weakness.
Viewing angles are good, a non issue when buying most modern IPS displays. Uniformity was also average to good, the center section was pretty uniform all things considered, with some fall off forth the left and right edges. Nothing too concerning though and in a positive note, my unit had limited IPS glow, though of course this does vary from unit of measurement to unit.
Lastly but a quick give-and-take on HDR performance. Corsair are advertisement DisplayHDR 400 certification, however this is a garbage spec that doesn't mean annihilation. In practise the 32QHD165 lacks any form of local dimming, so it cannot produce the level of contrast required for true HDR. The monitor does accept HDR inputs, simply in practice the HDR experience is like running the monitor in the SDR mode with the brightness turned up. Considering it's physically incapable of high dissimilarity ratios, I don't remember the 32QHD165 should be thought of equally an HDR monitor at all.
Hot or Not?
For a first attempt at a gaming monitor, or any monitor for that matter, the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 isn't too bad. Surprisingly good even. We don't know whether this was an in-house design or if Corsair has relied on an ODM to do the heavy lifting, but the results are competitive with today'south displays of a similar spec. Worth mentioning, this is a far weep from the rubbish Razer Raptor 27 nosotros looked at recently, which failed to provide anywhere near adequate performance, and that was Razer's 2d endeavour!
Motion operation is unremarkably the hardest thing to get right, and this monitor does a decent job depending on the circumstances. Overall, information technology's pretty competitive with high-cease IPS monitors of today, slightly behind in metrics like cumulative deviation, but it's pretty fast at 165Hz. It also has nifty, though limited backlight strobing. The master upshot here are the features around the edge that can elevator a monitor from good to dandy functioning, like variable overdrive, more overdrive modes, or a unmarried overdrive style experience. The 32QHD165 isn't at the level of a top-of-the-line monitor in these areas, simply you're not left with a blurry gaming experience either.
Color operation is stiff, with an uncommonly wide gamut that makes this display versatile as a dual gaming and productivity monitor. Summit-end coverage of sRGB, P3 and Adobe RGB covers most of the important stuff, and Corsair complements this with a usable sRGB mode to preclude massive oversaturation for everyday use. We could nitpick a few things about calibration and so on, but it'due south a great-looking brandish with decent IPS contrast, strong effulgence and respectable uniformity.
Where Corsair is a bit lacking is on the features side, some people will miss things like shadow boosting modes or a KVM switch that yous may get with other displays. Or stuff like backlight strobing and variable refresh rates simultaneously. The blueprint could probably employ some optimization besides, but the barebones are there for a monitor that'due south quite good at gaming, video playback and productivity.
Then the Xeneon 32QHD165 hardware is pretty good, how well-nigh value? In our opinion, $800 is likewise much for this monitor and we recollect Corsair is being too optimistic if they thought they could compete with the established Asus PG329Q. The PG329Q is a very strong performer with ameliorate tuning and superior features and for like money it'southward what I'd buy.
Corsair are also running into the issue of competing with other product categories. You can become some really proficient 1440p 240Hz displays at this price tag -- yes they are more often than not going to exist 27-inch models, but they're faster and more futurity proof. There's too several 4K 144Hz options these days for $800 or less, peradventure on a smaller console, merely it's another category I'd strongly be because.
On the other hand, I think the 32QHD165 is improve than the Gigabyte M32Q and LG 32GP850 -- or at to the lowest degree highly competitive with those models -- and they typically retail for between $400 and $500. The Corsair model provides slightly slower response performance, but much improve color performance and clearer backlight strobing. I remember Corsair could get abroad with a higher price than those models, something around $500 to $600, and that's pretty adept for a first endeavor. Information technology is still a hefty reduction on the current intended listing price.
Finally, there are a few other considerations around warranty and support for a first-timer. Corsair is mitigating this with a 3-year warranty, which is on the meliorate stop for gaming displays, and their dead pixel policy is decent. But in that location'southward always going to be some risk compared to a more established brand with a history of making monitors. We don't frequently make notation of warranties in our reviews, merely on this occasion we don't recall it should be an reconsideration even though they're a well established brand in the PC enthusiast space.
Shopping Shortcuts:
- Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 on Amazon
- Asus ROG Swift PG329Q on Amazon
- Gigabyte M32Q on Amazon
- LG 32GP850 on Amazon
- Asus ROG Swift PG32UQ on Amazon
- Samsung Odyssey G7 32" on Amazon
- HP Omen 10 27 on HP Store
Source: https://www.techspot.com/review/2336-corsair-xeneon-32qhd165/
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