No matter how great your gaming rig is, if your monitor is not up to par, you will have a terrible gaming experience. We’ve been there, and it’s not pretty.
Fortunately for you, we’ve been testing gaming monitors since the days of CRT – that’s Cathode Ray Tube, kids – where a bulky 19-inch curved box weighing up to 15kg was the norm. These days, we have bigger and better screens available in almost every size and budget, and they weigh much less, thankfully.
Compared to the more established brands on the market, Xiaomi is a fairly new player, only stepping foot in the arena around 2016. Since then, it has produced a number of monitors that offer the impressive Xiaomi build quality we have come to love with all its products. I mean, have you seen their robot vacuums and smartphones? Really impressive stuff.
Now that Xiaomi is taking on the monitor market, they asked us to pick our favourite monitors from their new line-up to review and critique. As we are always up for a challenge I roped in the expertise of our in-house monitor expert, Cody, and we picked our favourites from the spec list.
We found something with high-end, mid-range, and entry-level specs to give us a nice all-around view of what the range is capable of. Full reviews are coming to NAG soon.
In the meantime, we have compiled our top three monitors from the Xiaomi range. Read on to see which models we’ve picked.
Top 3 Xiaomi Monitor Picks
For Students and Entry-level Gaming
Xiaomi A24i 24-inch Full HD 1080p IPS Monitor
RRP: R2,399
Where to buy: Takealot
When your budget for new technology is tight, you need to be resourceful with what you buy. For gamers, this can be tricky, cheap hardware can easily result in wasted money if a product does not deliver the performance as promised. The Xiaomi A24i 24-inch Full HD 1080p IPS Monitor piqued our interest from the get-go. This monitor is a sleeper, looking inconspicuous on the outside, but has an impressive set of features on the inside.
Xiaomi is cleverly marketing this as an affordable monitor for students but in reality, this is a nice little gaming monitor for gamers on a budget, rocking a console or gaming PC.
This monitor features a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels and the IPS panel boasts a 100Hz refresh rate, perfect for entry- level gaming. The reality is most of us play games at 1080p with frame rates hovering around 60fps in any case. I can’t remember the last time I hit 100fps in a game, with my home PC. So, unless your gaming rig has an expensive graphics card installed, the Xiaomi A24i will almost certainly suit your needs.
A 24-inch screen is also ideal in budget gaming setups as it fits onto small desks, dorm rooms, tight corners, or under the stairs at home; you never know where you need to game when family is around. If you want to LAN with your gaming friends, a 24-inch monitor is also easier to carry around, this is a hot tip from someone who has paid his dues on the LAN front.
I was also impressed that this monitor boasts a 99% sRGB Colour Coverage rating, this means the Xiaomi A24i is suitable for basic creative work like photo editing or content creation as its far better at colour reproduction as it can reproduce 99% of all colours. In laymen’s terms, this means your video and photo exports will look like you intended, with colour output that look true to life. This paired with the IPS panel technology means that even on a budget you can get a pro-grade production monitor for gaming, video editing, photo editing, or just creating projects for school and varsity.
For Mid-range Warriors
Xiaomi G27i 27-inch Full HD 1080p IPS Gaming Monitor
RRP: R3,899
Where to buy: Takealot
The second gaming monitor we picked is a mid-range contender. It’s called the Xiaomi G27i 27-inch Full HD 1080p IPS Gaming Monitor. As a step up in terms of performance, this one will give you a far better gaming experience compared to the Xiaomi A24i and is better suited to gamers wanting a monitor to match their very capable gaming PC or console.
At 27 inches, it also hits the sweet spot for many desktop gamers in terms of size, and this is a great monitor to use in a dual or triple monitor setup if you do that sort of thing. This is because the Xiaomi G27i has thin bezels around the edges of the screen that feel almost seamless when stacked next to each other.
With the inclusion of a tilt-adjustable stand and VESA mount compatibility, you can orientate this monitor in any way you can imagine.
Want a vertical monitor for chat when you live stream? Done.
Want to mount two more monitors on your sim rig for added immersion? Sorted.
Want to tilt your screen to a comfortable viewing angle? Easy.
The Xiaomi G27i excels at gaming with a refresh rate of 165Hz at 1ms GtG response time. It’s really fast if your graphics card can keep up. For most gamers, 165 frames per second is more than sufficient at a resolution of 1080p, and if you are on console, you’ll never max-out the capabilities of this gaming monitor. I also liked that it supports AMD FreeSync Premium, an adaptive sync technology that ensures your graphics card and screen run in sync to optimise frame output. That means you’ll never miss that headshot when your enemy runs past. Every frame matters when you are on the battlefield.
Even better yet, this monitor has two input options, HDMI and DisplayPort. At the same time, the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack makes it ideal for console gamers to easily plug in headphones to get game audio without needing any other hardware. This IPS Gaming Monitor is a compelling option for gamers seeking a really slick monitor without having to sell your prized Funko Pop collection to fund it. You can even connect your PC and console simultaneously to ensure your gaming setup is playable at a moment’s notice. No longer do you need to fumble with the wires when your friends ask, “Where we droppin’ team?”
I consider the Xiaomi G27i 27-inch Full HD 1080p IPS Gaming Monitor to be the Swiss army knife in the range. It is versatile in function and performance. It’s not too big or too expensive, but it has all the functions you need for a delightful 1080p gaming session. Just keep an eye on your surroundings. With a viewing angle of 178 degrees, anyone can see you miss a headshot at 50m or cheer you on when you make it at 300m.
For Serious Gamers
Xiaomi G34WQi 34-inch WQHD Curved Gaming Monitor
RRP: R8,299
Where to buy: Takealot
At the mid-to-upper end of the monitor range, we picked the Xiaomi G34WQi 34-inch WQHD Ultrawide Curved Gaming Monitor because it hits the sweet spot in terms of price and performance. This one sports a resolution of 3440×1440 pixels with a curvature of 1500r. We’ll get back to this weird number in a moment.
Some gamers believe 1440p is the new 1080p, and frankly, we can’t find a reason to disagree. If your graphics card can handle this resolution at over 60fps, then you have yourself a really nice gaming setup that deserves the Xiaomi G34WQi to really shine – a monitor that, incidentally, can handle up to 185 frames per second.
The extra pixels also come in very handy if you do creative things on your PC. I, for one, find that more pixels always help with video editing, as there is more screen real estate for my timelines.
Now, if you are like me, who, up until a few years ago, was vehemently against curved monitors because you saw no reason for the curve, let me impart some wisdom. According to a Harvard Medical School study in 2016, curved gaming monitors reduce eyestrain. The study summarised that, “…fewer subjects reported eyestrain, difficulty-to-focus and blurred-vision symptoms with a curved monitor than with a flat monitor.” If there ever was a reason to request budget from finance for a curved monitor, this is your hall pass. Of course, you’ll tell them you need it for work, wink wink.
On a serious note, the 1500r rating is the angle at which a screen is curved. The human eye, for example, can be compared to a curvature of 1000r, while a nearly flat, subtle curve will be around a 4000r rating. Now, if you have ever wondered how many curved monitors you need to create a perfect circle of monitors around you, don’t worry, I did the calculations. You‘ll need twelve Xiaomi G34WQi curved gaming monitors to build yourself a 360-degree screen around you. Only 12. What are you waiting for?
Moreover, the immersive visuals with vibrant colours it produces are impressive for gaming and content creation. The Xiaomi G34WQi is rated at 95% DCI-P3 and 100% sRGB. This means that this monitor can display 95% of all colours as defined by the DCI-P3, a colour space defined by the Digital Cinema Initiative and used in the movie industry.
The Xiaomi G34WQi 34-inch WQHD Curved Gaming Monitor also has a sleek design and a height-adjustable stand, offering solid value for money. It is a compelling choice for gamers seeking an affordable ultrawide monitor for gaming and content production.
Which of these Xiaomi monitors caught your eye? Let us know in the comments, and then keep an eye on NAG for reviews on these monitors soon.
To buy any of these monitors or to see the rest of the range, check out Xiaomi’s catalogue on Takealot.
