REVIEW – For the past 3 years, my wife has been telling me how dissatisfied she is with the public school system. As she watched our kids go from grade to grade, especially our son, who scored high on the Autism Spectrum, she became 100% convinced that homeschooling was the way to ensure a proper education that would provide them with a better understanding of the core subjects and better support the electives that are specific to their interests. My assignment was to procure two complete computer systems, including two monitors that were high-end enough to handle graphics and coding if my son continues to develop his interest in coding and if he continues to enjoy his interest in gaming. In addition, my daughter is a budding artist, so this was another reason that the graphic capabilities of the monitor must be quite good. As I started my search, I got lucky and was offered this RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor that looks like it will meet the needs of at least one of my kids.
What is it?
The RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor features USB-C 90W charging, DisplayPort Alt-Mode, lightning-fast 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms GtG response time, 2ms total input lag, and effortless device switching with KVM. In addition, there are built-in speakers, RGB lighting, and an ergonomic tilt, swivel, and pivot stand.
What’s in the box?
- 1 x RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor
- 1 x Height Adjustable Tripod Stand
- 1 x Power Cable and Power Adapter
- 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 Cable
- 1 x User Manual
Hardware specs
Design and features
- Adaptive Refresh Technology Ready
- 2560 x 1440p QHD Display, 95% DCI-P3, HDR-10 Ready
- 300 nits brightness
- Up to 240 Hz Fast IPS Panel
- 1ms GtG with Overclocking
- Speakers included
- USB-C Video with power delivery up to 90W
- Thin Bezel Design for enhanced immersion
- Tilt & Pivot Quick Release Stand
- RGB LED Lighting System for user customization
- Cross Hair Overlay, Flicker Free, Low Blue Light Filter Options
The RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor is encased in plastic. There is a thin bezel around 3 sides of the screen and a larger bezel on the button. The power/toggle OSD button is on the back and the ports are underneath facing down. The removable stand allows the monitor to pivot and tilt and the monitor can also be wall mounted.
Setup
The only thing that is required to set up this RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor is to attach the base stand to the monitor and connect the cables.
Performance
The RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor is a nice gaming monitor that works well for everyday use, video editing, movie watching, and gaming. I am not a gamer, but my kids are now getting into computer gaming after using a Nintendo Switch and Android tablets for a few years. Based on how this display looks and its adjustability, I am sure it will be amazing as they grow within it. My daughter is a budding artist and she is using this monitor for her homeschooling classes and will be using it for her art classes.
As I mentioned, the resolution of this monitor is great, and the refresh rate is also perfect for fast-moving games and graphics. I used the EIZO Monitor Test to check for any dead pixels across the color spectrum, and there were no dead pixels. The built-in speakers provide really good sound, but gamers will still want to add external speakers. This monitor has an RGB backlight function, and while I could get to it in the OSD menu, I could not get it to turn on. It is very likely that I was and still am doing something wrong. Since this monitor is new to the market, the manual is not very detailed. The power and OSD menu switches are all just one button/toggle switch that is at the back of the monitor. Despite it being out of sight when you are sitting facing the monitor, it is easy to reach it on the right back of the monitor and it is also very easy to use. This was surprising since I am used to individual OSD menu buttons on the bottom right of the monitor and I thought it would be awkward. I was wrong.
There is also built-in KVM capability via USB. I did not test this feature at this time since I could not test it and I did not need it. However, it is a good feature to have and one that I will test at a later date.
Here are some highlights of the features and functions that make it a great performer:
OSD Functions:
The following is a video of a couple of online game demos being played on this monitor:
What I like
- The size of the screen
- The build quality
- The connectivity options
- The quality of the display
- The adjustability (Swivel and height)
What I’d change
- I’m not too fond of the heavy AC adapter/transformer
Final thoughts
The RCA Premium 27-inch Select Gaming Monitor is a nice monitor for multiple uses ranging from everyday use to video and photography editing and of course gami\ng. While my kids are now getting into gaming, I can see the capabilities just from testing it via a few online gaming demos. I am sure that there are a lot of good experiences to come with this monitor.
Price: $369 – RCA; $379 – Amazon, Walmart
Where to buy: RCA, Amazon, Walmart
Source: The sample of this product was provided by RCA.
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Highly recommend you check out the Sceptre IPS 27″ gaming monitor. Although it features fewer port options, it has a less-obtrusive base, equally minimal bezels, and costs just about 1/3 the price of the RCA. The very thin bezels make this especially great for dual monitor setups (which is how we use these monitors exclusively).
https://a.co/d/fR5Zkew