I just tested the world’s fastest OLED gaming monitor — and its refresh rates are insane
The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B ($999) is one of the wildest devices I’ve tested. Like most of LG’s current gaming monitors, it lets you switch between two refresh rates. The difference is how high those numbers go: 540Hz at 1440p resolution and 720Hz at 720p resolution. No, those numbers aren’t typos! As things stand, this is certainly one of the fastest gaming monitors you can buy, but that’s not all the UltraGear 27GX790B-B has going for it.
The main complaint I have with every OLED gaming monitor I’ve reviewed is the dim HDR compared to other monitors. LG’s latest bucks that trend by delivering some of the brightest brights I’ve seen on similar devices. In fact, the company claims this is the world’s brightest OLED gaming monitor. I can’t verify if that’s true, but I’m inclined to believe it, especially after our testing.
As with all LG UltraGear monitors, this 27-inch model features an elegant design that’s well-suited for any office or gaming setup. Since this is a gaming monitor, you can enable RGB backlighting for fun. You also get a great range of motion to help you achieve the best viewing angle.
The insanely high refresh rates are certainly impressive and ensure that everything runs buttery smooth. However, unless you’re a professional gamer, you likely won’t be able to tell the difference between what you get here and what you’d get from a similar 240Hz monitor. In fact, I even question whether professionals can tell the difference.
Other than refresh rates that feel like tech flexing and the monitor topping out at 1440p, I have little to complain about. Faults aside, it’s certainly one of the best gaming monitors, especially if you want such high refresh rates. Find out more in my full review.
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B is a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor featuring two refresh rates: 540Hz at 1440p and 720Hz at 720p.
- Who is it for? For competitive gamers who need the absolute highest refresh rates.
- What does it cost? The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B costs $994 on Amazon.
- What do we like? We like the elegant design, high HDR brightness for an OLED gaming monitor, and relatively affordable price.
- What don’t we like? The super high refresh rates aren’t essential for most gamers, and the display tops out at 1440p resolution.
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: Specs
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B |
|
Price |
$994 |
|
Display |
27-inch |
|
Resolution |
2560 x 1440 | 1280 x 720 |
|
Aspect ratio |
16:9 |
|
Refresh rate |
540Hz | 720Hz |
|
Response time |
0.02ms |
|
Panel type |
OLED |
|
Ports |
2x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x USB-C, 2x USB-A |
|
Dimensions |
23.8″ × 20.8″ × 8.7 (raised, with stand) |
|
Weight |
15 pounds |
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: The ups
The UltraGear 27GX790B-B impresses thanks to its insanely high refresh rates, bright HDR brightness, and overall sleek design.
Lovely design
The 27GX790B-B has the classic LG UltraGear design, which is to say that it’s sleek and elegant. I like how the all-silver understated aesthetic can work just as well in an office environment as it would in a proper gaming den. Even the RGB lighting surrounding the monitor arm on the back is relatively subdued, should you choose to turn it on.
Gliding the monitor up and down along the stand is a smooth process, as is tilting it forward and back for that perfect viewing angle. If you want, you can also rotate the monitor a full 90 degrees for vertical orientation—something I certainly appreciate.
You get a good amount of ports, including two HDMI, one DisplayPort, a lone USB-C, and a pair of USB-A. All the ports are located on the back, so you’ll need to turn the whole monitor and stand around to access them. The button to switch from 540Hz to 720Hz is conveniently located underneath the display’s bottom bezel, along with the OSD joystick.
The wide and flat stand keeps the monitor in place even when you’re swiveling it. It’s also large enough to place items like your phone or an extra controller. The shaft doesn’t have an opening for tucking your cables through, but this isn’t a deal-breaker.
Vivid display
The 27-inch OLED panel on the 27GX790B-B is a sight to behold. Even though it tops out at 1440p, you get sharp, crisp picture quality when playing games or scrolling through websites. The OLED itself delivers strong contrast between dark and light elements, which helps oversaturated colors look even more vivid.
The 27GX790B-B has 14 display modes, including modes dedicated to game genres like FPS and RTS. Most of the modes are only slightly different from one another, depending on their intended function. If these presets aren’t to your liking, the “Personalized Picture” mode offers a greater degree of customization.
One of the big selling points here is the HDR brightness, which LG claims is the highest ever for an OLED gaming monitor. To that end, let’s take a look at what our lab results had to say about the Max Brightness display mode.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B |
Alienware AW2726DM |
|
Nits (brightness) |
249 (SDR) | 561 (HDR) |
181 (SDR) / 342 (HDR) |
|
sRGB |
177% |
190% |
|
DCI-P3 |
125.4% |
140.9% |
|
Delta-E |
0.33 |
0.24 |
As you can see from the table above, the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B produces oversaturated colors (sRGB and DCI-P3) and decent color accuracy (Delta-E). We saw similar values across most of the other modes. The Alienware AW2726DM also produces oversaturated hues, though it has better color accuracy (closer to 0 is best).
You’ll notice that the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B delivers significantly higher brightness than its Alienware counterpart. While 561 nits across 10% of the display might not sound impressive, keep in mind that this is nearly double what most OLED gaming monitors deliver. It makes a huge difference, making everything appear more vibrant.
Smooth performance
Thanks to its “Dual Mode” feature, discussing the 27GX790B-B’s performance isn’t as straightforward as it is with other gaming monitors. The default setting is 1440p at 540Hz. With the press of a button, you can switch to 720p at 720Hz. Both of these are tailor-made for professional competitive gamers or hardcore enthusiasts.
Regardless of which mode you choose, both have the same low response time of 0.02ms. Compatibility with Nvidia G-SYNC Compatible & AMD FreeSync Premium Pro also ensures smooth performance.
For my testing, I had the 27GX790B-B connected to the new Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop, which packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 “Panther Lake” CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 mobile GPU, and 32GB of RAM. That’s a pretty powerful gaming laptop, but even with such a rig, you’ll struggle to get frame rates that match this monitor’s refresh rates—even if you drop the graphics settings to low and disable all effects like ray tracing.
That said, even if you can’t get a game to run at 540 frames per second, games will run very smoothly. During my time testing Cyberpunk 2077 on this monitor, I never experienced screen tearing or input delays. The low response time also contributes to the excellent performance.
Simple UI
The 27GX790B-B has the same simple and clean interface I’ve come to expect from UltraGear monitors. This is where you’ll find the aforementioned display modes, along with picture adjust, sound, input, and general options. Everything is easy to locate.
The OSD (On Screen Display) joystick under the display is small but intuitive to use. You don’t have to apply much pressure when you’re moving it up, down, left, or right with your finger.
LG’s interface is pretty bare, but I like the simplicity since I always know where to find what I’m looking for. As I’ve said in previous reviews, the less time I spend fiddling around in the menu, the more time I can spend actually playing games.
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: The downs
The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B is certainly impressive, but its defining feature is also its greatest weakness.
Obscenely high refresh rate
The big selling point of this monitor is its super-high refresh rates. While it’s certainly impressive to see a monitor going as high as 720Hz, I don’t think it’s completely necessary.
The main issue is that very few games can achieve frame rates high enough to match the refresh rate. Perhaps you could pull it off if you’re playing an ancient game on the lowest possible settings and on a gaming rig with an RTX 5090 GPU and an obscene amount of RAM, but that’s the only scenario I can imagine.
Then there’s the loss of visual fidelity. 540Hz at 1440p looks fine, but everything looks very blurry when playing at 720Hz at 720p resolution. I understand you’re prioritizing performance over visuals, but if you can’t clearly see enemies in a game, is the extra refresh rate even worth it?
I realize I’m not the target esports player who would want such ludicrously high refresh rates. I might feel different if I had the reflexes and timing required for professional gaming. But as an average gamer, I’d rather have a monitor with a more modest refresh rate.
No 4K option
This ties into the last point, but to achieve such lofty refresh rates, resolution had to take a hit—hence why this isn’t a 4K monitor. That’s a shame, considering how the LG UltraGear 32GS95UE-B has a default setting of 240Hz and 4K resolution.
Again, I’m sure professional gamers are fine with sacrificing visuals to achieve the best performance possible—but I’m not that kind of gamer!
LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: Verdict
There’s no denying that the LG UltraGear 27GX709B-B offers unprecedented performance. It also delivers astonishing HDR brightness for an OLED gaming monitor. For what you get, it’s certainly worth considering, even if it’s admittedly for niche use cases.
That same focus on a specific audience is also this monitor’s greatest weakness. Yes, it’s cool that it can achieve such monumental refresh rates, but most folks don’t need that level of performance. And while the $999 asking price isn’t offensive, something like the $349 Alienware AW2726 has excellent performance and picture quality for a third of the cost—even if it doesn’t get nearly as bright.
The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B isn’t a gaming monitor for everyone, but it’s arguably the best at what it does. For that reason, I say check it out if you are a hardcore competitive gamer who wants what is arguably the fastest gaming monitor available.
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