Review: SuperSolid PQ27 Pro – 1440p 165Hz Gaming Monitor

The SuperSolid PQ27 Pro is a 27-inch IPS monitor with a QHD (2560 * 1440) resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. This new monitor retails for S$689 but you can get it at Lazada now for S$489.

SuperSolid is a homegrown Singapore company that sells gaming and productivity monitors. It is actually the monitor arm (no pun intended) of the custom Singapore PC builder Dreamcore. SuperSolid have actually been selling monitors for quite a while now, but have recently revamped and introduced a whole slew of gaming monitors under its ‘P’ series.

Tech specs

Right off the bat, the SuperSolid PQ27 Pro has some standout specs for me. For gamers, the 165Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time is definitely the largest appeal. The display inputs of 2x DisplayPort 1.4 and 2x HDMI 2.0 also means that no matter port you use, you can get at least 144Hz of refresh rate. As always, using the DisplayPort is highly recommended if you want to achieve 165Hz.

Unboxing and setup

In the box, you will find the following items:

• SuperSolid PQ27 Pro Monitor
• Height-tilt-swivel adjustable metal stand and base
• DisplayPort cable
• Screws (Long x4, Short x2)
• Wall mounting screws (used for VESA mounting)
• Power cable
• User manual

Setting up the monitor is really easy. You start by with joining the base to the stand, using the two short screws provided. There is a red plastic that slots on to the stand – it is purely a design intent, you can leave it out if you want to.

After setting up the stand, the square plate of the stand secures into the indented square block at the back of the monitor using the four long screws. If you prefer using a monitor arm, simply use the provided wall mounting screws to allow for the VESA plate to be attached.

Adjustable stand

Let’s talk about the provided adjustable stand as the stand provided is not the typical stand you get with monitors. Most provided stands have a fixed height and a limited range of movement in its tilt and swivel. The stand provided for the SuperSolid PQ27 Pro monitor is able to be adjustable in height, tilt and rotate. This makes the stand much more useful to the point you don’t need a monitor arm at all.

The adjustable height ranges from 42.5cm at its lowest to 51.5cm at its highest. Its range of height of height doesn’t go as low or high as a monitor arm, but personally the range of height is more than sufficient for most people.

The tilt angle range is a less than what you’d get with a monitor arm. As for the rotation, it is able to rotate up to 90º both ways – meaning you will be able to get a portrait orientation setup. This is super useful if you have to work with long documents, or simply find a portrait setup helpful in your workflow. Usually, you may need a monitor arm to do this, but with Supersolid’s provided monitor stand, you can do this easily.

Do note that you have to tilt the monitor up first then rotate if not the corners of the monitor will hit the base of the stand, as seen in in the video demonstration below.

Design and build quality

The SuperSolid PQ27 Pro monitor is designed to be bezel-less at the sides, while retaining a chin at the bottom. Though the side physical bezel is quite thin, there is slight letterboxing of the display of about 0.5cm. This means that the actual ‘bezels’ are about 1cm on each side. But still, they look really thin and makes the overall design clean and minimalistic. I really like the design of the monitor as it has subtle branding, with the monitor model ‘PQ27 Pro’ being printed on the left side in red.

At the back of the monitor, there is a red rectangular streak of light that shines as long as the monitor is turned on. If you tend to use your monitor in a dark room and the monitor is close to the wall, the red lights may start showing and mess up your colour combo if red isn’t your colour. Thankfully, you can turn it off in the OSD if you want to:

• Normal: Red light on all the time
• Off: Red light turned off
• Flicker: Red light is blinking/flashing

The monitor stand features a flat rectangular base with a cutout and combined with the monitor itself, I find it looks rather minimalistic and modern. In my opinion, it looks much better than those round or fork-like base. The stand also comes with a carrying handle at the top, so if you want to move the monitor form one place to another it’ll come in handy.

As far as build quality goes, I don’t really have much complains. The monitor and stand is housed in plastic, except for the base of the stand is metal. Buttons are responsive and the plastic frame doesn’t have much flex to it. The only thing that I would point out is the plastic housing of the hinge feels a little soft. But since it is just the housing and not the actual hinge, it’s not a big deal.

Display

SuperSolid PQ27 Pro‘s display features a Quad-HD resolution with a high refresh rate of 165Hz and low response time of 1ms will be an absolute joy for gamers. Do note that if you want to get the 165Hz refresh rate you have to use the DisplayPort as HDMI 2.0 caps out at 144Hz on 1440p.

The SuperSolid PQ27 Pro is stated to support both AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync, so no matter your gaming setup the monitor is able to ensure you get a smooth image. However, I could only test the AMD FreeSync, and not for G-Sync as I do not have a NVIDIA GPU.

Testing this monitor with Valorant on my Bootcamp MacBook Pro 15″ (2018), I’m able to hit about an average of 125 fps. This numbers will likely be much higher if I have a proper gaming setup. Even so, gaming on the PQ27 Pro feels smooth and responsive especially coming from the discontinued Prism+ P270 which only max out at 60Hz. I did not experience any ghosting or tearing during my time of testing. While rocking a 27-inch display, having the option to game at 1440p resolution is a visual delight as opposed to 1080p., if your gaming rig supports it.

The display gets quite bright at its max brightness, and personally it is a little too bright for me so I usually crank down the brightness levels. Colours are vibrant and punchy, with good contrast. Images are also sharp. I did notice that text on Windows OS seem to be a little sharper than on macOS.

As for backlight bleed, there is some at the top of the display – which I think is kind of normal as my old Prism+ monitor also had it. The backlight bleed seems to be noticeable only when using the monitor in the dark, and provided if the background is completely black.

Buttons and controls

The buttons are found behind the monitor on the right-hand side. It’s an okay spot to place the buttons. The screen does wobble slightly when you are pressing on the buttons, but the buttons are responsive and do not feel finicky. If you’re intending for the SuperSolid PQ27 Pro to be your second screen, it would be recommended to place it as the right-side monitor so that the buttons would be easier to access.

There is a button to toggle fixed crosshairs on your screen which can be useful for FPS gaming. There are two types of crosshairs (• and +) with choice of either red or green.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for resolution in a 27-inch form factor with QHD resolution but also want high refresh rates, the SuperSolid PQ27 Pro is the perfect monitor for these demands. QHD (1440p) looks way better than a FHD (1080p) display be it gaming, watching videos or creating content. The provided adjustable stand is also a huge attraction as the stand provides you with most of the functionality of a monitor arm so you don’t have to shell out extra money on one. These specs and features usually costs you over $600, but the SuperSolid PQ27 Pro retails now at just S$489, making a rather good deal.