The U270 Pro is PRISM+’s latest offering in their ‘Productivity Flat’ series of monitors. The U270 Pro featuring a 27-inch IPS display, with QHD (2560 * 1440) at 75Hz refresh rate. The stand that accompanies the monitor is highly adjustable, allowing you adjust the tilt, swivel, height and even rotate. PRISM+ U270 Pro retails for S$399.
Tech specs
| Screen size | 27-inch matte |
| Panel type | IPS |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1440 |
| Refresh rate | 75Hz |
| Response time | 5 ms (GTG) |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Brightness (max) | 250 nits |
| Colour gamut | 100% sRGB |
| AMD FreeSync | Yes |
| HDR | HDR10 |
| Low Blue Light mode | Yes |
| Flicker Free | Yes |
| VESA compatibility | 100mm x 100mm |
| Audio | 1 x 3.5mm audio jack Built-in speaker |
| Display inputs | 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 2 x HDMI 2.0 |
| Warranty | 3 years |
Unboxing and setup
In the box, you will receive the following items:
- PRISM+ U270 Pro monitor
- Adjustable stand
- HDMI cable
- Power cable
- User manual
I like how you can simply plug the power cable straight to the monitor, without the need for a large power brick. I also like the whole fixing up of the monitor is so fast and easy. The stand base screws on to the via turnable screw as shown below.
As for installing the monitor on to the stand, there is no need for any screws – it is just a simple latch and lock. Check out the handheld video below to get a better understanding:
Adjustable stand
One of the main features of the U270 Pro is its stand. PRISM+ usually have those V-shaped base for their gaming monitor stands but with their U270 Pro geared more towards productivity, PRSIM+ opted for a more flat rectangular-like base. I actually prefer this flat base stand. It looks more professional and premium. I think it’ll go well with all their current gaming monitors as well.
With the V-shaped stand, you can only do a tilt or swivel. But the stand of the U270 Pro allows you to make adjustments in four directions – tilt, swivel, height, rotate. The mechanism in the stand to adjust the monitor feels smooth and easy to control.
Tilt
Check out the short video demo below:
Swivel
Check out the short video demo below:
Height
Check out the short video demo below:
The height adjustments ranges from 6.5cm off the table at its lowest, to 20cm off the table at its highest. It does not go as high as what you can with a monitor arm, but at its maximum height it is high enough to maintain an ergonomic viewing angle.
Rotate
As for rotation, you can rotate the U270 Pro up to 90º clockwise only, allowing you to achieve a portrait orientation for your workflow. If you’re someone who goes through long word documents or PDFs most of the time, this can really come in handy. Do note that you need to tilt the monitor up fully first before rotating if not the right corner of the monitor will not clear the base of the stand. Check out the short video demo below:
The stand also features a small cutout in the middle to allow for cable pass through which helps with cable management. With the V-shaped stand, if you wanted to set your monitor higher or rotate into portrait mode you’d need a monitor arm. But with the adjustable stand that comes with the U270 Pro, you can enjoy these benefits easily.
Design and build quality
The design of the U270 Pro is slightly different from the other PRISM+ monitors that we’ve come to know of. The back of the monitor now comes in a modern slate grey colour that is consistent with the stand. The overall design looks very modern and premium. Even the bezels on the U270 Pro is thinner, especially the chin bezel (ie. the bottom) measuring a mere 0.8cm thick. Build quality is pretty good. The monitor feels sturdy and doesn’t move about too easily on the stand.
Input sources, ports, and speaker
U270 Pro comes with one DisplayPort 1.2 and two HDMI 2.0 ports. It’s not the newer DisplayPort 1.4, but honestly there is no point as DisplayPort 1.4 is meant for 4K displays. Both DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 support 1440p displays up to 144Hz, which is already more than enough for what U270 Pro has to offer. I like how all three input sources are consistent with their display supports.
You also have a 3.5mm audio jack to connect external speakers, or you can rely on the built-in speaker in the U270 Pro. The sound quality of the built-in speaker is decent at best, and expected of a monitor speaker – voices sound recessed and generally lack a full immersive sound.
Display
U270 Pro features a QHD (2560 x 1440p) display with a refresh rate of 75Hz. When using a 27-inch monitor going for a QHD display is always recommended as at 1080p on a 27-inch monitor just doesn’t get sharp enough for my liking. The 1440p resolution is noticeable improvement from a 1080p experience. Furthermore, having a QHD display means you get more screen real estate (1.77x more). This allows you to place and view more windows at once, which will likely improve productivity. For example below, you can see so much more data and image on Photoshop with a 1440p resolution with both images scaled at 66.7% zoom.
The panel on the U270 Pro has a matte surface which helps to reduce annoying reflections when working against bright light. As it is an IPS panel, the viewing angles are great. Colours remain consistent even when viewing from the sides. Speaking of colours, they are vibrant, detailed and have good contrast. U270 Pro also supports HDR10.
As for brightness, PRISM+ states that panel is rated at 250 nits and it does get bright enough, in fact too bright for me at max settings. I usually tune down the brightness settings by a fair bit on every monitor. U270 Pro is capable of 75Hz refresh rate which feels slightly smoother and less sluggish than the typical 60Hz in a monitor. Once you get used to a 75Hz refresh rate it’s probably hard to go down. U270 Pro also supports AMD FreeSync so if you want to some casual gaming it would help.
There is very minor backlight bleed on the right side of the monitor, and it is not really noticeable unless you use the monitor in complete darkness. The backlight bleed here is alright and in fact it’s better compared to my other PRISM+ monitors I have.
Buttons and controls
The buttons are found on the bottom right hand corner of the monitor. The chin bezel of the monitor has icons to guide you to the location of the buttons. Buttons have a nice round shape and are tactile to press on. They definitely feel better quality than the buttons on my W270 Pro monitor.
U270 Pro features flicker free and low blue light. As many working professionals spend long hours in from of their monitor, such features are really helpful in reducing eye strain and fatigue. You can enable low blue light filter in the OSD settings, by toggling the strength of the blue light filter. At its max setting, I did found it to more comfortable to my eyes when working. The UI of the OSD is easy to navigate. Although it does not allow you to set shortcuts to switch inputs, I found clicking the second button three times allows me to quickly select HDMI1 from DisplayPort.
Conclusion
The PRSIM+ U270 Pro is an excellent monitor that has a great feature set for anyone looking to improve their productivity at work. You can get more screen real estate with a sharper 1440p display, adjust height or rotate the monitor in a pinch, and enjoy a smoother 75Hz refresh rate. All these in a monitor that rocks a modern looking design and priced fairly. At a competitive price point of S$399, you’d be hard-pressed to find something else with the same feature set.