When ultra-fast 360Hz-refresh-rate gaming monitors first hit the scene early last year, they cost around $700. Today, as demand has soared and choices have expanded, new models like the MSI Oculux NXG253R are taking advantage of Fast IPS technology and cutting the price in the process—in the MSI's case, to $599.99. Though the giant Nvidia G-Sync ad that covers half of the back of the display is tacky, MSI should be proud of the performance it's achieved with Big Green's help. The Oculux's built-in input latency analyzer is a must-have tool for hardcore esports competitors, and although the 24.5-inch 1080p format might be a bit limited for content lovers, larger Fast IPS options like Gigabyte's 32-inch Aorus FI32Q fill that role just fine. The MSI NXG253R is for esports gamers, and though it may not be the fastest screen you can buy (that honor currently belongs to the 390Hz Acer Nitro XV252Q-F), its added features and strong performance add up to a well-balanced entry that earns an Editors' Choice award for its combination of speed and color quality.
Crammed with Classy Features
The MSI Oculux NXG253R is a 24.5-inch, 1,920-by-1,080-pixel monitor with a 360Hz refresh rate, built around a Fast IPS panel. The latter (sometimes billed as Nano IPS) is a display type launched by LG in 2019 that has arguably become the gold standard in the battle among VA, TN, and IPS technologies, combining rapid response times, low input latency, and vibrant colors that support HDR ratings as high as HDR 1600.
Many of the 300Hz-plus monitors released this past year—especially the Fast IPS entries—have prices above the $500 mark, with the abovementioned Acer Nitro XV252Q-F representing a sort of maximum-minimum with the highest refresh rate we've seen at 390Hz and one of the lowest prices at $499.99. Unfortunately, the Acer also represents a compromise of build quality and added features, both of which seem to have been stripped away in favor of savings.
So though its combination of Fast IPS and 360Hz might have made the MSI a premium option just a few months ago, nowadays it represents something closer to the midrange of what we expect for a $600 1080p display. Thankfully, the extra C-note buys you a build-quality upgrade over the Nitro, with a sturdy, square base that holds the 14.3-pound panel steady and offers a swivel of -45 to 45 degrees.
The display pivots 90 degrees between landscape and portrait modes, though this is yet another among dozens of gaming monitors that rank as over-the-top choices for programming or use as a secondary screen. Those using it for its true purpose will enjoy the other adjustment options, including tilt from -5 to 20 degrees and wide 178-degree viewing angles.
Going through the NXG253R's onscreen display (OSD) menu, which is controlled by a five-way joystick at right rear, we discovered the usual number of customization and tuning options for both gamers and color-obsessives. These include a six-way color and saturation calibration toolset, as well as gaming goodies like Nvidia's Reflex Latency Analyzer and custom profiles for nearly every style of game (RPG, RTS, FPS, and so on).
Uh-oh, we said its name...
Just in case you weren't made aware by the branding on MSI's site, the monitor box, or the back of the shell: This display has an Nvidia feature in it, brought to you by Nvidia, courtesy of Nvidia! One wonders if MSI had to strike some kind of branding deal to get the Latency Analyzer integrated, since Big Green's logo seems as prominent if not more prominent than the monitor manufacturer's.
The Nvidia G-Sync 360 lettering on the back of the display is in fact larger that the MSI lettering beneath it. (I measured, because why not?) The two are separated by a thin, programmable LED strip that can be controlled either via the OSD or through the MSI Center software app if the monitor is hooked up via the upstream USB 3.2 Type-A port.
Of course, I don't spend a heck of a lot of time looking at the back of my monitor, though if I were ever to take this one to a LAN party I might pack a can of black spray paint for when the ridicule got to be too much.
The Oculux NXG253R isn't too flush with ports, featuring just two HDMI 2.0 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4b input along with a 3.5mm headphone jack and the USB-A 3.2 upstream port.
Testing the MSI Oculux NXG253R: Everything You Need to Win
As mentioned, this 1080p display boasts a Fast IPS panel with a native refresh rate of 360Hz (no overclocks). The monitor is rated for HDR 400 and, rumor has it, supports Nvidia's G-Sync anti-screen-tearing technology.
We put the NXG253R through our standard gaming monitor test regimen using a Datacolor SpyderX Elite colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays' CalMAN 5 software. Here's what we saw.
Testing the display in the default picture mode with an SDR signal, the MSI showed a peak brightness of 479.1 nits (it's rated for 400 nits) and a black level of 0.44 nit, which works out to a contrast ratio of 1,080:1, just a smidge above the rated 1,000:1. (See more about how we test monitors.)
As we've seen with many an HDR 400 monitor before, the HDR brightness results weren't actually much more impressive than the peak rating in SDR, bumping things up only slightly to a max of 487.5 nits. If your top priority is serious contrast and exceptional color reproduction, I'd suggest checking out the Razer Raptor 27 instead.
When it came to color fidelity, the Oculux NXG253R came in a bit lower than advertised at 94% of the sRGB gamut (the company claims 100%) and 71% coverage of Adobe RGB and DCI-P3. Content creators will want to look elsewhere.
With so many color customization options available, we imagine that the MSI's out-of-the-box delta-E result of 1.79 could be brought down, but it's higher than we've seen from other IPS displays of late.
Media and Gaming Performance
But you probably don't buy a Fast IPS monitor for prepress design work—you buy one to get both scorching speed and stellar image quality, for the best of what gaming monitors can do today.
In HDR, our 4K Costa Rica test footage (output at 1080p to match the monitor's native resolution) looked great, something that's become less and less surprising as Nano IPS displays mature in both tuning and tech.
Next, I booted up Red Dead Redemption 2 with HDR alternately turned on and off to see how the monitor handled it. Around this point is where I begin to argue that HDR loses some of its luster, as the 24-inch-class 1080p format is so limited as to almost wash out the effect entirely. HDR 400 already struggles with reproducing good contrast, and asking it to boost a 1080p image just adds to the uphill climb against other media-centric monitors.
For testing traditional input lag (the amount of time between when a monitor receives a signal and the screen updates), we use an HDFury 4K Diva HDMI matrix. With a 60Hz test signal, the Oculux is yet another to join the Acer XV252Q-F and other displays we've tested lately that return results of something below 1 millisecond, though how much less our detector can't tell. Our previous lag-tester, the Leo Bodnar Lag Tester, looked to have a floor of roughly 15ms, which is what precipitated our switch to the HDFury.
Now it seems that Fast IPS displays have found the limitations of that lag tester, so until the hardware improves we'll be left to speculate if the MSI's figure is 0.99ms or 0.1ms. Either way, like the 360Hz refresh rate, the benefit of such a low input lag time is reserved for a special kind of gamer, and only for games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant, Overwatch, and League of Legends.
Speaking of those games, how did testing go? We've tried 360Hz displays with several different levels of adaptive sync now, including AMD FreeSync Premium Pro as well as G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate. However, to date we haven't reviewed any that combine 360Hz with a standard G-Sync processor. Could the Oculux be the Goldilocks of the bunch?
Like the rest of the 360Hz pack, the MSI represents a new paradigm for high-performance gaming, a must-have for anyone who plans to take an esports career seriously in games where the right gear is critical to success. Just as an Olympic hopeful wouldn't show up for trials wearing sandals, current and hopeful esports players need a 360Hz display with a built-in latency analzyer to check and tune their equipment before they show up on the field.
This feature tunes your mouse and monitor to their peak, and with everything turned on the difference is palpable. I'm a little past the age where the monitor I use makes the difference between winning a Valorant match or not, but for most, displays like the Oculux NXG253R just accentuate the crispness of your play that much more.
The Best of Both Worlds for Esports Fanatics
The MSI Oculux NXG253R steps into a niche that high-refresh gaming maniacs have embraced over the past year, while also boosting the 360Hz category with a Fast IPS display that works to improve color quality. If you mainline any of the abovementioned games that can hover around 400fps, the Oculux is a well-priced option that has all the features you need, and even a few you don't. Its price undercutting competitors like the Asus ROG Swift PG259QN doesn't show in a lack of build quality or subpar color results, though it could use a few more ports and we'll never get over that garish Nvidia branding across the back. Put it against a wall, though, and the NXG253R is a stellar entry into the 360Hz tier of gaming displays.
Fast IPS has come a long way in a short time, elevating extreme esports-focused 360Hz monitors like MSI's Oculux NXG253R to new heights in color and contrast.
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