Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 review

Our Verdict

The Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 is a large, capable gaming monitor with lots of features and connections to Corsair'south wider peripheral ecosystem.

For

• First-class brightness, color
• Easy-to-navigate, clutter-free on-screen interface
• Integrates with other Corsair, Elgato peripherals

Confronting

• Pricey
• Stand requires Phillips screwdriver to attach
• Does not support full HDR
• Non 4K resolution

Tom's Guide Verdict

The Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 is a large, capable gaming monitor with lots of features and connections to Corsair's wider peripheral ecosystem.

Pros

• +

  First-class brightness, colour

• +

  Easy-to-navigate, clutter-free on-screen interface

• +

  Integrates with other Corsair, Elgato peripherals

Cons

• -

  Pricey

• -

  Stand requires Phillips screwdriver to attach

• -

  Does not support full HDR

• -

  Not 4K resolution

Corsair Xeneon: Specs

Dimensions: 28.8 ten 23.nine x 12.iv inches
Screen Size: 32 inches
Resolution: 2,560x1,440
Refresh Rate: 165 Hz
Inputs: HDMI, DisplayPort, USB Type-C, USB Type-A

The Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 represents the component and peripheral manufacturer's outset foray into gaming monitors—and it's a creditable one. The 32-inch Xeneon is loaded with gamer-friendly features, such as a loftier (165 Hz) refresh charge per unit, a low (1 ms) response time, and support for both AMD's FreeSync and Nvidia's G-Sync adaptive sync technologies. It offers wide-ranging extensibility with other Corsair products. And, perchance most important, it also delivers sterling functioning past any metric.

With a listing toll of $799.99, the Xeneon is on the expensive side; its HDR functionality is express to support for VESA DisplayHDR 400; and if the gaming features don't mean a lot to you lot, y'all'll probably miss the lack of support for 4K resolution now and in the years to come up. But the Xeneon does what it does well enough to make it one of the best gaming monitors you lot tin can buy.

Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 review: Design

Though a lot depends on your personal room layout and desk configuration, for my coin, 32 inches is currently the sweetness spot for gaming monitors: big plenty for comfortably watching full-screen video clearly viewing and reading Windows elements, just small enough that you can sit in front end of information technology without feeling overwhelmed.

(Epitome credit: Corsair)

So the Xeneon, with its 28.8-by-23.9-inch screen, which has thin bezels and quarter-inch black bands around the top, left, and right sides, earns one signal there. (The bezel at the bottom is a shade more than than a half-inch, and houses little more than the Corsair logo in the center and the white power light on the right.) Just if y'all utilise the included stand, the total monitor measures 12.4 inches in depth, with all only 3 of those inches in the back, so expect it to jut out from the wall quite a scrap.

(Prototype credit: Corsair)

At least the stand is bonny: a ii-piece number with an aluminum foot, triangular in shape and with rounded corners, that interlocks with the post to which the screen connects. The stand lets yous raise or lower the screen about 4.3 inches, tilt it up from -5 degrees to 20 degrees, or hinge information technology 30 degrees in either direction.

(Image credit: Corsair)

The one negative about the stand up involves the installation. On most monitors, the mail clicks into the back of the monitor when you just press information technology into place; here, y'all demand a Phillips screwdriver to secure information technology with 4 screws.

(Image credit: Corsair)

This undoubtedly results in a stronger connection, but it'due south irritating as the post won't just stay in place while y'all screw information technology in—you really need to hold it down (or get someone else to assist). If yous don't want to employ the stand at all, the 100-by-100-millimeter VESA mounting holes volition let y'all identify the monitor directly on the wall.

(Image credit: Corsair)

In addition to four integrated cable management clips on its back, the post also sports a mounting port at the elevation for connecting devices in the Elgato Multi-Mountain family. (Elgato is owned past Corsair, and so compatibility is ensured.) Later removing the quarter-inch screw (again using a Phillips screwdriver), you can attach a camera adapter and 1 of two Elgato Flex Arms (neither of which is included) to hold supported devices and give you lots of control over adjusting their positions. You lot're nigh likely to want to add a webcam for video calls, live streaming, or only general recording, just Elgato's line also includes a number of lights, microphones, and other peripherals that will connect with minimal trouble.

(Image credit: Corsair)

Although you can access the ports on the back of the brandish from the front, especially if you enhance the screen to its maximum elevation and tilt it forward, it's easier to plug everything in from backside. The ports include headphones, two HDMI, ane full-size DisplayPort, one USB Type-C–way DisplayPort, one USB Blazon-C input, two USB 3.1 Type-A outputs, and the jack for connecting the included 90-watt power brick. The Power button and the navigation control stick are on the right side of the rear panel, too.

Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 review: Screen

Corsair has turned out an excellent-quality screen every bit far as brightness and color depth and reproduction. Although we didn't quite reach Corsair's stated peak SDR effulgence of 400 in our tests, we got shut. In four of its half-dozen presets, it achieved just shy of 360 nits of brightness at its eye and averaged 303 nits beyond the whole screen; the Text preset was lower (288 nits) and the sRGB preset somewhat higher (320 nits). And with SDR content in nigh of the presets, information technology covered up of 194% of the sRGB color gamut and upwards of 138% of the DCI-P3 gamut. (The one exception was the sRGB preset, which covered 107% and 76%, respectively.) And the monitor's Delta-E value, which measures the difference betwixt the color at the source and the mode it appears on the screen, ranged from a depression of 0.ii (on the sRGB preset) to 0.3 (on the Game and Text presets), with lower values better—in whatever event, solid color accurateness across the board.

(Prototype credit: Corsair)

Compared with the admirable, admitting smaller and less expensive, Razer Raptor 27, the Xeneon displayed superior effulgence and color in every instance. (The Razer topped out at 162% of the sRGB color gamut and hit a maximum of 295 nits of effulgence.)

Because the Xeneon but supports VESA DisplayHDR 400, which is essentially a subset within the HDR10 standard, you don't get the same levels of HDR performance yous would with a full HDR monitor. In our tests, the brightness improved to 382 nits in the screen's center, which is a detectable but not huge comeback. If you lot activate HDR back up in Windows, you will discover a bump in brightness and color vibrancy, but don't await an eye-popping modify.

(Image credit: Corsair)

Every bit mentioned, the screen'due south resolution maxes out at ii,560x1,440 instead of the increasingly mutual 4K (3,840x2,160). This is non a huge problem, as 2,560x1,440 is a standard upper-mid-tier gaming resolution these days, and it's even more common for larger monitors with high refresh rates, as big and speedy 4K monitors can run as much as $one,000 or more. The 32-inch size and those gaming features compensate for a lot, but if you don't desperately need or want them, y'all may notice a 4K monitor improve suited to your needs and slightly more than future-proof as that higher resolution becomes increasingly attainable on fifty-fifty midrange video cards.

Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 review: Functioning

The Xeneon proved a capable performer in a variety of titles spanning genres, thank you to its myriad features. The 165 Hz refresh rate kept action looking smooth, fifty-fifty during some of the frantic raids in Assassin'due south Creed Valhalla and on the crazy courses of DiRT v, and the ane ms response time meant I just crashed my Cessna in Microsoft Flying Simulator because of my ain aerial incompetence and not because the monitor couldn't keep up. I don't love (and thus bother with) variable refresh rate technologies in most gaming scenarios, but information technology's squeamish to have the monitor AMD FreeSync Premium Certified and Nvidia G-Sync compatible—just in case.

(Image credit: Corsair)

If at that place's i big surprise with the OSD, it's with the selection of presets. Whereas many gaming monitors have presets for different types of games (such as first-person shooters, RPGs, racing games, and so on), the Xeneon has only ane generic Game preset, alongside the default Standard and those for other uses (Movie, Text, sRGB, and Creative). I have no trouble with this, and you can change the presets' settings (if not their names) to your heart'southward content, but it does show that Corsair isn't aiming the Xeneon exclusively at the typical gaming audition.

I plant Motion picture and Game the nigh pleasing in the nigh scenarios, thanks to their increased brightness and contrast. The dimmer Standard and Text I liked less, though the latter, with its obviously muted colors and drastically lower effulgence, is likely to make long stretches of reading more comfortable. (Not that yous volition probably spend virtually time with the Xeneon reading in whatever event.)

Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 review: Interface

The Xeneon's on-screen display (OSD) is simple to navigate with the control stick, and, contrary to what we run into on many monitors, is well organized and not loaded down with tons of settings the average user is likely to not need. There are just vi peak-level menus, of which only i (Picture) has more than half-dozen settings, and 1 (Information) merely displays information and allows no interaction.

Yous're non limited to the OSD and the control stick, even so. The Xeneon links with Corsair's iCUE software and so, as with the company'southward other peripherals such as mice and keyboards, y'all can control its features and modify its settings from fully within the Windows application. If y'all have an Elgato Stream Deck keypad or a Corsair iCue Nexus Companion Touch Screen, you can as well program their controls to modify selected monitor settings with a touch.

Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 review: Verdict

The Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 has almost everything you lot could ask for in a premium gaming monitor. A fine design, broad port selection, zippy response time, a speedy refresh rate, a streamlined OSD interface, and stiff functioning as far every bit both brightness and color are concerned. Although its HDR performance is limited, that won't be a major loss with most content. The only major thing the Xeneon is missing is 4K support, though losing information technology is an acceptable trade-off for keeping the toll down considering how much else you lot get.

That said, the Xeneon may not be right for everyone. The Razor Raptor 27 will save you lot some infinite on your desk and some coin in your bank account, while delivering comparable (if marginally lesser) performance. If square footage is no option and you're looking for something exceedingly boundary-pushing, the 49-inch curved Samsung Odyssey G9 is an inarguably dynamic and, costing just shy of $i,400, upkeep-busting pick. And the Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor AW2521H boasts a baking 360 Hz refresh charge per unit, if an even more questionable 1080p resolution.

Just for a compromise option with few compromises, something that fuses size with capability and a splashy array of features, the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 gets just about everything right.

Matthew Murray is the caput of testing for Future, coordinating and conducting product testing at Tom'due south Guide and other Future publications. He has previously covered engineering and performance arts for multiple publications, edited numerous books, and worked as a theatre critic for more than sixteen years.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/corsair-xeneon-32qhd165

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