Iiyama Prolite XB2779QQS Review

Iiyama Prolite XB2779QQS Review – Apple’s iMac has been quite the style icon over the years, and Iiyama’s latest 27in monitor, the ProLite XB2779QQS, borrows a lot from the latest iMac design, including the glorious 5K resolution, its large black bezels and the silver strip along the bottom. It looks great, although those bezels mean it takes up more space than necessary – a three-sided borderless design would be preferable.

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The XB2779QQS isn’t exactly cheap either, but it comfortably undercuts its 5K competitors. Dell’s UP2715K currently retails for just under a grand, while LG’s Ultra Fine 5K Display comes in at a steep. The Iiyama also has a fully adjustable stand that allows for a full 360-degree rotation, offering pivot, tilt and height adjustment. Alternatively, there’s a 100 x 100m VESA mount if you want to mount it elsewhere.

The OSD is accessed through a set of touch-sensitive buttons at the bottom right-hand corner. These buttons aren’t ideal, as they give no positive feedback and they’re easy to tap by accident. Still, the OSD provides a good range of settings – the only notable missing features are RGB gain and preset gamma profiles.

Around the back, you get two DisplayPort 1.4 inputs, each capable of supporting the full 5,120 x 2,880 resolution at 60Hz. That’s neater than the Philips 275P4VYKEB, which needs dual-DisplayPort inputs to drive its native 5K resolution – just make sure your graphics card has a DisplayPort 1.4 output. In addition, three HDMI ports each support resolutions up to 3,840 x 2,160 at 60Hz. There’s also a pair of built-in 2.5W speakers, which aren’t exactly audiophile-quality but are fine for Windows notifications.

The Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS is built around an 8-bit (6bit + Hi-FRC) IPS panel. The glossy front supposedly helps the contrast ratio and makes colours look more vibrant. However, it can result in unwanted glare in rooms with bright ambient light. That said, the XB2779QQS can easily outshine most reflections. Our X-Rite i1Display Pro measured a maximum brightness of 500cd/m2, which is dazzling even in a bright, sunlit room.

Colour coverage is very good too. The XB2779QQS reproduced 99 per cent of the sRGB gamut and 85 percent of the Adobe RGB range. With a 1,196:1 contrast ratio, it all looks beautifully rich and vibrant. The panel does have one weakness, and that’s colour accuracy. With an average delta E of 3.34, and a maximum of 6.22, you can’t rely on the Iiyama for colour-critical photo or video workflows. To be clear, though, this colour accuracy won’t be a concern if you chiefly intend on watching movies or playing games.

The brightness of 500cd/m2 is dazzling even in bright sunlight

On that note, even though this monitor isn’t aimed at gamers, its gaming performance is remarkably good. The panel’s 4ms response time may not sound exceptional, but its perceived input lag is minimal, and it responds well with Overdrive set to +2, with minimal inverse ghosting. It’s not 144Hz gaming, but the XB2779QQS works well. Also, not many graphics cards can pump out the full 5,120 x 2,880 pixels at 60Hz. Even our Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 test card could only manage a 100 fps frame rate at this resolution in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with medium-to-low settings, and that’s hardly a graphically intense game.

Conclusion

The ProLite XB2779QQS’ poor colour accuracy makes it unsuitable for photo or video editors, but it’s otherwise a great 5K monitor for the money. The design looks gorgeous, and overall performance is very impressive. If you’re looking to dip a toe into the waters of 5K, the Iiyama is a bright, good-looking display for a surprisingly low price.

CHRISTOPHER MINASIANS

IMAGE 42/50

FEATURES 15/20

VALUE 23/30

VERDICT

A low price for a surprisingly capable and very bright 5K monitor, as long as you don’t need it for colour-critical work.