Skilled’s Ranking
Execs
- Sharp, shiny, and color-accurate picture
- Many picture customization choices
- Wide selection of connectivity
Cons
- Colour temperature, gamma could possibly be extra correct
- On-screen menu may be sluggish and unreliable
- USB-C port solely delivers 15 watts of energy
Our Verdict
The MSI Summit MS321UP tries to undercut the higher-end competitors whereas nonetheless providing the identical characteristic units with largely hit-or-miss outcomes. The picture high quality, particularly with reference to colours, is excellent, but it surely additionally comes with a couple of odd hang-ups. It may not attraction to the lots, however professionals whose main concern is picture high quality and who can’t afford to spend massive on a top-of-the-line monitor, ought to contemplate this a stable possibility.
Greatest Costs At present: MSI Summit MS321UP
$799.99
Professionals and creators in search of a 4K, 32-inch monitor with glorious colour accuracy have numerous choices from Dell, BenQ, and Asus, however these are likely to run north of $900. MSI’s Summit MS321UP tries to face out by delivering nice picture high quality and a broad characteristic set at a lowered value. It’s value contemplating regardless of a couple of quirks.
Be aware: This evaluation is a part of our ongoing roundup of the perfect 4K displays. Go there to be taught extra about competing merchandise, what to search for in a 4K monitor, and shopping for suggestions.
MSI Summit MS321UP: The specs
The MSI Summit MS321UP’s specs are typical for a 32-inch 4K monitor. What stands out most could possibly be seen as a mark towards MSI’s favor: There are not any Quantum Dots, no Mini-LED, and no IPS Black. That is possible what helps MSI attain an interesting base value.
- Show dimension: 32-inch
- Native decision: 3480×2160
- Panel sort: IPS
- Refresh fee: 60Hz
- HDR: Sure, VESA DisplayHDR 600 licensed
- Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with 15 watts Energy Supply and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB-B 3.2 Gen 1, 3.5mm mic, 3.5mm headphone, 3.5mm combo audio, SDcard reader
- Stand adjustment: Top, tilt, swivel, pivot
- VESA mount: 100x100mm
- Audio system: None
- Worth: $799.99
Nonetheless, a couple of specs stand out. The monitor has FreeSync, which is much from assured amongst high-end skilled displays. It additionally has a number of unusual connection choices like an SDcard reader and a number of 3.5mm audio jacks.
MSI Summit MS321UP: Design
The MSI Summit MS321UP doesn’t take any dangers with its design which, given its deal with productiveness, enterprise, {and professional} use, just isn’t a shock. The monitor’s entrance has slim bezels on three sides and a modestly sized chin, which is adorned with a tiny dot that homes an ambient gentle sensor. Round again you’ll discover an expanse of black plastic with a gold MSI brand. It’s not spectacular, however that’s the purpose. The MS321UP will merely mix in.
The MSI Summit MS321UP isn’t a lot to take a look at on the again.
Matt Smith
MSI ships the monitor with a great ergonomic stand that adjusts for top, tilt, and swivel. It will possibly’t rotate 90 levels into portrait mode, although that is typical for a 32-inch monitor. The stand is fundamental, however sturdy, and has a small, flat base that doesn’t take up extreme house in your desk.
Setup is a trouble. The monitor stand’s neck doesn’t clip into the show panel, however makes use of 4 Phillips-head screws. A further plastic facade clips over the neck after set up. Most opponents have a stand that snaps in, so using screws is an obstacle. The show panel is suitable with a 100x100mm VESA mount for including a third-party stand or monitor arm.
I additionally don’t just like the monitor’s cable administration. A skinny plastic clip-on information is included, but it surely matches the neck loosely. Whereas it nonetheless labored to a level, it didn’t completely preserve cables out of sight, for the reason that information typically slid to its lowest place.
MSI Summit MS321UP: Options and menu
MSI packs 4 video inputs into the Summit MS321UP. This contains two HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode. 4 video inputs is about common for a 32-inch skilled monitor. The MS321UP doesn’t have DisplayPort-out, which you’ll discover within the competitors, equivalent to most Dell Ultrasharp displays.
Ports on the MSI Summit MS321UP.
Matt Smith
The USB-C port is a little bit of a miss, because it solely delivers 15 watts of energy, which undercuts this show’s position as a USB-C hub monitor. It will possibly technically cost units, however most laptops will discharge the battery quickly when related and in use. The USB-C port does help information, so you need to use it like a KVM swap by connecting a laptop computer to USB-C and a desktop to the extra conventional USB-B upstream port. The USB-C and USB-B ports broaden connectivity to 3 extra USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports.
The MS321UP presents some much less widespread connectivity, too. It has a headphone jack, which isn’t uncommon, but additionally separate microphone and three.5mm combo audio jacks, plus an SDcard reader. The ports are situated on the left flank, in order that they’re straightforward to entry.
A joystick is used to navigate the on-screen menus. The menus are nicely laid-out and principally nicely labeled, however the menu may be sluggish to answer enter. It takes a second or two to look after tapping the joystick, for instance, and I typically tapped it repeatedly as a result of I believed my first enter wasn’t registered. The joystick makes use of a cheesy “click on” to pick out choices. It feels hole and unsuited to a monitor on this value vary.
The menus embody many choices that enterprise {and professional} customers could design. It has exact gamma and colour temperature choices and helps colour hue and saturation adjustment. It additionally presents sRGB, AdobeRGB, and Show P3 colour presets, plus three calibration presets for switching between customized calibrations and a consumer mode for full customization. An ambient gentle sensor offers an auto-brightness mode that labored nicely in my testing, although some may discover its most well-liked brightness a bit a lot in a darkish room.
MSI definitely presents a protracted record of choices, however the firm must refine its menu system. Switching between modes felt a bit off, because the monitor appeared to flicker between new and outdated settings for a second moderately than switching straight to the brand new settings. I additionally observed the monitor typically reset to the default, out-of-box colour mode after a reboot, which is annoying.
Audio system aren’t included. That’s not a shock given the monitor’s goal market. BenQ is the one competitor that prioritizes audio high quality in some premium client displays.
MSI Summit MS321UP: SDR picture high quality
The MSI Summit MS321UP is a productiveness, enterprise, {and professional} monitor that targets small companies, dwelling places of work, and content material creators in search of an correct show on a mid-range finances. Picture high quality typically exceeds expectations set by the worth, regardless of a couple of quirks.
Matt Smith
Brightness begins off extraordinarily robust at 533 nits, which is certainly a reduce above the brightness of most displays. This degree of brightness is, actually, too excessive for a lot of use instances—I principally used the monitor at simply 15 to twenty p.c of its most.
Nonetheless, excessive brightness could make sense within the context of knowledgeable or enterprise monitor. Screens like this may ideally be utilized in a room with good gentle management however, as anybody working in an workplace bullpen will affirm, that’s not at all times obtainable.
Matt Smith
The MSI321UP’s distinction is much less spectacular, attaining a ratio of 1050:1. This isn’t a foul end result for a contemporary 4K IPS monitor, but it surely does fall behind what some opponents can obtain.
Black ranges are the limitation right here: The monitor can solely attain a hazy grey moderately than a real, pitch black. Actual-world picture high quality is greatest in a lit room as a result of ambient gentle hides the monitor’s limitations.
Utilizing the monitor in a darkish room, then again, just isn’t very best. The modest distinction ratio results in a uninteresting and washed-out picture.
Matt Smith
Colour gamut is nice, attaining your complete sRGB gamut and most of DCI-P3. It’s technically a bit behind the costlier Dell UltraSharp U3223QE however similar to mid-range Asus ProArt displays. AdobeRGB gamut is restricted, which is unsurprising given the show panel used right here. Those that wish to work in AdobeRGB ought to contemplate a monitor with Quantum Dots or OLED expertise, as these normally attain a lot deeper into AdobeRGB.
Matt Smith
Accuracy is a transparent win for the MSI, which achieves an especially low degree of colour error (bear in mind—much less error is nice!) Most fashionable IPS displays have sufficient colour accuracy even for creators and photographers, however the MSI321UP is clearly a reduce above the already glorious competitors.
The primary quirk I observed is that gamma and colour temperature didn’t really comply with the presets proven on the menu. Default gamma was claimed to be 2.2, however my exams pegged it at 2.3, indicating a picture that’s barely darker than it ought to be. Colour temperature was method off, testing at 7200K when it ought to be 6500K. The picture appears a lot cooler and extra sterile than very best. It’s a bummer given the MS321UP’s in any other case correct picture.
Sharpness, nevertheless, is superb. The monitor’s 4K decision works out to about 137 pixels per inch. That’s not as excessive as a smaller, 27-inch 4K monitor, and in addition behind Apple’s 5K Retina shows, however nonetheless very, very sharp. Fantastic textual content appears outlined and readable, whereas high-quality 4K video is excellent. Video games are nice, too, with excellent element in textures and character fashions.
MSI Summit MS321UP: HDR picture high quality
The MSI321UP’s spec sheet hints at acceptable HDR. The monitor is VESA DisplayHDR 600 licensed, which signifies a excessive degree of brightness, and edge-lit native dimming is out there.
But the monitor’s HDR efficiency did not impress. I used to be not in a position to replicate the claimed 600 nits of brightness. The truth is, full-screen most brightness was decrease in HDR mode than SDR mode, attaining simply 485 nits. A ten-percent window (that’s, a picture that solely lights 10 p.c of the show) didn’t enhance the end result.
Native dimming mode is predictably unhealthy, as edge-lit native dimming utterly lacks the nuance required to boost picture high quality. Transitions between edge-lit zones are apparent as pillars of sunshine typically seem.
Sure, the MSI321UP can get shiny, but it surely lacks the distinction and full array dimming options required to make HDR content material shine.
MSI Summit MS321UP: Movement readability
The MSI Summit MS321UP has a 60Hz refresh and guarantees a tepid 4-millisecond gray-to-gray response time. Nonetheless, the MS321UP isn’t completely hopeless.
Movement readability is ok out of the field. I used to be stunned to search out the monitor has an overdrive mode that’s, by default, set to “quick.” This results in minor overshoot that seems as halos or artifacts round quick objects. Nonetheless, the issue is tame and didn’t leap out in real-world use. A “regular” mode eliminates the difficulty if desired.
Movement readability is satisfactory. A 60Hz IPS monitor just isn’t going to compete with a 144Hz or 240Hz monitor, in fact. It can also’t compete with OLED. Nonetheless, the monitor retains some degree of element in fast-moving objects and fast digital camera pans throughout 3D video games.
FreeSync is supported and labored nicely alongside my AMD Radeon RX 6600 graphics card. This characteristic gained’t thrill players, who’ve come to count on it, but it surely’s necessary to notice. Some enterprise {and professional} displays from opponents, most notably Dell and BenQ, don’t help FreeSync (or another type of Adaptive Sync).
This isn’t a gaming monitor—however if you wish to recreation on knowledgeable show, nicely, you are able to do lots worse, since many lack adaptive sync and have moderately lengthy pixel response instances. Aggressive players ought to look elsewhere, however much less demanding gamers may have an gratifying expertise.
Closing ideas
The MSI Summit MS321UP is an efficient enterprise, productiveness, {and professional} monitor. It has an especially colourful and correct picture and sharp, shiny presentation. This makes for a vivid expertise straight out of the field, and it’s useful if you happen to want a monitor to make use of in a brightly lit room.
MSI subverts expectations in a number of areas. The monitor’s USB-C energy supply is missing at simply 15 watts, but it surely packs a number of audio output choices and an SDcard reader. It’s not a excessive refresh monitor, but it surely does help FreeSync for clean gameplay. The menu system isn’t at all times dependable however has no scarcity of choices.
The monitor’s quirks make it laborious to broadly advocate it, as opponents just like the Dell U3223QE and Asus ProArt PA329C have fewer points total. The Dell U3223QE additionally presents a superior distinction ratio because of its IPS Black panel. If you would like nice SDR picture high quality at a extra modest value, nevertheless, the MS321UP could possibly be a match.
