SONY 27” INZONE M10S OLED QHD 480Hz Gaming Monitor

TL;DR: Save your money and get the ASUS PG27AQDP. This monitor has broken HDR, lower brightness in SDR and HDR, weak color saturation in HDR, no BFI, a less desirable coating, and burn-in protection that can’t be turned off. It is also $100 more than the ASUS and only comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty that may not cover burn-in.
After getting the PG27AQDP first, this model was released a week later, and I decided to get it because I am a total tech member (2-year warranty). The plan was to return the ASUS, which I originally purchased on Newegg, and keep the Sony for the warranty from BestBuy until I found out the Sony is a downgrade in nearly all aspects.
The ASUS is slightly brighter in SDR, but when you turn off the burn-in protection on the ASUS, it is easily 15-20% brighter and more colorful in SDR. You cannot turn off the burn-in protection on the Sony at all; it is hard-locked on, and there are no options for it in the OSD or the Inzone Software. In a side-by-side comparison, the difference is quite noticeable. While features like static taskbar detection should be kept on for monitor usage, options like “Outer Dimming Control,” which dims the edges of your screen and creates a distracting vignetting effect, cannot be turned off. Bright elements in SDR and HDR will only be bright in the center of the screen; at the edges, they noticeably dim, which can be very distracting. “Adjust Logo Brightness” also dims the brightness and color saturation in SDR and HDR, affecting everything—even highlights—which doesn’t make sense. These features can be easily turned off on the ASUS, but not on the Sony. On Sony OLED TVs, you can adjust settings like Adjust Logo Brightness, but not on their monitors?
Regarding HDR, one would expect a company like SONY, a leader in displays and cameras, to excel in this area! Unfortunately, this monitor’s HDR performance is well very bad; in a side-by-side comparison with the ASUS, it appears almost like SDR. The advertised “1300 nits” brightness is not achieved. With the latest firmware (M003, currently M004), the Windows 11 HDR Calibration app hard clips at “2550 nits” in all modes, including the “HDR 400 mode,” which shouldn’t exceed 400 nits. No matter the calibration, HDR looks washed out in all modes, losing detail in highlights. The monitor does not even achieve 2550 nits; not even their flagship A95L OLED TV can reach that brightness. It’s puzzling how this monitor was launched with such HDR issues. Working HDR on an OLED is crucial, as it is arguably the main selling point for consumers!
The EOTF also does not track correctly, and it’s evident to the naked eye that something is off—side by side with the ASUS, the Sony appears over-brightened. The HDR implementation is lacking, and colors do not match the ASUS in saturation. The reds appear orange, and golds look yellow on the Sony, which is surprising given they use the same panel. In side-by-side comparisons, this difference is striking. I posted a picture with two red cars from a YouTube video with RTX HDR, and while the camera slightly picks it up, the car on the ASUS is significantly brighter and more colorful than on the Sony. Both are set to “Game HDR,” which should output 1300 nits, with brightness, contrast, and saturation set correctly.
There is noticeable black level raise and posterization on dark scenes in HDR, which is not present on the ASUS. Watching YouTube videos with RTX or native HDR reveals pronounced posterization that is hard to ignore. In dark atmospheric games like Tarkov, using RTX HDR is almost unusable because of these issues.
I also noticed that the coating is worse on the Sony despite it using the same panel as the ASUS. The ASUS appears sharper, less grainy, and has deeper blacks. The black level issue is subtle—around 5-10%—but still puzzling considering both use the same panel, especially with the Sony priced $100 higher. The coating on the Sony is noticeably grainier, similar to cheaper IPS and TN panels. While it’s not a dealbreaker, it is frustrating given the price difference, especially when the ASUS outperforms in nearly all aspects except for the stand and OSD.
Others on Reddit have reported similar HDR issues, so this is not just a problem with my unit. I contacted Sony support about the HDR issue, and they only offered to send me a replacement, despite the fact that the issue isn’t unique to my unit. Interestingly, the agent I spoke with didn’t seem familiar with HDR. Lol.
Can this be fixed with a firmware update? Maybe. But in its current state, I personally cannot recommend this monitor. Considering Sony doesn’t offer a true HGIG mode on their flagship OLED TVs (A95L) and often has to implement weird tone mapping, I’m skeptical this will be resolved, though I hope I’m wrong.
Additionally, this monitor lacks BFI, which the ASUS does have. This feature is beneficial for games that can’t reach 480Hz, and using BFI on the ASUS is really nice to have on games like Tarkov for example, which cannot achieve anywhere near 480FPS despite your hardware. While not a dealbreaker, the ASUS being $100 cheaper and having BFI doesn’t help Sony asking 100 extra dollars for their monitor.
The Sony also has unfortunately more dirty screen effect than the ASUS; in dark scenes, the banding is much more apparent. Now this may be unique to my unit only, but I thought I should add it.
The only positive aspect I can mention is that the stand is excellent—perhaps the best I’ve ever used on a monitor (like seriously)—and the OSD/knob is significantly better than that of the ASUS. The “FPS Pro +” feature seems to wash out the image to resemble a TN panel, which can be emulated on the ASUS by playing around with the OSD settings. I also prefer the 24.5 cropped mode on the Sony, as it can be centered at the bottom, making it feel more natural compared to the ASUS.
Finally, the warranty. The SONY warranty is only 1 year, and it does not state that it covers burn-in. In contrast, the ASUS offers a 3-year warranty that clearly covers burn-in. A 1-year warranty for an $1100 OLED monitor is a joke, especially given the price difference. Marketing this to an eSports audience who will likely use the monitor for hours a day at max brightness and color saturation in SDR, particularly with the 1-year warranty potentially not covering burn-in is a little predatory. If you choose to go for this monitor for whatever reason and plan to use it for several years, I heavily recommend getting the Geek Squad warranty.

So far i went from a ROG Strix XG27AQMR its a 1440p ips 27inch that does 300hz. I got it when it came out. Love it but ive been holding out after for a oled monitor or better. I have two lg oled tvs so ik the experience when i see it. I was confused about the matt and glossy but i wouldnt know till i see it with my eyes. So far its been a few days since i had this monitor and ill try to give the details i have on it

Pros, truly colors are nice but my ips wasnt FAR of either but again i havent played on it toooo much. The matte finish isnt a problem to me i think it looks great! I didnt see any color bleed really like another post i saw. The feel of the monitor and its stand is amazing! It feels like i got a lot better at valorant and im happy.

Cons, it has a flicker (oh no its not good!) BUT it mainly flickered in the fps mode but the GOOD thing is it already has a software update which fixes it. Vrr/adaptive sync was the problem. I also hate when you go through the different modes like gaming,cinema and stuff itll switch the screen to the one you hover over before clicking the one you want. Butnif you dont click on them itll go back to what you had. I dont like it cause thats changing the screens color over and over imo i dont like.

Software. Simple easy i recommend using it when changing screen modes!! It does not need to be open all the time but i use it.

Im not to heavy on the whole specific colors stuff i see default options are fine to me so far. I played mainly with light on cause with my ips the light was getting to my eyes/head. With oled you dont have that problem as much. Ill try dark room when i can.

For the alt tab thing it aint that bad but i prefer borderless so i dont have that black screen thing.

So gaming part. I played a lil bit of bf2042 for the color and stuff since bf2042 was downloaded and i dont really play single player games on my pc mainly on my oled tv. It did look a lot better imo but i wanted to test the fps so valorant i went to. Idk how to tell you this but it felt like i can hit my shots. Ive been doing really good idk why i thought it be my internet but man the colors and stuff help so much for me. I dont wear glasses btw. So far im gold but i think i can get out of it. Minecraft ofc looks good and with max settings still good. Im on a i7 13gen and 4090 build. If anyone got game recommendations i can try for sure!

Another somewhat con i have is the screen saver. So far i notice it dim the screen nothing else. I would of preferred the lg c models screen saver where its black and lil fire works pop. Also the blacks are true aswell.

Ask any questions or give me some tips ill keep messing with it. RizzyReign discord or twitch

I’ve had a 27in 1440p 240hz IPS monitor for almost 4 years but I always knew my next monitor was going to be an OLED 27in 1440p.

I excitedly got the 27GR95QE in early 2023 thinking I had finally purchased my endgame….only to return it a few days later because of the blurry text and low brightness. Especially compared to my AW2721D, it just didn’t actually feel like a worthy upgrade.

Since then, I have patiently been waiting for next-gen OLED while using the AW because it really did serve all my needs. I work AND game on these monitors so they need to work for everything and be bright enough during daytime.

As soon as I installed the Sony Inzone M10S I knew I finally had what I wanted. It’s sleek with no gamer aesthetic, bright, has clear text bc of the improved subpixel layout, and best of all is absolutely OUTSTANDING in gaming. The LG didn’t feel vastly superior in motion clarity to the AW, but this one absolutely does. Everything feels instant and I can’t imagine how a monitor could possibly be better than this.

I’ve had zero issues with this monitor in the few days that I’ve had it, I’m running at 480hz through my KVM using displayport and everything seems to just work perfectly. The OSD is also very clean and easy to use and I love that it shows your current settings (input, resolution, refresh rate even if it’s variable, HDR mode) right on the main OSD.

I cannot recommend this monitor enough….if you can afford it. For me, the price wasn’t an issue because this is the monitor I plan to use for the next several years. It’s just SO good.

A lot of money for a lot of Hz and a great Picture! If you have it in the budget, get it!

Verdict. The SONY 27” INZONE M10S OLED monitor is impressive in its design (stand, screen, joystick) and performance (true blacks, 480 refresh rate, resolution). Everything about this monitor feels premium, which is matched by its price… but most certainly worth it for gaming enthusiasts and graphic designers.
First impression. Wow… that screen is thin. Be careful when unpacking; best not to put too much pressure on the screen. The stand is sturdy and very well designed, with a small base that rotates smoothly and adjusts vertically. The bump-out in the back is quite large, but not noticeable.
Performance. I tested this monitor with a high-end Omen gaming laptop with an RTX 2070 card. Going from an average decent monitor to this one highlights the key features of this monitor. Image resolution, brightness, and colors are fantastic. Elden Ring (Shadow) has never looked so good and immersive. Refresh rate and response time make gameplay very smooth. Gaming assists (crosshairs, frame count, FPS Pro) help improve gaming performance. I had not used FPS Pro before… The increased color saturation for bad guys in FPS games is great! Gives that extra edge of the few milliseconds that makes a difference in a kill for Delta Force.
What I love.
– Beautiful looking screen and design
– Fantastic resolution (QHD 1440p)
– Vivid, bright, and true colors (especially blacks)
– 480Hz refresh rate!!!!! It’s noticeable and amazing
– Very thin and seamless bezel
– Great stand that rotates and moves vertically, with very small desk footprint
– Fantastic stand; I love the ability to raise or lower the height of the monitor, and to easily be able to rotate to portrait mode
– Lots of customization possibilities in the menu, with easy joystick controls
– Latest high-performance inputs, with different options (HDMI, DP, USB-A and USB-B)
– NVIDIA G-Sync compatible
What I don’t love.
– Can’t setup the monitor in portrait mode
– No integrated speakers. Not a big deal for gaming because I use gaming headphones to get the best experience and hear audio cues in FPS games, but… I don’t always want to put headphones on to watch youtube or other content with sound. This makes this monitor slightly less functional as a single monitor solution
Overall, this Sony 27” OLED is pretty fantastic. Performance is impressive and is on par with the best specs on the market right now. Coming from an average monitor, this was a huge upgrade for me and has been very enjoyable. The price is significant, but value is there if you are a serious gamer.

A monitor is probably the last equipment that will eventually need refresh in a computer gaming system. Most gamers would replace their monitor every few years, not because their monitor does not work well anymore, but because gamers are being gamers and probably because there’s the impulse to update to the latest technology. It will then be ‘sensible’ to purchase a monitor that has the latest and greatest technology at the time of purchase, especially when one has already spent thousands of dollars building up very powerful PC with the GPU alone costing thousand of dollars. Within that perspective, a monitor like the Sony Inzone M10S makes a lot of sense.

The monitor proudly boasts great specs: OLED panel with 0.03ms response time, 480Hz refresh rate, HDMI and DP 2.1 connection, and 24.5 inch mode for FPS gaming. The monitor was in fact developed with Fnatic esports team, so yes this is the monitor to get for those who like competitive FPS gaming. Honestly, though, the 480Hz refresh rate is ahead of its time as most gamers would not need that many FPS. But if being competitive and getting the greatest and latest gear out there is important, then there’s that.

With that kind of specs and hype, you bet that I was excited when I got my hands on the monitor. Getting the monitor out of the box and setting it up only takes minutes. There’s absolutely no tool needed to assembly the monitor stand. It takes more time to dispose the carton box outside than getting the monitor all prepped up for the PC. The monitor stand’s design is absolutely clever so hats off to Sony. Such a functional design in a very little footprint. Sony only provided a DP cable and there’s no USB cable provided to connect to the PC.

There’s a firmware update available to install from Sony’s website and I installed it as per instructions through the USB update port. There’s also Sony’s Inzone software that’s worth to install.

I’ve been playing games with the monitor and did some light video editing and the monitor truly shines in terms of color reproduction, black level and smoothness. Helldivers 2 looked amazing and it ran smoothly. There’s several picture modes that cater to the different game genre, which of course include FPS and RTS. There’s the gaming assist feature for those who’s interested in getting every tactical advantage there is in an FPS game. Not only for playing games, watching movies are very much enjoyable.

The monitor is not cheap, but I can definitely see why gamers want this monitor.

The Sony INZONE M10S OLED QHD 480Hz Gaming Monitor with HDR is one of the best gaming monitors on the market that will fit all your needs. Its top-of-the-line features, such as OLED G-SYNC and HDR, make gaming with this monitor a completely different experience. The Sony 27″ INZONE M10S’s high refresh rate of 480 Hz is among the highest on the market. This means no matter what you are doing, you are guaranteed a smooth performance. You can expect the highest level of accuracy and precision with this monitor. G-SYNC prevents screen tearing, which makes the gaming experience significantly more comfortable. The monitor’s support for HDR delivers a broader range of colors and improved contrast, enhancing the visual depth of your games. Its look is excellent, too; it has a small stand yet is still incredibly durable and balanced. It can rotate 360 degrees from the stand, allowing you to turn it however you want. It can go up and down and change its angle, so you can truly customize how you want to play. Its all-black and thin build allow it to fit into any setup you desire.

Title: AWESOME Gaming Monitor

Bottom Line: The Sony INZONE M10S is designed for the professional gamer, pairing the fantastic picture quality of OLED with an incredibly high 480Hz refresh rate. Buyers should carefully evaluate their needs and whether they will get the appropriate value from this monitor.

Pros: easy to set up; awesome, space saving stand; good variety of ports; excellent image quality; blazing fast 480Hz refresh rate

Cons: designed for the competitive FPS gamer, and so many standout features are unnecessary or excessive for other gamers or for mixed use

Review: Out of the box, the Sony INZONE M10S was simple and easy to setup. The stand clicks to the back of the monitor, and the base attaches with a hand screw. The stand itself is phenomenal; it’s incredibly sturdy in a very tiny footprint. My desk is relatively shallow (19 5/8”), and I’m able to place a keyboard and wrist rest in front of it with plenty of space to spare. The monitor also adjusts easily, although, due to the design of the stand, cannot be rotated into portrait view.

The face of the monitor looks great with small borders and no distracting elements. The back houses a good number of ports, including three USB-A (two downstream for peripherals; one is solely for software updates), a USB-B (upstream from computer), 3.5mm headphone output, two HDMI 2.1 inputs, and a DisplayPort 2.1 port. The joystick is located on the back right of the panel and is easy to find and use.

My gaming largely focuses on triple-A survival horror (e.g., Resident Evil 4; Dead Space) and action RPGs (e.g., Elden Ring; Wo Long). As such, my monitor priorities tends to be contrast, visual quality, and frame rate, and I’m highly satisfied with the image quality that the OLED display delivers. In Resident Evil 4 (2023), for instance, the dynamic lighting looks absolutely fantastic with HDR enabled. The shape of the candle light, for example, is perfectly visible while illuminating the area around it. On other monitors, you get too much haloing around the light sources to really see their shape. GIven the very fast GtG response time, there’s essentially no motion blur even at 100ish frames per second.

That said, aside from the exceptional OLED image quality, some of the monitor’s standout features are clearly targeted toward the competitive, FPS gamer and are going to be underutilized for those not in that category. Specifically, few games currently run at 300+ frames per second, and so most gamers aren’t going to benefit from a 480Hz refresh rate. To that end, the monitor includes a DisplayPort 2.1 port, but currently few folks are going to have the hardware that utilizes DP 2.1. For instance, I have a high-end 2024 gaming laptop that just supports DP 2.0 over Thunderbolt 4. I suppose this “future proofs” the monitor when 2.1 is more widely adopted, but right now it seems like it would be underutilized. Last, the monitor includes some features specifically for FPS gamers such as crosshairs, dedicated presets for contrast/color (FPS+ mode), and 24.5” mode, which, as the name implies, limits the displayed image to 24.5” of the screen.

In addition to gaming, I’m also using the M10S as a multi-purpose monitor including photo and video editing and watching content. The 95% DCI-P3 color accuracy is a big improvement over my previous gaming monitor, and, of course, watching HDR movies looks fantastic on this screen. As a small pet peeve, I do like when monitors include built-in speakers for the purpose, although I recognize that serious gamers are going to wear headphones.

Sony coming out with gaming monitors is great to see and they are stepping their game up in big ways to compete in the PC gaming space. This 27 inch oled has beautiful picture quality and super fast response time you come to expect from an oled panel. Super deep blacks and amazing colors and no motion blur. this monitor is hdr400 certified with up to 1300 nits peak brightness which I’m guessing is within a 10% window but that’s super bright which can be great if you like super bright panels I don’t prefer that bright of a screen tho lol. You should expect nothing less from an oled and Sony for that matter. Also Sony is smart for recognizing that most gamers plan on running a 1440p monitor and usually at 27 inches. Tho for me I have gotten use to 32 inch or bigger imo but 27 is perfect if you are into first person shooters. This monitors main selling point is the ridiculous 480hz refresh rate and if you have had a chance to try a 240hz panel then wait till you see what 480hz feels like. It’s soo smooth it’s hard to explain but all I can say is that it feels like real life(cheesy I know) but it is amazing what 480 feels like. I love it. But I also have a 4080 super gpu. So I’m able to hit those high fps in games like overwatch and apex legends. But not able to hit those frames on warzone unfortunately and that’s the main game I play. So while I love this monitor and I think most people will as well. I have to say that unless you play less gpu dependent games you might not hit the full 480hz so keep that in mind. You pay a premium for the panel which is amazing but please keep this in mind. You have all the ports you expect such as display port and hdmi. Menu is simple and easy to use and you can change settings to your liking. You can also use the Sony inzone software to customize the settings if you are connected to your PC, which this is aimed towards. You can use with your ps5 but running 1440p @120hz max. I’d suggest for your ps5 pick up Sonys new led monitor they just released that’s 4k and suited perfectly for the ps5. This monitor and stand are very cool like it’s on a balance weight or something. Very cool. You can adjust the monitor position how you like. Something some gamers might like is that this monitor allows you to shrink the image to a 24.5 inch screen. Most pro gamers play on this size. So makes sense. But not for me personally. There are 3 things that I want to point out that might be considered a negative. First is that this is priced a bit high imo, secondly is that Sony only offers a 1 year warranty and most monitors in this category have a 3 year warranty. Thirdly is you can not update the monitor firmware directly from the PC using the Sony inzone software, you first have to download the firmware then extract the file then copy that file to a clear usb drive and then upload the file to the monitor using the usb port. While I’m a techy I can do this very easily and quickly, I’m guessing majority of people won’t know how to do this and if the monitor needs the update they might be stuck on an older version.not a huge deal but something I thought I should mention. But aside from that this is a great monitor with beautiful picture quality for both gaming and viewing movies and tvs shows.

I decided to upgrade my son’s gaming setup with this monitor. He has been content using his 14 inch oled screen on his laptop to game, but with a new desk, he has been wanting a screen the size of my other son’s. I habe an older quad k monitor that is now 6 years old he could use, but i wanted to get something that is going tk stay capable with newer technology for a while. The opportunity came along to get this monitor and I am not disappointed. It’s not knockout bright at like 275 nits is what I could find out about it, compared to the 400 the laptop oled puts out, but it’s crisp contrast, no hesitation, and colors that match the other screen completely, and the size is a fantastic edition. Larger, but not rediculous huge. It’s running off an nvidia 4060 card, and I have it set at just under the max resolution only because I want full screen on the desktop screen. It’s mirroring the other monitor, so that my son can just turn on and play and not have to switch screen displays and such. When my son got home from school it was tough to pull me away from testing this. I tested it with both Forza 4 & 5, Fortnite, Rocket League, Minecraft, Roblox, and Beam NG, all graphics and gaming hold tight on this. There are a ton of settings that you can tweak contrast and such. This comes with a Display Port cable, but the computer only has an hdmi output. I’m not a huge fan of how their joystick toggle works on this, a bit pointy, and located a bit further that a fingers length from the edge. The power button is mushy. Overall though, what do I think of this compared to non-oled gaming monitors. I do prefer this solely because the contrast is king here, unbeatable. I had a plasma tv for years, then an oled tv, now the laptop, and it’s tough to give up on that. That being said, I do like the brightness on the other non oled monitor I have for my other son, but quickly once I sit down and play on this one again my eyes really do appreciate the contrast. Now this unit is pricy, in the premium tier, and really it’s priced with other oled monitors, and several other premium gaming monitors. Is it worth it, yes if you want the best contrast you can get, but really only if you have the cash to burn. My other son’s monitor is really good and similar stats on resolution and colors (not refresh, but it’s good) and it’s brighter. It’s not oled and less than 1/3 the price and for most folks, that price range will get you a great monitor that no one should be ashamed of. This product is great, and is a 5 star for sure, I can’t find a serious fault with it to deduct a star. I do recommend it, but as noted, if you really have the money to spend.