MSI PRO MP273W E14A Matte White

A 144Hz office monitor that's surprisingly smooth for spreadsheets but too dim and ghosty for gaming. Only worth it if you snag it for close to a hundred bucks.

The 144Hz refresh rate is a genuine surprise at this end of the market. Scrolling is buttery, and window animations have a fluidity you don't expect from a basic office display. But the brightness is a real letdown. At 250 nits, it's fine in a dim room, but near a window on a sunny day, you'll be squinting. The 1ms MPRT response time sounds fast on paper, but in practice, the IPS panel shows noticeable ghosting in faster scenes. This is a monitor built for smooth Excel, not smooth frags.

This MSI sits in a weird spot. It's not a gaming monitor, so don't compare it to something like an Acer Predator Helios laptop's built-in screen. For pure office work, a basic 75Hz IPS monitor from Dell or HP will have a better stand and brighter panel for similar money. The 144Hz is the only reason to pick this over those. If you need a cheap, smooth second monitor for your MacBook Pro and don't care about color accuracy or brightness, this works. Otherwise, a standard 60Hz office monitor is the smarter, brighter buy.

Pricing is all over the map, with a wild spread from $110 to an absurd $28,909 across vendors. At the low end, around that $110 mark, it's a solid deal for a second screen or a basic home office upgrade. Anything over $150, and you're getting fleeced. Shop carefully and don't pay a cent more than you have to for a panel this basic.

The MSI PRO MP273W is a budget 27-inch monitor that nails the basics for office work and casual browsing. The 144Hz refresh rate is the headline feature here, making everything from scrolling through spreadsheets to watching videos feel noticeably smoother than a standard 60Hz panel. Just don't let that high refresh rate fool you into thinking this is a gaming monitor, because it absolutely isn't. The 250-nit brightness is dim, the stand is barebones, and the overall build feels like every penny was pinched. It's a one-trick pony, but for the right desk jockey, that trick is pretty good.

If you're looking for a gaming monitor, this isn't it. Go get a used 144Hz panel from a brand like AOC or ASUS that actually handles motion well. If you work in a bright room, skip this entirely and find a monitor with at least 350 nits of brightness. Your eyes will thank you.

Buy it if you find it for around $110 and your only priority is a smooth 144Hz experience for office work. The high refresh rate on a budget IPS panel is the one and only reason this monitor exists. If you need anything more, like decent brightness, a good stand, or actual gaming performance, keep looking. This is a one-dimensional monitor that does its one dimension well enough, as long as you keep the lights low.