Initial impressions after 24 hours: Gigabyte M32U 4K 144Hz monitor

DarTon

Well-known member
I got my Gigabyte M32U yesterday afternoon. I bought it a few weeks ago for £675 using a 10% discount code I had (RRP is £750).

Relative to my 32" 4K 60Hz Dell displays, it's pretty much identical in SDR terms: very good brightness, good colour gamut, crystal clear text, very good contrast (albeit for an IPS). The KVM works well and the PBP/PiP. So as an office monitor replacement it's very capable. The only issue is that the while the USB-C works for data/display purposes, it's only 15W, so it can't keep the ultraportable charged.

I've only tried it on a few games (some Total war, BG3, Elite). Using both "Off" and "Picture Quality" settings, I'm not seeing any response time issues or input lag (a firmware update from F02 to F06 sorted that). Nor inverse ghosting etc. It's lovely really and don't quite understand the complaints on the net about these 32" monitors being "too slow". Perhaps I'm just too slow to notice!

It's HDR400 and turning that on does improve brightness and contrast to a degree. It compares well to some other HDR400 monitor's I've had where turning on HDR made it worse. But overall it's quite a marginal improvement. It's similar to my Dell AW3821DW, which is HDR600. Turning it on does improve things but nothing to write home about. By comparison, we own a LG 48" 120Hz OLED TV and compared to the HDR experience on that, it's mediocre at best. But I can't use that for office work. It sort of confirms my view that HDR gaming isn't really just about brightness but more about local dimming. The 16 zone dimming on the M32U just isn't good enough. Really you need OLED or mini-LED dimming.

I think possibly for pure gaming, the ASUS PG32UQ using the AU Optronics panel might be better given it's wider colour gamut and more brightness. It's more expensive (£850) and less effective as office monitor given no KVM/PBP/PiP/USB-C etc, hence why I chose the M32U.

My feeling here is the M32U is an excellent mixed-use monitor in the sense it delivers fast refresh 4k gaming while also being great for productivity. It does lack any wow factor though. The problem still is those “wow factor” monitors are 2x the price or more and not necessarily that great for the type of work I do. I can buy something like the M32U and an LG OLED for the same price or less and they still cover the bases better.
 

Elliott B

Bronze Level Poster
I got my Gigabyte M32U yesterday afternoon. I bought it a few weeks ago for £675 using a 10% discount code I had (RRP is £750).

Relative to my 32" 4K 60Hz Dell displays, it's pretty much identical in SDR terms: very good brightness, good colour gamut, crystal clear text, very good contrast (albeit for an IPS). The KVM works well and the PBP/PiP. So as an office monitor replacement it's very capable. The only issue is that the while the USB-C works for data/display purposes, it's only 15W, so it can't keep the ultraportable charged.

I've only tried it on a few games (some Total war, BG3, Elite). Using both "Off" and "Picture Quality" settings, I'm not seeing any response time issues or input lag (a firmware update from F02 to F06 sorted that). Nor inverse ghosting etc. It's lovely really and don't quite understand the complaints on the net about these 32" monitors being "too slow". Perhaps I'm just too slow to notice!

It's HDR400 and turning that on does improve brightness and contrast to a degree. It compares well to some other HDR400 monitor's I've had where turning on HDR made it worse. But overall it's quite a marginal improvement. It's similar to my Dell AW3821DW, which is HDR600. Turning it on does improve things but nothing to write home about. By comparison, we own a LG 48" 120Hz OLED TV and compared to the HDR experience on that, it's mediocre at best. But I can't use that for office work. It sort of confirms my view that HDR gaming isn't really just about brightness but more about local dimming. The 16 zone dimming on the M32U just isn't good enough. Really you need OLED or mini-LED dimming.

I think possibly for pure gaming, the ASUS PG32UQ using the AU Optronics panel might be better given it's wider colour gamut and more brightness. It's more expensive (£850) and less effective as office monitor given no KVM/PBP/PiP/USB-C etc, hence why I chose the M32U.

My feeling here is the M32U is an excellent mixed-use monitor in the sense it delivers fast refresh 4k gaming while also being great for productivity. It does lack any wow factor though. The problem still is those “wow factor” monitors are 2x the price or more and not necessarily that great for the type of work I do. I can buy something like the M32U and an LG OLED for the same price or less and they still cover the bases better.
Where did you get the M32U from? I tried overclockers but its only pre-order and amazon doesn't sell it yet unless you want to pay import taxes from the EU :( also thank you for the review! Definitely the one i'm going to go for
 

DarTon

Well-known member
Both Scan and Overclockers have had 2 tranches of stock each in the last two months or so. It sells out within a few days but not instantly. I pre-ordered mine from Overclockers (since I had a 10% discount with them from a prior transaction) but Scan is meant to be getting more later this month. It's clearly better value that the Gigabyte Aorus FI32U, since it's the same panel and has pretty much the same functionality.

I only see the Asus PG32UQ offered on their own website (at £850) but it keeps selling out pretty quick. MSI have launched theirs but not seen it available in the UK yet. The AOC (£899) is meant to be available in from end of Oct. Not sure of release status of the others.
 

Elliott B

Bronze Level Poster
I'm sure this generation of monitors will be much the same. Gotta wait a good few years for an affordable 4k high refresh with oled or mini-LED.
 
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