Sony’s first OLED gaming monitor is fast and gorgeous, but at $1,099.99, it’s not a good value for anyone who doesn’t play PC games competitively.
Update: Sony clarified that its one-year warranty covers burn-in.
Just as 27-inch 1440p OLED gaming monitors are catching on with more PC gamers thanks to a steady reduction in price, Sony is throwing a curveball with its first OLED monitor, the $1,099.99 InZone M10S. The M10S retains the unparalleled contrast and stellar picture quality that OLED is known for, but rather than join the ranks with the commonly used 240 Hz refresh rate, it’s raising the bar with 480 Hz instead.
The increased refresh rate is the M10S’ distinguishing hardware feature, and it’s a big selling point if you’re a competitive PC gamer who wants cutting-edge tech to improve your performance. (The 0.03-millisecond response time, conversely, is more in line with current industry standards for OLED monitors.) Paired with a fast enough GPU, the M10S can run a batch of online multiplayer games including Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite, Overwatch 2, Valorant, and more at 1440p resolution up to 480 frames per second. That might sound excessive, or perhaps intangibly fast, but it’s a worthwhile upgrade for people who play these games at a competitive level. The M10S is one of two monitors out there that supports 480 Hz at 1440p, the other being a $999 Asus monitor.
I spent some time putting the 480 Hz mode to the test with my Windows PC playing Counter-Strike 2. The game instantly set the refresh rate to 480 Hz, though even with all of the settings turned down, my Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti-powered machine struggled to maintain a steady 290 frames per second at 1440p resolution. It was an enjoyable experience nevertheless, although I personally didn’t notice a major difference at 480 Hz compared to 240 Hz.
