Sony’s InZone M10S OLED gaming monitor is fast, but out of place

By James On Oct 24, 2024

Just as 27-inch 1440p OLED gaming monitors are increasingly appealing to PC gamers thanks to a steady price drop, Sony is throwing a curveball with its first OLED monitor, the $1,099.99 InZone M10S. The M10S retains the unrivaled contrast and great picture quality that OLED is known for, but instead of joining the commonly used 240Hz refresh rate, it raises the bar at 480Hz.

The higher refresh rate is the M10S’s distinguishing hardware feature, and it’s a big selling point if you’re a competitive PC gamer who wants cutting-edge technology to boost your performance. (The 0.03 millisecond response time, on the other hand, is more in line with current industry standards for OLED monitors.) When paired with a fast enough GPU, the M10S can run a range of online multiplayer games, including Counterattack 2, Fortnite, Overwatch 2, Valorantand more with 1440p resolution at up to 480 frames per second. That may 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 that support 480Hz at 1440p, the other being a $999 Asus monitor.

I spent some time testing the 480 Hz mode while my Windows PC was playing Counterattack 2. The game immediately set the refresh rate to 480Hz, but even with all settings turned off, my Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti-powered machine struggled to maintain a steady 290 frames per second at 1440p resolution. Still, it was an enjoyable experience, although I personally didn’t notice a big difference at 480 Hz compared to 240 Hz.

The value of the M10S’s fast refresh rate and response time is quite obvious for professionals, but it’s questionable for casual players who don’t have a powerful gaming PC or a passion for competitive gaming. Even for those who Are properly equipped, large parts of games do not support such a fast refresh rate. To put it even more precisely, if you don’t spend most of your time pushing the refresh rate to the max, you won’t see much of a difference between the M10S and a more reasonably priced OLED gaming monitor.

I love playing horror games on the M10S, even if it’s not the fast, high refresh rate titles that take full advantage of its features. My intention was to get through it Different ways DLC for the Resident Evil 4 remake, as well as the Dead space remake, and those are exactly the kind of games the M10S and other OLEDs are best at. With HDR enabled, the games’ dark scenes look bold and suitably spooky. And since Halloween is getting close, I also played the Silent Hill 2 remake after connecting the M10S to my PS5. For PS5 and Xbox Series The M10S does not have built-in speakers, but that is not a disadvantage for me; I prefer listening to game audio through my headphones anyway.

Sony developed the M10S with gaming pros Fnatic to make it the preferred choice among hair-splitting esports athletes. The hope is that more of them will appreciate OLED’s unique combination of speed, great viewing angles, and pixel-perfect color accuracy over TN LCD panels. TN panels are the fastest panels available, with a peak 540Hz refresh rate, but with poorer overall image quality. To that end, Sony has come up with some clever ways to appeal to its target audience of competitive gamers, including the ability to shrink the M10S’s screen to 24.5 inches, a popular size among professionals, with black bars around the sides. And for those making the switch to OLED, Sony’s monitor features the FPS Pro visual preset, which ironically changes the look of the OLED to mimic the TN panel they may be used to, but without the extra response time that comes with gaming. on one. These features don’t mean much to me, but I can imagine them being a big deal for some gamers.

Outside of the product itself, there is one big flag about the M10S: the warranty. BadSeed Tech’s YouTube channel judgement It has been brought to my attention that Sony’s one-year warranty makes no mention of burn-in protection. Many OLED monitors offer multi-year warranties that protect customers whose monitors experience image burn through normal use, and I’d say the comprehensive coverage found elsewhere has convinced some gamers to take the plunge on an expensive OLED gaming monitor. I have contacted Sony for comment on why they have chosen not to include burn-in in the warranty. A company can change his position, like when The Verge convinced LG to retroactively include burn-in coverage for its 2023 27-inch model. Other companies like it MSI and Asus extend the guarantees to burn-in. But as it stands, the M10S’s lack of burn-in coverage is something that should raise a red flag.

If you’re a casual gamer, I’ve already noted that I think you should opt for a cheaper OLED gaming monitor, many of which come close enough to match the M10S’s specs. Heck, you can find OLED monitors up to 39 inches for under $1,000. After assessment Sony’s first gaming monitor in 2022I said it was good, but not nearly good enough for the price. Unless you’re a professional making the most of the M10S’s 480Hz refresh rate, I unfortunately feel the same way about the M10S here. It will be easier to recommend it at a lower price, but without burn-in protection, I can find competitive gamers easier to go to Asus’s competitive 480Hz 1440p monitor with a 3-year warranty that protects against burn-in, or save even more with a 240 Hz monitor.