The Gigabyte M28U Gaming Monitor offers 4K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate in a 28-inch form factor. It promises to be great for both gaming and work. And it is relatively inexpensive compared to other similar options. But does it deliver?

In short: Yes. With the Gigabyte M28U, what you get is an extremely good jack-of-all-trades. It might not have the highest refresh rate, or the largest screen size, but it does everything extremely well. With its specs, it's more than good enough for most gamers and for work. The 28 inches offers lots of screen real estate without taking up too much desk space. It's especially useful if you use snap layouts in Windows 11. To top it off, the Gigabyte M28U comes with great colours out of the box. It uses an IPS panel so you get wide viewing angles and solid colours, and works well enough for photo editing.

So if you're like me and use your PC for both gaming and content creation, the Gigabyte M28U will tick a lot of boxes. And if you love ports, you'll get lots. There's two HDMI 2.1 ports, DisplayPort 1.4, three USB 3.1 ports, one USB Type-B, one USB Type-C, and even a headphone jack. There's a whole lot of other bells and whistles in the Gigabyte M28U, such as a KVM switch (to connect two devices to the same monitor); speakers (which you should turn off); and picture in picture, but these are a little more niche. If you need these features, great, but even if you don't, the monitor offers a lot, and at a great price-performance ratio.

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However, I did find some minor niggles. With its screen brightness rated at 300 nits, the HDR function is really not bright enough to give you a proper experience. I've kept HDR turned off. And when you're not using the Gigabyte M28U, there’s a piercing white light that will keep blinking. So if the monitor faces you while you sleep, make sure to totally switch it off. Good news is it reminds you to save energy!

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If you have the budget, this is a great first step into 4K. Yes, there are monitors with faster refresh rates, or better colours, or larger sizes. But at this price point, you're not going to get much better options for 4K resolution at this size. Together with a solid, no-frills build and great colour out of the box, the Gigabyte M28U is perfect for gamers who need that extra real estate for work and content creation without hitting the 30-inch range. You can find it on Shopee and Lazada for around S$1,000 or less.