Gigabyte M32U 4K 144Hz IPS Monitor Review
Up Close
As you might imagine from a 32 inch display the Gigabyte M32U is a beast. Those with tiny desks need not apply. The screen has a matte finish which, as you can see from the spotlight in the bottom right, diffuses light well without being so aggressive that your image quality is affected. We’ll take a tiny bit of reflection over a coating that smears our text. You can also see the simplicty of the bezel. No massive plastic edges here.
Around the back you can see the only concession to style in the design with a piano black border on the back. We have to confess we don’t really understand this as; a) you’ll never see it and b) it’s a total fingerprint nightmare. However, the stand clips in simply and has an ingenious removal system should you have a 100mm VESA stand on hand that you’d prefer to use. We’ll get to the stand itself in a moment.
On the back right (as you face it) there is the KVM switch if you have more than one system you want to control from a single keyboard and mouse, with the usual OSD ‘nipple’. Thankfully the Gigabyte M32U has a software package which gives you a much more user-friendly way to tweak the settings, and we’ll cover that on the next page.
The left hand side of the inputs is the standard kettle lead + power switch arrangement. The business side of the M32U has two HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 4K120, a DisplayPort that unleashes the full 4K @ 144Hz, then there is a USB Type-C, the (optional but supplied) USB cable that connects the monitor to your PC, and the pass through ports.
The stand itself is a little disappointing, providing height and tilt adjustment, but no rotation. It’s also solely made from plastic and not the kind of plastic that has a premium feel. If you haven’t seen as many monitors as we have in our lifetime then you might not notice, but we’ve definitely had stands that were more adjustable and were of a higher quality than this one. It’s fine, but just fine.
Given that this is a 32″ panel you’d have to be Shaq to require an up-tilt of this much. Or maybe you work standing up?
There is, however, plenty of height adjustment so you should be easily able to find a position that is ergonomically comfortable for those marathon sessions. Just note the footprint of the M32U and stand is considerable, so make sure you’ve a large enough desk.
