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MSI Optix G24C4 Monitor Review: A Desktop Fixture

During the pandemic era, the fact that working from home (WFH) is now considered the norm, should not surprise anyone. What may come as a surprise is the value that a great monitor can have.

Delivering superb visuals to enjoy content, offering increased screen real estate for multitasking and the ability to make a WFH setup look more professional, the pros to going for a dedicated desktop monitor are certainly tempting.

Over the past 18 months, however, almost every manufacturer has thrown their hat into the monitor ring, making the breadth of options extremely wide and therefore the choice of display far more difficult.

Offering up its solution, specifically for the gaming crowd, is MSI and its Optix G24C4 monitor.

There are a few different models in the lineup, but the MSI Optix G24C4 is one of the smaller flavours. Measuring 23.6″ diagonally though, it serves up more than enough real estate, as well as a few gaming-focused features to see local consumers part with R4 999 (RRP) for it.

Having spent the past few weeks with the MSI Optix G24C4 over the past few weeks as our own daily driver, here’s our thoughts on whether it is worth the cost and if it is well suited for tasks outside of the gaming realm.

Not too flashy

Let’s start as we always do – design. On this front, there is not much to talk about and that’s a good thing.

This as gamer aimed hardware often tries to go over the top in terms of design, with the recent outbreak of RGB-itis in the industry leaving everything kaleidoscopic.

While there is indeed a time and place for such elements, if you plan to make your newly purchased monitor a central part of your WFH setup, colourful lights may be less than ideal.

For the G24C4, MSI has kept things subdued, with a red navigation button on the rear of the monitor being the only real design flourish. The rest of the monitor is black, with a matte finish and a mix of plastic and metal.

The only aspect which may hint at this monitor being different from the norm, apart from the curved nature of the screen which we will touch on shortly, is the tri-pronged stand.

The portion of the stand that os attached to the display (clipped and screwed in) offers a little bit of articulation (5 degrees to 20 degrees) thanks to some spring hinges. This allows the monitor to tilt up or down to handle potential glare, but that is it. You can rotate the screen any amount for example and the display cannot rise or drop.

The latter is something we would have liked to added to this model, as it affords better options as far as ergonomics go. As such, you may find yourself propping the G24C4 on a a couple of books or stand depending on the height of your desk and chair, which is something we needed to do.

That issue aside, the MSI Optix G24C4 monitor is fuss free, serving up a similarly simple experience.

Route one

In terms of what can be hooked up to this monitor, there are two HDMI (1.4b) and a single DisplayPort (1.2a) option accessible on the rear next to the power input (19V 3.42A).

As you can have up to three devices connected, if that’s your thing.

For the purposes of our review, a 13″ MacBook Pro and PlayStation 5 were connected via the aforementioned HDMI ports.

Switching between the two options when they were powered on was easy enough, as we quickly became accustomed to the red navigation on the right hand side (facing us). This button serves as the central hub for anything you wish to do on the G24C4.

A little patience is therefore needed as you begin fine tuning the visuals to your liking.

If you’re wanting to switch with speed between devices though, that is not really an option on this model, as going from one input to another requires a half dozen clicks of the aforementioned red button.

Sure, a faster method would have been nice, but this lack of speed is by no means a deal breaker.

Shifting to the most important element – the visuals – and MSI has done a great job here. The FullHD (1920×1080) visuals are not that uncommon at this price point, but the addition of 144Hz refresh rate just makes content pop in a different way.

No, you’re not going to notice the difference when editing a word document, but watching videos online is vastly smoother and playing games via a next-gen console is welcome.

We ran FIFA 22 and Death Stranding Director’s Cut on the G24C4 and the combination of detail and character mechanics was quite enjoyable.

As much as we criticise FIFA 22, playing several matches in a row was particularly fun and there was no desire to take a break due to eye strain. The same goes for Kojima’s post-apocalyptic Iceland-inspired landscapes.

Focusing on the curved display for a moment, the 1500R display of this model allowed visuals to be more immersive a flat display and at 23.6″, the G24C4 is not too wide, as is sometimes the case with larger monitors. There is also a 27″ flavour in the lineup, should the 23.6″ one prove a little undersized for your purposes.

Final verdict

At R4 999 (RRP), the MSI Optix G24C4 is truly well priced as far as similarly sized and specced gaming monitors go.

Yes, there are more radically designed and RGB-laden curved gaming monitors out there, but we like the G24C4 for the fact that it does not lean on bells and whistles to sell you. It means investments you make into a rig or WFH setup can go towards other elements because the monitor is well priced and performs as advertised.

It also means the G24C4 need not be relegated to being a solely gaming-focused monitor and it can very easily serve as an upgrade from the unit you stole borrowed from work 18 months ago.

As such it comes highly recommended for those wanting a jack of all trades curved monitor dedicated to their desktop.

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