iiyama G-Master GCB3280QSU-B1 31.5in Monitor Review

The iiyama G-Master GCB3280QSU-B1 comes in the company's more exciting “gaming” box rather than the brown of its professional screens.

Inside, you get HDMI, DisplayPort, USB upstream and power cables.

The G-Master GCB3280QSU-B1 is a bit more stylish than iiyama's business screens, but it's still matt black and lacking in bling, if you like that sort of thing. The 1500R curvature is typical for a monitor in this class.

There's a healthy range of height adjustment – 150mm, when some screens only offer 100mm. You can tilt 23 degrees backward or 5 degrees forward. You can also swivel the screen by 45 degrees left and right, but we found it so stiff, you really have to force it. Strangely, you can also rotate the screen 90 degrees into portrait orientation, which is something we don't think is very useful for a curved monitor.

The power supply is built into the G-Master GCB3280QSU-B1, so there is just a regular kettle lead connection on the monitor itself. On the other side of the stand are two HDMI connections and a single DisplayPort. The former duo supports the 2,560 x 1,440 resolution at up to 144Hz, but the DisplayPort raises the refresh to the full 165Hz, so this will be your preferred option when PC gaming. There's no USB-C, however.

There's a minijack headphone connection (alongside rather weedy stereo 2W built-in speakers) and the ports for a USB 3.2 Gen 1 hub. This has a Type B upstream port and two downstream Type A ports. It's presumably aimed mostly at making your keyboard and mouse connections easier, as reaching the ports from the front is a little fiddly.

Unusually, iiyama has chosen to provide both a joystick and some buttons to control monitor functions. The button at the bottom turns on the power, then you get volume controls and a button to toggle manually between the three video inputs.

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