The Xiaomi A27Ui won’t tempt competitive gamers away from their OLEDs, but creators and productivity buffs will find plenty to love here. Between the crisp 4K IPS panel, excellent colour coverage, versatile stand, and clutter-cutting USB-C connectivity, it’s an easy monitor to recommend for work-first setups. Assuming, of course, you don't mind tweaking some settings out of the box and paying a slight premium for the privilege.
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Design
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These days, it seems companies are all competing to make the most impressive gaming monitors, with faster refresh rates and glorious OLED panels. But what about the creatives without gaming ambitions? That’s where something like Xiaomi’s A27Ui comes in, a 27in 4K IPS display designed to get the creative juices a-flowin’.
Sure, you could plug your PS5 or gaming PC into this display for those 4K visuals, but a 60Hz refresh rate and 6ms response time mean it’ll be useful for nought but single-player games. Any hopes for playing competitively fly right out the window once you drop the pretty-pricey R7,000 that the A27Ui demands.
Head on a swivel
Setting up the A27Ui is about as easy as you’d hope, costing us only two minutes before we could dive into 4K spreadsheets. In the box, you’ll find the monitor stand separated into two parts: the boxy square base and the mast that attaches it to the screen. The 27in panel, four screws, an HDMI and USB-C cable, and a power pack round out the rest.
Simply attach the base to the mast (righty-tighty expertise required), and you’re halfway there. The mast then fits into the back of the monitor without needing much force. Everything feels premium — it bloody better, at that price — with the mast and base resisting our force rather well. The completed look is clean, and can be tilted, rotated, and swivelled to just about any angle you desire. Even portrait, for big YouTube Shorts.
There’s a decent selection of downward-facing ports ’round the back, in case you ever have company back there. The two HDMI (2.0) ports got the most attention, but the single DisplayPort (1.4) may get more time to stretch its legs under a creator. A 90W Type-C port is also included, as are two USB-A (2.0) ports, plus a 3.5mm audio jack.
Neat freaks can rejoice in the reduction of clutter here. We managed to ditch our traditional laptop charger and simply used the A27Ui’s 90W Type-C port to keep it juiced up. Furthering the monitor’s clean look, it’s fitted with a small joystick around the back that also serves as the main hub for tweaking settings when the need arises.
Excel(s) in 4K
Xiaomi’s A27Ui may not be a gamer at heart, but it has other qualities that’ll get creators riled up. This is a 27in 4K IPS panel that’s got enough real estate for some multi-tasking, though we can’t pretend we’d have liked something a tad larger. Even so, the display immediately pops.
That’ll be the 3,840 x 2,160px resolution, which takes the 27in display size in its stride. Everything looks extremely crisp, and those Excel spreadsheets look sharp. Even so, without the right applications, it’s all a bit wasted as a general office worker. Give it something more taxing in a creative space, and the A27Ui starts to make a bit more sense.
It’s not without some fault, though. Right out of the box, we noticed a slight blue tinge plaguing the display — slight enough that a casual user could probably overlook it. But if your work revolves around as-accurate-as-possible colours, though, some tweaks to the white balance are required to get it up to scratch. Xiaomi offers full coverage of the sRGB colour space and 95% of the DCI-P3 gamut. For creators, that’s just the cherry on top.
We couldn’t let the A27Ui go by without at least trying to game on it. We booted up Astro Bot to really get the most out of the 4K visuals and the game’s gorgeous colours, and it performed admirably. As for something more fast-paced, we didn’t dare play God with our Rocket League rank. If you’re brave enough, though…
No. Don’t do that. Go out and pick up one of the cheaper, more tricked-out gaming monitors out there.
Xiaomi A27Ui verdict
Xiaomi’s A27Ui is what happens when a monitor skips the gamer aesthetic and focuses on getting actual work done. This 27in 4K IPS display delivers sharp visuals, strong colour coverage, and a premium, highly adjustable design that’ll appeal far more to creators and productivity addicts than esports hopefuls.
The inclusion of 90W USB-C charging and a tidy selection of ports makes it an excellent desk companion. That crisp 4K panel, on the other hand, makes everything from spreadsheets to photo editing pop. It’s not flawless — the default colour calibration needs a little tinkering, and the 60Hz refresh rate won’t satisfy competitive players — but for creatives after a clean, capable, work-first monitor, the A27Ui earns its keep.
