Last year, I started using a curved monitor for gaming and video editing, and I instantly fell in love with its functionality, look, and feel. There is so much practicality in having a wider screen real estate, and considering that many games support it these days, you really get a more immersive gaming experience.
Landing on my desk a hot minute after the GeForce RTX 5080 made an appearance in the NAG office, this pair was a match made in heaven. That does not mean you need a cutting-edge graphics card to drive this monitor; it just brings out all the best features of it. Most notably its buttery smooth 175Hz refresh rate. But more on this later.
In the box, the MSI MAG 341CQP QD-OLED curved gaming monitor bundles with a two-piece stand that is not only sturdy but provides very good articulation, meaning you can swivel it side to side or tilt it a bit forward or backward to get the best angle. You can also adjust the screen height which I loved.
When I first took the monitor out of the box, I was pleasantly surprised by how thin the screen was. Yes, there is a thicker part of the monitor smack in the centre behind it, where all the electronics are housed, but the effect is a really slick-looking curved gaming monitor, unlike anything I’ve seen before.
This gaming monitor’s curve rating is 800R, which is very pleasing to the eyes. If you find the sweet spot in the distance away from you, you can really craft an immersive gaming experience.
If you are familiar with the technology, you may have also spotted that this is a Quantum Dot OLED display. This means that it can produce true blacks and vibrant colours that look fantastic when you play games, especially darker atmospheric games. I had a blast playing Sniper Elite Resistance and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. With the help of the MSI GeForce 5080, I was able to play both these games at their maximum graphic settings, and I’m not going to lie, it’s going to suck to go back to my existing gaming setup. We really do get spoiled playing with all the latest technology, but I digress.
Having used the MSI MAG 341CQP QD-OLED Curved Gaming for just over a week now, I can confidently say that 34 inches is the perfect widescreen size for a curved monitor. Games feel “big,” and the vibrance of this monitor makes everything on the screen pop. I can bore you with how cool it was to use this monitor for work, but let’s not kid ourselves—it was all about gaming.
The contrast between colours and the deep blacks on this screen is something to behold.
The MSI MAG 341CQP QD-OLED curved gaming monitor also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Even though the official Nvidia Gsync license is not on the box, its variable refresh rate technologies worked without a hitch, so I have no complaints in this department.
MSI’s OLED Care 2.0 also makes an appearance on the MSI MAG 341CQP QD-OLED curved gaming monitor. OLED Care 2.0 is a set of features that protects the screen from burn-in by using clever tricks like pixel shift and static screen protection. The latter detects static elements on the screen, such as logos, channel logos or even your Windows taskbar and automatically reduces the brightness to prevent the dreaded burn-in. Combine that with a 3-year burn-in warranty and coverage for OLED burn-in, and we have a winner on our hands.
I was also impressed by the MSI Gaming Intelligence app, which lets you configure virtually every aspect of your monitor’s picture across a variety of uses. For example, you can set your screen to display muted whites in Office so you don’t get retina burn from working on Excel, or crank up the colours in Call of Duty Warzone to spot all those skins running around the map.
This is also the perfect monitor if you want something high-end for your gaming console. Using the MSI MAG 341CQP’s built-in KVM switch to control multiple PCs or one PC and one gaming console without having to unplug anything.
MSI has set the bar very high with the MSI MAG 341CQP QD-OLED curved gaming monitor, and I may even go as far as to say this is the best-curved monitor I’ve reviewed yet.
At just under R30,000, this is not an entry-level display by any means, but my goodness, it will bring out the best of your gaming hardware. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go into Invasion mode on Sniper Elite: Resistance to run a few gamers’ campaigns.