Earlier this summer time, Sony launched its first line of gaming screens underneath the Inzone model, and now HyperX is becoming a member of the fray with two shows of its personal. However, with the brand new Armada line HyperX is placing its personal spin on the class, as a result of as an alternative of being bundled with a conventional stand, the corporate has created an all-in-one bundle that includes an adjustable monitor arm.

Following HP’s acquisition of HyperX final 12 months, the model has been slowly branching out into new classes together with wi-fi earbuds and now screens. At launch, the Armada line will encompass two gaming screens with barely completely different goal audiences: There’s the Armada 25, designed for extra aggressive avid gamers, which options 1,920 x 1,080 decision and a 240Hz refresh price. Meanwhile, for individuals who want richer, extra detailed graphics, the bigger Armada 27 options 2,560 x 1,440 decision, a 165HZ refresh price and VESA HDR 400 certification.

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Both screens have three inputs (one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0 ports), however what actually units them aside from equally priced rivals is that as an alternative of delivery with a typical monitor stand, the Armada was designed from the begin to work with HyperX’s ergonomic arm and desk mount. For HyperX, the objective is to encourage and supply avid gamers with a easy answer that frees up desk house for issues like additional massive mousepads, wi-fi charging pads or some other peripherals you need to hold shut at hand.

The pivot to observe arms has been selecting up steam amongst PC avid gamers and HyperX believes a lot in the advantages of ergonomic arms that it isn’t even promoting an ordinary monitor stand individually. (You will, nonetheless, have the ability to purchase further arms or monitor attachments individually.) And after testing the Armada 25 for myself, though I’ve personally by no means owned a show mounted on an arm (although I’ve all the time wished one), I can type of see why. But regardless of all of the positives, there are some apparent drawbacks too.

The field for the Armada 25 comes with every part you want to get began, to not point out a really useful and easy-to-use setup information. The first step is discovering the bottom and mounting it to an applicable floor utilizing the built-in clamp. From there, you assemble the remainder of the arm earlier than snapping HyperX’s customized mount to the again of the monitor and dropping every part in place. The entire course of is a breeze, and in complete, it took me lower than 10 minutes to go from begin to end. After that, it’s only a matter of utilizing the included Allen wrench to fine-tune the arm’s tightness and vary of movement.

Assuming you may have your cables tucked away neatly, the change to an ergonomic arm has a surprisingly large influence. Everything simply feels a bit tidier. Not solely do you immediately have extra freedom to rearrange peripherals like stand mics, webcams and extra, you additionally get additional flexibility to position your monitor on the right peak and angle to your posture.

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As somebody who spends manner an excessive amount of time in entrance of a desk, lately I’ve discovered myself in search of methods to keep away from the aches and pains attributable to craning your neck to have a look at screens. This sometimes meant utilizing books or stacks of paper to raise shows so I might look straight forward as an alternative of down, which might be particularly dangerous when utilizing a laptop computer. But with an arm, that’s by no means a difficulty. And would possibly I add, the entire feels extraordinarily secure, in contrast to a number of the cheaper alternate options I’ve thought of previously.

However, the draw back is that solely providing an arm can restrict the place you may arrange your monitor. As I’ve written about beforehand, because of the pandemic I’ve needed to create a makeshift distant working station centered round a desk that sacrifices some practicality for attractiveness. And sadly for me, my desk is so thick the two-inch clamp on HyperX’s arm simply doesn’t match. This meant I needed to take a look at the Armada 25 at my eating desk, as an alternative of subsequent to my desktop the place I actually need it.

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On the brilliant facet, the show itself seems to be nice contemplating its worth. You get an IPS panel with 1ms response instances (grey to grey), a non-reflective matte end and vast viewing angles. It’s not essentially the most colourful show, with colours protecting 99 p.c of the usual sRGB gamut, however getting a 240Hz refresh price on a monitor that comes with an arm for $450 is a fairly whole lot. And whereas HyperX is advertising and marketing each Armadas as being G-Sync suitable, in addition they assist AMD’s FreeSync as nicely. Unfortunately, resulting from solely having HDMI 2.0 as an alternative of two.1, you received’t get full 120Hz assist on consoles just like the Xbox Series X.

Also, maybe essentially the most promising factor in regards to the Armada line is that HyperX makes it very easy so as to add extra shows to your setup down the road. In addition to HyperX’s proprietary bracket, its ergo arm additionally helps normal VESA plates. You can even get add-on mounts (out there individually) that allow you to connect extra screens to the identical arm. Each arm helps as much as 20 kilos, which suggests every one can maintain as much as 4 Armada 25s or two Armada 27s. And whereas I wasn’t in a position to try it out myself, you too can wall-mount the arms or set up them on desks with pre-drilled cable holes (as much as 2.4 inches should you’re utilizing the included grommets).

So regardless of the difficulties I encountered with my furnishings, the Armada line is slightly versatile. That mentioned, I nonetheless want there have been some type of fallback choice for individuals like me who dwell in a spot the place a monitor arm doesn’t fairly match. But should you’ve been eager about upgrading your work or gaming station with a extra streamlined gadget format, HyperX’s new monitor line makes it very easy to ditch the normal stand for one thing extra elegant.

The Armada line will probably be out there later this fall someday in September. The Armada 25 and Armada 27 will price $450 and $500, respectively, whereas the Single Gaming Mount and Gaming Mount Addon may also be out there individually for $110 and $80.