Design and Ergonomics

Design-wise, the MSI Oculux NXG251R looks strikingly similar to the Acer Predator XB271HU (reviewed here). Its top, left, and right bezels are extremely thin at no more than 7 millimeters, which makes the Oculux NXG251R a good candidate for multi-monitor setups where you surround yourself with three or more screens. The bottom bezel is significantly thicker (around 25 mm). Interesting is that MSI didn't put anything on it, not even the company logo. Since they're branding the Oculux NXG251R as an eSports monitor, my guess is that they sought to leave the front perfectly clean to ensure nothing draws attention away from the on-screen action.


To compensate for MSI's recognizable shield logo being absent on the front, they put it on the back and made it not only massive, but fully backlit. Same goes for the "NVIDIA G-Sync" lettering found right next to the MSI logo. Thankfully, you can turn this off in the Mystic Light Windows app.


One other glowing part on the rear of the monitor is an angled LED strip covered in milky-white plastic, which diffuses the light emitted by the seven RGB LEDs found underneath. Those LEDs are individually addressable—just open the app, click on the LED, and pick its color from the color wheel. Several effects are available: Marquee, Meteor, Rainbow, Lightning, Breathing, Flashing, Random, and the most ludicrous one, Gaming Echo, which has the LED strip flash and cycle through colors in the rhythm of the sound playing from your PC. In all honesty, the LED strip in itself is completely useless. It's nowhere near large or bright enough to illuminate the wall behind the monitor. With that in mind, its exact purpose eludes me. That's not to say all such solutions fall into the "useless" department; for example, I was quite impressed by the RGB-backlit ring on the LG 32GK850G, which successfully lights up the wall behind the monitor with soft, unobtrusive colors and makes the bright screen easier on the eyes during nighttime.


The metal base looks nice and provides good stability, although it also removes the ability to swivel the screen.


The plastic stand has a hole that can be used for rudimentary cable management. You won't really be able to hide the cables from sight completely unless you lower the screen all the way as that effectively covers the hole and the stand as such. Still, a hole like this is better than nothing.


The panel can be adjusted in height. When pushed all the way down, the distance between the screen's bottom edge and the table's surface is 6 centimeters. If you pull it all the way up, said distance goes up to 19.3 centimeters. You won't need both hands for this maneuver—the mechanism isn't too stiff.


The angle the screen can be tilted in has a range of roughly 30°, which is somewhat of a standard. The tilting mechanism isn't stiff either, so this maneuver is also perfectly doable with one hand.


The monitor can be mounted on a desk arm or wall stand by simply removing the entire stand and affixing it to any standard VESA 100x100 mount.