KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor Review: The Ultimate Budget Gaming Display?

I remember the moment vividly. I was pinned down in a tense firefight in Valorant, peeking a corner I knew an opponent was holding. I saw them, I fired, and yet, the “death screen” told me I was the one who lost the duel. I was convinced I shot first. Frustrated, I watched the replay, and there it was: my opponent’s shot registered just milliseconds before mine. The culprit wasn’t my reaction time; it was my old, trusty 60Hz office monitor. It simply couldn’t refresh the image fast enough to show me what was really happening in the game. That slight delay, that motion blur, that screen tearing—it was a tangible disadvantage. For any competitive or even casual gamer, playing on a low-refresh-rate display feels like running a race with weights on. The experience is sluggish, disjointed, and ultimately holds you back. Making the leap to a high-refresh-rate monitor is one of the most significant upgrades you can make to your setup, but it has often come with a daunting price tag. This is the very problem the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor aims to solve.

What to Consider Before Buying a Gaming Monitor

A gaming monitor is more than just a screen; it’s a key solution for unlocking the full potential of your gaming PC or console. It bridges the gap between the powerful hardware rendering your games and your own eyes, translating digital data into a fluid, responsive, and immersive visual experience. The primary benefits are speed and clarity. A high refresh rate (measured in Hz) allows for smoother motion, while a low response time (measured in ms) reduces blur and ghosting. This combination not only makes games look better but provides a critical competitive edge, allowing you to react faster and track targets more accurately.

The ideal customer for a product like this is a gamer, whether casual or aspiring pro, who is currently using a standard 60Hz display and feels limited by its performance. It’s for the player who has invested in a decent graphics card but isn’t seeing the high frame rates they’re producing. It’s also perfect for console players with a PS5 or Xbox Series S/X looking to take advantage of their 120Hz performance modes. Conversely, this type of monitor might not be suitable for professional graphic designers or video editors who require absolute colour accuracy (as they would typically seek a 4K IPS panel with 99-100% Adobe RGB coverage). It’s also not for someone who exclusively plays slow-paced strategy games or watches movies, where the benefits of 165Hz are less pronounced.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: A 24-inch monitor is the sweet spot for 1080p resolution, offering a high pixel density for sharp images without requiring you to move your head to see the whole screen. You should measure your desk space to ensure it fits comfortably. Also, consider the stand’s footprint and whether you might want to use a VESA mount (this model is 75x75mm compatible), which can save desk space and improve ergonomics.
• Performance: This is paramount for a gaming monitor. The 165Hz refresh rate is the star feature here, offering incredibly smooth gameplay. The 1ms response time (MPRT) is crucial for minimizing motion blur. The VA panel technology offers a fantastic contrast ratio (3000:1) for deep blacks, but it can sometimes exhibit more ghosting than IPS panels, a trade-off worth considering. Finally, ensure your GPU can consistently push frames high enough to benefit from the 165Hz.
• Materials & Durability: Budget monitors often make compromises in build quality. Look at the stand’s construction—is it all plastic, and does it feel stable? Some user feedback suggests the stand can be a bit wobbly, which is common in this price bracket. The screen itself has a matte finish, which is excellent for reducing glare, and the overall plastic construction is standard but should be durable enough for normal use.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: Connectivity is key. This monitor provides two HDMI 1.4 ports and one DisplayPort 1.2 port, which is a generous offering. However, remember that you’ll need to use the DisplayPort to achieve the full 165Hz refresh rate. The on-screen display (OSD) menu, used for changing settings, can sometimes be clunky on budget models, so ease of navigation is a factor in day-to-day use.

Keeping these factors in mind, the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor stands out as a compelling package, especially in the performance category. You can explore its detailed specifications here.

While the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

First Impressions: Lean, Mean, and Ready for Action

Unboxing the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor was a straightforward and satisfying experience. The packaging is secure and no-frills, focusing on protecting the panel above all else. Inside the box, we found the monitor panel, the two-part stand, a power adapter, and, crucially, a 1.5m DisplayPort cable. The inclusion of a DP cable is a fantastic touch, as it’s essential for hitting that advertised 165Hz and something many budget brands omit, forcing a separate purchase.

Assembly took less than five minutes. The stand clicks into the base and is secured with a single Phillips-head screw (you’ll need your own screwdriver). It then slots firmly into the back of the monitor. Once assembled, the first thing we noticed was the design. The “ultra-thin” bezels are genuinely impressive for a monitor at this price point, making it look modern and more expensive than it is. It’s an ideal design for a dual-monitor setup. The overall build is lightweight plastic, which is to be expected. While it doesn’t feel premium, it feels solid enough. The stand, as some users have noted, does have a bit of wobble if you intentionally shake your desk, but in normal gaming use, we found it to be perfectly adequate.

Deep Dive: Performance Under Pressure

A monitor’s spec sheet only tells half the story. To truly understand its capabilities, you have to put it through its paces in the heat of battle, across different genres, and in day-to-day use. We spent countless hours testing the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor with a variety of titles, from fast-paced shooters like Apex Legends to visually rich worlds like Cyberpunk 2077, and here’s our comprehensive breakdown.

Unleashing the 165Hz Refresh Rate: A Game-Changer for Fluidity

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. A number of users have expressed frustration online, claiming the monitor doesn’t reach 165Hz and is “stuck” at 144Hz or even lower. During our testing, we confirmed the monitor absolutely achieves its advertised 165Hz refresh rate, but doing so requires two simple steps that are often overlooked. First, you must use the included DisplayPort 1.2 cable. The HDMI 1.4 ports on this monitor are limited to a maximum of 144Hz. Second, you need to manually select the refresh rate in your Windows display settings or your GPU’s control panel. Once we did this, the option for 1920×1080 at 165Hz appeared and worked flawlessly.

The difference this makes is not subtle; it’s transformative. Coming from a 60Hz screen, the smoothness is immediately apparent even just moving the mouse cursor across the desktop. In-game, this translates to a massive competitive advantage. In Fortnite, tracking fast-moving opponents during intense build fights became effortless. The jittery, blurry mess I was used to was replaced by a crisp, fluid stream of frames. We enabled the AdaptiveSync feature, which our NVIDIA card recognized and allowed us to enable G-Sync compatibility. This eliminated all screen tearing, resulting in a perfectly smooth experience. The 1ms MPRT (Motion Picture Response Time) setting, which strobes the backlight to reduce perceived blur, works well to sharpen motion, though it does dim the screen slightly. For pure competitive performance, the speed of this panel is its single greatest strength and something you’d typically expect to pay significantly more to achieve.

Visual Fidelity: The VA Panel’s Deep Contrasts and Colour

The choice of a VA (Vertical Alignment) panel for the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor is a deliberate one, offering a different set of strengths and weaknesses compared to an IPS panel. Its headline feature is the static contrast ratio of 3000:1. In practice, this means blacks are truly black, not a hazy, glowing grey you often see on budget IPS monitors. We fired up atmospheric games like The Witcher 3 and streamed scenes from Blade Runner 2049, and the depth and richness of the image were immediately impressive. Dark caves felt genuinely dark, and the neon-lit cityscapes popped with vibrancy against the inky black backgrounds.

The colour reproduction, with 85% DCI-P3 gamut coverage, is also very good for a gaming monitor in this class. Colours are vibrant and saturated without looking unnatural. One user noted the colours were “warmer” than other monitors, which we also observed out of the box, but a quick tweak in the OSD settings allowed us to dial it into a more neutral profile. However, there is a trade-off inherent to most VA panels, especially at this price point: ghosting. This is most noticeable as a slight “smearing” effect when bright objects move across a dark background. In our testing, it was present but not distracting in most games. You could see it if you were looking for it, but for a casual gamer, as one user put it, it “should not be a problem.” For highly competitive esports players sensitive to any motion artefact, a faster (and more expensive) TN or IPS panel might be preferable, but for everyone else, the superior contrast is a worthy trade.

Design, Ergonomics, and Day-to-Day Use

Living with a monitor is about more than just its on-screen performance. The physical design and usability are crucial. The thin bezels are a real highlight, giving the monitor a modern aesthetic that punches well above its weight. The matte screen finish is also highly effective at diffusing reflections, making it comfortable to use even in a brightly lit room. Connectivity is solid, with two HDMI ports and a DisplayPort, allowing you to connect a PC and a console simultaneously without needing a switcher. There’s also an audio-out jack, which is essential as this monitor, like most gaming monitors, does not have built-in speakers.

The primary compromise here is the stand. It provides a basic tilt adjustment from -5° to 15°, which is enough to find a comfortable viewing angle for most, but it lacks any height, swivel, or pivot adjustments. As one user accurately pointed out, the stand is “very very wobbly.” While it didn’t bother us during gameplay with a headset on, heavy-handed typists or those with less stable desks might notice some shaking. Fortunately, KOORUI included a 75x75mm VESA mount. This is a brilliant inclusion, as it means you can easily upgrade to a monitor arm for a few extra pounds, completely solving the stability and ergonomic limitations of the stock stand. The on-screen display (OSD) is functional but a bit tedious to navigate with the bottom-mounted buttons, a common complaint on budget displays. It offers a good range of options, including different game-mode presets and crosshair overlays, but getting to them takes a few more clicks than we’d like.

Customer Support and Long-Term Reliability: An Unexpected Highlight

When you buy a product from a budget-friendly brand, long-term support is often a major concern. This is where our research into user experiences revealed a surprising and significant strength for KOORUI. While some users reported their monitors failing after 16 or 23 months, their follow-up experiences were overwhelmingly positive. One user stated, “I’ve tried manufacturer directly and it turned that they were very helpful. I just received a replacement.” Another had a similar story, receiving a brand new replacement after returning their failed unit. This level of post-purchase support, backed by a 3-year warranty, is exceptional in this market segment.

It provides a huge amount of peace of mind. While no one wants a product to fail, knowing that the manufacturer stands behind it and offers responsive, helpful service turns a potential disaster into a manageable inconvenience. For a buyer on a tight budget, this strong support network adds immense value and mitigates the risk often associated with lesser-known brands. It demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction that is genuinely commendable and makes it much easier to recommend the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor. If you value responsive performance backed by solid support, you can find out more about this monitor right here.

What Other Users Are Saying

Sifting through dozens of user experiences, a clear consensus emerges on the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor. The most dominant positive sentiment revolves around its incredible value. One owner, who bought it for their son’s gaming setup, called it a “Quite good monitor for the price,” a sentiment echoed by many who praise its ability to deliver high-end gaming features without breaking the bank. Another happy customer noted the upgrade from a 60Hz TV was a “night and day difference” for their Xbox Series S. The most surprising and consistently praised aspect, however, is the customer service, with multiple users updating their reviews to commend the manufacturer for honouring the warranty and providing replacements quickly, even well over a year after purchase.

On the negative side, the feedback is just as consistent. The most common complaint is the presence of “ghosting” or black smearing, which users correctly identify as a trait of the VA panel. One user describes it as “present, but should not be a problem if you’re just a casual gamer.” The other major critique is the wobbly stand, which can be an issue for gamers who use a keyboard and mouse on the same surface. Finally, there’s a recurring theme of confusion regarding the refresh rate, with several users initially disappointed they were “only” getting 144Hz, highlighting the need for clearer instructions on using DisplayPort to achieve the full 165Hz.

How Does the KOORUI Compare to the Alternatives?

The KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor excels as a stationary, budget-focused gaming display. But the monitor market is diverse, and different users have different needs. Let’s see how it stacks up against some distinct alternatives.

1. ARZOPA 16.1″ Portable Monitor FHD IPS Eye Protection

The ARZOPA monitor serves an entirely different purpose. It’s a portable screen designed for people who need a second display on the go, whether for a laptop, a Nintendo Switch, or even a phone with video-out. It prioritizes portability, a slim profile, and versatile USB-C connectivity over raw gaming performance. While it has an IPS panel for good viewing angles and colours, its refresh rate is a standard 60Hz. If you’re a student, a frequent traveller, or a remote worker who needs extra screen real estate anywhere, the ARZOPA is the clear choice. However, for a dedicated home gaming setup, the KOORUI’s 165Hz refresh rate offers a vastly superior experience.

2. CRUA 27 Inch 180Hz Curved Gaming Monitor

The CRUA monitor is a direct competitor but targets a slightly different segment of the gaming market. Its key differentiators are its larger 27-inch size and its 1800R curvature, designed to create a more immersive experience by wrapping the image around your field of view. It also boasts a slightly higher 180Hz refresh rate. The choice between the CRUA and the KOORUI comes down to preference. Some gamers love curved screens for immersion, while others prefer flat screens for competitive accuracy. The larger 27-inch size at 1080p resolution will also result in a lower pixel density, meaning the image on the 24-inch KOORUI will appear sharper. If immersion and a larger screen are your top priorities, the CRUA is a compelling option. If sharpness and a compact footprint are more important, stick with the KOORUI.

3. UPERFECT 15.6″ Portable Monitor 1080P IPS

Much like the ARZOPA, the UPERFECT is a portable display built for versatility and travel. At 15.6 inches, it’s even more compact, designed to slip into a laptop bag with ease. It comes with a smart cover that doubles as a stand and features both USB-C and Mini HDMI ports, making it compatible with a huge range of devices. It’s an excellent tool for productivity, giving presentations, or casual gaming on the go. However, it cannot compete with the KOORUI on gaming performance. The KOORUI is a dedicated gaming workhorse built for speed and responsiveness, while the UPERFECT is a jack-of-all-trades travel companion.

Our Final Verdict: Is the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor Worth It?

After extensive testing and analysis, our conclusion is clear: the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor represents one of the best values in PC gaming today. It successfully delivers a high-refresh-rate, low-response-time experience that was, until recently, reserved for much more expensive monitors. The jump to 165Hz provides a tangible, significant improvement in gameplay fluidity that gives players a real competitive edge and makes every moment feel more responsive.

Yes, compromises were made to hit this incredible price point. The stand is basic and wobbly, and the VA panel, while offering superb contrast, does exhibit some ghosting. However, these trade-offs are minor when weighed against the sheer performance you get for your money. The inclusion of a VESA mount nullifies the stand issue, and the ghosting is unlikely to bother the vast majority of its target audience. When you factor in the surprisingly excellent customer support and 3-year warranty, it becomes an even more compelling package. We wholeheartedly recommend this monitor to any budget-conscious gamer looking to make the most important upgrade to their setup.

If you’ve decided the KOORUI 24 Inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor is the right fit, you can check its current price and purchase it here.