INNOCN 25G2S Gaming Monitor Review: Good, Cheap, Worth It?

I haven’t gotten to experience the full transition of screen capabilities like I’m sure many people have. My household has held CRTs, Plasma, IPS, and, more recently, OLED TVs. But when it comes to monitors, I’ve been content with 1080p, IPS, or VA technology paired with a 60-75Hz display.

So when INNOCN offered up their 25G2S for review, my first thought was “24 inches is considered small now?” and my second thought was “This could be decent for emulation…or gaming,” but is it? Now’s the time to find out.

INNOCN 25G2S Gaming Monitor Specs

Right off the bat, this is an inexpensive monitor. Over on Amazon, they’re asking about $190, while on INNOCN’s own website, they land closer to $165. For that price, it feels like you’re getting a decent setup here.

Size: 24.5”, 16:9
Resolution: 2560x1440p
Panel Type: IPS
Refresh Rate: Up to 240hz
I/O: 2x Displayport 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm Jack

It’s worth noting that all ports are capable of supporting the 240Hz refresh rate. The response time is listed as 1ms, and INNOCN included a color calibration factory report in the box. While yours might be different, they rate the panel as supporting 100% sRGB and 93% DCI-P3 color spaces.

INNOCN 25G2S Gaming Monitor at Amazon

What I Like

The Panel Itself

This is a surprisingly nice panel. I’ve been using a Samsung 34” Ultrawide for the past 4 years, and while nice, the quality of the VA panel leaves a bit to be desired. A solid IPS, with high refresh rates, has been a bit of an eye-opener. It looks more vibrant by comparison, and it just feels a bit snappier.

Due to space constraints, I wasn’t able to test them side by side with one another, but bouncing back and forth between my main desk and testing desk has made the comparison feel a bit more obvious. It’s a solid panel, especially for $190 or less.

The Add-on Features

The 25G2S seems to add a number of features that seem to be useful to have for some, but wouldn’t be the end of the world to others. The 100×100 VESA mount on the back means you don’t have to use the squat stand included in the box.

The 4 display inputs mean you can hook up a lot more at once to this thing, and the Picture by Picture and Picture in Picture let me actually test two different systems at once with minimal issue. While not gaming features, they do make this an outstanding tester display.

The Gaming Experience

With a 240Hz display, that’s what you’d expect; good for gaming. Building off the back of a solid panel, paired with a higher refresh rate, makes the experience an even better one. There are a couple of caveats, but as a whole, the experience is solid.

The first being, most of my equipment doesn’t run higher-end games at that max fps; however, running some lower-end, easier to power games that support 240Hz was a lot better of an experience. What I’m saying is, I didn’t test Balatro at 240Hz, but I also wasn’t trying to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 240Hz either.

The other caveat came from my comments about using it for emulation. Yeah, I can emulate Windwaker, or Forza Horizon, and it looks great on this panel, but I want to be wary of recommending the use of Black Frame Insertion on IPS panels like this.

If set the correct way, you could get that CRT effect you’re looking for, but you still have to contend with image retention on IPS panels. It’s why OLED would really be the recommendation. Otherwise, gaming on this thing is great.

What I Don’t

The Design

I can’t get over how ugly the design of the 25G2S is. At least in my opinion. It feels as though they’ve slapped 5 different plastics and textures across this monitor in an attempt to find some, any, audience that will like it. You’ve got “carbon fiber” on the stand, you’ve got black and white ribbing on the back. All paired with shiny plastic diagonal strips for the corners.

You may not be one who can see the back of your monitor, but when I can see mine from multiple angles, I can’t help but call this one ugly.

The Size

Again, a bit of a personal preference, but for daily use, I find a 24” monitor to be a bit too small. While the higher resolution makes things sharper on a small screen, unless you have a small space or a specific need for a monitor at this size.

You’d be better served by jumping up just a little to a 27” model, of which there are plenty to pick from. This size would definitely be better as a secondary display for someone like me.

Final Thoughts

For $190, it’s a solid panel that could do everything you ask of it. My monitor reviewing experience isn’t top tier, but as a general user, it’s a nice improvement over what I have currently.

That being said, I don’t plan on switching to it due to the downgrade in size. What might be the best option is putting this panel type into something larger with a lot of the same features. That would be my personal buy and recommendation for others.

Until then, this will remain on the secondary desk for PC and handheld testing as it will make things a lot easier having two displays side by side with one another in such a compact form factor. I just recommend a monitor arm or something, the stand is super short.