HyperX Armada 25 Gaming Monitor
Peripheral junkies
Gamers are often a fickle bunch and often require certain features from their gaming equipment. Mice with customisable buttons, keyboards with per-key RGB or headsets with ear cups that block all the outside noises so that they can be fully immersed in their game of choice. However, one often overlooked peripheral that can increase the immersion in a game is a gaming monitor. Long gone are the days that a CRT monitor would cut it with its bulky, immovable screen. These days, gamers want a screen that can capture the essence of the game and the HyperX Armada 25 tries to do just that.
Setup
Unlike most other monitors available, the Armada25 is not a freestanding monitor, but instead relies on a bracket attachment. This bracket fits easily to most desks, although I did find that my vintage style desk at home (with a routed style edge) took a bit of playing around with to get the positioning right. But that said, clamping it to most desks is simply a matter of adjusting the butterfly clamp so that it is tight. Once the bracket pole is firmly attached via the mounting plates and screws, it feels like it is not going to move anywhere, and an earthquake would unlikely move the mounting pole.
Once the mounting pole is secured, it is then simply a matter of sliding on the monitor arm, attaching the mounting bracket to the screen, and then deciding on the optimal height. A simple quick release system unlocks the height guide and then snapping the quick release system closed secures everything in place.
The flexibility of the swivel arm enables users to position the monitor exactly how they like, but also permits the quick movement when needed. On several occasions in the office setting, I was able to swing the arm from in front of me to the side so that several team members were able to see without me being in the way.
But it is not just the adjustable arm that enables flexibility. The mounting plate which clips into the rear of the monitor can easily swivel 90 degrees from a landscape view to a portrait view. Although I cannot see a gaming purpose for this, in an office environment there are several users that would be happy with the portrait setup. Coders or programmers for instance, would enjoy the portrait (or vertical) monitor ability and could then quickly rotate it for their gaming session.
Several monitors can also be affixed to the mounting bracket, with the ability to easily reposition the monitors with the various monitor arms. Having up to three monitors connected at once on the one bracket can definitely be advantageous as the desk space is not taken up with multiple monitor stands. The arms are considerably sturdy with the mounted assembly rated to hold 20 pounds per arm. Indeed, compared to the mounting bracket and arms, the monitor itself is reasonably lightweight. The monitor arms feature plastic clips which help to keep all the cables tidy, especially handy when you have a multi-screen setup.
If I were to find fault in the HyperX Armada 25 monitor, it would be settings switch (more like a mini thumbstick) and its positioning at the rear of the monitor. On several occasions, as I was moving the screen to show something to a colleague, I accidentally bumped (and activated) the switch. This would then of course place the monitor in settings mode, and although closing this down is a simple process, it was annoying.
Features and performance
The Armada 25 has been clearly aimed at competitive gamers with a 1ms response time and a 240Hz refresh rate. Thanks to the refresh rate and response times, I did not notice any visual blur when moving the mouse, and the clarity of the picture meant that everything was easy to see. Indeed, when set up at the office, one of my colleagues even mentioned that despite the monitor being just 25” the text on the monitor seemed clearer and easier to read than the 32” monitor he normally uses. There are several settings that can be tinkered with, but I found that the default settings for everything including brightness and contrast were sufficient.
When gaming, I normally find that in racing games such as Dirt Rally 2.0, the background can blur quite considerably when travelling at fast speeds, and although this still occurred when using the Armada 25, it was less so. And as mentioned, I found that there was little cursor blur when playing first person shooters such as Borderlands. I assume, that this can easily create minor advantages for online shooters or real-time strategy games.
Verdict
The flexibility of the HyperX Armada 25 is its strong suit, with the ability to move the screen around easily, either up and down, side-to-side, or even from landscape to portrait within a matter of seconds. Being that is needs to be clamped to a desk, it may mean that it could sit back further than a standard monitor, but the mounting arms can bring it forward if required. The mounting frame is sturdy and the option to add multiple screens to the one stand allows gamers to free up desk space. The performance stacks up well against other gaming monitors with fast response times and quick refresh rates at FHD resolutions reducing motion blur possibly giving gamers some minor benefits. If you’re in the market for a clear, vibrant monitor that will also free up desk space, then the HyperX Armada 25 is well worth a look.
In the box
25” Gaming Monitor
Monitor Arm
Quick Start Guide
1x HyperX red DisplayPort 1.4 cable
1x black HDMI 2.0 cable
1x power cable
VESA mounting bracket screws
VESA monitor thumb screw
2x grommet mounting plates
1x grommet mounting screw
2x Hex keys
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