I ran Counter-Strike at 600fps to test out Sony’s elite esports monitor — here’s my verdict

Sony’s elite esports gaming monitor just got, well, even more elite. The Inzone M10S II succeeds (you guessed it) the original M10S — a monitor I know well. I attended the original M10S launch at Gamescom 2024, where I spoke with the Fnatic esports team, who were heavily involved in its design, and the Sony engineers who brought Fnatic’s requests to life.

The new model shares the same core objectives as its predecessor: to provide professional esports gamers, or those aspiring to be one, with everything they need. As such, the core formula remains largely unchanged: blazing refresh and response rates; an array of features tailored entirely to esports; all combined with Sony’s premium design.

This time, refresh rates have been boosted in QHD and FHD modes; there’s a new anti-glare coating and a brightness boost, at least on paper. So, is this the best gaming monitor for elite players? Find out in my full Sony Inzone M10S II review.

Sony Inzone M10S II review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? An elite esports gaming monitor
• Who is it for? Pro esports gamers, or those aspiring to be
• What does it cost? $1,099 / £1,199
• What do we like? Be-all, end-all gaming performance and features; premium and thoughtful design
• What don’t we like? Not the brightest compared to other OLED monitors; USB-A and -B ports only

Sony Inzone M10S II review: Specs

Sony Inzone M10S II review: The ups

The M10S II has one job: to be the ultimate gaming monitor for esports players. With its impressive specs and an extensive array of performance and quality-of-life features, it succeeds. And as a Sony product, it boasts premium looks and a high-quality build.

Ultra-fast performance

The M10S II packs so many gaming features that I’ll have to break them up. First, I’ll cover the hardware side of things. And that refresh rate! With 540Hz in QHD mode and up to 720Hz when dropping to 720p (HD), this monitor is absolutely rapid, relaying enemy movement as accurately as possible, with no motion blur or lag.

With an ultra low response time of 0.02ms gtg (gray to gray, which means how fast the pixels can change color), plus Sony’s Motion Blur Reduction, ghosting is effectively removed. There’s also G-Sync to remove tearing, especially in situations with rapidly changing frame rates. All this means the enemy you’re shooting at is more likely to be exactly where you’re seeing it, and you aren’t shooting its ghost trail or some other artefact.

I’m not an esports pro, of course, but playing Counter-Strike 2 at 600fps was a smooth experience — though not particularly enjoyable at 720p. Our TG testing rig couldn’t hit the maximum 720fps, even with Counter-Strike set to low and running at 720p, but topping out at 600fps was still pretty cool. At 1440p with Counter-Strike on high settings, our testing rig still hit around 400fps.

The original M10S looks like a tortoise in comparison, topping out at only 480Hz and a mere 0.03ms response time. Our favorite high-refresh-rate monitor (up to now), the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 ($749), manages just 500Hz.

Plethora of gaming features

The M10S II also offers a comprehensive array of gaming features designed to suit elite gamers — like the Fnatic team. There’s a 24.5-inch tournament crop for competition practice, and two FPS modes, FPS Pro (which simulates an LCD) and FPS Pro+, which adjust contrast ratios to make enemy detection easier, especially in dimly lit game scenarios. I especially enjoyed using FPS Pro when playing Hell Let Loose, particularly on darker nighttime maps, as it lifted the blacks a little to help me spot enemies hiding in bushes.

Those aren’t the only game modes, though, as there’s a specific MOBA/RTS mode, as well as a general game mode for casual play.

There’s also an on-screen crosshair with a variety of crosshair types to choose from. I found this really handy in Counter-Strike 2, where many guns have no ADS mode and the in-game crosshair expands and contracts with movement and movement penalties. It was also super useful in Hell Let Loose, as it allowed me to more accurately fire from the hip and score reflex kills on enemies popping up from bushes or around corners, which I might otherwise have missed.

On that note, there’s also a black equalizer mode to brighten shadows without affecting lighter areas of the screen. This is handy if you’re already in a game-specific mode and only want to boost shadows, or if affecting highlights would hamper your performance.

Plus some useful QoL features

I also appreciate some of the quality-of-life (QoL) features found in the M10S range. The M10S II, like its predecessor, is designed with setup flexibility as a key consideration, and plenty of attention has been paid to the details.

In particular, there’s the stand. The M10S II features the same cantilevered stand as its predecessor. I actually spoke to the engineer who designed this stand at the original M10S press briefing — the stand was his passion project because he was trying to solve an issue he had with monitors. The cantilever channels all the weight into the center for perfect balance, allowing Sony to keep the base small.

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The M10S II is therefore much easier to position than many other monitors. The M10S II replaced my Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 (£199, U.K. only), with its enormous tripod stand — with the Sony, my desk felt so much more spacious and open, and for once I had room for other products I was testing. The base is also extremely thin, deliberately designed so you can slide your keyboard over it and keep your desk tidy when not in use. The arm swivels, so you can adjust the monitor's rotation without having to pick up and move the whole assembly. And there's a neat cable tidy to, well, keep your cables tidy!

I’m also a big fan of the anti-glare coating on the screen. I work with a window behind me in the office, along with overhead lighting. I was able to game and work on the M10S II for hours without eye strain or headaches.

Accurate color rendition

While the M10S II isn’t a production monitor, it’s still important that the panel reproduces color accurately. Thankfully, the M10S II does! As you can see in our lab test results below, the M10S II achieved a Delta-E score of 0.26. This score measures how closely the on-screen color matches the color sent to the display by the computer, and the lower the better.

A 0.26 Delta-E isn’t as good as some of the other gaming monitors we’ve tested, such as the Alienware AW2525HM, MSI MAG 272 QP, or MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36. But it’s still fairly respectable, and it means the colors you’re seeing on screen are rendered accurately.

The M10S II also covers both the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts. What does that mean? Games are mastered in sRGB for SDR and in DCI-P3 for HDR, so the M10S II can reproduce every unique color in every game you play.

Now, an ultra-wide gamut can cause oversaturation in those spaces, resulting in an unnatural, neon effect. So, more technically isn’t always better. But while colors appear very bold and vivid on the M10S II, they didn’t feel overdone. And besides, there are sRGB and Cinema (for DCI-P3) color modes if you want to ensure strict accuracy to those gamuts.

Sony’s typically premium design

Unsurprisingly, as this is a Sony product, the M10S II is built extremely well. The monitor looks and feels premium, with high-quality materials used throughout.

The rear of the display is finished in textured metal rather than plastic. The stand and base are also made from metal and feel extremely sturdy. It simply feels built to last, and there’s a three-year warranty to back it up anyway.

Arguably good value

This might sound a little odd given that the M10S II costs $1,099 / £1,199, but I’d argue it’s fairly good value. It’s not uncommon for gaming monitors to push well beyond the $1,000 mark. The Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED, for example, launched at $1,099. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, meanwhile, launched at $1,799.

I know: those are ultrawides, and their prices have dropped since launch. But what I mean here is that the M10S II isn’t priced beyond the pale. And yet it offers superb performance for elite gamers. If you’re one of those people, the M10S II could make strong financial and competitive sense.

Sony Inzone M10S II review: The downs

The Inzone M10S II doesn’t have many faults. However, it’s not the brightest OLED we’ve lab tested, and the USB ports on the underside are pretty dated.

Not the brightest

We don’t like to rely on manufacturer claims, which are often best-case scenarios and can be a tad (to say the least) unrealistic. As such, as part of our lab testing process, we also measure peak SDR and HDR brightness.

As you can see in the test results, the M10S II isn’t as bright as other OLED gaming panels we’ve tested and is well below the (rather ambitious) 1,500-nit peak brightness claimed by Sony.

Still, when you think about it, this monitor’s primary purpose is to be used in a dark room. And besides, figures alone don’t always tell the full story, and I certainly wouldn’t let our measured peak brightness put you off buying this monitor. I’ve had no issues using it in bright environments, largely thanks to the anti-glare coating. And I never struggled with darker in-game scenarios, thanks to the different color modes and black point equalizer.

Dated USB ports

My only other gripe with the M10S II is that it uses fairly dated ports, at least when it comes to USB (with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1, the video ports are just fine). There are two USB-A downstream ports and a USB-B upstream port. These are outdated, and it would’ve been nice to see at least a USB-C port or two.

Again, it’s important to remember use cases here. I’m not going to complain about the lack of a Thunderbolt port or KVM controller on a monitor that isn’t designed for productivity, but come on, it’s 2026… how can Sony fit a Type-B but not a single Type-C?

Sony Inzone M10S II review: Verdict

If you want the fastest and most feature-packed gaming monitor around, especially if you’re an elite competitive player or aspiring pro, I wholeheartedly recommend the Sony Inzone M10S II.

Its flaws are very few and fairly minor. What’s more, it not only delivers blazing-fast hardware performance but also a huge roster of genuinely useful gaming tools and thoughtful quality-of-life features! Then there’s Sony’s usual build quality and a fairly reasonable price tag, all things considered. I’m genuinely rather sad to be giving it back to Sony!