ASRock Releases Five New 1080p IPS Gaming Monitors Across Phantom Gaming and Challenger Series Providing Fast Refresh Rates and Color Accuracy
ASRock just dropped five new monitors and it seems like they are still betting that people want 1080p for their fast gaming setups. They have three screens in the Phantom Gaming line and two for the cheaper Challenger series. Its a mix of 25 and 27 inch sizes which is what most people expect now. All of them use IPS panels so the colors wont look washed out like those older screens often did. They are claiming 99 percent sRGB coverage which is decent for budget monitors.
The Phantom Gaming specs and 240Hz speed
The Phantom models are the ones people will actually want if they play shooters because they go up to 240Hz. That is plenty fast for 2026 standards. They also have AMD FreeSync Premium included so the image wont tear when your frame rate goes up and down. ASRock used thin bezels on these so you could easily put two of them side by side in a multi screen setup without a massive gap in the middle.
The stands are different depending on which one you buy. The PG27FFS2E models have a stand that actually lets you change the height and swivel it around or even flip it into portrait mode. But the PG27FFS1A only lets you tilt and swivel it which is a bit of a letdown if you have a desk that is the wrong height. Connectivity is fine for these with two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.2 which is enough for most GPUs today.
Challenger budget models and old school ports
The Challenger monitors are clearly for the budget crowd. They still have the same 1080p resolution but the refresh rate stops at 144Hz. For a lot of people that is still fast enough but its a big drop from the Phantom ones. What is really weird is that these Challenger models still have VGA ports and HDMI 1.4 on them. Its 2026 and I dont know who is still using VGA but I guess ASRock thinks some people do. These cheaper ones also dont have the fancy height adjustment stands so you can only tilt them back and forth.
Controls are handled by a five way joystick on the back of the monitors. That is a lot better than the clunky buttons that most cheap screens use. There are also some software features like a mode to help you see better in dark corners of a game and flicker free tech to stop your eyes from hurting after a long session. Its a straightforward update for their monitor lineup without anything too crazy going on.
