Hannspree HT273 27” Multi-touch Monitor Review

Primarily it has Windows 8 on the box for its targeted OS, but with the launch of Windows 10 in my opinion the latter offers more functionality.

This is primarily due to its Tablet mode and supporting apps which are tailored for a touch experience more than Windows 8/8.1 ever was.

Design

For the most part I can’t deny that the Hannspree HT273 emanates a quality build. I suppose this is down to the fact that it weighs a considerable amount. Plus it has a construction that is rarely seen on monitors these days (usually screens offer creaky plastic fascia’s or backing to cut-down the weight/cost).

Alongside the build quality the HT273 boasts a respectable sized front bezel (adorned in black) and despite the glosy finish I tended not to notice any finger prints on the screen. Hannspree's logo also resides at the base, alongside a dinky led light to indicate the monitor is turned on. Blink and you will miss it! Additionally there is an integrated stand at the back.

The latter is actually pretty hard to adjust if the screen is not firmly on the desk. This is because the stand is designed in such a way that it can pivot from 10 – 53 degrees to accommodate the multi-touch experience. As a result you can use the monitor more comfortably from a standing position if the need takes you.

Alternatively you can mount the monitor on a wall via the VESA system at the back or have the monitor pretty much sat bolt upright on the desk, which can help when viewing movie content.

The latter angles also helps to eliminate the mirror effect that the screen sadly possess. I’ll explain more about this later.

Alongside the stand you get a series of OSD controls. On one hand I like that they are physical, as this provides more reassurance when pressed. On the flipside the position at the back of the screen takes some getting used to! You almost have to feel your way around the controls in order to change the most basic of functions! I lost count at first the amount of times I turned off the screen by accident!

Speaking of OSD controls you get the usual array to play with (see gallery below) for adjusting the sharpness (in PC Mode) and colour modes, including custom RGB levels.

There is also a series of helpful shortcut keys at your disposal i.e. switching between the two input sources, adjusting the volume for the built-in speakers and controlling the brightness.

Connectivity options

You don’t get a vast amount of connectivity options on this screen. For example you have 1 x HDMI-out and 1 x VGA connection. Additionally you have 1 x Line-in, 1 x Audio-out and a connector for the USB A-to-B link cable.  

At first I thought the latter cable was for powering a USB hub, but sadly the monitor does not have any USB ports. It is simply there so the PC/Laptop can utilise the multi-touch capabilities of the screen.

Finally in the box you have a small warranty card and a quick-start guide.

In Use

I first tested the monitor as my primary source for working, by using it mostly with my finger to manipulate apps and using the virtual keyboard for typing.

Getting the screen setup was not that difficult to be honest, as once the USB A-to-B cable was plugged in this allowed me to manipulate Windows 10 - instantly - with touch controls.

However I did switch the latter OS from Desktop to Tablet mode as this effectively accommodates touch a lot better than the standard desktop view does. I also enabled the taskbar icons at the base of the OS and turned on the virtual keyboard icon; so I could switch over to the touch keyboard quickly.

Using the Stand

The screen is certainly large with good viewing angles - when viewed from the side. Though I feel when used properly in a touch-control way a bigger desk is a must, so you can utilise the stand properly.

I certainly found the stand does pivot nicely when dragged towards you or when retuning it to a more upright position. This works well when the monitor is placed on a hard surface as its intended for and the whole mechanics of this operation were smooth.

Within Windows Tablet mode the metro style live tiles are easy to manipulate by either tapping or long pressing on them to perform right click mouse functionality.

Likewise accessing Windows 10’s core apps such as ‘Photos’ provided a responsive means of zooming in/out of photos and swiping through my Album collection.

Additionally something I forgot to showcase on my video (see above) was how useful it can be when browsing in Edge and accessing the annotation Web note tool.

The only time the multi-touch falls down is when accessing older 3^rd party legacy apps such as Windows Live Mail. Mainly because these were never designed for the touch screen elements; thus it can be fiddlier to press on individual emails or to highlight text in say Microsoft Word.

Using the virtual keyboard does need some adjustment as well. Not because the keyboard was un-responsive, more so that it either got in the way, if it was floating or when docked at the bottom of the screen. So it was a case of having to hide and then re-access the keyboard, moving it to new positions and so forth.

Thus I did have to adjust to the way I worked and I do admit to keeping a wired mouse connected; as text highlighting was still easier with the mouse.

However with the gesture controls I could at least manipulate the Windows 10 OS with a single swipe from the left of the screen - to launch the multi-task view or I could drag windows from the top and then to the side to snap them in place.

Having the screen at an angle certainly helped with typing and I found it easy to place the monitor upright for when watching video content or playing games.

Believe it or not despite the screen being large and having minimal vertical adjustment it does work well when placed on the desk; as it seems to take up less space than my 24” screen did. I think this is because I can push the monitor almost upright which leaves plenty of space at the front to put a keyboard and mouse.

Like looking in the Mirror

You could say the benefit of the multi-touch control comes at a price, because unlike a standard monitor, with its matte and anti-glare coating, this has a gloss finish with a mirrored effect.

By this I mean if you have a dark background or are looking at a loading screen you can literally see yourself staring back; thus it’s like looking in a mirror.

It also catches reflections off overhead spot lights and any glass windows behind you are visible so there are downsides. For this reason thinking about where the screen is kept is a must.

Yet I have to admit that when you are using this in an office environment or there is a background image in place or a colour other than black, I did not notice the problem as much and it still offered an enjoyable viewing experience.

Colours are actually pretty accurate and vibrant enough with the HDMI connection. Flip over to VGA though and I found the top part of the screen lacked sharpness and there is a touch of backlight bleeding in the corners - which you notice during loading screens (nothing major). Thankfully after a delve into the OSD controls I enabled the 'Auto Adjust' function and this fixed the sharpness problem. From this point on the picture was pretty good.

The screen is also bright and I was running at 42% brightness for the most part, though the Active contrast helped boost clarity a touch at this level.

Speaking of which you do have various colour profiles to pick from i.e. PC, Movie, Game and Eco in order to enable the optimal settings for the content you are viewing. So there are further customisation options that you can delve into.

Video & Gaming

I tried several films through the screen, ranging from 'Dracula Untold' to the colourful Avatar and the contrast was not too bad on the Dracula film, but because of the dark areas I could see my reflection unless I focused on the content.

Note: The Active contrast option can’t be used if you have set the profile to Movie. This is because it adjusts the contrast automatically anyway to suite this type of playback.

Avatar though looked great and it filled the screen fully so there were no distracting bars to enhance the mirror effect.

In terms of games this screen is certainly not designed for this purpose; as its 8ms response time is less desirable when playing FPS titles.

Yet I have to admit with the Xbox One titles I played such as Unravel (which has less frantic action) the game played well and I did not notice any visible ghosting.

Likewise I switched to the PC and played Dying Light and the screen quality looked great once again and I did not notice any major ghosting effects either; thus the screen can be used for games, but I would still not buy it solely for this purpose.

Sound wise the speakers lack warmth and are a little tinny in places, but they are certainly loud enough! To the point on the Xbox One I had to throttle back to volume level 8 (out of 100).

Summary

The Hannspree HT273 is not the cheapest monitor on the market (nor is it the most expensive) but the multi-touch aspect does work well if paired with a suitable operating system. Its size also seems more compact on the desk than I thought; yet to utilise the stand you will still need a larger surface area.

Colour reproduction from a HDMI cable is good, though the VGA side needs adjusting so I recommend the 'Auto Adjust' mode in the OSD for this. Sound is also loud from the supplied speakers.

I suppose the main drawback to this screen is the mirrored effect, which is something you can get used to as long as you have a background image (other than black) on-screen.

On the whole there is still a lot of quality to the Hannspree, but I must admit the touch aspect is less desirable from my own personal point of view, simply because I have used a mouse and keyboard for so long that I get better productivity with them.

However the touch element does provide an extra option if you wanted to say manipulate photos, mess with presentations and the like, so if you prefer using your PC like a tablet then it may still be worth further investigation!