AOC’s 27G4X offers outstanding performance for a bargain price!
- Manufacturer: AOC
- Model: AOC Gaming G4 Series – 27G4X
- Display Type: 27” IPS Gaming Monitor
- Resolution: FHD 1920*1080
- Refresh rate: 180 Hz
- Price when reviewed: £134.99 MSRP
- Supplied by: AOC
AOC 27G4X Review
Overview
Even if you’re not on a tight budget, the AOC 27G4X is worthy of consideration, but if you want premium display quality without breaking the bank, this is the monitor for you.
The AOC 27G4X is a 27” 180 Hz IPS gaming display, with HDMI and DP inputs. It’s also fully compatible with FreeSync and G-Sync technologies for super smooth gameplay.
Why is this display so good? Aside from missing a few extras that you’d expect to pay quite a chunk more for, such as a USB hub or USB-C connectivity, this monitor matches or exceeds monitors that would have cost vastly more a few years ago. It even features a pair of 2W speakers – okay, they sound a little thin and lack punch, but it’s a feature often overlooked even on more expensive displays.
The out-of-the-box calibration is excellent; the colour gamut coverage is impressive and results in rich, well-saturated images; gamma tracking is accurate; the pixel response is fantastic; build quality is top-notch, and the compact base of the stand and modernised GUI address the criticisms I had of earlier AOC G-series monitors.
While 180Hz may not seem as impressive compared to the 500Hz displays available today, it’s more than sufficient for most gamers. This includes those with lower-end hardware or competitive gamers who don’t require the utmost in performance. When combined with adaptive sync, the on-screen action is smooth, ghosting-free, and vibrantly colourful as intended.
A slight drawback is the monitor’s low peak brightness, officially rated at 300 cd/m² and measured at 330 cd/m². This brightness level is adequate unless you’re playing in a very brightly lit room. In my experience, I find that setting the brightness to around 200 cd/m² (70% in the settings) during the day and 150 cd/m² (27%) at night works well, but ultimately, your personal preference should dictate your settings.
I make it a point to avoid looking at other reviews and especially the price when reviewing monitors, to eliminate as much potential bias as possible. Therefore, I was astonished to discover that this monitor is priced at just £134.99 (at the time of writing). This price point represents exceptional value, particularly for those considering an affordable multi-monitor setup.
Between my kids and me, we’ve clocked in over 100 hours on the 27G4X, and it has proven to be a reliable and highly enjoyable workhorse. We’ve used this monitor for Netflix, party games, Fortnite, Hellblade 2, and many other titles, and it has consistently met our expectations. Sure, 1080p resolution may appear a bit soft around the edges on a 27-inch display, but it’s not a significant issue. My kids didn’t notice, and I quickly became accustomed to it.
The only time I felt constrained by the 1080p resolution was while engaging in productivity tasks, as I’m accustomed to a 32-inch 4K display. The reduced screen space was a noticeable limitation, particularly when running multiple applications and browser pages at once. However, this is unlikely to be an issue for the majority of users.
Overall, it’s hard to find fault with the AOC 27G4X, especially for just £134.99. The 27G4X is yet another shining example from AOC that affordable doesn’t have to mean crap.
Design and build
AOC’s G4-series displays have consistently featured minimalistic bezels and straightforward styling, with the most notable changes across generations seen in the stand design. The bulky tripod stand of previous models has been replaced by a sleek, compact hexagonal-themed stand that sits flush with the desk, freeing up ample space for peripherals and fitting even the slimmest desk surfaces. The stand’s upright portion is also hexagonal, featuring a cleverly offset cutout for efficient cable management.
The hexagonal motif extends to the rear panels, and while typically out of sight, the angular aesthetic is visually appealing; I particularly appreciate the contrasting circular surround at the mounting point for the stand, which cleverly conceals a VESA100 mount.
Ergonomically, the display offers a tilt range of -3.5/+21.5 degrees, a swivel of +/- 30 degrees, and a height adjustment of 130 mm. The 27G4X is effortlessly adjustable, maintaining its position without any sag or droop throughout my testing. It can also pivot into portrait orientation in either direction, making it an excellent choice for a secondary or tertiary display.
The AOC 27G4X includes an integrated power adapter, requiring only a simple power cable with a kettle plug (UK), which is a boon for cable management. The package includes the power cable, along with high-quality DisplayPort and HDMI cables.
AOC has also revamped the monitor’s GUI (graphical user interface). The 27G4X opts for a set of five distinct buttons on the underside of the display instead of a joystick. These buttons are clearly labelled within the GUI, allowing for intuitive operation. While they don’t align perfectly with the on-screen display, this design significantly reduces accidental presses.
The menus themselves have been aesthetically enhanced and are logically organised. Thanks to the exceptional factory calibration, there’s seldom a need to adjust the settings, but when necessary, all essential options are readily accessible within the responsive menu system.
In conclusion, the build quality of the 27G4X far exceeds expectations set by its price point. The plastics, while thin and lightweight, gain considerable strength and resistance to flexing from the angular moulding, resulting in a sturdy, creak-free structure. Well done, AOC.
Connectivity and Supported Resolutions
The AOC Gaming 27G4X has 2x HDMI 2.0 and 1x DisplayPort 1.4 inputs for display connections, and a 3.5mm audio out. No USB hub or USB-C, but hey, you get change from £140, so you can’t feel hard done by!
The AOC 27G4X supports the following optimum resolutions:
HDMI 2.0: 1920*1080 @ 180 Hz
DisplayPort: 1920*1080 @ 180 Hz
Both FreeSync and G-Sync are supported, with an activation window of 48-180 Hz over DP and HDMI.
Display Analysis
That AOC has managed to produce such a vibrant and smooth experience with the 27G4X is nothing short of remarkable. The brightness isn’t that high, but the gamut coverage is excellent, making images wonderfully rich and vibrant. Contrast results are average for an IPS monitor, but comparable with high-end displays and certainly better than you’d expect of a budget offering. I’d be pleased with this monitor even at twice the price (but don’t get any ideas, AOC, the pricing is already great!)
As you will see from our test bench results, the 27G4X puts in a strong performance in almost every category. Colour and gamma accuracy are very good, and the pixel response is admirably fast. Panel uniformity stands out as one of the weaker areas, but even then, it’s barely noticeable to the naked eye in real-world usage.
Panel response
The pixel response of the AOC 27G4X is good in general, and excellent in the budget category. All grey-to-grey transitions occurring in the sub-10 ms range, even darker transitions in the 0-64 and below range which often overshoot in order to hit faster timings.
In our testing, setting overdrive (smart response) to faster yielded the best results for frame rates across the board. Ghosting was almost non-existent even on the often-problematic black background tests – solid results from the 27G4X.
Brightness, contrast and colour
The maximum recorded brightness of 333.2 cd/m² is enough for a moderately well-lit room without direct light on your setup, although it can look a little lifeless in very bright sunlight. With a black level of 0.33 at 100% brightness, this gives a contrast ratio of 1010:1, which is what we’d expect from an IPS display. This remains consistent down to about 140 cd/m², though below this the contrast begins to fall off somewhat. Fortunately, colour saturation is good right across the range, making for a pleasing image even in darkened environments.
You can bump up the saturation further with the “Game Colour” setting in the menus, but this crushes the colours at the top of the range and removes detail on colourful images, which you don’t really want. In my experience, the 27G4X holds up very well without resorting to using the additional gaming modes, but I’ve always been a purist in this regard. I recommend you play around with the various settings if you buy this monitor and find what looks best to you – you can always reset the display back to default if you mess it up.
With the factory calibration, the AOC 27G4X has an average sRGB DeltaE of 0.71. Anything below a DeltaE of 2.0 is considered imperceptible to the human eye. (My calibration brought this down to 0.08, which is excellent.)
Gamma test results were excellent. The default gamma setting adhered to the ideal 2.2 curve almost perfectly.
Gamut coverage and HDR
The panel in the 27G4X has 8-bit colour depth, allowing it to display up to 16.7 million shades of colour. Gamut coverage* is excellent for a budget panel, creating rich, saturated colours and 125.3% sRGB gamut volume.
- sRGB 99.8% coverage – 125.3% volume
- AdobeRGB 80.2% coverage – 83.3% volume
- DCI-P3 87.7% coverage – 88.8% volume
*Coverage refers to how much of the specified area of the gamut is covered, whilst volume includes any colour that extends beyond the defined gamut.
The gamut coverage and volume are great across all measured gamuts, but in the absence of 10-bit colour, HDR doesn’t pop as much as it should. Coupled with the lower brightness and lack of local dimming, this isn’t a monitor you should choose if HDR is important to you. Again, you won’t get a decent HDR display for anywhere near this price, so I’m not going to lean on AOC about this.
Viewing angles and uniformity
A weak point of the 27G4X, the panel uniformity is middling. Brightness falls off all around the central portion of the display, and it was noticeable when actively looking for it.
Likewise, the colour accuracy across the zones drops off towards the corners and can be seen if you look carefully. That’s if you’re actively looking for discrepancies, though. Once everything gets moving, you’ll soon forget about it.
The AOC 27G4X has a decent-sized sweet spot, allowing you to move around the display, view off-angle or lie back in your chair and still get a great image, which is one of the big advantages of IPS over VA technology.
Sound quality
The AOC 27G4X has a pair of 2W speakers, which is unexpected at this price. The sound quality isn’t great; It’s like going to a cinema and listening to the audio through your phone. You can, but you don’t want to unless you have to. There is a 3.5mm TRS stereo audio-passthrough, which can be used for external speakers or headphones, and I found it worked well connected to my bookshelf speakers.
Summary
The AOC 27G4X stands out in the budget category for delivering a vibrant and smooth gaming experience. It boasts excellent gamut coverage, resulting in rich and vibrant images, and while its brightness isn’t the highest, it’s more than adequate for most settings. The contrast is average for an IPS display but compares favourably with more expensive models.
Design-wise, the monitor features minimalistic bezels and a compact, hexagonal-themed stand that saves desk space and includes a useful cable management cutout. The build quality is impressive, with a sturdy, flex-resistant structure despite the use of lightweight materials.
Performance-wise, the 27G4X excels with very good colour and gamma accuracy, and a fast pixel response, particularly notable in grey-to-grey transitions. Setting the overdrive to ‘Faster’ minimises ghosting, even in challenging tests. Ergonomically, the monitor is highly adjustable, with tilt, swivel, and height options, plus the ability to pivot into portrait orientation.
The integrated power adapter simplifies cable management, and the monitor comes with high-quality cables. The updated GUI is user-friendly, with well-labelled buttons that reduce mis-presses, and a responsive menu layout that rarely requires navigation due to the excellent factory calibration.
In conclusion, the AOC 27G4X offers exceptional value for money at £134.99, providing a high-quality experience that challenges the notion that affordability means compromise on quality.
