The jack of all trades; Pro performance, stunning display and an alluring price
- Manufacturer: AOC
- Reviewed on: Xbox One X/PC
- Supplied by: AOC
The Q27G2U is the higher-end variation of the excellent AOC 27G2U that we reviewed recently. Improvements over its counterparts response focused IPS display include an updated VA panel and a higher resolution of 1440p.
This has a few pros; the new VA panel provides even better colour reproduction and a much higher static contrast ratio. This leads to a more vibrant and deep image whether you are gaming, watching movies or creating content. Some games that have a muted pallete do not take full advantage of this increased vibrancy, but on brighter, more colourful games the difference is staggering.
In a game like Sea of Thieves, the higher peak brightness, better colour and better contrast ratio led to a gorgeous and more immersive world. This is not the only area the Q27G2U will excel: In creative software, the VA panel has a clear advantage, where colour replication is king and fast response is second.
The Q27G2U is a jack of all trades, and I am happy to use it for absolutely everything. With the click of a button, I can switch between screen modes and get the look and performance I want and need.
I have loved using the Q27G2U, and it will now be becoming a permanent part of my daily setup. In all of my testing, no matter what I throw at the Q27G2U, it always comes through. I’m not compromising deep blacks for responsiveness, and I’m not sacrificing stunning visuals for performance. It’s the best of both worlds.
With a 144Hz frame rate, 1ms response time and QHD 1440p resolution it’s the full package and there are few monitors I would rather use every day. The Q27G2U will keep up with you no matter what you do, from competitive fast-paced games like CSGO to creative outlets like Photoshop and After Effects.
The Q27G2U boasts 120% sRGB coverage, 90% Adobe RGB and maximum luminance of 250 cd/m². The performance belies the reasonably low max brightness thanks to the deep blacks. If you use the monitor in a brightly lit room the lower brightness is noticeable, but through a combination of the superior contrast and excellent anti-glare coating it’s not problematic. Playing in darker rooms, though, the image is sublime, with much less of the distracting glow in dark parts of the screen like you find on IPS panels.
On the design front the Q27G2U is iconically AOC, sporting the signature AOC minimal black bezel and a satin red accent. The bezel around the sides and top is near non-existent, measuring just a couple of millimetres, allowing you to use multiple monitors side by side with an almost seamless merge. The panel itself has a slight screen border that extends inside the bezels, so the display isn’t quite as edgeless as it appears. The total surround including bezel and screen border is about 7mm, which is still very good on a monitor at this price point. This does leave slightly more space between images on adjacent monitors, and while it is not something I have found to bother me much, it’s worth mentioning.
The bottom bezel is a fair bit thicker, as is the case with most monitors, with a grey AOC logo in the middle and two red edges along the bottom in a clean satin red.
The general construction is made of a durable matte textured plastic that looks clean and will meld into any setup with no issue.
Along the bottom are the OSD buttons. These are fairly easy to use but it does become quite hard to distinguish the buttons when feeling for them. The guide that is embossed into the front of the monitor is also fairly hard to see, which is both a positive and a negative. On the plus side, it doesn’t take away from the sleek styling but on the flip-side it doesn’t make it easy at all to navigate the menus. The buttons could have done with being ever so slightly more raised and distinguishable from what’s around them.
The stand is again the same aggressive styled stand we have seen on previous AOC monitors. Made of the same plastic as the monitor with a red satin ring around the base to match the accents on the monitor, it looks fantastic. The two large pointed legs that come toward the front of the monitor keep everything extremely well planted and secure.
The stand also allows the monitor to be fully adjusted in height, rotation, tilt and swivel. This means that no matter what your positioning needs are, the Q27G2U has you covered.
On the software side, the Q27G2U has a myriad of options, including a sneaky crosshair overlay (that I most definitely haven’t used in hardcore CoD…) There are also a fair few game modes that cater to different genres of game. I mostly sit in the FPS mode but they all add their own colour and screen tune for the best experience. I did spend an awful amount of time using the racing mode as well. I must say the modes cater very well to the big games in their respective categories.
The racing mode when paired with Forza Horizon 4 created ultra vibrant colours and super deep blacks, meaning when you panned around your freshly decaled and painted car it really had the fresh wet lacquer look. In FPS mode, black enhancement really lightened up the dark areas, making the sneaky dark corners that people like to hide in slightly easier to see into. It also seemed to make spotting enemies at a distance in Warzone a fair bit easier, as they did not meld into the background as much.
There was also an HDR mode hidden in the OSD that I decided to try, and while I can appreciate it may not be the same high HDR standard we expect from much more expensive HDR600+ or FALD panels, it did give me a very similar look and style as I have experienced on other mid-range HDR monitors in the past.
The Q27G2U also comes with a good amount of connectivity, including two HDMI 1.4 inputs, a DisplayPort 1.2 input, four USB 3.0 inputs including a fast-charging port, a VGA port and a headphone output. 144Hz options are available (depending on device) through HDMI and DisplayPort. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it should be more than enough for almost any user.
Lastly, I have been lucky enough to have been using the Q27G2U in conjunction with the AOC AD110D0 dual monitor stand. It was not only easy to mount but looks absolutely amazing hovering over my stream deck and Mixamp.
Removing the stand reveals the VESA 100 mount, which is perfectly centred and means the monitor is distributed evenly, and it can even be comfortably mounted upside down.
Summary
The Q27G2U is an amazing jack of all trades. High frame rates, QHD resolution and excellent contrast levels make this a perfect multi-use display. I can comfortably game, use the Adobe suite and watch media on the Q27G2U and have no issues or complaints.
