AOC’s latest Porsche Design collaboration is one of the best monitors we’ve ever seen
The AGON by AOC x Porsche Design PD27 we reviewed last year impressed us with its superb styling and equally impressive performance. The brand new PD32M, however, takes this to the next level.
Naturally, if you’re going to improve on one of the best monitors released in recent years, you’re going to have to pull out all the stops, and AOC has certainly done that. The PD32M has an impressive list of features that should have videophiles salivating;
- Mini LED IPS display
- 4k (UHD) Resolution
- 144Hz Refresh Rate
- DisplayHDR 1400 certification
- 600nits Peak Brightness (SDR)
- 1,152 Local Dimming Zones (FALD) Backlight
- Incredible wide-gamut colour
- HDMI 2.1
- USB-C 3.2 x 1 (DP alt mode, upstream, power delivery up to 90 W)
- Four-port USB HUB with KVM switching
I have this monitor in for testing at the moment, and it’s absolutely incredible. The picture quality is simply sublime, and the HDR performance is out of this world. This is seriously impressive – the 1,152 dimming zones make blacks on the PD32M look truly black, but it’s still able to deliver dazzling highlights.
Porsche Design has taken charge of the styling, and they’ve knocked it out of the park. The trapezoidal aluminium stand is breathtakingly beautiful, complemented by some tastefully applied RGB accents at the rear. Compared to some gaming displays, which can be a bit shouty for some tastes, this is pure elegance.
I’m also very impressed by the quality of the factory calibration; compared side by side with my AGON AG324UX, which I regularly calibrate, the colours matched perfectly with no adjustments required. The AG324UX is superb, but when it comes to brightness and contrast, especially in HDR, the PD32M is simply in another league.
The only negative would be the price – at £1,999, this is a very expensive monitor, but you get what you pay for and then some. I expect to have the review up pretty soon, but I can already categorically state this display is the closest to perfect that I’ve ever seen.
If you can afford it, this could be all the monitor you’ll ever need. Even after such a short time testing, I would gladly throw my money at a retailer for the PD32M. If you’re in the market for a new monitor and don’t want to wait for the full review, go for it, you won’t be disappointed!
