With a huge combination of good features, AOC Gaming presents its new CQ27G3Z curved gaming monitor with HDR 10, 240 Hz and a response rate of 0.5ms, this monitor promises to be the new standard for competitive gaming at an excellent price.
The best combination here is without a doubt that it is that response rate at the minimum that I have tried, 0.5ms can feel very good when playing games and I am not going to lie to you that having a monitor that has a refresh rate of 240Hz at a 1440p resolution is quite challenging or at least for lower mid-range PCs.
Covering that refresh rate is the most important part and perhaps some games do not need it, but for the most part it is always good to have that slack when necessary since in many cases (the case of games like Valorant, Overwatch, among others) we can reach a high amount of FPS and is quite useful.
The cost of this version is $399.99 and for the price it is an excellent buy. The screen is VA and for those who are not very steeped in the subject I will explain. VA, or vertical alignment, uses vertically aligned crystals that are tilted to allow light to pass through. While the crystals in IPS displays are parallel to the glass substrate, VA crystals are perpendicular to the substrate. Although VA displays are not as common as IPS monitor panels, they are one of the most common options today.
In summary, having a VA screen does not make it bad but it is very prevalent in the environment of televisions and not monitors. When choosing, it will depend a lot, but in preference the scale ensures that the IPS screens are better and obviously the highest that is OLED. Here durability has a lot of influence and for me when it comes to ensuring the investment, something that shows the most vivid colors and not as opaque as the VA screen is better.
One of the things that does not add much value to the monitor is the exclusivity with the technologies. This monitor is AMD FreeSync Premium which means that if you are an AMD user you will have all the possible synchronization advantages and although NVIDIA G-Sync also does the same thing, the most reasonable thing here is to use the middle ground, which is Adaptive Sync.
A few months ago, statistics were published on the video cards that are most prevalent in gamers today and NVIDIA is one of them. What makes any user of this brand look somewhat limited when using this AOC CQ27G3Z but this is a specific case compared to everything else that this monitor offers, only that part is one of the most uncomfortable for me so far.
Having HDR 10 is one of the most attractive things nowadays since we are sure that we will have the best in technology in handling dark colors. Other monitors have better quality HDR and you can see how this part gets a bit complicated. Having this technology does not make it the best monitor, in some cases some games do not make proper use of High Dynamic Range but this one does look much better than some.
Of the advantages that a curved monitor has and that (for me they are one of the best) is the field of vision. This monitor has a very interesting option that does not lose visual quality up to 178 degrees of curvature. Regardless of the direction in which we look at the screen, we will always see the same quality, everything that is in our field of vision, as long as we are in front of the monitor, will look the same, with the same quality. The same screen will not overshadow other things regardless of whether it is a curved monitor or a plate. The 27-inch size makes it totally ideal for those looking for a pretty good viewing experience without feeling the difference between one screen and another.
Of the things that I was able to test in the settings of this monitor are the possibility of enabling Game Mode, which further increases the colors for better sharpness. We also have a series of profiles if we want to configure some things independently as all gaming monitors do. This is quite a productive monitor and the idea is to make things easier for the user. The base can be tilted to the front or back, raised or lowered, but unfortunately it cannot rotate to stand the monitor upright.
As for the aesthetics of the monitor, we have the typical AOC colors and designs. We have 2 HDMI 2.0 ports and 2 DisplayPort 1.4 ports. We can also see that the menu can be controlled by the buttons at the bottom (something old school) and of course we have a base that is quite easy to install although I had some problems with the screw since it did not want to adjust in a gentle and had to be forced.
The specifications of this monitor (all) are as follows:
Model Name: CQ27G3Z Screen: 27″ (VA/1000R) Pixel Pitch in (mm): 0.2331 (H) x 0.2331 (V) Effective Display Area in (mm): 596.736 (H) x 335.664 (V) Brightness (typical): 300 cd/m² Contrast Ratio: 3000:1 (typical) 80 million:1 (DCR) Response Time: 0.5ms (MPRT) / 4ms (GtG) Viewing Angle: 178° ( H) / 178° (V) (CR > 10) Color Gamut: NTSC 99% (CIE1976) / sRGB 120% (CIE1931) / DCI-P3 90% (CIE1976) Color Accuracy: Delta E < 2 Optimum Resolution: 2560 x 1440 @ 240Hz: DisplayPort 1.4; 2560 x 1440 @ 144Hz: HDMI 2.0 Display Colors: 16.7 million Rear Ports: HDMI 2.0 x 2, DisplayPort 1.4 x 2 HDCP Version HDMI: 2.2, DisplayPort: 2.2 Power Supply: 100 – 240V ~ 1.5A, 50 / 60Hz Power consumption (typical): 32W Speakers: No
Inside the box comes, as always, the start guides, the base for its installation and a cable for each available connection (HDMI and DisplayPort) and the power source. The packaging, as usual, is quite safe, both the box and the monitor are not so heavy.
This monitor also has the option for PIP (Picture in Picture) which makes you become a multitasker on the same monitor. Personally I would recommend this for a larger (wider) monitor so you can put everything in its place.
In conclusion
The AOC CQ27G3Z is a very affordable gaming monitor for the competitive gamer. All the features included in this make it an excellent option thanks to its price. Among the problems that I found is that when assembling the base the screw can be a bit difficult to adjust but nothing that a little time cannot solve. This monitor comes equipped with HDR10 and a 240Hz refresh rate at 1440p resolution. As a curved monitor, the field of vision is greater and the image, regardless of where you are viewing it from, will always be faithful and precise.
Its input lag or activation rate is 0.5ms, making anyone using this monitor literally have an advantage over their opponents in highly competitive games like Valorant, Overwatch 2, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 among others. One of the complications is that it has exclusive AMD FreeSync Premium technology and this is a double edge since it is excellent for users with AMD equipment but at the same time a problem for those of us who have NVIDIA. The best option will always be Adaptive Sync, which makes any of the brands shine with its features.
It has a decent screen image and as I mentioned, all these specs and features make it shine in its own right. If the weight is light enough and serviceable, I would recommend this monitor to anyone who can hit at least 200 FPS or higher in any game at 1440p, otherwise they should be playing 1080p. This review was carried out with a copy provided by AOC.
