Curved monitors, shiny LEDS, extreme widescreens… When it comes to gaming monitors, the market is something else. If you want to buy some of those fancy monitors that you see during conventions, you’ll have to pay the price for sure. AOC does things a bit differently, instead of going all out, they keep things simple while still offering some impressive specs. Enter the Q27G4X, their newest budget-friendly monitor that still manages to impress.
Professional quality for everyone
The AOC Q27G4X is the newest entry in AOC’s G4 series, a line aimed at the mainstream gamer without losing some important professional specs. Although not everyone will agree, AOC offers some of the best monitors in my opinion. With extremely competitive price tags, they manage to deliver some impressive specs and this new one isn’t an exception to that rule. It’s a 27-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio, not the biggest screen on the market but the perfect size for gaming and all-around work. I used the monitor for gaming when I finished working. Since I’m working from home most of the time, I kept the screen connected and used it for my daily tasks, which was a delight for sure. It’s a great screen for your overall workflow but for the sake of the review, we’ll focus on the gaming aspect of course.
Fans of the AOC line already know what to expect, Quad HD returns for a more immersive experience, really showing all those beautiful details while gaming without going 4K. The Quad HD comes with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, it’s not 4K but it’s better than HD and on a 27-inch screen, it’s more than enough to make your games pop. The resolution is the main reason why you can buy this monitor at a more forgiving price tag and you don’t need to best or most expensive graphics card to make it work. In a world where we see 4K and 8K labels on competitive monitors, it might scare you off to go with a Quad HD monitor but that’s not necessary at all. Of course, if you want to see your games in the highest settings with the most realistic details, this screen won’t be for you. But if you’re looking for a cheaper screen to play your games, this certainly is one of the best in my opinion. Quad HD is more than enough to play your games since everything will still look pretty and you won’t have any trouble reading dialogues.
It has a portrait mode
As you can see on the screenshots, the AOC Q27G4X keeps things simple design-wise, with no flashy RGB LEDS or other distractions, just a solid minimalistic design just how I like my monitors. This of course is a personal preference so if you’re into the more flamboyant monitors, the design of this one will be a bit disappointing for you. The design is said to be inspired by stealth fighters and this translates into a black color, sharp lines, and geometric shapes. It’s a nice simplistic design with a sturdy stand that doesn’t take away much of your deskspace, it’s a monitor that can be used in different types of set-ups even if you don’t have a lot of space.
The biggest surprise in the design is the portrait mode. You can adjust the height of the stand which of course is pretty common but big was my surprise when I noticed you can flip the screen into a vertical portrait mode, something that you don’t see that often in this price range and it makes the monitor even more impressive. Portrait mode is perfect for streamers who want an extra screen for their chat or for daily use to scroll through big documents more easily. It’s a nice extra touch and really elevates the versatility of the monitor even more.
Great specs, just not perfect
Performance-wise, the AOC Q27G4X is pretty decent with a refresh rate of 18 HZ and a fast IPS screen, your games will look beautiful and respond as snappy as you would hope, it’s certainly a screen that can be used on the competitive scene although you might want to upgrade during official tournaments of course. If you’re a more casual game who enjoys multiplayer games, this screen will certainly perform to your needs. Setting up and tweaking the settings of your screen is a bit unhandy when you use the buttons but luckily, you can also install specific software to change all your settings on your PC, a nice touch.
So, pretty decent performance to say the least although it’s not perfect. If you’re familiar with the AOC line, you might have heard of the VESA display, also integrated into this monitor and giving us HDR400, which is basically an HDR function with less powerful contrasts. If you’re not comparing the screen with another screen with better HDR directly, you won’t really notice the drop in quality but it’s worth pointing out nevertheless. A bit more problematic are the ports, you have one display port and two HDMI ports, no USB ports, which is pretty strange. The same goes for the audio, with only a headphone jack, your options are pretty limited, especially since the monitor doesn’t have sound on board. The lack of options is a bit underwhelming here but then again, at this price range, we can’t complain that much.
Conclusion:
The AOC Q27G4X is a great budget-friendly monitor that comes with some impressive features you won’t see in this price range. Of course, it’s not the most powerful monitor out there but for the more casual gamer who likes to experiment with competitive gaming, this certainly comes highly recommended. Even if you’re just looking for a trustworthy monitor for your casual sessions, this one should certainly be added to your list.
