AOC CQ27G1 Review - my buying guide

If you are in the market for a high-performance gaming monitor, the AOC CQ27G1 is one of the more value-conscious options that is on offer. The 27″ 1440p 144Hz gaming monitor packs in brilliant image quality, high performance and an elegant design. It is also loaded with a host of features to ensure a consistent image quality for the best gaming experience in the budget. Is it the right gaming monitor to opt for, especially at its price? Let’s take a deeper look to find out.

Specifications

PROS

VA panel with superior color contrast

High 144Hz refresh rate for maximum response

FreeSync Compatible

CONS

No built-in speakers

Does not support Nvidia G-Sync

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Image Quality

The AOC CQ27G1 is built upon a 27-inch VA panel that offers brilliant image quality with a resolution of 2560×1440 QHD. The monitor has a pixel density of 108 pixels per inch and it leaves you with plenty of screen space as well as sharp details.

The unit comes with true 8-bit color depth and wide 122 percent sRGB gamut that enhances the colors on screen for a vibrant and rich experience. The screen has a peak brightness level of 250 nits. That’s bright enough to get your games flying in well-lit conditions. The panel offers wide (178/178 degree) viewing angles, but the colors can shift when seen from certain angles. That said, the difference is barely noticeable.

Like all VA panels, the AOC CQ27G1 stands out because of its rich contrast. The deep blacks are helpful in spotting any threats lurking in the dark whilst gaming. We found the stock settings on the CQ27G1 to be quite unsatisfactory and had to tweak the settings a fair bit to settle on a picture quality of our liking. The overall image quality is brilliant and offers deep blacks, vibrant colors and sharp details.

The panel has a slight amount of backlight bleed around some corners, but it is not bothersome.

The monitor’s combo of high refresh rate, rich contrast, vibrant colors, and QHD resolution places this beast as a front runner in the race for the Best Gaming Monitor under 300 dollars.

Performance

The AOC CQ27G1 offers bang for the buck when it comes to performance. The 144Hz refresh rate and brisk response time makes for an ultra-realistic frame switch that the human eye can barely notice.

The monitor is particularly impressive when playing dark themed games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Assassins Creed, Metro: Exodus among others that have a more dark environment. The clarity of objects in the dark stands out offering a richer gaming experience.

As common with a majority of VA panels, there is a little bit of smearing during fast action especially when the scenes are predominantly dark. Thankfully though, the AOC CQ27G1 provides plenty of options for better motion handling.

The monitor is installed with Motion Blur Reduction (MBR) technology that reduces effective response to 1ms moving picture response time (MPRT). This technology uses backlight strobing to reduce trailing in fast-paced games but it comes at the cost of brightness. Thankfully, the monitor does allow you to adjust the maximum brightness manually by using the MBR setting in the On-Screen Display menu. MPRT can only be used when FreeSync is not active.

An alternative to MBR is to select the Overdrive mode that helps reduce motion blur by a fair amount. Setting it to ‘medium’ or ‘strong’ offers best results depending on the game. We found that the panel produced less blur overall in the strong mode. The annoying bit, however, is that AOC does not save the settings and resets the MBR to zero every time the monitor is turned off.

Games run silky smooth on the panel, offering the maximum value for one’s money when playing competitive games.

Design & Build Quality

The AOC CQ27G1 looks premium and the build quality is sturdy. The black monitor is embellished with wing-like, crimson strips that grant CQ27G1 an expensive look, highly impressive for a cheap 144Hz Monitor. The display comes with 1800R curvature that allows for a more immersive user experience. Distractions are minimal with the thin bezels, leaving room for adding more monitors to set-up as a full-blown command center. You can swivel the monitor by 35 degrees +/- and tilt by -4 degrees/22 degrees. The metal stand makes for a thick base and comes with height adjustment up to 130mm and that’s something that few rival monitors offer at this price. The adjustable stand is quite convenient and a hole in the neck makes for better cable management.

The AOC CQ27G1 can also be wall-mounted using the 100x100mm VESA pattern.

The monitor itself weighs about 17 lbs, which makes it light enough to transport, should you need to move your set-up.

Connectivity

The connection panel on the AOC CQ27G1 includes a number of connectivity options that are located at the bottom-rear of the monitor. This includes two HDMI 2.0 ports, DisplayPort 1.2 as well as a 3.5mm headphones jack. The monitor supports FreeSync over all three connectors and can run up to 144Hz @ 2460×1440. The unit does not have built-in speakers nor a USB port.

There is an OSD panel as well located on the bottom-right section of the monitor and makes navigation easy with four traditional buttons.

Features

The AOC CQ27G1 is loaded on the feature front and comes with Shadow Boost that increases visibility of the objects in the dark. This is especially a delight for competitive FPS gamers, as it makes enemies clearly visible in dimly lit maps. It also comes with Game Color for quick color saturation adjustments. Also the curved monitor gets a frame counter, low input lag, custom crosshairs and picture presets that get three custom modes plus FPS and RTS presets.

The monitor comes with four pixel response time overdrive options that include Off, Weak, Medium and Strong. There’s also the AOC G-Menu desktop application that further allows you to customize the screen according to your requirements.

Furthermore, the AOC CQ27G1 gets all the standard adjustment options including brightness and contrast, input source, color temperature and three gamma presets. The saturation adjustment option has been given a miss, but you can adjust that using the Game Color feature in the graphics card’s driver settings.

The AOC CQ27G1 gaming monitor can display up to 16.7 million colors and is equipped with FreeSync that allows for a tear-free experience at any frame rate between 48-144Hz, which is the variable refresh rate. The direct backlighting also reduces flickering, while the integrated blue light filter ensures longer screen time for the user without stressing the eye or causing fatigue.

Final Thoughts

The AOC CQ27G1 curved gaming monitor is one of the more affordable options with a 144Hz refresh rate and extremely potent hardware. The model has a pleasing design, offers crisp textures, colors and detailing and extremely high-quality performance. The monitor is moderately priced and will not burn a deep hole in your pocket.

The unit is versatile enough to appeal to the veteran as well as a rookie gamer for console gaming. More importantly, it is the image quality and overall performance that leaves you impressed. AOC also offers a three-year warranty and a one-time accidental claim for damages for the first year, sweetening the deal further.

There are plenty of good options available at this price point besides the AOC CQ27G1. The Sceptre C305B-200UN is another blazing monitor that sports 144Hz @ 2460×1440.