AOC Q27G3XMN 27" 2K QHD Gaming Monitor, 2560x1440, Mini LED, 180Hz, HDMI 2.0 x 1, DisplayPort 1.4 x1, Adaptive Sync, Xbox/PS5/Switch Ready, 3-Year Zero-Bright-dot

Summary: Easily a 9.5/10 monitor for media consumption and gaming. After some time calibrating the colors through AMD's Adrenalin and in Windows' Color Management, I am wholly satisfied with the image quality, color accuracy, and sharpness... At least in the middle of the screen.I am likely going to return it because it just doesn't suit me well for content creation due to the frankly abysmal viewing angles. While I was aware that VA monitor panels had viewing angle issues, I hadn't expected it to be noticeable even from a straight-on view from 2 feet away. Still, I'll give it another week to decide and will edit this review accordingly.I will still give this five stars, however, because it really has been a vast improvement over my previous Asus PA278QV ProArt monitor in clarity and colors, and the bump up from 75hz to 180hz gaming has been quite the joy. My problems feel largely like a "me" problem rather than a fault of the monitor itself. I will be trying my luck with a Dell G2724D (assuming it's in still in stock in a few days) despite its significantly worse contrast ratios and lack of Mini LED backlighting.Detailed Review:From unboxing to using, this has been a fantastic monitor when disregarding the one caveat from earlier. The packaging is absolutely solid and there's almost zero chance to receive a damaged unit with how well it's been bundled up in styrofoam. The unit itself is a bit thicker than I'd like, making it impossible to mount my monitor light to the top, but overall that's a non-issue. The plastic shell of the monitor and stand feels sturdy, while the bezel is good enough.The base is a tad too large for my desk setup, so I mounted it on a VESA arm, a tremendously easy and pain-free process with its standard 100x100mm layout. From what I did see when I first tested that the monitor would turn on, the base/stand is a fantastic ergonomic setup, with good height adjustment, swivel, tilt, and rotation, and installation is made easy with a simple push button latch and thumb screw.The monitor's On Screen Display is an almost too simple affair, adjusting RGB and switching between various picture modes is easy enough. However, I sincerely wish image sharpness was adjustable, as the sharpness in the monitor's HDR mode is noticeably better than in its normal mode, but switching into HDR locks you out of any color or gamma adjustment. And, speaking of gamma adjustment, the monitor only has three presets, without a finer control. Notably also missing is the ability to adjust color temperature, which is fine since both nVidia and AMD graphics cards allow this to be easily adjusted. The OSD control buttons are on the bottom right of the screen and aren't anything to write home about as a positive or negative.Taking it for a spin in a few games, I earnestly have no complaints and nothing but praise here. The EXTREMELY good contrast ratios of the monitor prove to be quite a boon in the likes of R.E.P.O. and even on darker planets in Helldivers 2 or fighting in dark space in Elite: Dangerous, while the 180hz display, tremendously sharp image, and overdrive settings make motion buttery smooth in the likes of, Monster Hunter Wilds (Frame Gen to 144 fps), Elden Ring (played at an unlocked 120 fps), Strinova (180 fps), and Valorant (180 fps).Movies and TV shows are a similar joy. Great contrast ratios, very sharp images thanks to the mini LED backlighting, and excellent post-calibration color accuracy make the viewing experience fantastic.However... On to the part where I have difficulty sticking with this monitor.In my week and some days of using it I've found that I have to either physically move my head, tilt my neck, or even lean side to side, every now and then because I can't trust the color accuracy toward the edges. If it were a matter of me sitting too close to the monitor I'd chalk it up to user error, but even sitting about 60cm/2 feet away from the monitor, I find the color shifts red/yellow toward the corners.In gaming content and watching movies it's completely unnoticeable, but for static images it's frankly unacceptable for my use case. In office content or web browsing, or even looking at a Discord window sitting at the corner, it ends up color shifting. You can see the colors shift red in my included photos.I'm an artist, image editor, and 3D environment modeler, and while one could say to just move everything to the center of the screen, I find myself asking if having that excellent 4000+:1 contrast ratio and sharp mini-LED image are worth not always being able to trust if my eyes are seeing the right colors, double checking, then repeating that question every time I work with anything involving color. Frankly, it's even annoying at times when the contrast washes out at the edges of my screen just reading webpages.So, that's the bit. Excellent gaming monitor and generally great movie watching monitor, but a bit irksome for me.

THIS MONITOR IS A GREAT DEAL, HOWEVER, THEY SEND A HDMI CORD THAT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR 144hz to be used with it. You will only be ab le to use 60hz. For me anything above 60hz showed green dots. The higher the hz the more green dots all over the screen at random. At 60hz, no green dots. That said you have to get an 8k HDMI 2.1. !!!I went to target, they only had 4k HDMI High fidelity, not strong enough! You've been advised.Bought this not knowing it was refurbished. It doesn't say on the page like it should. After doing a ton of reading about the best budget gaming monitor this is the one I could best afford. I could have gotten one for $70 more that has 4k, but really it's a waste to go 4k IMO. I am very happy with this 2k HDR10.I am glad I got it. If anything changes I promise to come back and update. So far so good. I almost sent this back thinking the 4k HDMI cord was the enough to use the higher hz. I kept reading and finally found the truth about running these high hz monitors requires the right cord for it.Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to have dual monitors at gaming speeds because my gigabyte laptop has a bug where it can't do it with usb to HDMI. Be sure you check that your gaming laptop has 2 HDMI plugs before you buy.PSthe specs saying this is QHD and not LED is wrong. They are two different technologies. Here are the real specsKey SpecsRefresh Rate180HzMaximum Resolution2560 x 1440Response Time0.5 millisecondsPanel TypeVASynchronization TechnologyFreeSync Premium (AMD Adaptive Sync)Screen Size31.5 inchesDisplay Connector(s)1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x HDMI 2.0GeneralBrandAOCModel NumberCQ32G4VEProduct NameCQ32G4VE 31.5" VA Curved Gaming Monitor, QHD (2560x1440), 180Hz, 0.5ms, Freesync, HDR10ColorBlackOperating System CompatibilityWindows, Mac, LinuxDisplayRefresh Rate180HzMaximum Resolution2560 x 1440Native Resolution2560 x 1440Contrast Ratio80,000,000:1Response Time0.5 millisecondsDisplay TypeLEDPanel TypeVASynchronization TechnologyFreeSync Premium (AMD Adaptive Sync)Aspect Ratio16:9Curved ScreenYesBrightness300 candela per square meterScreen Size31.5 inchesHigh Dynamic Range (HDR)YesHigh Dynamic Range FormatHDR 10Horizontal Viewing Angle178 degreesVertical Viewing Angle178 degreesTouch ScreenNoOn-Screen Display LanguagesEnglish, Spanish, French, Russian, 16 totalConnectivityNumber of DisplayPort Inputs (Total)1Number of HDMI Inputs (Total)2Number of VGA Ports0Number of DVI Inputs0Number of Mini DisplayPort Inputs0Number of Thunderbolt Ports (Total)0Display Connector(s)1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x HDMI 2.0Headphone JackYesCompatibilityWall MountableYesVESA Wall Mount Standard100mm x 100mmVoice Assistant Built-inNoFeaturesTiltableYesAdjustable Stand HeightNoAnti-GlareYesEye Relief FeaturesAnti-glare, Flicker freeBuilt-In WebcamNoIntegrated Speaker(s)NoDimensionsProduct Height Without Stand20.62 inchesProduct Width27.93 inchesProduct Depth (With Stand)10.44 inchesProduct Weight16.12 poundsStand IncludedYesPowerPower Consumption35 wattsPower Saving/Off Mode0.5 wattsCertifications Listings & ApprovalsENERGY STAR CertifiedNoEPEAT QualifiedNo