Customer Ratings & Reviews

Good view angles for a VA. No perceivable VA smear on faster response overdrive. HDR is amazing with great blacks and brightness. Use windows 11 hdr calibration tool.

I connected the monitor to my gaming laptop and the image quality is top-notch. The video doesn't pause, and I can play very comfortably.

Great monitor, I use it daily and don't want another, I like how sturdy it is, when I hit my desk it doesn't wiggle a lot.

[Employee of bestbuy] Really good monitor that looks really colorful and is perfect for games

Great monitor. Colors look great. Very good product for video editing on a budget.

I'll start with what I like about this monitor. First, the HDR on this monitor is awesome for the price. It has phenomenal contrast, capable of producing deep, inky blacks. And when it wants to get bright, it gets blindingly bright. The colors are great, too. As good if not better than my (admittedly dated) IPS panel. Good local dimming as well. Regarding motion clarity, it's good, but sometimes I can find cases of smearing when I am actively looking for it. This is to be expected of a VA panel. That said, by VA standards it's probably better than most others of its kind. You're still going to want to run either the 'Fast' or 'Faster' overdrive setting ('Faster' had a little too much overshoot for my taste, 'Fast' seemed like the best balance). Other miscellaneous things I like about this monitor: No noticeable input lag. Comes with a display port and HDMI cable in the box. Adaptive sync works great. Haven't noticed any flicker yet. I do have some complaints, though. For one, the monitor stand is an afterthought. No height adjustment. No rotation. It has tilt adjustment only. Buy a VESA mount or custom stand for this thing, because the viewing angles are not perfect. You need to be facing this monitor head on or you will see shifting. Also, the menu options are severely lacking. Most of them get locked out with HDR in use. For instance, the 'Brightness' setting gets grayed out, and you have to mess with other settings like contrast or local dimming if you want to change the brightness of the panel, which is far from ideal for obvious reasons. I have also noticed some settings get reset when you power off the monitor, which can be annoying. Another issue with this monitor is the fact it is limited to 120hz if you want to run 10bit with RGB and full dynamic range, and at the advertised 180hz it forces chroma subsampling. You can make a custom resolution of 179hz and get full dynamic range and RGB, but at 8 bit. That is fine, I guess, but why are we even making this compromise? DisplayPort 1.4 should not have this limitation, which this monitor says it uses. Since there are no USB ports for updating firmware, I'll just hope it's a bugged driver causing this. Sadly, the AOC support page is almost non existent. It's just a link on their Australian website (there doesn't seem to be a page on the US site for this monitor yet) that starts a driver download. There is no date and changelog information page, so if they ever do update the driver, you won't have any way of knowing until you download it. This is easily a 4-5 star monitor without the limitations. However, unless you just want a low priced HDR panel and don't care about the other features, it currently leaves a bit to be desired.

This monitor is a great update to the previous mini-led budget champ, the AOC Q27G3XMN (I'm going to refer to them as the G3 and G40 for the rest of the review). Pros -Insanely bright for impactful HDR -Great contrast and highlights thanks to impressive 1152 zone backlight -Decent color performance -Fast panel response (little to no dark level smearing, great for a VA panel) Cons -Color issues (dithering) at max refresh -Terrible stand -Only one Displayport and one HDMI port -VRR flicker in certain situations This monitor, the G40, is a great upgrade over the G3. It has over 3x the amount of lighting zones, so much so that I haven't been able to notice any blooming while using local dimming. Additionally, due to the increase in zone count, highlights stand out a lot better in HDR as the algorithm can better illuminate smaller bright items. There can be some interesting gamma shifts when using the local dimming in SDR, but I haven't seen any issues in HDR. Additionally, there are no issues enabling HDR in windows and having the monitor switch automatically, and SDR and HDR settings can be set separately and retained, which is great. Its amazing brightness (calibrated in windows to around 1300 nits) results in a striking HDR image. Another improvement is the elimination of scanlines when using VRR, which was present in the old model. Now, everything is incredibly clear. There are some cons. The stand is atrocious, and a step down from the previous model. This stand only offers tilt, and is quite low in height. Also, you won't get a fully bloom free pixel perfect lighting like an OLED. Additionally, it won't offer the same motion clarity, but it is quite good for a VA panel (there is visible overshoot at the highest overdrive mode, I recommend using the "faster" setting). Lastly, it would have been nice to have an additional HDMI port, and for the picture settings to retain themselves for each different input, rather than just for SDR and HDR. Lastly, it does flicker sometimes in the low ranges of VRR, but, so does just about every other VA and OLED. Some final thoughts. It isn't an OLED, but what you lose in pixel perfect HDR and lighting, you gain in not worrying about long term burn in, a ridiculously bright picture with no full screen dimming, and clear text rendering due to the sub-pixel layout, so it's a good option for long days of both productivity work and gaming. Disable local dimming in SDR to control the brightness, it's TOO bright for productivity work (spreadsheets and the like). Also, for full 10-bit color performance, limit the monitor to 120hz. For avoiding dithering while using 8-bit+2, limit the monitor to 170hz. Either way, incredibly hard to notice. This is a great update to the previous model and an amazing budget option for an impactful HDR experience, I don't think it can be beat on price, and due to brightness I think it delivers a comparable or better HDR experience to 1440p OLED montiors at half the price.

Pros: -Good contrast (when using strong local dimming setting, otherwise it is fairly unremarkable) -Motion clarity (very little ghosting or black smearing, especially for a VA panel, I found "faster" overdrive mode to be a good balance) -Extremely bright (when calibrating HDR in windows, adjust the full screen brightness setting I had to squint) -HDR is quite good, especially for $300 Cons: -Colors (monitor definitely has a yellowish hue on default settings, needed to adjust color temperature in graphics driver software to ~7200 K to look more accurate) -Does not support 10 bit color at 180Hz, need to drop to 120Hz to get true 10 bit (180Hz only supports 8 bit w/ dithering, which to my relatively untrained eyes is unnoticeable, but may be to others) -Monitor stand seemed relatively lackluster, but does support vesa mounts, which I opted to use. -Relatively high power draw (Using a kill-a-watt power meter, and comparing between my Pixio 24" 1080p 165Hz display, on the review screen that I am writing on right now, the Pixio draws about 20 watts, while the AOC monitor I am reviewing draws upwards of 60, and I have seen it draw over 100 watts in "worst case scenario".

Great upgrade from my 1080p 165hz IPS monitor. - Colors look amazing - it's plenty bright for me - local dimming allows for deeper blacks - 1440p is a great step-up from 1080p - the HDR is very good The black smearing common in VA panels can be greatly reduced by turning on overdrive (set it to fast or faster. Fastest causes a lot of inverse ghosting). The stand isn't the best because you can't adjust the height, but it's at a good height in my opinion. If you want it higher, it's easy to set it on some books or something. Local dimming is really good for gaming. I turn it off when browsing the web and doing homework because that's when I want things to look more uniform, but it's great for adding more contrast for gaming/movies. Along with making dark areas darker, it also makes bright areas brighter, so it increases overall contrast a lot. I'd only set it to low or medium though, because the high setting makes small, light objects on dark backgrounds (like your cursor against a black desktop) very dim. I am very happy with this monitor.

Ok for starters this monitor won't do 10-bit color at 180hz, which is only available at 120hz. Then there's the VRR flicker above 120hz. Color and HDR look amazing after much fiddling in Windows 11, the OSD and Nvidia control panel. The stand is tilt only which exacerbates the problem with poor viewing angles. So be prepared to spend more $$$ on a VESA mount; negating the budget price of this monitor compared to the more expensive (but better) competition. Other than that it's a good budget Mini-LED gaming monitor, I'm just disappointed it will only do 180hz with some caveats and the VRR flicker. So if "only" 120hz is fine and you want a gaming monitor with great HDR at an affordable price then this is your monitor.

In the past I was looking for OLED monitor alternatives since OLEDs suffered burn-in, so I chose this monitor when it first came out. The monitor can get extremely bright, and you definitely need to tune it down, but combining it with windows HDR and local dimming, you get pretty close to some QLED monitors and OLED for half the price. There are some caveats though, as I believe all MINI-LEDs fundamentally have some slight glares on high contrast like white on black backgrounds, and since it isn't OLED, your cursor will look dim as well due to the light zones, since it isn't every individual pixel. Be warned if you are using an NVIDIA graphics card, as stated by RTINGS, you can't reach 180Hz on this unless you use an AMD graphics card or do modifications with subsampling on NVIDIA. There is an HDMI 2.0, DP 1.2, and audio port on the back. The included monitor stand is not the best but it is VESA compatible. Would definitely recommend it to those who want to try out OLED-like technologies.

I bought this to replace a 32 inch, 1080p, LG monitor I had been using with my PS5 for several years. The difference between the old 1080p IPS panel and this 1440p mini-LED panel is a night and day difference and I’m mad at myself that I didn’t switch sooner. I thought downsizing to a 27 inch monitor would be more of an inconvenience as I have been used to the 32 inch size, but I think I actually prefer the 27 inch size now. Many negative reviews talk about the frame rate not being high enough for PC gaming, but for new-gen console use, it’s perfect. I mostly play BF6, Helldivers 2, and GT7. For each one of these games, they look and play incredible with this monitor. Smooth frame rates and excellent quality. I also cannot overstate how bright this monitor can get! I mostly play in a dimly lit room and I have to squint my eyes if I turn the brightness up high enough. If you game in a brightly lit room you won’t have any issues with not being able to see the screen well. Overall the best way I can describe this monitor is that the brights are brighter and the darks are darker than a traditional IPS or VA panel. Its not quite on par with an OLED panel, but I think mini-LED is very close and a better deal when comparing the price. No worries about screen burn-in like an OLED either. I would buy this monitor again and would recommend it to anybody looking for a 1440p monitor.

Beautiful display, great true hdr colors, mini led deep blacks, I can barely tell the difference between this mini led and OLED depending on how bright it is indoors. However I have a few gripes, the first gripe I have is with how bare minimum the stand is. Unable adjust the size of the stand. My second gripe is the fact that this monitor is labeled at “180hz”, but only supports dp 1.2, that is my biggest issue. However besides those two things, it works perfectly, looks amazing, and is more than worth the price tag.

The visuals of this monitor are extremely good for the price. The pros: It has 1152 local dimming zones using mini-LED tech and that translates into gorgeously vivid (quantum dot tech) and bright (windows HDR calibration tool has my panel rated at over 1300 nits in HDR mode) images on the screen in HDR content such as PC Games and videos. The black levels look impressive as long as the settings are dialed in correctly on your game or video. SDR mode is rated at 450 nits and with tweaking it can also display content to a good standard, although this monitor really shines in HDR content. The viewing angles seem pretty good for a VA panel. Responsiveness in PC Gaming feels the same a my previous IPS monitor and black smearing is very minor on the UFO test although I haven't noticed it while gaming at all with the 2nd highest overdrive setting. You don't have to worry about burn-in like OLED users have to worry about. Some negatives of this monitor are that it is not very robust with features such as lacking USB ports, the HDMI port is limited to HDMI 2.0, there's no way to update the firmware, the stand only tilts the screen, and the AOC USA website doesn't yet have a dedicated section to this monitor with drivers, software, or manuals (although you can go to the Australia AOC site and get everything you want there for this monitor). The bottom line: Great bang for your buck monitor that delivers great visuals while somewhat lacking extra features and ease of use options.

I paid $190 with tax, so the affordability weighs heavy on my opinion. It would be different if this monitor was still a $300 monitor. I sit 4ft back from the monitor so this is also an important point to understand. I have also had in the past 2 WOLED and 3 QDOLED gaming monitors. Good: This monitor is so close in terms of deep blacks to OLED. On a scale out of 100% I would say close to 80% of the way there. This is a mini led VA panel, so if you understand all the different panel tech, that is why the blacks are so deep But lose other things vs a mini led IPS In terms of color it's probably 70% of the way there. But color accuracy is not my concern. Brightness, no contest, way brighter than any OLED gaming monitor. Bright enough in HDR that I literally squint. MS HDR calibration tool pulled 1431 nits on my panel. No grey whites or text blurriness like OLED No obvious black smear, again I sit 4ft away Not much obvious motion blur (it is there on the UFO test) I have a 5070ti and it was a known issue with Nvidia cards that in display settings this monitor would not see the 180hz but mine did So newer panels or an Nvidia update has fixed this issue Others have claimed this monitor will auto throttle the brightness when over heated Never happened to me Negative: The stand is literally just landfill material. Should have put a real stand in box Mine is on an aftermarket arm, get one also if you buy this The monitor feels cheap, but you are going to be feeling it up while using it so who cares The OSD is TRASH Like for real it is some 1990 tier OSD animations, etc The OSD buttons are TRASH That said, solid selection of adjustments for the panel When in HDR you are stuck to the brightness of the sun No adjustment So when you tab over to HDR before you start a game Go into AMD or Nvidia controls and turn down the brightness because you are locked out from doing so on the monitor For $200 this monitor is a very solid deal I can see why rtings and monitors unboxed have rated it so high The HDR brightness while running lossless 4k HDR test video rivals my two 55" C4 LG OLED TVs in terms of the amazing pop in color and deep blacks I cannot explain how amazed I was a $200 monitor was running those HDR videos and looking that good

The monitor offers an insane value, especially if you manage to get it for $250 when its on sale. Its extremely bright. The local dimming feature is not perfect but still works really well in SDR. I have it set at the medium setting and the contrast can look as good as oled at times. The colors r very vibrant and while the monitor did have a slight red tint to it out of the box, it was easy to adjust using the OSD. As for ghosting, the “Faster” overshoot is by far the best and offers a fast response time with minimal ghosting. OSD is a bit hard to navigate using only buttons. The stand isn’t the best but I have it mounted.

Overall, I'd say this is definitely still an improvement from my 1080p IPS monitor. However, what at first feels like a premium product quickly gives way to limitations. Other reviews have already gone over the coloring situation for the most part. However, other reviewers claim that they simply had to lower their framerate to 170-179 to get the full dynamic 8bit range without dithering. This doesn't seem to be the case for me. My two choices seem to be 10-bit color at 120hz, and 8-bit with dithering at any refresh rate above that. I have not been able to disable dithering at any refresh rate above 120. After adjusting some other variables I've limited the color banding caused by this (which can occasionally be egregious on bright blue skies in games with HDR enabled), but be aware this is only a 120hz monitor if you plan on taking advantage of all of its features. I feel like displaying it as 180hz is almost false advertisement. I would've payed an extra $100 for a monitor that could run 10bit color at 180hz, and I would've been happy if I could've gotten rid of dithering above 120hz at the current price, but so far I haven't been able to. Haven't really noticed much (if any) black smearing or VRR flicker, but I'm not really a monitor snob. I'm overall happy with the picture, but I still regret my purchase. I wish I would've just saved my money and gone with an OLED instead, or at least a mini-led that provides full color. I'm not going to return it, but I imagine I'll be upgrading again within a year or so.

The colors on this monitor are insanely good. The local dimming feature makes the contrast amazing... Unfortunately to use that feature the monitor has to be in max brightness. While this is the best way to hit the full HDR1000 rating, it makes it where you NEED a second monitor to do daily tasks. Or you have to disable the best feature in the OSD whenever you don't need it.

Pro Great HDR, Contrast, Colors, Blacks, 180Hz, Price Con Stand (Buy a VESA stand) The one included is garbage. 8bit color at max refresh (not a big deal for me but still) Other Make sure to get March or later manufacture date Early ones have bug in Local Dimming on Strong Using Sapphire Nitro X 9070XT with it. I bought it for the HDR (love playing games with it)

[Employee of bestbuy] Good: - Doesn't look blurry in motion. - Mini-LED on a VA = better picture quality than most other non-OLEDs, and a good experience when viewing HDR content. - No dead-pixels on my unit or other signs of poor quality control. Bad: - 10-bit mode only works up to 120hz at 1440p which seems like a very unnecessary limitation. Overall: good value all-around monitor. This is the best budget 1440p monitor for singleplayer games. If all you play is competitive games, I would recommend something with a higher refresh-rate and/or an OLED. It would be very nice if AOC released a 240hz+ upgrade or a 32' 1440p version.