AOC 25G3ZM 240Hz Gaming Monitor Review

AOC is one of the worlds leading names for high-end gaming monitors, and while many high-end gaming monitors can be quite expensive, today, we’ve got something a little bit different. The AOC 25G3ZM features a staggering refresh rate of 240 Hz, a 1ms GtG response time, and a 0.5ms MPRT mode. What’s impressive is that it does this for a very low price. its MSRP is just £189.99 but at the time of writing it was on sale for just £152.99, which is frankly insane for such a fast panel. So, what gives?

AOC 25G3ZM

Well, obviously there are some compromises here, the first being the panel size. It’s a 24.5″ panel which is pretty small for me, but at this price, I’m honestly OK with this. It’s also making do with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 and while I love my 1440 and 4K panels, the overall pixel density on a panel this size should look pretty crisp. It’s not lacking in features though, with FreeSync Premium, Adaptive Sync, and HDMI 2.0 so that the latest consoles’ high refresh rate modes are natively supported, a high-quality VA panel, and 6 built-in game modes.

Features

• 24.5 inch
• 240 Hz
• FreeSync Premium
• 1 ms Gtg / 0.5 MPRT
• 1920×1080
• 2x HDMI 2.0
• 1x Displayport 1.2

For in-depth features and specifications, please visit the official AOC 25G3ZM 240Hz Gaming Monitor product page here.

What AOC Had to Say

“The AOC 25G3ZM/BK meets the needs of both eSports, competitive gamers, and casual gamers as well. It offers a responsive 24.5” VA panel with FHD resolution, ShadowControl and super contrast ratio of 3000:1. Be the fastest in action with 240Hz refresh rate, Adaptive Sync, 1ms GTG and low input lag. 240Hz completely unleashes top end GPUs, bringing unprecedented fluidity to the picture on your screen. With every detail brought sharply into focus and every movement shown with crystal clarity, feel your reactions become one with the action and elevate your game.” – AOC

A Closer Look

AOC may have a more affordable model here, but it certainly looks every bit as premium as their much more expensive models. It has those classic AOC Agon colours too, black with a touch of red, just like all the cool PC gaming hardware used to have. There’s a slim bezel on all four sizes of the panel too, so those using a multi-monitor configuration can certainly benefit from that.

There’s not much branding on the front, with just a simple AOC logo printed onto the bezel at the bottom.

The controls are pretty basic and consist of five buttons on the bottom edge of the monitor. One is for power, four more will align with whatever’s on the OSD.

The stand is nicely designed, and surprisingly stable but since the monitor is quite compact, there’s not a lot of weight to counterbalance here. The stand doesn’t take up much space at the back either, so slimmer desktop spaces should cope well.

The back of the monitor looks fantastic though, with more red highlights on the ventilation. The stand has a red stripe down the back too, as well as a circle to pass cables through, helping keep things neat and tidy.

The rear I/O is simple enough, with a pair of HDMI 2.0 ports and a single DisplayPort.

Performance

This is a great-looking monitor, and I’m loving just how versatile the stand is for such an affordable display. I can lower it down easily enough and there’s a good amount of tile and rotation on offer.

It can also be jacked up surprisingly high, should you need to.

However, the height on offer is actually to accommodate the portrait mode. 240Hz is great for gaming, but the overall size and adjustable stand make this a pretty sweet option for a second monitor.

At 24.5″ it does feel a little small compared to my daily 32″ monitors, but honestly, it’s perfectly serviceable. The Full HD resolution looks great as the pixel density is pretty high here. Plus, the VA panel really pops too, with impressive-looking black levels and nice colours.

AOC claim 100% sRGB and an even more impressive 92% DCI-P3 colour space on this monitor, so it’s no wonder the colours look as good as they do; I’ll be testing those figures on the next page!

The response time is excellent, at 1 ms it feels ultra-responsive, but of course, it’s that monster-sized 240Hz refresh rate that really makes your mouse pointer feel like it reads your mind. It’s even possible to get a 0.5ms response in the MPRT mode, which strobes the backlight, but you do lose some brightness as a result, so it’s a subjective feature for me.

AOC say this monitor is well suited for “Shooters, MMORPG, Action, eSports, FPS (eSports), Beat’m up” and that’s fine with me. I’ve been playing WoW on it and I think it’s safe to say my new gaming rig made easy work of hitting some big refresh rates. Do I need 240Hz for WoW? Not really, but who doesn’t love silky-smooth gameplay regardless?

Moving onto Apex, I still suck after skipping last season, but when you’re down to the final 5 in a smaller map, the clarity 240Hz gives you when fast turning provides significant aiming benefits. While I game at higher resolutions, the clarity in fast motion gives you more visual information than just having more pixels ever could.

Honestly, I really can’t fault this monitor, it’s just so damn fast! While I fully agree that 120, 144 or 165Hz is all you need (I game at 165Hz), it’s hard to ignore just how much you can cut your input latency.

That may not matter if you’re just playing Forza, but if you’re playing CS:GO or any competitive shooter and take it seriously, milliseconds can mean the difference between headshots being on target or not.

OSD

The OSD is the basic AOC one we see on the bulk of their more standard models, not the fancy one we see on the more premium AGON series, but it’s perfectly serviceable with a good level of options throughout.

you can adjust gaming modes, brightness, contrast and all the usual stuff, but there’s also a low input lag, overdrive, and FreeSync mode too.

There are some built-in modes, such as reading, internet, and gaming, and they’re actually all pretty usable too, but that’s certainly subjective to each user.

You can also calibrate the colour temperature to cool, normal or warm, and there’s a red, green, and blue adjustment too if you need to fine tune.

Display Analysis

Out of the box, the colour reproduction is excellent, and it’s great to see the 95% P3 as it means my new monitor tester is working great, as my old one couldn’t detect colours that high on P3. However, what’s great is the monitor claimed 92% of DCI-P3 so obviously, 95% is even better.

This was a weird one though, the Gamma Mode 1 is really Gamma 2.0.

Mode 2 came out at 2 also but a little better on the curve.

While mode 3 came out at 2.5, so they’re all wrong really. However, I found Gamma 2 actually looked like the better option. As you can see below, all three settings resulted in a fairly similar grey ramp, with a fairly small deviation of around 200-250 Kelvin, however, the second one (Gamme profile 2), has the smoothest output overall.

100% sRGB and 95% DCI-P3 is great, but using the out-of-the-box settings (and gamma mode 1), the colours are actually pretty fantastic. Anything under Delta-E 5 is generally pretty good, and under 3 is excellent, so hitting a 1.6 average is fantastic.

I put the monitor in Gamma mode 2 and set the colour temp to Warm and bam, we got that average to 1.01, which means colour-sensitive work can be done with confidence on this monitor.

How Much Does it Cost?

The AOC 25G3ZM 240Hz Gaming Monitor is available now with an MSRP of just £189.99, which I think is a very good price for such a lovely monitor. However, at the time of writing, it’s actually on sale for just £152.99 and passing up on a deal like that would be regrettable. Personally, I think it’s a good price for those wanting a cheeky second monitor, even if 240Hz is overkill for such a thing, you can still bring it out for some competitive CS:GO on your lunch break.

Overview

AOC is one of the world’s leading monitor brands, and that’s a quality that’s certainly on display today. It’s also great to see some more premium features trickle down into consumer models that people can realistically afford. Sure, it comes with some compromises, but I think that’s more than fairly reflected in the retail price.

Firstly, the monitor is quite small, and at 24.5″ it’s not going to appeal to everyone. But hey, if I could make do with a 14″ portable TV and a Super Nintendo when I want a teen, I’m sure we can cope with this in 2023. The size does have some appeal for those who travel to LAN gaming events though, it’s nice and lightweight and easy to move around.

The OSD is pretty basic too, I’d have liked one of their more gaming-focused AGON-style menus, but it gets the job done, mostly. Weirdly there are three Gamma settings and not one of them hits Gamma 2.2, but then again, nothing on the box says that it had to either. Regardless, I found the black levels, brightness, and colour reproduction surprisingly potent for such an affordable gaming monitor.

I am impressed by the stand, which offers up a large range of movement, for good height adjustment, rotation and tilt. However, you can also put the monitor in portrait mode, which is great for writing long documents (such as this review), and handy when using it as a secondary display.

Should I Buy One?

This monitor is pretty fantastic, and if you can get it while it’s on sale, it’s actually not that much more expensive than a good quality 60-75Hz Full HD panel. 240Hz is super fast, faster than most people need really, but it’s not just about refresh rate, but input latency, and if you want to maintain single-digit input latency for your competitive gaming, this will certainly get the job done. If you’ve been on 60Hz all your life, you will feel an improvement in your gaming abilities on fast monitors like this. Highly recommended!