AOC 27P2C 27″ KVM IPS Monitor Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The AOC 27P2C 27″ KVM IPS Monitor is available now from a few retailers. I found it on Amazon for just £209.97, which seems like a lot of a Full HD monitor, but you have to keep in mind, this isn’t a standard monitor. The inclusion of that fantastic and very versatile stand certainly adds to the value, but it’s the KVM switch the really pushes the price up. However, even at just over £200, it’s still the cheapest KVM monitor out there right now. Actually, it’s the cheapest KVM monitor by a significant margin! But, of course, if you don’t need that function, you can get similar models without it for around £60 less.

Overview

I’ve likely tested more AOC monitors than any other brand over the years, and I’m continuously impressed. While the AOC 27PC2 isn’t particularly remarkable in its own right, I think the price reflects that. It’s a premium Full HD monitor, but it’s far from the bleeding-edge technologies we’ve seen on other models such as the C32G2AE, CQ32G2SE, or the C27G2ZU.

Of course, the KVM switch is a special feature that not many people will need. However, with the growing need to work from home, there’s a growing market for such things. Imagine you have your own PC, but now you also have a work laptop or PC that you need to add to your setup. Rather than have two keyboards, two mice, two headsets, and even two monitors, you can plug it ALL into one. When you change sources on the monitor, it then flicks the USB hub over to the next system along with it. It can make a cluttered workstation a little easier to live with.

Calibration

Right out of the box, I was very impressed with what this monitor can deliver. The Gamma was pretty much perfect, with only a slight deviation between 10-40, but this was improved when set to the Movie profile. The Grey Ramp looked erratic, but really it was a small deviation, and the range stayed within 35 Kelvin, which is actually pretty impressive. Considering this isn’t a pro model, hitting 96% of sRGB, 76% of AdobeRGB, and 80% of P3 is really great too. I personally found the colours to be excellent, as one might expect from an IPS panel. The calibration said blues were a little strong, but honestly, anything under 5 Delta-E is more than good enough, and anything under 3 would be amazing, so hitting 3.72-3.74 means AOC gets no complaints from me. Basically, you don’t have to calibrate this monitor; only adjust the brightness to suit your taste.

Performance

I’m a pixel junky, I love my 4K monitor, and Full HD just doesn’t cut it for me for work and gaming. However, for a Full HD panel, I found it to be pretty robust. I handled smaller text really well, and it has a good pixel density for a 27″ panel. Furthermore, I think the great backlight performance, clear contrast, and crisp black levels go a long way to sharpening the smaller details. Plus, the monitor handing is great, especially with that extra bump from 60 Hz to 75 Hz. Two windows work side by side well enough, movies or a bit of YouTube is pleasant enough, and games benefit from the great black levels and colours.

The build is speakers are quite loud too. They’re perfectly serviceable for basic notification noises and good enough to listen to a podcast, audiobook, or talk radio, but lack any punch for rocking out to AC/DC. But, of course, that’s to be expected for small built-in speakers.

Should I Buy One?

If you need a KVM monitor, this is a really fantastic option. It’s the cheapest KVM switch monitor I’ve seen, but if you don’t need that feature, you can save around £60 on other AOC models without the switching feature. That being said, it’s a great monitor at its core, with a decent IPS Full HD panel, great connectivity, and the settings are good enough right out of the box that it makes for a very straightforward setup. Give the people in your office a bunch of these, and you’ll certainly get no complaints, or put one in your home office; the portrait mode also makes it awesome as a second display!