AOC AGON Pro AG274QZM Gaming Monitor Review

You can buy a good quality gaming monitor with a high refresh rate and a decent resolution for not a lot of money these days, £200-300 will get you something modest, but very enjoyable to use. However, the AOC AGON Pro is not affordable, so let’s start this review by saying you’ll need a touch over £1000 for it. That’s a kick in the arse that you may never recover from, but why is it so expensive and is it a worthy investment? Well, for all but the most enthusiastic and well-funded gamers out there, it’s likely a bad investment. However, if you’re after bleeding-edge performance and technologies, it’s time to break open several piggybanks.

AOC AGON Pro AG274QZM

This monitor has a feature list that is as long as it could possibly be, so I’m not going to dive into all of them, as you could just as easily read the list below! The main feature of this monitor, however, is the insanely swift IPS panel, which can deliver 240Hz refresh rates at 2560 x 1440 resolutions. It’ll do so with stunning contrast and colours too, thanks to HDR 1000 Certification (equivalent to HDR Premium on TVs), 149% sRGB, 97% AdobeRGB and 97% DCI-P3 Colour, and the MiniLED backlight which features a staggering 576 zones.

Features

• 240HZ REFRESH RATE – 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.
• MINILED – Thanks to the implemented Mini-LED technology, this model combines the highest brightness, finest picture quality and best uniformity while still being slimmer than monitors with conventional LED. The 50 shades of grey that slim the immersion are erased, providing true darkness and smaller halos.
• QHD RESOLUTION – With 2560 x 1440 resolution, Quad HD (QHD) offers superior picture quality and sharp imagery that reveals the finest details. The widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio provides plenty of space to spread out and work, plus allows you to enjoy games or movies in their original size.
• MINIMAL BEZEL DISTRACTION FOR THE ULTIMATE BATTLE STATION – Expand your view with multiple monitor set-up. The narrow border and frameless design offer the minimal bezel distraction for the ultimate battle station.
• 1MS RESPONSE TIME GTG – GREY-TO-GREY – GtG stands for Grey-To-Grey and represents how long it takes for one pixel to change between one grey level to the next. In gaming, every millisecond counts and can be the differentiator between hitting or missing a shot. Fast response time also eliminates ghosting and motion blur.
• SUPERB COLOUR EXPERIENCE – Dive into infinite different video games realms with graphics looking more lifelike than ever before. Our AOC monitors with a superb colour experience come with over 1 billion shades and an extremely high DCI – P3. Gamers can also easily customize the colour saturation to their preference.
• LIGHT FX – Maximum immersion: our AOC monitors come with special lighting at the back of the device that illuminates your gaming setup in various colours. Choose whatever colour you like, sync it up with your other AOC devices and test the different glowing patterns.
• IPS PANEL – IPS panel ensures an excellent viewing experience with lifelike yet brilliant and accurate colours. Colours look consistent no matter from which angle you look at the display.
• LOGO PROJECTION – With the AGON LED Projection you can now shine a light on your gaming achievements and give your gaming setup a unique style, with 2 projectable icons and RGB adjustments.
• QUICK SWITCH – Changing your monitor settings while playing against others seemed like an impossible task if you wanted to win. Don’t miss out on a flawless victory because you changed your settings midgame. Thanks to the AGON Quick Switch you can save your preferred monitor settings and switch between them with one simple click.
• VESA CERTIFIED DISPLAYHDR 1000 – High Dynamic Range (HDR) increases the colour gamut, resulting in remarkably sharper details, richer colour saturation, and highlighting. With a peak luminance of 1000 cd/m², effects in games and films become ultrarealistic. This feature has been VESA-certified guaranteeing the highest quality standards. Together with local dimming technology, which means that the backlight of the monitor will brighten differently depending on the requirements that every picture displayed on the screen needs.
• USB-C – Simplify the connections with one cable only. The USB-C connection provides DisplayPort Alternate Mode for transferring high-resolution video signals from a notebook to the monitor while simultaneously charging the notebook’s battery from the monitor with USB power delivery. Additionally, the USB 3.1 ensures lightning-fast data transmission, so even transferring a 4K movie can be done in less than one minute.
• KVM – Share one single keyboard, mouse and monitor between multiple computers with KVM switch hardware.
• PICTURE BY PICTURE (PBP) – Picture by Picture is a feature that allows you to make use of multiple sources (e.g. from your laptop and desktop PC) simultaneously and display them on the same screen. Its commanding overview gives you more control and boosts your efficiency both while streaming, working and playing considerably.
• HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE STAND – Raise or lower the screen to suit each individual’s height and seating preferences. The easy-to-adjust stand ensures hours of comfort.
• PIVOT FUNCTION – Thanks to its pivot function, your monitor can be rotated by 180° from landscape into portrait mode, especially useful for desktop publishing.
• SPEAKERS – Built-in speakers make it easy to catch up with family, friends and colleagues. For movies, music, games and more, you’ll enjoy quality audio without the hassle of connecting external speakers.
• AOC G-MENU – AOC G-Menu is a free tool that you can install on your PC to have complete customization paired with maximum convenience.
• 6 GAMES MODE – Tailor your display to the game with a click of a button. Switch settings between in-built presets for FPS, racing, or RTS games, or customise your own ideal conditions and save them. The AOC Settings KeyPad makes switching profiles or adjusting features quick and easy.
• LOW INPUT LAG – Unleash your reflexes by switching to the AOC Low Input Lag mode. Forget graphical frills: this mode rewires the monitor in favour of raw response time, giving the ultimate edge in hair trigger stand offs.
• AOC GAME COLOR AND SHADOW CONTROL – Bring the battle out of the shadows with AOC Shadow Control and AOC Game Color! Adjust grey levels for better picture detail and brighten dark areas or sink them back into blackness on the fly, without affecting the rest of the display.

For more information please visit the official AOC AGON Pro AG274QZM product page here.

What AOC Had to Say

“Gaming on both PC and consoles: The AG274QZM brings excellent visuals and a superb colour experience on all platforms. Thanks to the mini-LED technology, the display comes with more diverse levels of lightning, while the 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time still guarantee smooth gameplay.” – AOC