AOC CQ27G2S 165Hz Gaming Monitor Review

A Closer Look

The AOC CQ27G2S/BK looks pretty familiar to me, as it uses the same exterior design we see throughout a wide number of AOC CQ-series gaming monitors. That’s not lazy design though, it’s smart business, as it’s one of the factors that’s helping AOC keep the cost down on these gaming monitors compared to the more premium AGON series, and more so the AGON Pro. Nearly all of your budget is going into the panel technology, and I’m perfectly OK with that.

The display has an anti-glare coating on the screen, not the strongest I’ve seen, but it is doing a decent enough job in this well-lit room. There are slim bezels on the top and sides, so multi-monitor configurations shouldn’t be an issue.

There’s a slightly thicker bezel on the bottom edge, as well as a touch of red, which we often see throughout the AOC range. I rather like it, it’s got that modern retro PC gaming vibe that dominated before RGB made everything overly glitzy.

The stand looks good too, using an X-shaped design with longer arms at the front and some smaller ones at the rear. It also has a small touch of red on the base, matching the bottom edge of the panel.

Around the back, you’ll find two more red highlights, which doesn’t matter to me, as I wall mount my monitors, but if you have a more open desktop setup, at least the monitor looks great from the back.

There’s a VESA mount built into the back of the monitor, so you can wall-mount or put it on your own mounting arm or stand if you desire. However, despite being a more affordable design, the included stand is pretty capable, offering 130mm of height adjustment.

There’s also ­4 degree forward tilt and 21.5 degree backward tilt.

While also being able to swivel 30 degrees left or right.

The CQ27G2S offers up two HDMI ports and a single DisplayPort, and I suggest the DisplayPort for PC users, as that’ll support the full refresh rate and resolution, but the HDMI ports are perfect to hook up your laptop, consoles, etc.