AOC CQ32G1 QHD Curved 144Hz Monitor Review

How Much Does It Cost?

The AOC CQ32G1 21.5″ Widescreen VA LED Curved QHD Gaming Monitor is available now from most major retailers. It’s a pretty fair price too, at just £337.00 here in the UK. In the US it’s just $319.99. In fairness, that’s not exactly bargain value, but keep in mind this still has a lot of panel feature for your money. Not forgetting of course that it’s also a pretty massive panel. However, price to size and features, it’s a hell of a deal.

Overview

AOC is one of the best monitor brands in the world. Make no mistake, they’ve got something for everyone and every budget too. From small gaming monitor to ultra-wide behemoths. The CQ32G1 fits somewhere in the middle though. It’s a well-ballanced mixture of a big panel, with high refresh rates, FreeSync, a 1ms response, and a good resolution. You’d have to be a pretty hardware monitor enthusiast to turn your nose up at any of that!

Panel

The VA panel isn’t groundbreaking, and it’s not like AOC are the only people putting out a monitor of this specification either. However, they’ve hit the market perfectly to be very competitive. The contrast levels are really good, and there are no noticeable issues with light bleeding or torching in the corners; at least that I could see. In a dark room, the colours really pop, and it’s plenty bright even in a well-lit room to play games and watch movies comfortably.

Calibration

Out of the box, the calibration was actually pretty damn good. You get 100% of the sRGB and 85% of Adobe colour charts. That’s not as good as an IPS panel or a pro editing monitor, but it doesn’t need to be. Objectively, the colours look good and have plenty of vibrancy when it’s needed. We calibrated it and couldn’t improve the range. However, we did improve the accuracy, reigning in some of the stronger blues that are common on backlit panels.

Honestly, just using the Windows display calibrator will be more than enough for most, and even the stock blacklight level and gamma were close enough to an ideal level. For most, plug it in and play, you’ll be more than happy with it.

Extra Features

It’s got a great panel, that’s for sure. However, it’s what it doesn’t have that stands out the most. There’s very little in the way of luxury here. The plastics are pretty standard, although please don’t confuse that with “bad” as they’re fine, they just don’t look super-premium or anything. Some red plastic trim is about all the thrill you’ll get. The UI controls are basic, there’s a couple of inputs, but there are no speakers. The stand also has no height adjustment options. You can get those on a higher-end model, but simply if you want more features, expect to buy a more expensive monitor.

Should I Buy One?

Honestly, I can’t think of another panel that’s better for the same money. You could likely find a lot of similar ones though. However, AOC has a great reputation behind them. A tiny bezel, a big panel, and fantastic gaming performance. At a little over £300, the CQ32G1 is going to be a tough one to beat.