AOC CU34G3S 34″ Ultrawide 165Hz Gaming Monitor Review

A Closer Look

The new monitor for AOC doesn’t look much different than the old one, but that’s no big surprise, as much of the improvements they’ve made are to do with the panel and internal hardware in general. That being said, it was a great looking monitor design already, and I’m happy to say that it still is. It sticks to a classic “gamer” look with a lot of matte black and some hints of vibrant red on the lower bezel and stand.

The bezel is very nicely designed, and while this is a big panel, the bezels are kept to an absolute minimum on the left, right and top edges. While it’s unlikely many of you would purchase multiples of these, you can bet they’ll work great in a surround configuration.

While the red highlights do give the monitor some visual “pop” the design isn’t too distracting overall. I like that they’ve kept the branding minimal too, with just a small AOC logo here.

As you can see here, the 1000R curve looks pretty stunning. It’s not too aggressive either, and certainly less so due to the overall width of the panel. It’s got a very natural feel, and well… that’s the whole point of what a curved display is all about.

The stand is nice, using an X-shaped design, with two longer arms at the front and two smaller ones at the back. It feels very stable too, you can really pull and push on the monitor and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to topple or wobble.

Of course, there’s a good range of adjustment too, allowing to drop it down low.

Move it up higher.

And of course, a good range of rotation and tilting too. Overall, you should find the optimal viewing angle for gaming, or just tilt the monitor to remove a little sun glare when the need arises.

Around the back, there are a few more dashes of red, which looks pretty cool actually. Not much use to me, as I’d wall mount it, but if you have an open desk, the back will be seen a lot.

All the usual I/O stuff is tucked into the bottom, offering you a pair of HDMI and a pair of DisplayPorts. There’s also a line out jack should you need to connect a soundbar or some headphones here.

Another welcome addition is the USB hub, offering a whopping four USB 3 ports and even device charging functions. For hooking up a webcam, microphone, etc, this is going to save on a lot of under-desk cable routing.

There’s also a central cut-out in the stand, allowing you to easily pass cables through, and it’ll make your desktop look a bit smarter overall.