AOC announces a slew of high refresh rate 1080p and 4K monitors for under €300 each
At an announcement event in sunny Lisbon, Portugal this weekend, I was assured by various company spokespeople that while there's no perfect monitor for all gamers, AOC hopes to offer "the perfect monitor for YOU" between all of its offerings. As the saying goes, you can't please all of the people all of the time—but offering high refresh rates at affordable prices certainly helps.
Enter the AOC Gaming 25G4SXU and 25G4SRE, two fast IPS panels both offering a refresh rate of 300 Hz for a price tag not far off €200 each. Better yet, both of these 1080p (FHD) monitors can be overclocked up to 310 Hz, and boast a response time of 1 ms GtG.
The 25G4SXU will debut first in April this year for €229. It features an all over black design with four onboard USB Gen1 3.2 ports, two 2 W speakers, plus an ergonomic stand that can pivot, tilt, and swivel. The 25G4SRE on the other hand releases shortly afterwards in May for only €199. Differentiated by the red circle on the back of the monitor panel, the 25G4SRE only features a normal tilt stand and lacks those extra USB ports and onboard speakers.
Could these affordable contenders give our current best high refresh rate gaming monitors a run for their money? Well, we'll have to wait and see until we get our hands on them to test, but the price looks decent enough.
Besides that and AOC's own eye-watering 600 Hz monitor, there were plenty more, ahem, refreshing offerings announced this weekend. Before that esports-focussed monitor drops in July, we'll also be seeing a slew of affordable QHD 240 Hz monitors.
The first of these will drop in May of this year in the form of the Q27G42ZE. Another fast IPS panel, it boasts a response time of 1 ms GtG and can be overclocked from 240 Hz to 260 Hz. You can get quicker OLED panels for response time, but this is a more affordable monitor than that lot. This cheaper model only offers a normal tilt stand and can be picked up for €239.
The Q27G4ZR will then release in June, and can also be overclocked to 260 Hz. At €259, this is definitely the snazzier option, offering a similar USB, speaker, plus ergonomic stand load out to the aforementioned 25G4SXU.
Finally, there's the very swish Evnia 27M2N3501PA, featuring a white frame and an ergonomic stand. Again, another QHD monitor overclockable up to 260 Hz, the 27M2N3501PA will drop in June for €259.
Best gaming monitor: Pixel-perfect panels.
Best high refresh rate monitor: Screaming quick.
Best 4K monitor for gaming: High-res only.
Best 4K TV for gaming: Big-screen 4K PC gaming.