Originally I did not intend to buy this particular display but instead was looking to purchase the smaller 24” version. However the 24G2U/BK model seemed to be out of stock with just about every supplier I checked at the time (Amazon included) and, as I was keen to get my new-build PC up and running, decided on this model. It seemed to make sense given the excellent Amazon price at the time (with free Prime delivery), the largely favourable reviews and the fact that I was getting a larger screen for relatively little extra cost.
Well I’m happy to say that deciding on this display was one of the best purchasing decisions I have made for quite a while. Now anyone with any common sense would not expect a monitor that cost around the £200 mark to be on equal footing with a monitor costing £300 or more. HOWEVER I can assure you that this monitor punches well above it’s price point.
Firstly the overall build quality is excellent. The screen unit it’s self is of a robust & high quality standard, certainly far from the cheap and ‘plasticky’ unit I was expecting. Likewise the stand is sturdy, substantial, well made and perfectly stable, more so than some of the stands I have seen supplied with other well respected monitor brands. The mount is a doddle to fit to the screen and provides enough height and tilt adjustment for any type of use, and in addition the mount provides for full 180 degree pivot should you need it. Included with my monitor was a European 2-pin power lead, a 3-pin UK power lead, a Display Port lead and a HDMI lead. These are all of good quality and is a great touch that I think shows good customer consideration.
When it comes to the all important question of picture quality this monitor certainly doesn’t fail to deliver excellent results which go way beyond what I expected for the price. The colours are rich and accurate, blacks deep & uniform and the whites crisp and clean with no hint of colour cast or muddiness. The contrast ratio is likewise excellent and, in combination with the high scan frequencies, produce a beautifully steady image that has punch and vitality. Finally being an IPS screen the viewing angle and colour rendition is a big improvement over my admittedly rather old TN display. Naturally there is always a bit of tweaking to carry out whenever a display is connected for the first time but with the unit I purchased this amounted to no more than a slight alteration to the brightness and contrast to get a truly beautiful quality image. An unexpected bonus was the fact that this monitor is Nvidia G-Sync compatible which my Nvidia graphics card recognised and configured as soon as it was connected.
Aesthetically I think that the whole unit is very pleasing to the eye. The red accents to the stand and screen look good without being garishly over the top and the incredibly thin (about 1mm) top and side bezel gives the screen a clean and elegant appearance. When the screen is up and running there is a very slight black border to the top and sides of the screen but this is only about 4mm wide so even when running the screen keeps it’s sleek spacious look. I was also happy to note that the size of the black border does not vary with the scan frequency. With some cheaper monitors I have seen the black border increase in size quite noticeably as the scan frequency is raised, but this is not he case with this monitor.
I was surprised to see that one of the reviews written here has given this display a bit of a slating but, based on my own experience, I have to disagree. One complaint was that there was a strong red colour cast that could not be tuned out and another that the scan frequency would keep dropping back to a lower setting. I have my monitor connected to a Nvidia GTX1660 Super via the Display Port input and can honestly say that I have experienced neither of these problems whatsoever, whether I’m gaming (though I’m only a casual gamer), or whether I’m using productivity software and the like.
Another complaint (in the same review) was that the monitor disconnects it’s self when switched off but again I have found this not to be the case with my purchase. I can switch off my monitor and it remains fully connected and synced to my PC as expected, there are no problems with remote connecting and any items connected to the very useful USB hub on the back of the monitor remain connected and fully functional. I can only guess that the reviewer was unlucky enough to receive a faulty unit which sounds like it should be returned for replacement or refund.
While on the subject of faults I’m glad to report that my display has no dead or stuck pixels and shows no light or dark patches or uneven brightness or colouration which can sometimes be a bit of an issue with less expensive monitors, particularly those with 27” screens.
Now not everything in the garden is rosy and I do have a couple of criticisms but these are pretty minor and certainly not deal breakers. One is that the speakers are pretty under- whelming, something which is pretty much standard for slim-line monitors and TVs these days. For general use I have the sound coming out of the monitor via the DP port and have to say that the quality is pretty poor and is definitely on the quiet side. I would say that it’s fine for the burbles and tinkles Windows produces and for listening to the odd video stream but for anything else I find the speakers very much lacking. However, as most users will undoubtedly have speaker and/or headphone set-ups anyway I don’t see this as a big problem.
Secondly the on/off and function buttons at the bottom of the screen are small and very low profile which I find makes them fiddly to use. This is not helped by the fact that the legends for these buttons are merely engraved into the lower bezel which makes things very difficult to see. Ideally I would have liked to have seen slightly larger and higher profile buttons and to have some degree of infill to the button legends to make things less fiddly and more visible. But this is probably just me being a bit nit-picky as by now I have got pretty used to using them.
In summary I would say that overall this really is an excellent full HD monitor that represents incredible value for money, indeed, based on my own experience so far I would still be just as happy had I paid a fair amount more. I have only had my monitor for a little over a month so cannot comment on long term reliability. However I have used it pretty heavily during this time and, so far, things have been fine, hopefully this will remain the case over time. Naturally if things do take a turn for the worse then I shall update my review and rating accordingly but for now I’m more than happy to give this terrific monitor a definite 5 star rating. Would I recommend this monitor to other’s considering a purchase ? Absolutely !!
Best regards
Ade.
| Brand | AOC |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 63.7 x 24.5 x 47 cm; 6.13 Kilograms |
| Item model number | U28G2XU/BK |
| Manufacturer | AOC International |
| Color | Black |
| Standing screen display size | 28 |
| Screen Resolution | 3840 x 2160 pixels |
| Resolution | 3840 x 2160 |
| Number of HDMI Ports | 2 |
| Voltage | 240 Volts |
| Item Weight | 6.13 kg |
