AOC has introduced two new curved gaming monitors as part of the AGON family, the AG322QCX and the AG272FCX. The new monitors feature rather high refresh rates along with VESA’s Adaptive-Sync technology (which generally means support for AMD’s FreeSync). The displays have a number of similarities, but are aimed at different segments of the market, with varying prices and feature sets..

The AOC AGON AG272FCX is the smaller of the two and uses a 27” VA panel with 1920×1080 resolution, whereas the AOC AGON AG322QCX is the larger one and features a 31.5” VA panel with 2560×1440 resolution. The monitors have 1800R curvature, a 16:9 aspect ratio, as well as refresh rates between 48 Hz and 144 Hz. The general specifications of the displays resembles those of many other gaming monitors: 250/300 nits brightness, 3000:1/2000:1 contrast ratio, 178°/178° viewing angles, 16.7 million colors (and the sRGB color gamut), a 4 ms response time (grey-to-grey) and so on. The monitors support VESA’s Adaptive-Sync technology, and I expect it's only a matter of time until AMD certifies them for FreeSync.

As for connectivity, the AGON AG272FCX has a D-Sub(!), DisplayPort, and two HDMI inputs, whereas the AGON AG322QCX comes with two HDMI and two DisplayPort inputs. The smaller display also has a dual-port USB 3.0 hub as well as integrated 3 W stereo speakers, two logical features for an entry-level monitor. By contrast, the larger screen is a much more straightforward pure monitor, which is par for the course as higher-end monitors rarely ship with speakers since customers usually already have external speakers/headphones. A more important drawback is the lack of any HDCP support on the AG322QCX, which greatly limits the monitor's ability to be used with protected HD video content such as Blu-rays or Netflix streaming.

AOC's AGON Curved 16:9 Displays
  AGON AG272FCX AGON AG322QCX
Panel 27" VA 31.5" VA
Native Resolution 1920 × 1080 2560 × 1440
Maximum Refresh Rate 144 Hz
Response Time 4 ms
Dynamic Refresh Rate Adaptive-Sync (not yet FreeSync certified)
Brightness 250 cd/m² 300 cd/m²
Contrast 3000:1 2000:1
Viewing Angles 178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Curvature 1800R
Pixel Pitch 0.3114 mm 0.2724 mm
Pixel Density 82 ppi 93 ppi
Anti-Glare Coating Yes
Inputs 1 × DisplayPort (HDCP)
1 × D-Sub
2 × HDMI (HDCP)
2× DisplayPort
2 × HDMI
USB Hub 2-port USB 3.0 hub -
Audio 3 W × 2
audio in/out ports
-
Power Consumption Idle: 0.5 W
Operating: 47 W
Idle: 0.5 W
Operating: 40 W
Launch Price £389 ($485) in the U.K. £519 ($647) in the U.K.

When it comes to visual aesthetics, the new AGON displays feature ultra-thin bezels as well as an aggressive design that highlights their gaming nature. Furthermore, the monitors have four large LEDs with adjustable colors (red, green, blue) located on the back and two located on the bottom edges of the displays.

The addition of these latest AGON displays brings AOC to a total of four curved monitors introduced under the brand in the last few months, joining the company's previously launched ultrawide curved monitors and making these the company's first curved 16:9 monitors. So it appears that AOC is pinning a lot of its hopes for the AGON brand on curved gaming screens with high refresh rates designed for gamers. 

AOC’s AGON AG322QCX and AGON AG272FCX monitors will be available in May. The exact MSRPs of the displays in the U.S. and Continental Europe are unknown, but Hexus reports that in the U.K. they will cost £519 ($647) and £389 ($485) respectively.

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Source: AOC

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  • eek2121 - Thursday, February 23, 2017 - link

    I have to say 'meh'. Low resolution given the size. I'm waiting for something like the Freesync version of this: https://www.asus.com/Monitors/ROG-SWIFT-PG27UQ/ - Quantum Dot IPS, HDR, 4K, 144 hz, 27". The first company to offer it will receive my money for 2 of them.
  • Chaser - Thursday, February 23, 2017 - link

    Meh. Way overkill. 4K is nothing more than a bragging right that requires overkill of GPU power for it.
  • zodiacfml - Friday, February 24, 2017 - link

    Care to give the cost of this one? Anyway, you do have a point. I'd save the money to get the ASUS as the specs falls into my shortlist and is future proof for many years.
  • DanNeely - Friday, February 24, 2017 - link

    At announcement time, the rumor mill was suggesting $1000-2000 depending on whose rumors you like best. Since it hasn't launched yet, that's all we know.

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/11014/asus-demonstra...

    http://www.tomsguide.com/us/asus-rog-swift-pg27uq-...
  • gerritd - Tuesday, April 25, 2017 - link

    You are comparing this 27" 4k with the 31" 1440p and 27" 1080p monitors. This is apples and oranges. Also the one you list is likely 2x the price. I doubt anyone is having trouble choosing between these options.
  • xTRICKYxx - Thursday, February 23, 2017 - link

    LOL
  • Laststop311 - Friday, February 24, 2017 - link

    Finally the monitor is released that I've been waiting for to upgrade from my current 27" 1920x1080 60hz VA monitor.

    A 32 inch 2560x1440 gives you the same pixel size as 1920x1080 at 24 inches which is more than doable without messing with DPI settings and having issues with that. It's a VA monitor giving it the deepest blacks and the highest contrast ratio until OLED burn in problems are solved as a PC menu bar will burn them in over time. The 144hz refresh rate is just perfect and the inevitable free sync certification would be enough to sway me towards the cut down Vega 10 instead of either a reduced price gtx 1080 due to vega pressure or a 1070 if no drop and i mean the less expensive of the 2 vega 10 cards to be released not the more expensive full no disabled SM vega 10 basically 1 step down the product stack as that very last step towards the top is always exorbitantly high and the pay out does not equal the performance gain plus the 1 right below usually is not far off on performance and should be great for 1440p @ 144hz. Basically check out the benchmarks and see if maybe you do need a flagship gpu if you want to take advantage of the 144hz speed to its full.
  • Laststop311 - Friday, February 24, 2017 - link

    this monitor finally gives me a reason to legitimize the expense of 1440p over 1080p cause the resolution increase from 1080 to 1440 during a game is rly not that noticeable, a 60hz 1440p or a 144hz 1080 the 1080 is going to be better to play hands down. This monitor finally mergers the panel type the refresh rate and the proper size to go with 2560x1440 now we just deserve an nvidia equivalent.
  • TelstarTOS - Monday, February 27, 2017 - link

    I have such a 32" QHD monitor, but not curved. The resolution is fine, text is not too small, but I think a 30" size would be perfect. Hopefully a gsync option will come later with a reasonable price such as these AOC.
  • Jad77 - Friday, February 24, 2017 - link

    I think we have a winner! "Best/Worst Use of Absolutely Superfluous LED's"

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