Verdict
The Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ delivers fast, polish and crisp gaming thanks to its flower 165Hz freshen rate and improved motion confuse engineering – it ’ s hard to find a screen that ’ sulfur as rapid and a clear as this display. It has a good resolving power and great colours, besides. Its physical feature set is a little scarce and contrast could be better, but this is a good option for people who play fast-paced games .
Pros
- Stellar high refresh-rate performance
- Adds motion blur reduction for gaming
- Great colour quality
- Cheaper than many rivals
Cons
- Middling contrast levels
- No RGB LEDs, USB ports or remote controls
- Poor speakers
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £485
- 2560 x 1440 resolution
- 27in diagonal
- IPS panel
- 165Hz Nvidia G-Sync
- 1 x DisplayPort
- 2 x HDMI
- 1ms response time
- 2 x 2W speakers
- 5.8kg
Asus has been using its TUF branding for motherboard and graphics cards for a long time, but the firm’s entry-level gaming brand is branching out. It’s appeared recently on laptops and headsets, and the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ is one of the first monitors I’ve seen with this designation.
TUF may be Asus ’ entry-level bet on brand, but don ’ triiodothyronine assume that the VG27AQ is cheap. This 27in IPS panel has a 1440p resolution and AMD FreeSync 2 on-board, and it arrives with US and UK pricing of $ 450 and £485.
Reading: Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ Review
Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ – Design and features
The Asus has Nvidia G-Sync that runs at a standard speed of 144Hz, and the display besides works with AMD FreeSync 2 – so it works with any AMD or Nvidia graphics menu. The display besides has an overclocking routine, which means it can run at a extremum speed of 165Hz .
I didn ’ t see any of the ghost or blur that can sometimes occur on overclocked displays, and response times lone increase by a bantam allowance when using this overclocked manner – but the huge majority of users won ’ t be affected by this, even in competitive scenarios .
The Asus can lone use that 165Hz mode over DisplayPort, not HDMI. And, as ever, you ’ ll need a graphics circuit board that can run games at 2,560 ten 1,440 and at framerates approaching 144fps or 165fps to get the most out of this panel. That ’ randomness easily done for esports titles, which tend to be less diagrammatically demanding, but you ’ ll need a beefy GPU to run single-player titles at those speeds – something like an RTX 2070 Super or an AMD Radeon RX 5700 .
The 165Hz refresh rate is paired with Asus ’ ELMB-Sync have. That acronym stands for Extreme Low Motion Blur, and the VG27AQ is the foremost time I ’ ve seen a sieve that allows gesture blur to work with G-Sync or FreeSync. previously, gesture blur has required fixed freshen rates, which is why it hasn ’ thyroxine worked with variable star syncing technologies .
Activating ELMB works well, with butter-smooth gaming throughout and no sign of any haunt or tearing – and the riddle looked fabulously crisp. It ’ mho deserving using this have for fast-paced, competitive games, and it does add some supernumerary versatility to this screen, but be mindful that this new engineering only has a minimal affect when considered alongside the rest of this display ’ second features .
The 2,560 adam 1,440 resolution is good. It ’ sulfur high enough to deliver loads of real estate of the realm for gambling, and the 27in diagonal delivers a crisp density flush of 109ppi. That ’ second solid – far better than the 82ppi on 27in screens with 1080p resolutions .
The only way you ’ re getting a crisp 27in, 16:9 screen is if you buy a 4K model, and to get a specification that matches the VG27AQ you ’ ll have to spend $ 1,000 or £1,000 – or even more .
The 165Hz refresh rate and 1440p resolution are the Asus ’ key bet on attributes, and elsewhere the VG27AQ delivers solid hardware. It uses IPS technology, and it only uses 8-bit colour – fine for gambling, but not quite good enough for influence. The 1ms reaction fourth dimension is thoroughly, besides, and easily fast enough for competitive play .
There are some other areas where the VG27AQ ’ s specification falls behind. It supports HDR 10 contented, for exemplify, but this IPS blind international relations and security network ’ t going to have the luminosity to make the most of HDR .
The VG27AQ offers properly respect. While the Asus does distillery cost $ 450 or £485, to get a 27in, 1440p IPS shield at 165Hz and with dedicated Nvidia G-Sync you ’ re going to have to spend at least $ 599 or £548 .
You can find AMD FreeSync 2 panels that work with G-Sync for a little less than the price of the Asus, so the VG27AQ international relations and security network ’ t the cheapest path to this kind of specification – but those panels will miss out on ELMB-Sync and may suffer when it comes to display quality .
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Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ – OSD and setup
The Asus panel has becoming construct quality and effective alteration options. The VG27AQ has a generous 130mm of height adjustment, and it has 180 degrees of left-to-right swivel and 38 degrees of front and back tilt. It can swing right field around to portrait mood, and supports 100mm VESA mounting .
The stand has a cable-routing fix, and the display itself has pleasingly reduce bezels, so this riddle could conceivably be used for multi-monitor setups .
The system of weights of 5.8kg international relations and security network ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate badly at all for a 27in shield, and the basal is categoric and unfussy, so it ’ south easy to move around a desk and to use for storehouse .
This is still a TUF-branded panel, though, so it misses out in other areas. The stand doesn ’ thymine have a quick-release mechanism, so build takes a little longer. There are no RGB LEDs on this display, and no USB ports – you get two HDMI ports, one DisplayPort connection and an audio jack, and that ’ s it .
The standard Asus on-screen display is deployed here. It ’ s not the largest or the best-looking software arrangement, but it ’ south well-organised. The first menu allows for switching between the key bet on screen modes, and the respite of the options are slotted into conventional menu .
The Asus OSD serves up gaming extras, like FPS counters, on-screen timers and crosshairs that can be accessed from quick-launch buttons behind the bottom-right corner of the bezel, and the chief menu is controlled by a joystick. It ’ s small and a little flimsy, but largely easy to use. The only other flimsy irritation is that the position of the OSD can ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate be adjusted .
The speakers aren ’ thyroxine much collar, either : the couple of 2W speakers are tinny and a little excessively silence, and are only well adequate for basic media duties – not for gaming.
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Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ – Image quality
The Asus delivers great color quality. The control panel ’ randomness factory Delta E measurement of 1.36 is superb, and it means no color deviations that human eyes can detect .
The filmdom ’ s color temperature of 6,298K is capital, and delivers tones that are accurate and lifelike – it ’ s not far adequate away from the 6,500K ideal to prove obtrusive during gameplay. The gamma horizontal surface of 2.22 is ace, excessively, tallying well with the key 2.2 digit .
The VG27AQ has an sRGB semblance gamut coverage flat of 98.5 %, which is great. however, the panel ducked below 80 % in the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 gamuts, which means this screen door doesn ’ thymine have the color ability to handle those professional and HDR-focussed ranges .
Those color temperature, accuracy and gamma levels were maintained with the screen at utmost brightness and with the gore at half its master luminosity levels, so you ’ re going to get consistent colours no count how bright the panel is .
The Asus ’ default brightness level of 277 nits is fine, but not outstanding, and the sieve ’ randomness bill brightness level of 354 nits is better – but nothing particularly special .
That default brightness grade pairs with a total darkness level of 0.24 nits, which means a nonpayment contrast ratio of 1,154:1. That result is absolutely very well for mainstream bet on and for esports, but it ’ s not peculiarly high – many gaming monitors will deliver better contrast .
therefore, while the Asus gore has adequate line to make games look punchy and vibrant, and with enough astuteness, there are enough of panels out there that will deliver deeper, dark shades and a broader contrast range .
The Asus has great colours but merely properly line, and that feeds into what this panel can and can ’ thyroxine carry through. It ’ s big for mainstream gambling, but the shield doesn ’ t have the depth of contrast or the color gamut ability to handle HDR content – it ’ randomness just not good enough to provide a obtrusive boost .
The screen has the accuracy and contrast to handle bet on and esports, and its input slowdown measurement of 6.3ms is excellent. Combine the color, stimulation stave and refresh rate abilities and you ’ ve got a screen that ’ second identical beneficial for fast-paced scenarios .
elsewhere, though, the VG27AQ suffers in predictable areas. The Asus uses its Racing mode by default option, but the other display modes are worse and indeed not worth using. The FPS, RTS and RPG options are identical bright, but with poorer Delta E figures and warmer color temperature results – therefore visualize look a little besides crimson and oversaturated .
The MOBA manner is about monochrome, the sRGB option has poor contrast and is besides warmly, and the Cinema option is far excessively cool, with images that had a obtrusive blue hue .
uniformity levels are merely middle, besides. The Asus lost between 14 % and 18 % of its luminosity on the left border and up to 16 % on the right-hand edge, with Delta Es that veered up beyond an average of 4. These aren ’ triiodothyronine blasting figures and the small differences won ’ metric ton be obtrusive during games, but this jury is not the most consistent on the marketplace .
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Should you buy the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ?
The VG27AQ marks a successful monitor debut for the TUF brand. The Asus succeeds in several key areas : its eminent refresh rate and the addition of ELMB-Sync means that this panel has crisp, smooth gambling at high speeds – so it ’ mho well-suited for FPS and competitive maneuver .
elsewhere, this flying, smooth screen door has a versatile size and resolving power, and bang-up discolor quality. Its contrast is more middle, but it ’ mho still full adequate for gaming in that regard .
This riddle surely isn ’ t arrant. It has thoroughly build timbre and adaptation, but its feature set elsewhere is skimp – the speakers are poor, there are no USB ports and no lighting aboard a middle OSD. Its contrast levels aren ’ triiodothyronine high enough for HDR, and it doesn ’ t have the gamut ability for HDR or the quality for workplace aboard gaming .
That said, the Asus is cheaper than most equivalent screens, and it delivers impeccably fluent, crisp gaming aboard great colours. If you need this flush of rush and have a knock-down enough graphics calling card, the VG27AQ is a great option for competitive and fast-paced gambling .
Verdict
The Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ delivers fast, placid and crispen gaming thanks to its peak 165Hz refresh rate and improved movement confuse technology – it ’ s hard to find a riddle that ’ second as rapid and deoxyadenosine monophosphate well-defined as this display. It has a estimable resolution and great colours, excessively. Its physical feature set is a little barely and contrast could be better, but this is a good option for people who play fast-paced games.
