AOC's 27-inch monitor cuts down lag and tearing for smooth-as-butter gaming

AOC AG271QX

AOC has announced the first offering from its new Agon range, which is a premium 27-inch gaming monitor that will be on sale soon.

The AG271QX has a TN panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1440, and it makes a play for super-smooth frame rates with a 1ms response time and 144Hz refresh rate.

On top of that, there's adaptive-sync tech on board (compatible with AMD's FreeSync) to smooth things over further and minimize any stuttering or tearing which can be highly distracting in fast-paced games like shooters.

AOC's new display also offers a number of features targeted specifically at gamers, including a Low Input Lag mode which does away with the monitor's image post-processing, meaning your mouse or keyboard commands happen on-screen with a minimum of delay.

Another mode, Shadow Control, allows contrast to be adjusted in very dark or light areas, so enemies can be spotted more easily – all without affecting any normally-lit areas across the screen.

AG271QX rear

Ergonomics and eye-care

You also get an ergonomic stand that allows for tilt and swivel along with height adjustment, complete with a marked scale for height so you can easily go back to previous positions, should you adjust the stand and then decide you want to revert later on.

The AG271QX is easy on the eyes with flicker-free technology, and a setting which cuts down on blue light which is thought to be fatiguing or possibly even damaging to the eyes. You may have noticed that many monitor manufacturers are starting to include both these eye-friendly features these days.

AOC also promises multiple gaming mode picture presets and the ability to switch quickly between them. And finally, the monitor has a carry-handle should you want to lug it to a LAN party, and a headset holder at the side of the display.

AOC says that this 27-inch monitor will be out in June priced at £479 (around $700, or AU$920).

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).