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When it comes to premium gaming rigs, only an Ultra HD monitor will do. If you’re going to invest in high-end graphics hardware, it only makes sense to have the highest possible resolution. That prospect narrows buyers’ choices considerably. Before today, we’ve only reviewed four other desktop monitors that can run 3840 x 2160 resolution at 144 Hz, and all of them cost north of $1,000. But prices inevitably fall, and the Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ represents a new value plateau.
At around $800 at this writing (if you can find it in stock), the XG27UQ delivers4K resolution at 144 Hz over a single DisplayPort cable and, when paired with a sufficiently stout video card, also supports HDR and Adaptive-Sync.
We’ve talked about the performance advantages of 1440p and 1080p monitors. Certainly, it’s easier to achieve high frame rates when there are fewer pixels to move. And motion resolution is the ultimate barometer of gaming performance. If a display blurs fast action, 4K won’t save the image from smearing. No, you need speed for sure, and the XG27UQ provides it in spades. We recorded the lowest input lag yet for an 4K monitor. This display is easily qualified for competition gaming and well-suited for the most skilled players.
Image quality excels too with true 90% coverage of DCI-P3 and some of the best HDR we’ve seen. Only a FALD-equipped monitor or OLED panel can top the picture quality we saw from the XG27UQ.This monitor truly does the standard justice.
If you have the system horsepower, there are few monitors that can match the Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ in all areas of gaming performance and image quality. Though it’s not exactly inexpensive, it undercuts the top premium displays by a significant margin. With all this in its favor, we highly recommend checking it out.
