Asus ROG Swift PG43UQ 4K Gaming Monitor Review: Jumbo Screen, Extra Bright

A massive gaming monitor with 1,000 nits, HDR, Adaptive-Sync and 144 Hz.

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We’ve seen some impressive large format gaming monitors. They all come with premium prices, but playing games on them is truly addictive. There is a reason why consoles connected to big-screen televisions outnumber PC and monitor rigs by a substantial margin, and it isn’t just the price difference. Short of the best VR headset, there is no more immersive way to play video games than on a big screen. 

(Image credit: Asus)

The Asus ROG Swift PG43UQ strikes an excellent balance between gaming display, computer monitor and television. It is first and foremost a gaming monitor, and at that task, it beats nearly anything currently available. Response is about as good as it gets with only a handful of smaller screens offering better input lag scores.  

The PG43UQ also delivers superb HDR with either FreeSync or G-Sync Compatibility. Your games, be they SDR or HDR, will get an image quality boost. Thanks to its superb contrast and over 90% coverage of DCI-P3, we’ve only seen a few other displays that look as good.

As a computer monitor, the PG43UQ works well though users will have to decide if they want such a large panel on the desktop. It’s a bit awkward to use at the typical 2-3-foot viewing distance. The stand and overall form factor make it more suitable for installation in a media room on a bench or entertainment unit. Asus has provided the proper ergonomics for this with a handy remote and large on-screen menu readable from across the room.

As a movie display, the PG43UQ is flawed, as Blu-ray suffers from some horizontal judder in certain scenes, but this is a minor issue that could be corrected with a firmware update. Additionally, when using the Dynamic Dimming feature, the picture is too bright for darkly lit rooms. 

But as a gaming monitor, the PG43UQ has few equals. And though it sells for a premium price, it isn’t as expensive as you might expect. A 50-inch television will cost less but won’t offer Adaptive-Sync, fast refresh or the large color gamut and this level of HDR quality. If you’re looking to buy a premium gaming monitor and the large format works for you, the Asus ROG Swift PG43UQ should be on your short list.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • PapaCrazy
    Extremely tempting but price needs to go (way) down and GPU power up for such awesomeness to be readily adopted.
    Reply
  • Kridian
    $1,500?!Nope
    Reply
  • uwhusky1991
    Seems that TV manufacturers are missing an opportunity. TCL sells a 43" 4k tv for about $200. You can't tell me that it costs 9X more to make a 144hz 43" tv. Asus sells it for that much because there aren't any mainstream options. TV companies see the 43" TV size as a low end product whereas it's a high end price point for PCs.
    Reply
  • Tanquen
    VA / W-LED, edge array for $1500 when TVs of this size can be had for $300-$400?

    You can get the XG438Q now for like $1000 why get this?
    Reply
  • shemsureshot
    Looks awesome and probably something I would have bought had I not recently purchased the LG CX 48 inch TV as a gaming display. As someone who uses a large display with my pc I would say the size isn’t much of an issue and after a while even the 48” screen stops looking too big. I’m currently looking for a good deal on a lap board for the keyboard and mouse, there aren’t too many on the market at the moment even though these large displays are creating a need for them.
    Reply
  • CliveStaples
    How do you think this monitor might be better than your CX? I thought the CX was a shoo-in for best gaming display with with the OLED screen, g-sync, 120hz, but I would love to understand where this Asus monitor compares favorably.
    Reply
  • hermanbaggins
    I do alot of drone racing. Its critical to have a fast video feed from our drones to our goggles otherwise we wont have enough time to react and crash into everything. We deal in millaseconds delays also. With that said 1ms response time vs previous version of this monitor 4ms you will tell the difference when gaming. Im not sure if there is any monitor this size with these stats with freestink.
    Reply
  • menka69
    is this not 144hz compatible with gsync?
    Reply