A gaming device is just as powerful as its weakest component. Think about it: it really makes sense to spend thousands on a high-end graphics card, a CPU powerful enough not to obstruct it and a large amount of storage, like 2 TB of SSDs and 128 GB of RAM, just to flip over and plug in on a 21.5-inch monitor taken from a Best Buy trash can? (And no, it’s not better if you connect it of several release deposit monitors.)
There is probably some kind of intermediate monitor between “found in the release compartment” and the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ. But since I just spent two weeks playing video games instead of finishing this analysis, because every time I turn around to test something on the PG27UQ, I get sucked in as everything was beautiful… Well, why bother with mediocrity when you can get a monitor so beautiful that it will destroy your productivity?
Possibly because the ROG Swift PG27UQ is more $ 1,000 (price ranges from $ 1,200 to $ 1,500 online). That’s right: this monitor is not only expensive, it can cost more than your entire computer. But God, it’s so beautiful.
It’s hard to justify $ 1,200 price tag, but listen to me. The Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ is an elegant and robust 27-inch gaming monitor with 4K UHD quantum dot IPS screen with full-array backlighting and a DCI-3P color range. It supports Nvidia’s G-Sync HDR technology, and also has at least three different ways to display the ROG (Republic of Gamers) logo in lights. Oh, and the lights are compatible with Asus’ Aura Sync technology, so you can synchronize your monitor lights with any other ROG peripherals you have out there.
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But here’s the thing: this is not a new monitor. The PG27UQ was launched in June 2018 – that’s right, it’s over two years old. And while it’s doing pretty well against the competition – it’s a beautiful monitor even by today’s standards – it’s starting to show its age, especially now that the next-generation consoles have gone down. The PG27UQ has two digital display inputs, 1x DisplayPort 1.4 and 1x HDMI 2.0 (it also has 2x USB 3.0 downstream, 1x USB 3.0 upstream and 1x 3.5 mm audio connector; all ports are hidden under a rear panel of removable plastic). But both Microsoft Xbox 5 and Sony PlayStation 5 have HDMI 2.1 ports.
Currently, there are generally two types of digital display inputs: DisplayPort and HDMI. These two inputs have undergone several revisions since their launch – the current revisions are DisplayPort 2.0 and HDMI 2.1 – and each new standard brings greater transmission bandwidth. This is important because, in order to take full advantage of the PG27UQ’s 4K UHD resolution at its overclocked 144 Hz refresh rate, you need a lot of bandwidth – more bandwidth than an HDMI 2.0 standard offers. With HDMI 2.0, you can get a maximum data rate of around 14.4 Gbps, but with HDMI 2.1 you can get a maximum data rate of around 42.6 Gbps – that’s a big difference. DisplayPort 1.4 offers a maximum data rate of around 25.92 Gbps – not as much as HDMI 2.1, but still slightly more than HDMI 2.0.
If you are a PC player and just a PC player, this may not seem like a big problem. DisplayPort 1.4 should not present too many problems when you are trying to increase the refresh rate to 144Hz. If you are a console player, however – specifically a state-of-the-art console player – this can be an obstacle. You will still be able to play your Xbox 5 or PS5 on this monitor, but I’m not sure if it makes sense to put two thousand on the monitor to shut down all monitors if you are unable to get both ultra high definition images and super fast refresh rates when you play the latest console games. This is just something to keep in mind. This monitor was a good buy a few years ago, but has devalued at least a little since then.
Leaving aside the drama of digital input, this screen is beautiful. I’m not talking about physical aesthetics – it’s an elegant-looking monitor, but I’ll come back to that – I’m talking about the image.
The Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ is a 4K UHD screen with a 16: 9 aspect ratio and 3840 x 2160 resolution. The screen measures 27 inches diagonally, which is a good size for a monitor (more than 27 inches starts to get difficult to handle ). The Windows 10 interface looks great at up to 125%, and if you don’t get distracted as easily as I do with attractive screens, this would be an excellent work monitor.
The PG27UQ has full-array backlighting, which means that there are LEDs on the entire screen illuminating it, instead of just at the edges. It means a few things. First, the screen may become very clear. The PG27UQ can reach 1000 nits, which is … well, very bright. For reference, the iPhone 12 Pro has a “typical” maximum brightness level of 800 nits and a maximum HDR brightness level of 1200 nits. Phones are designed to be used outdoors in direct sunlight, while gigantic game monitors are usually not, so 1000 nits is very bright.
The second benefit of full-matrix backlighting is how it affects HDR (high dynamic range) and contrast. The full matrix backlight allows more precise control over local dimming, and the PG27UQ has 384 LED zones that can be controlled independently (dimmed or lit). This means that the screen can produce images with excellent contrast ratios – super dark, ink black and bright, vibrant colors without compromising image quality. This is great for darker and darker games with HDR support, like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. There is a lot of depth and detail, without confusion. It’s also good for brighter and more vibrant games, like Nobody’s heaven. Even games without HDR support, such as Subnautica, are fascinating on this monitor.
Calibrating the PG27UQ is very easy. At the back of the screen, in the lower right corner, there are four buttons and a mini joystick for navigating the menus on the monitor screen. The main menu, which you can navigate only with the joystick, is where you will find options like overclocking, blue light filtering and screen calibration, as well as options to control the many lights on the monitor and support (and Aura Sync).
The PG27UQ actually looks pretty good out of the box. Didn’t need A lot of calibration, but it wasn’t perfect, so it still helped. The monitor also has several predefined visual modes – scenery, racing, cinema, RPG, FPS, sRGB – as well as a GamePlus menu, which has some friendly tools for players, such as timers, an FPS counter and a tool to align multiple screens.
The Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ is built like a tank – a stylish and stylish tank, but a tank nonetheless. It comes in a box bigger than my TV (which is not that big at just 32 inches) and includes several accessories: a stand, input cables (HDMI, DisplayPort, USB), a lens pack for the integrated logo light support and instructions.
I really loved the tripod style stand. It looks elegant, with blade-shaped legs, a downward-facing light that projects the ROG logo on your desk, and a backward-facing light that projects the ROG logo on the wall behind it. But it’s not so annoyingly exaggerated that it could only be used as a game monitor, and you can turn off the ROG projection lights in the on-screen menu. It is also incredibly sturdy and well built, both adjustable and ergonomic. It is easy to adjust the height of the monitor, rotate it from side to side, tilt it and even rotate it a full 90 degrees for a vertical display.
The stand takes up a little more space than I initially expected, but it is a very thick monitor. After all, it has its own built-in ventilation / cooling system. Together, the monitor and stand weigh a little over 20 pounds, which is almost twice as much as my other 27-inch monitor (a modest and economical BenQ that I picked up in a release box at Fry’s a few years ago)
The monitor itself is a good mix of classic and clean style at the front and a more aggressive player-oriented style at the back. Seen from the front, the screen is almost mundane: just a 27-inch screen with anti-reflective coating and a medium-sized matte black frame. You can say it’s a premium monitor, but it doesn’t look like a futuristic alien thing (see: Acer Predator x27 and its screen saver), which means it would fit easily in an office or home.
The back of the monitor is where it starts to be more player-oriented, although not as aggressive in style as some ROG products. The back of the monitor features a giant ROG logo that lights up and syncs with Asus’ Aura Sync technology. Although I don’t necessarily think I would use the logo light on the back of the stand, I like that this monitor has lights for both the user and the viewer. It is a little disappointing to buy a cool gaming peripheral and never be able to admire the lights.
And this is definitely a monitor for a very specific type of player, specifically one with a decently powerful Nvidia graphics card, because you will need at least one Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti for the PG27UQ. The monitor supports Nvidia G-Sync HDR, but not FreeSync, so if you have an AMD graphics card … go ahead. You also need to connect via DisplayPort if you want an overclock refresh rate, because HDMI achieves a 60Hz refresh rate.
The Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ monitor is impressive, even after a few years on the market, but all that said: it’s worth $ 1,200?
Well, if you are an Nvidia fan who hates console with maximum equipment, this is still a great monitor. You can often find it on sale – I’ve seen it drop to almost 50% off at times – which would make it an even more attractive purchase. It has a beautiful display, wide color gamut, fast refresh rate (via DisplayPort), and is definitely built to last. It just isn’t as impressive or future proof as before, now that the future is really here.
read me
- Absolutely beautiful.
- Absolutely expensive.