The Latest OLED Gaming Monitor: Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP Review

The OLED gaming monitor market has exploded this year with multiple releases seeming to take the flagship throne before quickly being replaced to repeat the cycle again. If you have deep pockets, it’s a tremendous time to be in the market for one of the best gaming monitors. The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP is the latest to hit the PC gaming scene and it’s a stunner. With a 1440p resolution, cutting-edge WOLED panel, 480Hz refresh rate, and a suite of features that can actually improve your gameplay, it’s an outstanding choice for any gamer but strikes a special chord for competitive players and esports aspirants.

Design and Features

The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP is a premium gaming monitor that comes with a design and feature set to match its $999 price tag. Its 26.5-inch WOLED screen is big and bright and features a crisp 1440p (2560 x 1440) resolution. Its crowning achievement, something that Asus claims is a world first, is that it runs at a native 480Hz, all while delivering 10-bit color and impactful HDR.

This has caused quite a stir among the competitive gaming community, and rightfully so. OLED is already extremely fast, virtually eradicating motion blur. Dialing up the refresh rate decreases input latency, the time between clicking your mouse and seeing your weapon fire on screen. For competitive esports, like Valorant and Counter Strike 2, it offers an improvement you can actually feel.

Simply put, more clarity and faster response means that you have a better chance of landing an accurate shot and beating out the enemy player. And no matter what you’re playing, everything looks incredibly smooth.

We’ve seen gaming monitors this fast in the past, even from Asus. The fastest gaming monitors can reach up to 500Hz. There’s even another Asus monitor, the ROG Swift PG32UCDP, that can reach 480Hz though in a special mode. But until now, such a quick refresh rate hasn’t been possible with an OLED monitor without major trade-offs. The Alienware AW2524H is small and 1080p, while the PG32UCDP runs at 4K, but if you turn on 480Hz, it drops to 1080p, which kills image quality.

By contrast, the PG27AQDP lands perfectly in the middle. It can run at 480Hz natively, without sacrificing features or using any special mode. It’s not 4K – 1440p is easier to run and is a better fit for mid-range graphics cards. Its 27-inch size is pitch perfect for this resolution, providing ample screen real estable and exceptional crispness. Add its screen to the mix, which is rated for up to 1,300 nits of brightness, 99% of the DCI-P3 color space, and accuracy at Delta <2 for creative work, and you have a monitor that’s pretty darn incredible on paper. It also supports variable refresh rate (Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync) and offers VESA True Black 400 certification for accurate HDR.

Build Quality and Connectivity

The build quality is top-notch, which is par for the course with Asus’s OLED releases this year. It comes with a heavy three-legged stand with lots of adjustability. It offers 4.3 inches of height adjustment, +20° to -5° of tilt, 30° of angle adjustment on its base, and can be rotated into portrait orientation for use as a secondary monitor or various forms of creative and professional work. There’s the usual red light that projects the ROG logo down onto your desk and the illuminated “Swift” logo on the back. If you’re a content creator, you’ll also appreciate the standard camera thread on the top that allows you to easily mount a camera, light, or microphone without extra hardware. It also has a cable management channel to keep your desk looking tidy.

The display uses a very thin frame, with a sizable box in the center of its back that houses its motherboard and assorted circuitry. On the bottom of its electronics section is the connectivity panel, including two HDMI 2.1 jacks, one DisplayPort 1.4, a headphone jack, and a USB hub with two USB 3.2 Type-A ports and a Type-B which connects to your computer. While it lacks a Type-C input, the PG27AQDP boasts an impressive range of connectivity options.

OLED Care and Longevity

If you’re concerned about the longevity of its panel (i.e. burn-in), you’ll be pleased to know that the PG27AQDP features more protective features and design elements than any monitor. Within its electronics panel, it uses a custom heatsink to draw heat away from the panel to extend its life and reduce the chance of burn-in. The monitor also uses a dedicated white LED within its pixel structure, reducing power draw and burn-in.

Within the OSD, you’ll find a wide range of OLED Care+ protective features including pixel shifting, logo detection, and outer dimming to prevent burn-in. Asus provides a 3-year warranty that covers image retention, ensuring your investment is protected.

Ensure proper OLED care to maximize the lifespan of your monitor. Avoid leaving static elements on the screen, enable protective features within the OSD, and consider animated wallpapers to balance pixel burn. Asus has implemented advanced protections to keep your monitor in top condition.

Software and OSD

The PG27AQDP features a very similar OSD and feature set to other Asus monitors released this year. It provides deep control over the picture, including multiple modes for different game genres and tasks, as well as the expected brightness, contrast, sharpness, and gamma options. The OSD also allows you to adjust a six-axis color mixer to fine-tune the image without a colorimeter.

Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDP – Software Screenshots

Choose from different performance modes in SDR and HDR, and engage with OLED-specific features like OLED Anti-Flicker. Gaming features like Sniper Mode and Shadow Boost provide enhanced gaming experiences. Asus’s Windows OSD, DisplayWidget Center, allows you to customize settings and tie visual presets to specific apps for seamless transitions.

Performance

The PG27AQDP is a seriously fantastic gaming monitor that offers impressive brightness and color accuracy in both SDR and HDR modes. With a peak brightness of 427 nits in SDR and 1,136 nits in HDR, this monitor delivers stunning visuals across a wide range of content.

Color coverage and accuracy are excellent, with the monitor achieving 99% of the DCI-P3 color space and 100% of the sRGB color space. Motion blur is virtually non-existent, providing a smooth and immersive gaming experience.

Gaming at 480Hz offers a noticeable improvement in responsiveness, making fast-paced games even more engaging. While not essential for all gamers, the high refresh rate enhances the overall gaming experience, especially in esports titles. The PG27AQDP remains an excellent monitor even if 480Hz is not a priority, with stunning colors, contrast, and tear-free gameplay.

Overall, the Asus ROG Swift PG27ADQP is a top-tier OLED monitor that offers exceptional performance, impressive features, and a competitive price. Whether you need 480Hz or not, this monitor delivers an outstanding gaming experience that is hard to match.