AOC AGON PRO AG324UX Review : Swiss Army Knife Of Monitors | Tech Reviews
AOC specializes in gaming monitors. One of them has aroused my particular interest and it could also be exciting for you: The AOC AGON PRO AG324UX.
This 31.5-inch display is described by AOC as a “jack of all trades” for the home desk: “The AG324UX is a PC gaming monitor that was specially developed for use with next-gen consoles with maximum performance”.
It competes with classic monitors, but also with televisions, and strikes a chord with me. So with just one monitor I could work (work notebook), play PC games (gaming computer) and enjoy console titles (Xbox Series S).
But the AGON PRO AG324UX also has a lot to offer apart from the interesting concept: crisp UHD resolution, 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, good color space coverage (125% sRGB, 100% DCI-P3, 107% Adobe-RGB), VESA certified DisplayHDR 400 and many current connections.
Since it is a real gaming monitor, many smart functions and RGB lights are also installed. The monitor cuts a really good figure on paper.
The only question is: Can it really be the ideal mix of PC monitor and television?
Scope of delivery & assembly
Lots of accessories are included in the large and attractively printed box: A power supply unit, an HDMI cable (1.8m), a DisplayPort cable (1.8m), a USB-B cable, a USB cable from A to C ( 1.5 m), an OSD pad and the usual papers. Otherwise there is still a lot of Styrofoam in the box as packaging material.
Unpacking was quick, as was assembly: the monitor is simply clipped onto the stand. Finished.
There is a 3-year guarantee on the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX.
Design & processing
The display case is made of black plastic with a slightly rough surface. It hides fingerprints and dust very well. The stand is made of aluminum and holds the monitor firmly in place.
Despite the robust construction, it is quite flexible: The display can be tilted between -3° and +21° and rotated up to 20° in both directions. Height adjustment is possible up to 13 cm.
Important for developers, designers and other professions: There is even a pivot function! This means that the monitor can also be used vertically.
Basically, everything about this monitor feels premium and sturdy. The workmanship and quality are at a high level.
The front shines with three very narrow display edges and a compact chin with a subtle “Agon” lettering and a small LED.
On the back there are a total of six RGB lights in a kind of “clamp” design and an RGB strip runs under the chin. This allows the desk to be pleasantly illuminated at night and helps to protect the eyes in dark environments.
Nice detail: A small projector is also built into the base, which can project two different symbols onto the table.
The AOC AGON PRO AG324UX is clearly a gaming monitor: RGB elements, a distinctive stand with a red accent and a generally “edgy” design. But it can easily switch to a “serious” look: All RGB elements can be deactivated and the stand can be replaced with a professional monitor arm using VESA 100×100.
I also advise you to do this if you are not using an oversized table. To keep the monitor stable, the legs of the stand are very wide and take up a lot of space. If you have problems with it on your table or want more freedom, you can, as mentioned, mount another stand or a strong VESA arm via VESA 100×100.
There are also some nice bonuses: there’s a gap on the base for routing cables, and on the left side of the frame there’s a small extendable holder for headsets.
Connections
Whether the concept of a “monitor for everything” works depends heavily on the connections. Here the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX can shine with a decent selection: Two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4 and USB Type-C are available for image input.
A nice side effect of the current ports: An image in 3,840 x 2,160 at 144Hz can be output via each port.
The USB-C connection also offers Power Delivery up to 90 watts, which makes the dream of a “just one cable” setup possible for notebooks: One cable is enough to charge most notebooks in normal operation and at the same time transmit the image . It could only become tight when gaming, when the notebook consumes more power.
The real star, however, are the two HDMI connections with the new 2.1 standard. This allows the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S to show their strengths and shine in a maximum of 4K and 144Hz. Many gaming monitors that would also be suitable for an all-in-one setup still use the old HDMI 2.0b standard.
There is also little to complain about with the other connections: A microphone input and headphone output, four USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, a USB-B 3.2 Gen 1 for the USB hub, a Kensington lock and the obligatory power connection.
Display
Of course, the design and the connections are important, but the heart of a monitor is the 31.5-inch display. The data sheet of the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX promises all the well-known functions: UHD resolution, 1ms (MPRT, GTG) response time, 144Hz refresh rate, a maximum brightness of 350 nits and very good color space coverage (sRGB 125%, DCI-P3 100 %, Adobe RGB 107%).
For flicker-free gaming, there’s AMD Freesync Premium, G-Sync, VRR, and Adaptive Sync.
Personal experience
My expectations of the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX were high – and I was not disappointed! Whether you’re working, playing The Witcher 3: Complete Edition on the PC, or some Persona 5: Royal on the Xbox Series S, the display cuts a really good figure.
The picture in 4K is nice and sharp on the PC, on the Series S it also looks sharp enough at 31.5 inches in 1440p. The colors look natural and match my reference monitor. The fast refresh rate makes a clear difference, especially in shooters and racing games.
In addition, there is a function for particularly low input latency and an overdrive mode in the monitor settings. I have a hard time assessing the extent to which the display will be suitable for e-sports. In several rounds of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, however, he reacted very quickly to my inputs.
Finally, I want to go into the HDR capabilities: The panel has 16 local dimming areas and has the “VESA DisplayHDR 400” standard. That’s at the bottom of the HDR ladder.
In films and console games, activated HDR actually brings an atmospheric image to the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX. Due to the small number of zones, however, there are blooming or flashlight effects. This is hardly noticeable in bright rooms, but if you prefer to gamble in the dark, you will notice the relatively large dimming ranges.
However, this is not a problem with the monitor, but with the “classic” dimming technology, which probably runs over edge LED lighting. It can only handle a relatively small number of zones, while mini-LED (formerly called full array local dimming) often offers hundreds of zones. However, the undefeated HDR kings are currently still OLED devices; These can switch each pixel on or off individually and thus have millions of individual dimming zones.
Spyder measurement results
The monitor offers countless controls for adjusting the image. In order to get the best possible and most neutral measurement results, I deactivated all unnecessary gaming functions and set the color temperature to “Normal”.
The measurements with a professional Spyder5 showed the following: The maximum brightness is 278 nits (cd/m2), the average is 267.6 nits (cd/m2). For me, a value of 300 nits (cd/m2) or more is good, the higher it goes, the better. Nevertheless, the official specification of 350 nits cannot be met.
However, low brightness is not uncommon for gaming monitors since they are used indoors. In HDR mode, the maximum brightness can be significantly higher in some places (to achieve the HDR effect).
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Sound
AOC installs two loudspeakers with 8 watts each in the AGON PRO AG324UX. They are located on the back of the monitor and therefore radiate backwards. So don’t expect an audio experience like you would with a soundbar or dedicated speakers. But they get pretty loud and offer a usable stereo effect.
The sound quality is on the level of mid-range notebooks: the mids are clear and are not overpowered, there is (unfortunately) hardly any bass and the trebles are definitely preferred. On the other hand, they do not distort at high volume.
Several customization options for the speakers, such as DTS sound and TruVolume HD, can be found in the OSD.
The loudspeakers are perfectly sufficient for everyday use, but reduce the otherwise good use as a television. Most users (and especially gamers) will use a headset or dedicated speakers anyway. There is even a separate audio output and a microphone input on the back.
AOC AGON PRO AG324UX conclusion: expectations fulfilled
I spent a week with the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX and used it as a monitor for everything imaginable: for working, for image processing, for watching films and gaming (PC and console). A total of three devices were connected to the monitor and it was wildly switched back and forth.
What more can I say? It’s almost the perfect “one monitor does everything”.
The size of 31.5 inches is a good compromise between monitor and TV. It’s not too big to use as a PC monitor and not too small to use as a TV at a distance. In addition, AOC uses a straight IPS panel here, which makes it significantly less dependent on the viewing angle. Many current gaming monitors in this size class use a curved panel for better immersion.
Technically, there is little to complain about: the connections are up to date and even allow the “one cable” fantasy: With just one USB-C cable, image and sound can be transmitted while the notebook is being charged with up to 90 watts . The panel is sharp, responds quickly and the color reproduction is so good that semi-professional image editing is possible.
However, the monitor – in this condition – is not quite perfect. The legs are quite wide and take up a lot of space on a typical work desk. A monitor arm is the simplest and best solution here. The built-in speakers are sufficient for everyday use, but you need external speakers or a soundbar for real media enjoyment.
Due to the small number of dimming zones and “only” VESA DisplayHDR 400, it is only suitable for HDR films and games to a limited extent. Current (mini-LED and OLED) televisions simply offer a better experience here.
At just under 1,015.49 euros*, the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX is not exactly cheap, but it is in the same price range as other gaming monitors of its kind. Due to the current technology and connections, it is versatile. It can – in fact – be the one monitor for an entire device setup: great for working, for PC gaming and all current consoles.
According to the Spyder5, the display has sRGB coverage of 100 percent, the AdobeRGB color space, which is important for media professionals, is 82 percent and DCI-P3 is 86 percent.
The color fidelity is already at a high level in the state of delivery. With a subsequent and manual calibration, I was able to bring about a significant improvement in color fidelity.
The color space coverage is very good, as is the color fidelity. This makes the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX suitable for image and video editing in the hobby and semi-professional environment.
Monitor menu (OSD)
The AOC AGON PRO AG324UX can be controlled via a 5-way joystick on the right rear. A short press on the joystick opens the OSD menu, a long press switches the monitor on/off.
The joystick also offers quick settings for all four cardinal directions: up (port selection), down (crosshairs), right (light FX), left (game modes).
The red and black colored menu is on the right side and offers a few menu items: Game Settings, Luminosity, PiP Settings, Color Settings, Audio, Light FX, Extra, OSD Settings. These in turn offer a generous selection of sub-menus, ideal for adapting the monitor exactly to your own needs. Unfortunately, the first setup takes a little longer because of this.
In addition to the obvious picture and audio settings, the monitor also offers many gaming functions: There are preset picture modes for different game genres, dark areas can be brightened using “Shadow Control”, a frame counter (FPS display) and an additional crosshair that can be activated are also on board.
A small control unit called “Settings KeyPad” is also included with the monitor. The small pad can be used to quickly change profiles or change other small settings. This is particularly interesting for frequent gamers or people who hang/set up their monitors inaccessible.
AOC also offers the “AOC G-Menu” software, with which the monitor can be further adjusted and the lighting can be compared with other AOC products. However, the tool is not necessary for everyday use, all important functions and settings can be set locally in the OSD.
All in all, I really like the OSD menu and the operation with the joystick: it is tidy and there are many customization options. To easily use multiple devices, there is a separate “profile” for each video connection and even a KVM switch is installed. There is also a multiview function, i.e. picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture. Practical!
Sound
AOC installs two loudspeakers with 8 watts each in the AGON PRO AG324UX. They are located on the back of the monitor and therefore radiate backwards. So don’t expect an audio experience like you would with a soundbar or dedicated speakers. But they get pretty loud and offer a usable stereo effect.
The sound quality is on the level of mid-range notebooks: the mids are clear and are not overpowered, there is (unfortunately) hardly any bass and the trebles are definitely preferred. On the other hand, they do not distort at high volume.
Several customization options for the speakers, such as DTS sound and TruVolume HD, can be found in the OSD.
The loudspeakers are perfectly sufficient for everyday use, but reduce the otherwise good use as a television. Most users (and especially gamers) will use a headset or dedicated speakers anyway. There is even a separate audio output and a microphone input on the back.
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AOC AGON PRO AG324UX conclusion: Expectations fulfilled
I spent a week with the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX and used it as a monitor for everything imaginable: for working, for image processing, for watching films and gaming (PC and console). A total of three devices were connected to the monitor and it was wildly switched back and forth.
What more can I say? It’s almost the perfect “one monitor does everything”.
The size of 31.5 inches is a good compromise between monitor and TV. It’s not too big to use as a PC monitor and not too small to use as a TV at a distance. In addition, AOC uses a straight IPS panel here, which makes it significantly less dependent on the viewing angle. Many current gaming monitors in this size class use a curved panel for better immersion.
Technically, there is little to complain about: the connections are up to date and even allow the “one cable” fantasy: With just one USB-C cable, image and sound can be transmitted while the notebook is being charged with up to 90 watts . The panel is sharp, responds quickly and the color reproduction is so good that semi-professional image editing is possible.
However, the monitor – in this condition – is not quite perfect. The legs are quite wide and take up a lot of space on a typical work desk. A monitor arm is the simplest and best solution here. The built-in speakers are sufficient for everyday use, but you need external speakers or a soundbar for real media enjoyment.
Due to the small number of dimming zones and “only” VESA DisplayHDR 400, it is only suitable for HDR films and games to a limited extent. Current (mini-LED and OLED) televisions simply offer a better experience here.
At just under 1,015.49 euros*, the AOC AGON PRO AG324UX is not exactly cheap, but it is in the same price range as other gaming monitors of its kind. Due to the current technology and connections, it is versatile. It can – in fact – be the one monitor for an entire device setup: great for working, for PC gaming and all current consoles.