The best way to pick a good monitor for any gaming or productivity use, such as video production, streaming, or office work, is to choose one with perfect specifications and performance. Gamers need high refresh rate and response time features, while the others may be more interested in screen size and color accuracy. All of these are factors that determine what monitor to buy.

With this in mind, let us review the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMES Gaming Monitor and to see whether it has good specifications, build and image quality for it to become a good choice for gamers content creators.

Specifications:

Display	Panel Size (inch) : 26.5 Aspect Ratio : 16:9 Color Space (DCI-P3) : 99% Panel Type : QD-OLED Resolution : 2560×1440 Display Viewing Area (HxV) : 590.42 x 333.72 mm Display Surface : Anti-Reflection Pixel Pitch : 0.229mm Brightness (Typ.) : 200cd/㎡ Brightness (HDR, Peak) * : 400 cd/㎡ Contrast Ratio (Typ.) : 1,500,000:1 Viewing Angle (CR≧10) : 178°/ 178° Response Time : 0.03ms(GTG) Color Accuracy:△E< 2 Display Colors : 1073.7M (10 bit) Flicker free : Yes HDR (High Dynamic Range) Support : HDR10 Refresh Rate (max) : 240Hz ASUS OLED Care :Yes
Video Feature	GamePlus:Yes Game Visual:Yes VRR Technology:Yes (Adaptive-Sync) Extreme Low Motion Blur:Yes DisplayWidget:Yes, DisplayWidget Center GameFast Input technology:Yes Shadow Boost:Yes Aspect Control:Yes A.I. Assistant Technology:AI Visual A.I. Assistant Technology:Dynamic Crosshair A.I. Assistant Technology:Dynamic Shadow Boost Color Calibration E-report:Yes, via DisplayWidget Center
I/O Ports	DisplayPort 1.4 DSCx 1 HDMI (v2.1)x 2 (FRL) Earphone jack : Yes
Signal Frequency	Digital Signal Frequency : HDMI: 30~410 KHz (H) / 48~240Hz (V) DP: 410~410 KHz (H) / 48~240Hz (V)
Power Consumption	Power Consumption : < 25W Power Saving Mode : < 0.5W Power Off Mode : <0.3W Voltage : 100-240V, 50/60Hz
Mechanical Design	1/4″ Tripod Socket : Yes Tilt : Yes (+20° ~ -5°) Swivel : Yes (+45° ~ -45°) Pivot : Yes (+90° ~ -90°) Height Adjustment : 0~110mm VESA Wall Mounting : 100x100mm Proximity Sensor :Neo Proximity Sensor Kensington Lock : Yes
Dimensions (Esti.)	Phys. Dimension with stand (W x H x D) : 61.1 x 50.3 x 18.8 cm (24.06″ x 19.80″ x 7.40″) Phys. Dimension without Stand (W x H x D) : 61.1 x 37.0 x 6.9 cm (24.06″ x 14.57″ x 2.72″) Box Dimension (W x H x D) : 78.0 x 47.0 x 18.6 cm (30.71″ x 18.50″ x 7.32″)
Weight (Esti.)	Net Weight with Stand : 6.8 kg (14.99 lbs) Net Weight without Stand : 4.9 kg (10.80 lbs) Gross Weight : 8.9 kg (19.62 lbs)
Accessories (vary by regions)	DisplayPort cable HDMI cable Microfiber cloth Power cord Quick start guide ROG pouch ROG sticker VESA mount kit Warranty Card
Certificate	TÜV Flicker-free TÜV Low Blue Light (Hardware Solution) VESA AdaptiveSync Display 240Hz AMD FreeSync Premium G-SYNC Compatible FSC MIX

Closer Look

The packaging arrives in a minimalist cardboard box which is unusual for ROG boxes. It shows some features and specifications.

Inside the box you will find the following; ROG Pouch, Quick start guide, ROG Stickers, VESA mount kit, Power cord, Display Port Cable, and HDMI Cable.

Lastly, the Monitor itself.

The monitor has a mostly black design with the ROG branding at the back.

The stand also has a relatively simple design and doesn’t take up too much space on the desk.

It also gives you different adjustment options including tilt, swivel, pivot, and height adjustment.

For the input ports, it has 1 DisplayPort 1.4 and 2 HDMI 2.1 ports. This should be enough for connecting a gaming PC, gaming console, and other devices.

Facing the back, at the right side of the monitor, you will find the Power Port.

On the center part of the monitor you will find the OSD Joystick and Buttons.

OSD

The ROG color scheme is followed for the On-Screen Display of the monitor.

A variety of options in the OSD enables users to adjust the monitor based on their preferences.

The Gaming option provides different settings that can help with your gaming experience. You can tweak the GameVisual settings, GamePlus options, VRR, ELMB and other gaming features.

Image settings let you adjust the brightness, color, and other display settings.

You can also select the input source and control the OLED Care functions.

The OSD is easy enough to operate, and the joystick helps to navigate through the different settings.

The DisplayWidget Center allows you to change various monitor settings via Windows instead of the monitor’s physical controls.

User Experience

After using this monitor for about one week, my overall experience with it has been really positive. Most of my gaming during the testing was done with Where Winds Meet.

And this is where I really started noticing the difference between OLED and IPS. If you’re coming from an IPS monitor, one of the first things you will notice is the black level.

IPS monitors are still good when it comes to color reproduction and viewing angles. However, when it comes to producing true blacks, IPS has a limitation because it still uses a backlight.

This means that black areas can sometimes look more like dark gray, especially when you’re using the monitor in a dark room.

With OLED, each pixel can turn itself off. So when the image is supposed to be black, it can actually be black. And for me, this makes a big difference.

While playing Where Winds Meet, I noticed this especially in darker areas and scenes. The contrast is better, and the overall image looks much better to my eyes. The colors are also really good.

The XG27AQDMES has 99% DCI-P3 color coverage, true 10-bit color, and Delta E less than 2. But I don’t really want to focus too much on the numbers. What matters to me is that I can actually see the difference when using it.

OLED vs IPS

This is probably the biggest part of my experience with this monitor.

I have been using IPS monitors for a long time, and I was already happy with them. IPS provides good colors, good viewing angles, and generally good performance for gaming and other tasks.

But OLED is different. The contrast is better. The blacks are better. The colors look better. And because OLED doesn’t need the same type of backlight used by traditional LCD monitors, the display itself can also be much thinner.

For me, the difference is very easy to notice when gaming. Especially in darker scenes. You don’t really need to look at the specifications to understand the difference.

Just put an IPS monitor and an OLED monitor side by side and look at a dark scene. That’s when you will really appreciate OLED.

After using this monitor for one week, I can honestly say that OLED is better than IPS for me. And I don’t want to go back.

Conclusion

This monitor has been a very good experience for me as a gamer. I’ve been testing and gaming with the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMES for about a week now, mostly playing Where Winds Meet, and I can say that the OLED display really is the biggest difference I noticed.

I’ve been using IPS monitors for quite some time and was already happy with the image quality they provided. But after using this QD-OLED monitor, the contrast and black levels difference is something that is hard to ignore. The blacks are genuinely black, particularly when in darker scenes or using the monitor in a dark room.

The 240Hz refresh rate is a good thing to have. Together with the 0.03ms response time, the monitor feels very smooth and responsive when playing games. But personally, I don’t think the difference between a high-refresh-rate IPS monitor and 240Hz is as big as the difference between IPS and OLED.

For me, the OLED panel is the bigger upgrade.

The QHD resolution also works really well for a 27-inch monitor. It gives you a sharp image without requiring the same amount of GPU performance that you would need for 4K gaming at a high refresh rate.

Another thing I appreciate is that ASUS included OLED Care Pro and the Neo Proximity Sensor. Burn-in is still something that you need to consider when buying an OLED monitor, but having these features helps make it easier to use the monitor without constantly worrying about leaving a static image on the screen.

After using this monitor for one week, I can honestly say that OLED is better than IPS for my gaming experience. And the funny thing is, before using this monitor, I was perfectly fine with IPS. But now, I don’t want to go back to IPS and want to use OLED from now on.

Overall, the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMES is a monitor I can see myself using for gaming and other everyday tasks. The combination of QHD resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, fast response time, and especially the QD-OLED panel makes it a noticeable upgrade in my experience.

You can buy the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMES around P34,895 or $559.69 at your nearest ASUS ROG affiliated stores.

With this, ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMES receives the Recommended Award as a good gaming and productivity monitor.