What just happened? Asus' public image has taken quite a hammering lately, so the company will likely hope to deflect the attention onto a couple of upcoming monitors. The firm says both of these are "world firsts," though we did recently review a similar dual-mode OLED monitor from LG.
Asus has announced the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG and the ROG Strix XG27UCG monitors. The latter of the two (below) sounds interesting: a 27-inch 4K panel that is said to be the world's first dual-mode LCD monitor, able to switch between native 4K at 160Hz to full HD at 320Hz via a monitor hotkey.
We recently reviewed the LG 32GS95UE 32, a WOLED gaming monitor that can switch from 4K@240Hz to 1080p@480Hz via a button on the bottom of the display or the OSD. We liked the monitor, awarding it a score of 85. Asus is presumably calling its dual-mode monitor a world's first as it is the first LCD model to offer the feature.
Other ROG Strix XG27UCG specs include a 27-inch IPS panel with 164 PPI density and a snappy 1ms GTG response time. It also includes USB Type-C Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, and HDMI 2.1 – Asus was quite light on the details.
Asus also announced the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG (below), the world's first gaming monitor to feature a glossy WOLED display. According to the company, the combination of the glossy panel and OLED tech allows the monitor to showcase vibrant colors, sharper images, and the darkest black hues under any lighting conditions.
The OLED monitor is also up to 20% brighter compared to previous-gen ROG monitors and offers three new ROG Anti-Flicker technologies that stabilize the 240Hz refresh rate within a carefully optimized range.
The rest of the specs include a 27-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) display, G-Sync compatibility, and, being OLED, a blistering 0.03ms GTG response time. Asus has used an external power adapter for the monitor, which it claims will reduce overall temperature and reduce the risk of burn-in to extend the lifespan of the panel. There's even a built-in phone holder.
The XG27AQDMG OLED monitor arrives on May 30 with an MSRP of $699. No word yet on the price or release date of the dual-mode ROG Strix XG27UCG.
Asus recently had to apologize, though that word could be used loosely, after its RMA policy and repair costs came under the spotlight following a Gamers Nexus video. The Taiwanese company said sorry for the "confusion and frustration," which went down about as well as you'd expect.