Asus’ 480Hz OLED gaming monitor is cheaper than expected

Asus' 480Hz OLED gaming monitor is one of the most exciting displays we've seen in 2024, and it's arriving at a much cheaper price than expected.

Asus’ 480Hz OLED gaming monitor is cheaper than expected
The Asus 480Hz OLED set up at CES 2024. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Asus is finally sharing more details about its upcoming ROG Swift PG27AQDP, which looks to earn a slot among the best gaming monitors. We first saw this monitor at the beginning of the year, where it stood out as the first OLED monitor ever to reach at 480Hz refresh rate at 1440p. Since originally showing it off, Asus has been quiet about the display — until now.

The PG27AQDP officially launched at Gamescom, and it’s arriving at a shockingly low price of $1,000. That’s not cheap for a gaming monitor, or even an OLED monitor, but it’s much lower than the competition. The Acer Predator X27U F3, which matches Asus’ display in terms of specs and is due out any week now, could cost as much as $1,600, Acer says. It’s possible Acer will make a last-minute pricing adjustment in the face of the PG27AQDP.

Regardless, it’s shocking to see Asus leading on price. We’ve seen monitors like the MSI MPG 321URX that undercut the competition, but Asus normally focuses on a premium class of gaming monitors. The PG27AQDP isn’t cut down to hit a more affordable price in any way — it’s the same premium ROG design we’ve seen on monitors like the ROG PG32UCDM.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming

Asus is using a WOLED panel from LG Display, and it claims the monitor can hit 1,300 nits of peak brightness. Asus has already achieved the brightest OLED we’ve ever tested with the ROG Swift PG34WCDM, so 1,300 nits isn’t out of the question. Given that this is an OLED panel, the display also has theoretically infinite contrast and a response time of 0.03ms.

The PG27AQDP also debuts Asus’ new OLED Care+, which is a suite of burn-in prevention features that is coming to all of Asus’ OLEDs. The features include pixel cleaning, a screen saver, pixel shifting, logo brightness adjustment, taskbar detection, border detection, and global dimming detection, and it’ll be available inside of Asus’ Display Widget Center. If you’re unfamiliar, Display Widget Center allows you to control your monitor’s on-screen display with your keyboard and mouse.

Asus hasn’t put a firm release date on the PG27AQDP yet, but the company tells me the monitor is launching soon. It should arrive in the next few months, possibly at the end of September or beginning of October.

Jacob Roach

Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…

Asus is axing one major feature with the ROG Ally X

The Asus ROG Ally X playing Armored Core VI.

Asus is giving up on one of the most unique aspects of the ROG Ally with its new model. The ROG Ally X is official, and as a string of teases and leaks suggested, it overhauls Asus' handheld gaming PC in every way. In the process of upgrading the device, though, Asus gave up on its XG Mobile ecosystem that made the original device stand out so much.

The original ROG Ally includes a large, proprietary connector for one of Asus' external XG Mobile GPUs. This allowed you to connect the handheld to a more powerful graphics card, as well as a slew of I/O (input/output), with a single cable. As we discovered while testing the XG Mobile, it doesn't work quite the way you'd expect. Driver conflicts don't give you the seamless experience Asus promised, and Asus is finally recognizing that fact.

Read more

Acer is finally back in the gaming monitor fight

The Acer Predator X27 F3 sitting on a table.

Acer just announced three new OLED gaming monitors at Computex 2024, which isn't too surprising. Event after event, we see a range of new Predator monitors packing a recent panel, but for a price that just isn't competitive with the rest of the market. Pricing isn't changing, but one of Acer's new monitors might get it back to the legendary status is once held.

Let's back up. Several years back, Acer was at the top of the gaming monitor stack. Its Predator X34 was one of the best gaming monitors you could buy, packing the coveted 21:9 aspect ratio and a high refresh rate. It occupied a similar space in the market that the Alienware 34 QD-OLED does now. It was early on the scene, and it rode that wave for several years.

Read more

Acer has 3 new OLED gaming monitors, including one with a 480Hz refresh rate

The Acer Predator X34 X5 monitor over a light blue background.

Acer just opened up its metaphorical bag of goodies at Computex 2024, and a whole lot of monitors fell right out. There's a lot to sink your teeth into, but we've got our eyes on the OLED models -- one of them more than the others.

The Predator X27 F3 combines a WQHD OLED display with a 480Hz refresh rate, coming close to the best of both worlds for gamers. You won't have to choose between crisp visuals and high refresh rates here. However, its price is high enough to make your eyes water just as much as the lightning-fast gameplay might.

Read more