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After a week's worth of testing, it's safe to say the Agon Pro AG276UZD is another capable gaming monitor from AOC, though it's not without its issues.
Primarily, the factory calibration leaves a bit to be desired given the colour balance is exceedingly warm. This isn't properly fixed by the Normal colour balance mode either, as instead that gives off a purplish hue, while the built-in sRGB emulation mode also can't improve matters. Thankfully, manual colour balance is an option, but without proper tools it's hard to verify the accuracy of any custom settings. Once calibrated we saw stellar results, as we'd expect from an OLED, but it does raise the question of how many gamers actually own the necessary hardware (and software) to do the same.
That said, if you're not too fussed about the imperfect colour balance and just want a high pixel density screen that is fast – well, we know what OLED is capable of, and the AG276UZD does not disappoint. Granted, there are faster OLED screens on the market now, some hitting up to 500Hz, but if you want 4K, 240Hz is currently as good as it gets, and buyers do need to be aware that driving frame rates up to 240fps is no easy task at that resolution. That said, you still get a very wide gamut, giving a vibrant and saturated image, alongside all the depth and punch provided by the effectively infinite contrast ratio, so slower paced single player titles are just as enjoyable.
AOC also offers a range of other modern-day creature comforts, including support for DisplayPort 2.1 at the full UHBR20 bandwidth, alongside USB-C, KVM functionality and user-upgradeable firmware. On the subject of the latter point, it'd be great to see a new firmware released that offers more accurate colour balance modes!
As it stands though, with pricing set at just £700 here in the UK, the AOC AG276UZD is well worth a look if you want a 4K/240Hz QD-OLED at a good price. As mentioned at the start of the review, other options, including MSI's excellent MPG 272URX, do drop down to a similar price when on sale but have a much higher RRP, so it's worth keeping an eye out for any deals when you are shopping around. All things being equal, MSI has the superior product, but if pricing goes back up at £999, then the AG276UZD becomes a strong contender.
Pros
- Very wide gamut.
- Effectively infinite contrast ratio.
- Very fast response times.
- 4K resolution coupled with 240Hz OLED makes for a very sharp experience.
- HDR hits 1000 nits with a few different modes to choose from.
- 2x HDMI 2.1 alongside DP 2.1
- USB-C and KVM support.
- User-upgradable firmware.
- We've not seen a cheaper 4K/240Hz QD-OLED monitor.
Cons
- Colour balance modes need work.
- sRGB emulation mode is also disappointing.
- OSD looks very dated.
KitGuru says: It's not perfect given the colour balance issues, but if you can look past that, the AG276UZD offers a pin-sharp OLED gaming experience for a good price.
