AOC CU34G2X/BK

There are many things that this screen does well for the price. You do notice in small things that the screen is really a price fighter. This is of course not a problem if you are aware of it in advance.

Out of the box this screen is somewhat mediocre, in the OSD of the screen settings have to be adjusted in order to get the most out of the screen. For example, the colors are a bit "flat" and freesync is not turned on by default (And I understand why they leave it off by default).

The screen buttons are located at the bottom of the panel on the right. This makes adjusting the settings in the OSD a challenge. Especially if, like me, you turn off your screen a few times instead of clicking confirm (These buttons are right next to each other). Ultimately, when you have set the screen to your liking, you no longer have to sit here if all is well, so this is a one-time disturbing factor. I am someone who lowers the brightness of his monitor at night and increases the warm colors of the screen so as not to jump into bed. For this I use the programs Twinkle Tray and F.lux. This means you no longer have to deal with the clumsy buttons if you want to adjust the brightness of your screen.

The curve of the monitor is very fine, and you get used to it after a few minutes. I've always had 27 inch 16:9 monitors without a curve before. No more monitors for me without a curve that exceeds 34 inches. This certainly works out well because the viewing angles of a VA panel like this aren't great. You notice this, for example, when you slump while watching a movie, luckily the screen is easy to adjust on the supplied premium foot.

Starting with the quality of the panel itself, I would like to return to the Freesync option. This monitor has the freesync option turned off by default to prevent many people who buy this screen from returning it. This one has significant flicker issues during game loading screens, or poorly optimized games such as my favorite Mmorpg; Guild Wars 2. There are several guides on the internet how you can adjust the refresh range of the sync with the CRU program so that it will flicker less/no flicker. I turned off the Freesync feature because I don't notice much screen tearing in most games, and I'm more sensitive to a screen that lights up a few times a second like a Christmas tree.

Let's talk about that Christmas tree. There is a red/copper color trim at the bottom of the screen. Tastes differ but I think this looks kitsch. But I understand that the company has chosen this to provide the real gamers with a "Flashy" looking display.

The final rating for me is an 8.5/10 for a screen of this price. It is a price fighter that broadly does many things well on this screen. For example, I did not expect that decent HDMI and Displayport cables would be included. And a good thing too! because my old DisplayPort cable couldn't handle the 144Hz refresh rate, so it switched back to 120. Besides all the things this screen does well, you can see that they have cut off in other areas. The entire screen is made of plastic and there are no speakers in this screen, but these are recognized by Windows, so you have to disable them manually in Windows. I think these are smart decisions to save money, because you don't feel anything of that plastic if you don't stroke your screen every day and monitor speakers generally sound even worse than a cookie tin with a rotten banana in it.

I would recommend this screen to people who are not afraid to change settings on their hardware. If you have more money and want to spend and want a nice out of the box experience, this may not be the screen for you. If, like me, you're looking for the best hardware for the least money, look no further!