AOC Q3279VWF FreeSync 31.5in Monitor Review

Rating: 9.0.

Screen sizes over 24in used to require budgets bordering on £500 and even beyond, particularly once the 30in boundary had been crossed. But with the Q3279VWF, AOC is offering a 31.5in display for significantly less than £300. In fact, at the time of this review the AOC Q3279VWF was available for £200, which is phenomenally cheap for this much screen area.

Aside from its 31.5in diagonal, the Q3279VWF offers the increasingly popular 2,560 x 1,440 resolution (4K would have been too much to ask for this price), and uses MVA technology, which provides some of the quality benefits of IPS without the price disadvantage. One of the pluses with MVA is contrast, and the Q3279VWF boasts a 3,000:1 ratio.

However, brightness is only 250cd/m2, and the traditional drawback of MVA (and IPS) is also evident – a relatively slow pixel response, in this case 5ms. The maximum refresh of 75Hz also won't be particularly enticing for gamers, although FreeSync is supported so you can have a refresh that varies with what your AMD graphics card is delivering.

However, you do get inputs for every occasion, with DVI and VGA on hand as well as DisplayPort and HDMI, although there are no built-in speakers or USB hub. Physical adjustments are also meagre, with just tilt available, not swivel or pivoting.

Nevertheless, for just £200, the Q3279VWF is still surprising value even without these additional niceties, assuming the core capabilities are sound. So let's find out if this really is the big-screen bargain it promises to be on paper.

Specification:
Screen size: 31.5-inch, 16:9 aspect, curved
Native resolution: 2,560 x 1,440
Refresh rate: 75Hz
Panel type: MVA
Contrast ratio: 3,000:1 (typical)
Brightness: 250cd/m2
Response time: 5ms Grey-to-Grey
Display inputs: HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, DVI, VGA
USB hub: No
Tilt: Yes
Raise: No
Swivel: No
Other: Audio output
Retail Price: £199.99 (inc. VAT)

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