The AOC CQ32G1 is a fairly well-rounded 32 inch 1440p curved monitor with good gaming performance. It's a 144Hz monitor with native FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support and it's G-SYNC compatible. The input lag is extremely low, but sadly, the response time is slow, resulting in motion blur. Luckily, it has a black frame insertion feature to help improve the appearance of motion. This monitor has a VA panel with a very good contrast ratio and it has surprisingly fairly wide viewing angles, so it's still a good choice if you need to share your screen with a friend, but unfortunately, it has very limited ergonomics. This monitor doesn't support HDR, but on the upside, it has good overall picture quality with great out-of-the-box color accuracy and it has great peak brightness.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, with units that we buy completely on our own, without any cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized and custom tools to measure various aspects with objective data-based results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance against the competition, and whether or not it's easy to find.
Our Verdict
The AOC CQ32G1 is a decent overall monitor. It's a good choice for gaming thanks to its 144Hz refresh rate, VRR support, and extremely low input lag. Sadly, it has a slow response time and there's motion blur with fast-moving content. Despite having a VA panel, it's a decent choice for office use as it has fairly wide viewing angles and it gets bright enough to combat glare. This monitor displays deep blacks, but it has poor black uniformity, and it doesn't support HDR if you want to watch HDR movies with it.
- Fairly wide viewing angles.
- FreeSync VRR support.
- Great peak brightness.
- No HDR support.
- Awful ergonomics.
- Slow response time.
The AOC CQ32G1 is a decent office monitor. The 1440p resolution and 32-inch screen offer enough screen space to open multiple windows at once. It has fairly wide viewing angles and it gets bright enough to combat glare. Sadly, it has awful ergonomics as you can only adjust its tilt range.
- Fairly wide viewing angles.
- Good reflection handling.
- Great peak brightness.
- Awful ergonomics.
Good for gaming. The AOC CQ32G1 has a native 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync support, and G-SYNC compatibility. Sadly, its response time is slow, so there's a motion blur trail in fast-moving content. It's ideal for dark-room gaming due to its VA panel that displays deep blacks; however, it has poor black uniformity.
- Fairly wide viewing angles.
- Extremely low input lag.
- FreeSync VRR support.
- Very good contrast ratio.
- Awful ergonomics.
- Slow response time.
The AOC CQ32G1 is okay for multimedia use. The 32 inch, 1440p screen is great for sitting back and watching the latest videos online. It displays deep blacks, but it has poor black uniformity and it doesn't support HDR. The monitor has fairly wide viewing angles, but it doesn't offer much in terms of ergonomics.
- Fairly wide viewing angles.
- Very good contrast ratio.
- No HDR support.
- Awful ergonomics.
- Poor black uniformity.
Okay for content creators. The AOC CQ32G1 has a big enough screen to work with multiple windows opened at once, but the stand has awful ergonomics. It gets bright enough to combat glare if you work in a bright environment and it also has good reflection handling. The monitor also has great coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used in photo editing.
- Fairly wide viewing angles.
- Great coverage of the Adobe RGB color space.
- No HDR support.
- Awful ergonomics.
- Poor black uniformity.
The AOC CQ32G1 doesn't support HDR.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 32 inch AOC CQ32G1, which is also available in a 27 inch size, the AOC CQ27G1. There are similar 144Hz models available from AOC, which are listed below.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their CQ32G1 doesn't correspond to our review, please let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests such as gray uniformity may vary between units.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Curve | Europe Availability |
| C24G1 | 24" | 1080p | 1500R | Yes |
| C27G1 | 27" | 1080p | 1800R | Yes |
| CQ27G1 | 27" | 1440p | 1800R | No |
| C32G1 | 32" | 1080p | 1800R | Yes |
| CQ32G1 | 32" | 1440p | 1800R | Yes |
| CU34G2X | 34" | 3440x1440 | 1500R | No |
You can see the label for our unit here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
There's not much that stands out about the AOC CQ32G1 in terms of gaming. It has a slower response time than most 144Hz monitors, and it has awful ergonomics. However, it the widest viewing angle we've seen on a VA panel monitor so far, and it maintains a very good contrast ratio, making it an ideal choice for watching movies in the dark with a friend. Also see our recommendations for the best gaming monitors, the best 144Hz monitors, and the best 32-inch monitors.
The Gigabyte G32QC is better than the AOC CQ32G1. The Gigabyte has much better motion handling due to its higher refresh rate and faster response time, and it supports HDR. However, the AOC has better color accuracy out-of-the-box and better reflection handling.
The LG 32GK650F-B is a bit better overall than the AOC CQ32G1. The LG has a much quicker response time, it has better ergonomics, and the uniformity is better too. However, the AOC has much better out-of-the-box color accuracy, it displays a wide color gamut, it gets brighter, and it also wider viewing angles.
The LG 32GN600-B is better than the AOC CQ32G1. The LG has better black uniformity, much better gradient handling, and a faster response time. Unlike the AOC, the LG supports HDR, but this doesn't add much, as it can't display a wide color gamut and can't get very bright in HDR. On the other hand, the AOC has better viewing angles.
The AOC CQ27G1 is a bit better overall than its bigger variant, the AOC CQ32G1. The CQ27G1 has a different stand with much better ergonomics and it has a quicker response time. However, the CQ32G1 gets much brighter, it has wider viewing angles, and it handles reflections in really bright rooms a bit better.
Test Results
The AOC CQ32Q1 looks very similar to the AOC CQ27G1, except it has a different stand. It has a curved screen and the body is mainly black, with some red trim on the bottom bezel, the back, and the stand. It has a gamer-friendly look but it won't stand out in an office environment.
The stand has wide-set feet with enough space to put stuff in front of it. The stand supports the monitor well.
Update 01/20/2021: For consistency, we've changed the height adjustment from N/A to 'No'. The score has been adjusted accordingly.
Awful ergonomics as you can only tilt the monitor. The AOC CQ27G1 and the LG 32QN55T-B have much better ergonomics.
The back of the AOC CQ32G1 is simple with red diagonal stripes. The stand has a quick-release button if you want to VESA-mount the monitor. Cable management is done through a hole in the stand.
Due to the screen's curvature, the AOC CQ32G1 is a bit thick, but it won't stick out much if you wall-mount it. With the stand, it's much thinner than the Samsung CHG70.
Good build quality. The entire frame is made out of solid plastic that doesn't feel too cheap. It sits on the stand well and overall, it's a well-built monitor.
Like most VA panel monitors, the AOC CQ32G1 has a very good contrast ratio. It displays deep blacks when viewed in the dark, but sadly, it doesn't have a local dimming feature.
There's no local dimming feature. The video above is provided for reference only.
Great peak brightness. This monitor easily gets bright enough to combat glare, and it keeps its brightness consistent with varied content. The AOC CQ32G1 gets much brighter than the AOC CQ27G1.
The AOC CQ32G1 doesn't support HDR.
Although monitors with VA panels usually have narrow viewing angles, the AOC CQ32G1 has a surprisingly decent horizontal viewing angle. Colors remain fairly accurate when viewing from the side, and although you won't get the same wide viewing angles as IPS monitors, it's still good enough for co-op gaming with a friend.
Like its horizontal viewing angles, the vertical viewing angle isn't bad for a VA panel, and it's similar to the BenQ EW3270U. You won't lose much image accuracy if you mount the monitor slightly above eye level, but the colors start to wash out if you mount it too high.
The AOC CQ32G1 has great gray uniformity. The edges of the screen appear darker, which could be noticeable when displaying large areas of uniform color, like a web page. Luckily, there's very little dirty screen effect and the uniformity is much better in near-dark scenes.
Poor black uniformity, similar to the AOC CQ27G1. There's visible backlight bleed along the top and bottom of the screen, and there's no local dimming feature to improve the black uniformity.
The AOC CQ32G1 has impressive out-of-the-box color accuracy. There are two pre-set modes you can adjust the picture settings with: Game and Eco, which locks the brightness and color settings. We used the Game mode and most colors are fairly accurate, although some people might notice inaccuracies with the color red. The color temperature is a bit on the warm side and gamma follows the curve fairly well, but dark scenes are too dark, and bright scenes are too bright.
After calibration, the color accuracy is near-perfect. Any remaining inaccuracies aren't visible without the aid of a colorimeter. Gamma follows the curve better overall, but some bright scenes are still over-brightened.
You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and shouldn't be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model, due to manufacturing tolerances.
The AOC CQ32G1 has an outstanding SDR color gamut, even better than the AOC CQ27G1. It has near-perfect coverage of the sRGB color space used in most content and it has great coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used in photo editing.
Outstanding color volume. Thanks to its very good contrast ratio, it can display deep colors, and it can also display rich, saturated colors.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
As with most VA panels, the AOC CQ32G1 doesn't have any issues with temporary image retention or permanent burn-in.
Good gradient handling, although there's some noticeable banding in the darker shades, especially with black, red, and green.
Sadly, the AOC CQ32G1 has some minor vertical color bleed. It shouldn't be noticeable with most content, but it isn't ideal for photo editors.
The AOC CQ32G1 has good reflection handling. It performs exceptionally well in moderately-lit rooms, but it struggles with direct light on it, so it's best to avoid placing it opposite a window.
The text clarity is decent. It can be improved using ClearType (top photo), which makes the diagonal or curved lines on the letters R, N, G, and S clearer.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Weak | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Medium | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Strong | Chart | Table | Photo |
The AOC CQ32G1 has a mediocre response time, worse than the AOC CQ27G1 and most other 144Hz monitors. The best overdrive setting is 'Strong', but its response time is slow with this setting and it has some overshoot, resulting in noticeable motion blur. Set it to 'Medium' if you want less overshoot and don't mind a slower response time. If you want a similar monitor with a faster response time, check out the ASUS TUF VG32VQ.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Weak | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Medium | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Strong | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 60Hz is better than at its max refresh rate, but it's still mediocre. The recommended overdrive setting is 'Medium', so you might have to change the setting if your game's frame rate drops. The 'Strong' setting has a significantly slower total response time and more overshoot, so there's ghosting with fast-moving content.
The AOC CQ32G1 is flicker-free at all backlight settings, which helps reduce eye strain.
This monitor has a black frame insertion feature that helps clear up motion blur. To enable it, set the Response Time setting to 'Boost'. Luckily, the BFI feature doesn't dim the screen as much as on the AOC CQ27G1.
The AOC CQ32G1 has an excellent refresh rate. You can achieve its max refresh rate of 144Hz only over HDMI 2, as the refresh rate on the HDMI 1 input is limited to 85Hz. The monitor has native FreeSync support and it's G-SYNC compatible, although the latter only works over a DisplayPort connection. If you want a similar monitor with a higher refresh rate, check out the Gigabyte G32QC.
Incredibly low input lag, great for competitive gamers. The input lag slightly increases with VRR enabled, but most people won't notice this.
The 32 inch screen and 1440p resolution are great, providing enough space to open multiple windows at once for multitasking. Since its screen is bigger than the AOC CQ27G1, the pixel density is lower.
HDMI 1 supports HDMI 1.4 and HDMI 2 has HDMI 2.0 support.
The AOC CQ32G1 doesn't have many extra features. You can add a virtual crosshair on the screen for FPS games and it has a frame rate counter overlay.
