ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q Monitor Review

The ASUS XG279Q has a gamer-oriented design, with lighting on the stand and back. It has a unique tripod stand that's different than most ASUS monitors we've tested. It's well-built, has very thin borders, and has very good ergonomics.

The stand has three metal feet that feel heavy and support the monitor well. It takes up more space than the square-based stand on other ASUS gaming monitors, but there's still enough room to place things in front.

The ergonomics are very good. It allows for a wide range of adjustments, so it should be easy to place it in an ideal viewing position. You can rotate to portrait mode, but only clockwise.

The back panel of the ASUS XG279Q has an etched design with ambient lighting where the brand logo is. It offers cable management through the stand. It can be VESA-mounted, but there's no quick-release button to easily take off the stand.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has thin borders, which is great for a multi-monitor setup.

The screen itself isn't very thick, but the entire monitor takes up a good amount of space with the stand attached.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has a great build quality. The back panel and stand are both made of sturdy plastic, and the feet are metal. The stand is solid, supports the monitor well, and there's no noticeable wobble. The bottom bezel is a bit flexible, but this shouldn't be too much of an issue. Overall, it's well-made and there aren't any obvious problems with its structure.

Update 10/13/2020: We previously stated this monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We corrected the mistake and updated the review.

Like most IPS panels, the ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has a low contrast ratio, so blacks appear closer to gray when viewed in the dark. Surprisingly, the local dimming feature actually decreases the contrast. It's higher than the advertised 1000:1 contrast, but contrast may vary between units.

Update 10/13/2020: We previously stated this monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We corrected the mistake and updated the review.

The ASUS XG279Q has a terrible edge-lit local dimming feature. There are few vertical zones and it doesn't improve the contrast. In SDR, the zone transitions and uniformity are bad, and the local dimming effect is lighter and harder to notice in HDR. The setting to control the feature is called Dynamic Dimming and it can't be used with the Black Frame Insertion feature. It automatically turns on in HDR.

Update 10/13/2020: We previously stated this monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We retested SDR peak brightness with local dimming, but it didn't change the results.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has great peak brightness. It gets bright enough to combat glare, and its brightness remains very consistent across different content, which is great.

We measured peak brightness after calibration with Brightness set to max.

The ASUS Strix XG279Q has decent peak brightness in HDR. It gets bright enough to meet the advertised DisplayHDR 400 standard. It makes some highlights pop in HDR, but it's more noticeable in dark rooms than bright ones. It's fairly consistent across different content, except small areas don't get as bright. We measured peak brightness in 'ASUS Gaming HDR' Picture Mode.

As expected from an IPS panel, the ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has wide viewing angles. The image remains accurate when viewing from the side, which is good for co-op gaming.

It has okay vertical viewing angles. For the most part, the image remains fairly accurate if you mount the monitor above eye-level, but you may notice a loss in color.

It has excellent gray uniformity. The screen is uniform in the center with no dirty screen effect, but the edges are a bit darker. The uniformity is much better in near-dark scenes. Note that gray uniformity may vary between units.

Update 10/13/2020: We previously stated this monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We corrected the mistake and updated the review.

Our unit of the ASUS XG279Q has bad black uniformity, but this may vary between units. There's noticeable clouding throughout and backlight bleed along the edges. The entire screen looks blue-ish/gray. With local dimming enabled, the edges of the screen are darker but there's a lot more blooming around the center cross because of the large, vertical zones, resulting in worse uniformity.

It has great out-of-the-box accuracy. Most colors are only slightly inaccurate, and the color temperature is on the warm side, giving the image a red/yellow tint. White balance is a bit off, and gamma follows the target curve fairly well, except dark scenes are slightly too dark and brighter scenes are a bit too bright. Color accuracy may vary between units.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has remarkable color accuracy after calibration. Any remaining inaccuracies can't be spotted without the aid of a colorimeter. Gamma follows the target curve better than before calibration, but really bright and really dark scenes are still a bit too bright.

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.

Update 10/13/2020: We previously stated this monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We retested SDR color gamut with local dimming, but it didn't change the results.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has an outstanding SDR color gamut. It has perfect coverage of the commonly-used sRGB color space and good coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space used in photo editing.

Update 10/13/2020: We previously stated this monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We retested SDR color volume with local dimming, but it didn't change the results.

Exceptional color volume. The ASUS XG279Q displays a wide range of colors at different luminance levels, but it has trouble displaying dark, saturated colors well due to the low contrast ratio.

The ASUS XG279Q's HDR color gamut is good. It has great coverage of the DCI P3 color space used in most HDR content, but just okay coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space.

Note: The DCI P3 coverage is much lower than the advertised 95% coverage. This is normal and is due to the way we measure DCI P3. We measure DCI P3 by sending a Rec. 2020 signal, but unlike most reviewers, we limit the colors we're sending to the DCI P3 primaries. This results in a lower, but arguably more accurate measurement.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has a good HDR color volume. It can display a wide range of colors due to its wide color gamut; however, it can't display dark colors well because it has a low contrast ratio.

There are no signs of temporary image retention, but this may vary between units.

The ASUS ROG XG279Q has incredible gradient handling. You shouldn't notice any signs of banding with most content.

There are some signs of vertical color bleed, but you shouldn't notice it with most content.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has great reflection handling. It performs really well in moderately-lit environments, but the reflections may become too distracting if there's direct sunlight on it.

The ASUS XG279Q has good text clarity. It can be improved by enabling ClearType (top photo). This helps the appearance of diagonal and curved lines, as seen on the letters R, N, G, and S.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has a remarkable response time at its max refresh rate. Motion looks exceptionally clear with the overdrive setting set to 'Level 2'. There's a bit of overshoot in darker transitions, but it's less than the 'Level 1' and 'Level 3' settings. If overshoot bothers you, 'Level 0' has no overshoot but the response time is slower.

The ASUS XG279Q's response time at 60Hz is incredible. Unlike at its max refresh rate, the recommended overdrive setting is 'Level 0', so you may have to change the overdrive setting if the frame rate of your game drops. There's too much overshoot in the higher settings, resulting in ghosting behind fast-moving objects.

Update 02/1/2022: A user pointed out that the monitor appears to use pulse width modulation to dim the screen when playing HDR content. We tested it and found that the screen flickers at 240Hz whenever it's receiving an HDR signal with the white point set to less than 500 cd/m², even if the content itself is in SDR. This occurs when Windows HDR is enabled, as Windows sets the white point to a low level. This isn't an issue when playing games, as long as you set the white point in the game to anything above 500 cd/m². The flicker varies between local dimming zones, which can be very distracting. For example, if you're watching a video in HDR on one side of the screen and browsing the web on the other, the side of the screen playing the video will be flicker-free, whereas the other side will flicker at 240Hz.

The backlight is completely flicker-free when displaying SDR content, which helps reduce eye strain. Unfortunately, it flickers at 240Hz when playing some content in HDR, which can be distracting.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has an optional Black Frame Insertion feature to reduce motion blur. It's called ELMB Sync, and it works with VRR enabled, which most monitors can't do. However, with VRR and ELMB Sync enabled, you can't adjust the overdrive setting.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has a native 144Hz refresh rate that can be overclocked to 170Hz over a DisplayPort connection. G-SYNC only works over a DisplayPort connection, and over HDMI, the max refresh rate is 144Hz.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has an incredibly low input lag at its max refresh rate of 170Hz. Similar to the ASUS VG279QM, the input lag significantly increases at 60Hz. The refresh rate is limited to 60Hz in HDR over an HDMI connection, which is why it has a high input lag. BFI input lag was measured at 165Hz.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q has a great size, allowing you to open multiple windows at once. The high resolution helps deliver clear and crisp images.

Update 03/22/2021: We incorrectly listed that there was only one USB input, when there are two. The review has been updated.

The ASUS XG279Q has a ton of extra features:

• Lighting: You can set the bias lighting on the back panel and stand to different preset colors and modes. If you download the Aura Sync Utility software, you can synchronize its lighting effects with other Aura-compatible devices.
• Shadow Boost: Makes objects in dark areas more visible.
• GameVisual: Seven pre-set picture modes.
• GamePlus: Includes virtual crosshairs, FPS counter, and display alignment.
• Ultra-Low Blue Light Technology: Removes blue light to help reduce eye strain.

There are four buttons and a joystick on the back panel to control the on-screen display.

• Power cable, adapter, and cord
• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• USB 3.0 Type-B upstream cable
• 3x acrylic LED light covers for lighting on stand
• User manual
• Calibration report