- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Design
- Picture Quality
- Motion
- Inputs
- Features
- Sizes and Variants
- Compared
- Conclusion
- Discussions
| Design | 8.0 |
| Picture Quality | 7.3 |
| Motion | 9.3 |
| Inputs | 9.0 |
- Excellent ergonomics.
- Remarkably low response time.
- Outstanding low input lag.
- Can't display deep blacks in a dark room.
- Lacks a wide color gamut.
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Design
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ monitor's design is great. The stand supports the monitor well and prevents most wobble. It has excellent ergonomic support and you can easily place it comfortably on your desk. The build quality is good, even though it feels a little cheaper than the ASUS TUF VG32VQ.
The stand supports the monitor well and prevents most wobble.
The monitor has excellent ergonomics, which allow you to place it in a comfortable position with ease.
The back of the monitor is simple and less busy than the larger ASUS TUF VG32VQ. There's no RGB bias-lighting feature and no quick-release on the stand. There's a hole at the base of the stand that helps with cable management.
The monitor isn't very thick, but like many ASUS monitors, the stand has a backward inclination, so the thickness varies slightly depending on the height of the screen. The reported measurements are taken with the monitor placed at the bottom.
The VG27AQ's build quality is good. It feels slightly cheaper than the ASUS TUF VG32VQ, but is still solid and sturdy. We didn't encounter any issues while testing it.
Picture Quality
The VG27AQ's overall picture quality is decent. It has wide viewing angles, as expected for an IPS panel, and favors co-op gaming sessions. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of a lower contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray when in a dark room. This monitor has decent reflection handling and can get bright enough for most rooms, but it can't fight the glare of a very bright room. It has excellent gray uniformity which is great when you surf the web, and its image is pretty accurate out-of-the-box. Unfortunately, it lacks a wide color gamut and its HDR brightness is okay for most HDR games but not enough that the monitor can display bright highlights in HDR movies.
The VG27AQ's contrast is mediocre. This means that blacks will look more like gray in a dark room. However, this is expected for an IPS monitor, and in fact, the VG27AQ still performs better than many IPS monitors.
This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video is provided for reference only.
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ has good SDR peak brightness. It's suitable for most rooms, but might not be able to fight glare in a very bright room. There's no noticeable variation with different content, which is great.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ's HDR peak brightness is mediocre. It's bright enough for playing HDR games, but the monitor won't display bright highlights in HDR movies as it should. Once again, there's no brightness variation with different content.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has decent horizontal viewing angles, as expected for a monitor with an IPS panel. This is great if you want to play co-op games or share your work with a colleague, as both of you will enjoy the same accurate image.
This monitor has great vertical viewing angles. This means that if you sit up close, the image won't have uniformity issues at the top and bottom edges.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has outstanding gray uniformity. The monitor displays a uniform image without distracting clouding or darker spots in both bright and dark scenes.
The VG27AQ's black uniformity is mediocre, which means that when you watch very dark scenes in a dark room, you might notice some clouding. This isn't noticeable in normal content. Our unit had one of the best performances we've seen on an IPS monitor. However, this is unit-specific and might not be the case in yours.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has decent pre-calibration accuracy. Some people will notice the inaccuracies both in the grays and in some colors. The gamma doesn't follow the target curve closely and as a result, most scenes are darker. The image has a slight red-yellowish tint, which is explained by the warmer color temperature.
After calibration, the TUF Gaming VG27AQ monitor has excellent accuracy. Only a few of the remaining inaccuracies can be spotted by the trained eye without the aid of a colorimeter.
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.
s.RGB Picture Mode: Racing mode (calibrated)Adobe RGB Picture Mode: Racing mode
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has an excellent SDR color gamut that covers most of the common sRGB color space. However, the coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space, which is mainly used in professional photo editing, is just decent.
s.RGB Picture Mode: Racing modeAdobe RGB Picture Mode: Racing mode
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has excellent SDR color volume. The monitor displays rich, saturated colors in most luminosities. Unfortunately, it can't display dark colors well due to its low contrast ratio. Also, like most LED displays, very bright blues can't be displayed very well, but this shouldn't be very noticeable.
DCI P3 Picture Mode: HDR GamingRec. 2020 Picture Mode: HDR Gaming
The VG27AQ has just a mediocre HDR color gamut, and can't diplay a wide color gamut.
DCI P3 Picture Mode: HDR GamingRec. 2020 Picture Mode: HDR Gaming
The VG27AQ has only a mediocre HDR color volume. It's limited by its color gamut and the low contrast ratio and can't deliver saturated colors or very dark ones.
There are no signs of temporary image retention on our TUF Gaming VG27AQ. However, this can vary between units, so let us know in the discussions below if yours has any such issue.
The VG27AQ's gradient performance is excellent. Although some 8-bit banding is visible, especially in the darker shades, the overall performance is remarkable.
The VG27AQ has some vertical color bleed that you can see in the above photo. Thankfully this isn't very noticeable in normal use. However, it can be distracting if you use the monitor for applications where you regularly encounter patterns like the photo above. In these cases, the color bleed will be visible.
Motion
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has excellent overall motion handling. It has a very fast response time that displays fast-moving content with almost no blur, and a flicker-free backlight so there are no duplications. However, you have the option to insert flicker to improve the appearance of motion. The monitor has an excellent refresh rate and supports FreeSync for a nearly tear-free gaming experience.
| Trace Free | Response Time Chart | Motion Blur Photo |
| 0 | Chart | Photo |
| 20 | Chart | Photo |
| 40 | Chart | Photo |
| 60 | Chart | Photo |
| 80 | Chart | Photo |
| 100 | Chart | Photo |
The VG27AQ has an exceptional response time that displays fast-moving content with almost no blur trail. You can customize the overdrive level by adjusting the Trace Free setting. We recommend using level '40' as it gives the best combination of response time and little overshoot.
When the VG27AQ's BFI setting, 'ELMB SYNC', is enabled, it isn't possible to adjust the response time.
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG32VQ has a flicker-free backlight, which is great. It also has an optional black frame insertion feature, and unlike almost every monitor our there, this feature is available at the same time as FreeSync. The setting that controls this feature is known as 'ELMB SYNC'.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has an excellent native refresh rate and can be easily overclocked to 165Hz. It supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate technology and is also NVIDIA certified, for a nearly tear-free gaming experience.
Over HDMI, the VRR range at 1440p is < 20Hz to 144Hz.
Inputs
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has an excellent low input lag and can display great resolution on its 27" screen, allowing you to see more details of your game.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ's input lag is remarkable. Although the 60Hz input lag, used by most consoles, is slightly higher, it remains excellent even for competitive gamers.
The VG27AQ has an excellent resolution and provides you with a very good amount of screen real estate. It favors multitasking and allows you to see more details of your gaming arena.
Features
The VG27AQ has very few additional features to improve your gaming experience. The controls are on the back and it might take you some time to get used to, but nothing too serious.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ gives you the option to add a timer to your game but has no more additional features to enhance your gaming experience.
The controls are located behind the right side of the monitor and will take some time to get used to, due to the combination of fixed buttons and a directional control.
Differences between Sizes and Variants
We tested the 27" ASUS TUF VG27AQ, which is the only size available for this model. There are other TUF Gaming models available, some of which are listed below. We do not expect our review to be valid for the other models.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their VG27AQ doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Refresh Rate |
| TUF VG32VQ | 32" | 1440p | 144Hz |
| TUF VG27AQ | 27" | 1440p | 165Hz |
| TUF VG27BQ | 27" | 1440p | 165Hz |
| TUF VG35VQ | 35" | 3440x1440p | 100Hz |
| STRIX XG32VQR | 32" | 1440p | 144Hz |
The TUF VG27AQ we reviewed was manufactured in July 2019.
Compared to other Monitors
The ASUS TUF VG27AQ is an excellent gaming monitor, and outperforms many other 27", 1440p VA monitors we've tested. See also our recommendations for the best gaming monitors and the best 1440p gaming monitors.
The ASUS TUF VG27AQ is somewhat better than the LG 27GL850-B. The ASUS has a faster refresh rate that makes motion look smoother, and better ergonomics to help you place it comfortably on your desk. It supports a black frame insertion (BFI) feature that helps improve the overall appearance of motion and can also deliver more uniform blacks. The LG, on the other hand, has a faster response time, so fast-moving content has almost no blur, making the lack of BFI not an issue.
The ASUS TUF VG27AQ is a bit better than the ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q. Both monitors deliver the same excellent gaming experience and are among the best we've tested so far for gaming. The TUF supports FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, while the ROG supports G-SYNC VRR. Their difference in overall performance is mainly due to the HDR support that the TUF provides and due to its faster refresh rate that helps motion look smoother.
The ASUS TUF VG27AQ is somewhat better than the Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD. The ASUS' refresh rate is faster, which helps motion look smoother. The ASUS also has better ergonomics, which is important if you often move your monitor around as you can quickly position it comfortably in the new location. Finally, the ASUS delivers more uniform blacks, although neither of the two monitors can display deep blacks in a dark room due to their IPS panels.
The ASUS TUF VG27AQ is much better than the Acer Predator XB271HU. The TUF supports HDR and has a faster refresh rate that improves the appearance of motion. The TUF supports FreeSync for nearly tear-free gaming, while the Predator supports G-SYNC for the same purpose. The TUF has better reflection handling, which is great for a room with a few more lights, and can also display more uniform blacks in a dark room. However, neither of the two monitors can display deep blacks in a dark room due to their IPS panels.
Conclusion
The VG27AQ is a great monitor for mixed use. This monitor has great resolution and size, a very low input lag, wide viewing angles, and excellent ergonomics. It's a good choice if you often share your screen either for work or for a co-op gaming session, or even for watching multimedia content together with a friend. It's more suitable for an average-lit room as it can't get very bright and can't display deep blacks in a dark room.
The VG27AQ is an impressive monitor for office use. It has great resolution and size and favors multitasking. You can easily share your work with a colleague thanks to the excellent ergonomics. The wide viewing angles ensure that you will both enjoy the same accurate image. It can get fairly bright to fit most rooms, and thanks to the decent reflections, a few more lights shouldn't be an issue.
The VG27AQ is an outstanding monitor for gaming. The input lag is remarkably low and the great resolution and screen real estate allow you to see more details of your gaming arena. Fast-moving content has only minimal blur trail and the excellent refresh rate ensures smooth motion. Finally, the monitor's exceptional ergonomics make it easy to position it comfortably on your desk.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ is an impressive monitor for consuming multimedia. It can display most content at its native resolution, due to its excellent resolution and large size and thanks to the low input lag the monitor feels very responsive to your actions. It has decent reflection handling and wide viewing angles so you can enjoy a movie with a friend in a room that has a few more lights without issue.
The VG27AQ is a great monitor for creating media. The large size and great resolution allow you to see more of your work on the screen and the excellent ergonomics make it easy to place the monitor comfortably. The wide viewing angles allow you to collaborate with a colleague sitting next to you, while both enjoying the same accurate image. Finally, you can stay assured of a responsive editing experience due to the monitor's remarkably low input lag.
The TUF Gaming VG27AQ is a decent monitor for playing HDR games. It has a mediocre contrast ratio so blacks in a dark room look more like gray and there's no local dimming feature to improve this. Its HDR brightness is okay for most HDR games but unfortunately, it lacks a wide color gamut to deliver vivid colors in your games. On the upside, the input lag is outstanding and your gaming experience will feel very responsive.
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