ASUS TUF VG27AQ Monitor Review

The TUF VG27AQ has the same style as most other ASUS gaming monitors. It has a square-shaped base with some red on it. It's designed as a gaming monitor but doesn't stand out in an office environment.

The stand supports the monitor well and prevents most wobble.

The monitor has excellent ergonomics, allowing for all common adjustments, so you can place it in a comfortable position with ease.

Simple design on the back. There's cable management through the stand, but there's no quick release on it.

The monitor's borders are thin and favor a multi-display setup.

The monitor isn't very thick, but like many ASUS monitors, the stand has a backward inclination, so the total thickness varies slightly depending on the height of the screen. The measurements are taken with the monitor placed at the bottom.

Good build quality. It feels slightly cheaper than the ASUS TUF VG32VQ, but is still solid and sturdy without any noticeable issues.

The contrast ratio isn't bad. IPS panels don't usually have good native contrast, and this one is better than most. If you want a similar model with a VA panel for a better contrast ratio, check out the TUF VG27VQ.

This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. The above video is provided for reference only.

The 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. If intense glare is an issue and you need a monitor that gets brighter, check out the Gigabyte M27Q.

Mediocre HDR peak brightness. There's no variation in brightness with different content, but it doesn't get bright enough to bring out highlights in HDR. If you prefer something that gets brighter in HDR, check out its successor, the ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A.

Great horizontal viewing angle, which is typical of an IPS panel. The image remains accurate when viewed from the side, so it's easy to share your screen with others.

Decent vertical viewing angle, but you lose some image accuracy if the monitor is mounted above or below eye level.

The VG27AQ has outstanding gray uniformity. The edges are a bit darker, but it's not noticeable with most content.

Passable black uniformity for a monitor, and it's much better than the PG279QZ and VG279Q, but this could vary from unit to unit. There's still some noticeable clouding throughout, which could be distracting when watching dark scenes.

The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has decent out-of-the-box color accuracy. Some people will notice the inaccuracies in some colors. The gamma doesn't follow the target curve closely and as a result, most scenes are darker. Since the color temperature is warmer than the target, the image has a slight red-yellowish tint. If you want a monitor with better out-of-the-box accuracy, check out the Lenovo Legion Y27q-20.

Superb color accuracy post-calibration. 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.

The TUF Gaming VG27AQ has an excellent SDR color gamut that covers most of the common sRGB color space, with okay coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space, which might not be enough for professional photo editors.

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.

The VG27AQ has a mediocre HDR color gamut, and can't display a wide color gamut for HDR content.

Mediocre HDR color volume. It's limited by its color gamut and the low contrast ratio, and can't deliver dark, saturated colors.

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 handling is excellent. There's some banding in darker shades, but this shouldn't be noticeable with most content.

Unfortunately, there's some noticeable vertical color bleed. This shouldn't be visible with most content, but it's not ideal for photo editing.

The TUF Gaming VG27AQ monitor has decent reflection handling. You shouldn't have any issues if your room has a few lights, but if you place it across a large window then the reflections can be distracting. This is similar to the Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD.

Text clarity is decent. It's recommended to turn on ClearType (top photo), as it significantly improves the appearance of diagonal lines, as seen on the R and N.

Fantastic response time at its max refresh rate. The best Overdrive setting, which is called 'Trace Free', is '80'. It has the clearest motion out of all the settings, but there's overshoot in some brighter transitions. If that bothers you, the '60' setting performs very similarly, with a bit less overshoot. If you want a 1440p monitor with a quicker response time, then look into the MSI Optix G273QF.

The VG27AQ has an okay response time at 60Hz. The best Overdrive setting is '0' as there's no overshoot and there's no visible ghosting with fast-moving objects like the other settings. Since this is different than the setting at its max refresh rate, you might have to change it when playing games at 60Hz. If response time at 60Hz is important to you, then check out the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ has a flicker-free backlight, which helps reduce eye strain.

This monitor has an optional black frame insertion feature to improve the appearance of motion. Unlike most monitors, this feature is available at the same time as FreeSync. The setting 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 can go up to 144Hz.

Note: Some websites advertise the VG27AQ with a 155Hz overclock instead of 165Hz. ASUS originally announced this model with a 155Hz overclock, but it was released with 155Hz, 160Hz, and 165Hz options. Some websites are still reporting the original information.