ASUS VG279QM  Monitor Review

The ASUS VG279QM has a very similar style to other ASUS monitors we've tested, like the ASUS VG279Q and the ASUS TUF VG27VQ.

Great build quality. Although it's mostly made of solid plastic, it has a sturdy stand and it feels solid.

The ASUS VG279QM has incredible ergonomics. The back of the monitor is plain, with a simple design and no RGB backlighting. There's no quick release, which is a bit disappointing, but it can be VESA mounted. There's a small space within the stand for cable management.

The stand is simple, with a small overall footprint, but it supports the monitor well.

The controls use a combination of a joystick and buttons. It's pretty easy to use, but not quite as good as pure joystick controls.

• User manual
• Power supply
• HDMI cable
• DisplayPort cable

Like all IPS monitors, the ASUS VG279QM has a low contrast ratio. This causes blacks to appear gray in a dark room. For better dark-scene performance, look for a VA monitor, like the ASUS TUF VG27VQ.

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

This monitor has great peak brightness, but it's not quite as bright as the ASUS TUF VG279Q. This monitor can easily overcome glare in a bright room. Unfortunately, the minimum brightness is high, so it's not a good choice if you're planning on using it in a dark room and are sensitive to light.

This monitor has decent peak brightness in HDR, with very little variation in peak brightness with different content. Sadly, it doesn't track the EOTF very well, as most scenes are a bit brighter than they're supposed to be. There's also a very sharp cut-off at the monitor's peak brightness, which causes a loss of fine details in bright scenes. These measurements are in the "ASUS Gaming HDR" setting, which is the brightest mode. The "ASUS Movie HDR" setting is about 30 nits dimmer on average.

The ASUS VG279QM has a Great horizontal viewing angle. Similar to the ASUS VG279Q, the image remains accurate even at a wide angle, which is great for sharing the screen with a few other people.

This monitor has a decent vertical viewing angle. Even if you're sitting up close, the top and bottom of the screen remain accurate.

This monitor has amazing gray uniformity. The corners of the screen are a bit darker than the center (this is known as vignetting), but the center of the screen is extremely uniform.

The ASUS TUF VG279QM has decent black uniformity. The screen is a bit cloudy in dark scenes, but there's almost no backlight bleed.

The ASUS TUF VG279QM has very good accuracy out of the box. The only noticeable issue is the gamma, which doesn't follow the sRGB target curve, resulting in most scenes appearing brighter than they should be. Yellows and greens are slightly oversaturated, as the sRGB mode doesn't do a good job clamping them to the sRGB color space. The color temperature is a bit cool, giving everything a slightly blue tint. Like most monitors, the sRGB mode locks out most picture settings, but it's the best choice out of the box, as the other picture modes are much less accurate overall.

After calibration, the ASUS TUF Gaming VG279QM has outstanding accuracy. Any remaining inaccuracies in colors or gamma aren't noticeable. The color temperature is very close to the calibration target, and colors are no longer oversaturated.

This monitor has an excellent SDR color gamut. It can display the entire sRGB color space used by almost all web content, but it has poor coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space. If you want a monitor with a wider color gamut, check out the Acer Predator XB273U GXbmiipruzx.

The ASUS VG279QM has superb SDR color volume. Due to the low contrast ratio, it can't display dark saturated colors very well.

The ASUS VG279QM has an okay HDR color gamut, but it can't display a wide color gamut, so HDR content doesn't look as life-like as expected.

This monitor has just okay HDR color volume. It can't display a wide color gamut, and like with SDR content, it can't display dark saturated colors very well.

The ASUS VG279QM has decent reflection handling, very similar to the ASUS VG279Q.

Like the ASUS VG279Q, this display has only decent text clarity, even after enabling ClearType (top photo). This is due to the relatively low pixel density.

The ASUS VG279QM has fantastic gradient handling, but some banding is noticeable. The image is a bit brighter than usual, as this monitor automatically switches to HDR when we send a 10-bit signal, and the brightness can't be adjusted in HDR.

The ASUS VG279QM has an extremely fast refresh rate. Unfortunately, the optional overclock isn't available over HDMI.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG279QM supports VESA's Adaptive Sync variable refresh rate technology. It's certified by NVIDIA as G-SYNC Compatible, which works with most recent NVIDIA graphics cards, and it also works with most FreeSync devices, but it's not certified by AMD. G-SYNC only works over DisplayPort, but FreeSync works over HDMI as well.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG279QM has an outstanding response time at the max refresh rate, resulting in extremely clear motion, with almost no motion blur behind fast-moving objects. Like most monitors, the level of overdrive can be adjusted, and we found that the '80' setting works best at the max refresh rate. There's a bit of overshoot in some scenes, especially when transitioning from a dark shade to a brighter one, but it's not very noticeable.

The response time at 120Hz is excellent, but it's not quite as good as at the max refresh rate. The '40' Overdrive setting delivers the best performance overall, as higher settings are actually slower overall. This is a bit disappointing, as you'll need to change your overdrive setting when gaming on a console at 120Hz.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG279QM has an excellent 60Hz response time, resulting in clear motion with only a bit of motion blur. This is much better than the Dell Alienware AW2720HF. The level of overdrive can be adjusted, but unlike at 280Hz, we recommend leaving it at '20' when gaming at 60Hz. Higher settings result in significant overshoot.

The ASUS VG279QM has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion (BFI), which ASUS calls "ELMB". Unlike the majority of monitors on the market, this feature is also available when the variable refresh rate feature is enabled. This setting is known as "ELMB Sync". The standard ELMB feature can only be enabled between 120Hz and 280Hz, but ELMB Sync can be enabled below that. Even though it can be enabled, we found that ELMB didn't do anything between 50 and 85Hz. If you want a monitor with a more customizable backlight strobing feature, consider the ViewSonic XG2431.

The backlight doesn't use PWM to dim, which is great.

The ASUS VG279QM has very low input lag, but only at refresh rates above 85Hz. Unfortunately, the input lag starts to increase at 85Hz and below, so it isn't an ideal choice for console gaming at low frame rates, as you'll notice delay.

The 1080p resolution of this monitor is decent, but it's not the best for multitasking. For a better multitasking experience and sharper text, a 1440p or 4k monitor, like the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG, is a much better choice. If you're looking for a similar 32 inch monitor, then check out the Samsung Odyssey G7.

Unfortunately, this monitor is limited to a 1080p native resolution, so it can't take full advantage of 4k gaming on the PS5.

Unfortunately, this monitor has limited compatibility with the Xbox Series S|X. 1080p @ 120Hz is only supported by manually enabling on the Xbox, which disables VRR, and HDR isn't supported at all for some reason.

The USB input is a service port that can only be used for firmware updates.

This monitor works fine with recent Macs. There are no issues with VRR or HDR support, and everything goes back to its original position when you wake it up from sleep mode.

This monitor has built-in speakers and there are a few additional gaming features, including a virtual crosshair, timer, and a frame rate counter.