Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 review

Two-minute review

We must give credit to monitors like the Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 that try their best to get away from the same old angular red-on-black trope that most gaming monitors seem to abide by. In fact, partnering with Porsche – yes, that Porsche – AOC has taken it to another level, adapting elements you would find in a racing car and incorporating them in a monitor that’s inherently built for speed.

Not that the type of speed the Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 delivers would require a racing roll cage, but the attempt at symbolism here is valiant – even if the design itself is probably not going to be the right fuel in everyone’s tank. At the very least, it’s a refreshing take on a gaming aesthetic that frankly has long needed an update.

Coupled with its impressive specs and performance, the Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 is a breathtaking gaming monitor that might just deserve a place among the best.

Of course, as it almost always is with non-homogeneous releases, this 1440p display does come with a hefty price tag – though not as hefty as you might think. At $799 (£719/AU$1,101), it’s actually in the mid-range, considering that many non-4K curved monitors with fast refresh rates will set you back $1,000/£1,000 or more. Taking into account its specs, features, design, and performance, it’s certainly a price we’d be willing to pay.

But back to its design… The Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 is a 27-inch VA panel that is bigger than most gaming monitors of its size. It has a bigger footprint, yes, which shouldn’t bother you unless you have a small desk, but it also feels larger than life at unboxing and perhaps a couple of days after set up. 

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Both are mostly due to its racing roll cage-inspired stand that juts out in the back and spreads out at the bottom. That stand doesn’t make it look clunky, however. AOC did a great job of keeping things sleek and classy while also sturdy and solid, much like a Porsche. It’s stable enough, in fact, that it stays in place when you’re swiveling and tilting it. So, it’s kind of disappointing that it can only swivel 15 degrees in either direction, tilt down 4 degrees, and tilt up 21.5 degrees.

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Something that might also disappoint some folks is the RGB lighting. Personally, we think it’s artfully done. It certainly keeps with the elegant aesthetic, illuminating the area under the monitor from the underside of the display as well as the back of the display from the top section of the stand. It’s attractive and customizable via the Light FX option in the OSD menu that offers 14 different modes, 4 different patterns, and 3 different light strengths. Plus, there’s also a light projecting downward that can be toggled to display either the “PD” logo or the name “Agon.” Still, it might not be immersive enough for RGB fanatics.

There’s a joystick on the back panel for the OSD menu, but to make the monitor’s operation more seamless, or at least easier, AOC has included a sleek wireless keypad that’s battery-powered. It allows access to the monitor’s control panel as well as shortcuts to settings like gaming modes. It’s a nice touch that certainly helps. However, it could have been designed better – the back panel is curved near the top so the keypad tilts forward whenever you’re pressing those buttons.

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The monitor has a decently powerful set of lungs: two 5W speakers with DTS support, and they sound great enough that you might not even want separate speakers unless you’re particular with your audio experience. Another great feature to mention are the several input options – two HDMI 2.0 ports and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports give users a chance to connect several devices for a seamless multi-device setup. That’s on top of the USB hub for attaching accessories.

With VA panels, you’re pretty much guaranteed great color reproduction and a higher brightness level, and the Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 doesn’t disappoint with 119% SRGB coverage, 550 nits of brightness, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 80,000,000:1. It’s not DCI-P3, but unless you plan on doing some hardcore color grading and photo editing, it’s more than enough for gaming and most computing tasks.

Same can be said about its 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution. While we are indeed fast heading towards a world of 4K viewing, and many are already future-proofing their rigs with 4K monitors, it’s not exactly necessary for gaming. So, unless you’ve got all the 4K trimmings inside a souped up PC that you want to take full advantage of, 1440p is more than sharp enough for your gaming experience.

Sadly, we’re really only getting Vesa Certified DisplayHDR 400, which is essentially the base level for HDR certification, but it’s something at least.

The Porsche Design AOC Agon PD27 proves that slow VA panels with poor viewing angles are a thing of the past. Besides its 240Hz refresh rate, this monitor also boasts a 0.5ms MPRT response time and a viewing angle of 178/178. Naturally, it’s also taking advantage of that VA panel to go for the curve with an impressively deep 1000R – something that only officially came out in 2020 – that works really well with this monitor’s 27-inch size.

These excellent specs are well-reflected in its performance. Red Dead Redemption 2 is incredibly smooth and has no glaring issues of latency or stuttering, even at Ultra settings. Better yet, the whole game looks glorious on it, with great colors and sharp image quality. That 1000R curvature is incredibly effective at making the gaming experience immersive – it draws you in, making everything else around you just fade away, which really helps you focus on the game. Same is true when playing with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and that’s also with everything turned all the way up.

There may be tiny stuttering here and there (though hardly noticeable especially when you’re focused on your game), but when its FreeSync Premium Pro support is turned on, it does an awesome job of eliminating those as well. 

This being a fast monitor, we naturally tested it with our favorite fast-paced game, Rocket League. It comes as no surprise that on it, the game is smooth as butter, clean and crisp without any signs of ghosting despite all the fast and erratic movements that are intrinsic to the gameplay. And, the colors are just as vibrant and stunning, making it an ideal monitor to play this game on.

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…