AOC Gaming Outs A Blazing-Fast 25-Inch FreeSync Monitor For Competitive Esports Players
For gamers who have a need for speed, Agon by AOC is answering the call with a new 24.5-inch monitor that pairs a 1920x1080 resolution with a zippy 240Hz refresh rate. The 'AOC Gaming 25G3ZM/BK' also boasts a low 1ms gray-to-gray response time (0.5ms if using the MPRT standard) and is certified as a FreeSync Premium display.
In case you missed AMD's rebranding effort a couple of years ago, FreeSync Premium is the middle of three FreeSync tiers (wedged in between FreeSync and FreeSync Premium Pro). To qualify for a FreeSync Premium badge, a monitor must be capable of at least a 120Hz refresh rate at 1080p and it has to support low framerate compensation. More generally speaking, it also has to deliver a tear free, low flicker, and low latency gaming experience.
The 25G3ZM/BK hits those marks with the aforementioned vitals. It's built around a flat VA (Vertical Alignment) panel with a 3,000:1 static contrast ratio, 80,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 nits brightness, and 178-degree viewing angles (vertical and horizontal).
As for the image quality, we haven't seen or tested this monitor in person so we can only speak to the specifications. In that regard, AOC is claiming it delivers 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space, and 92 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. Wide color gamuts are typically associated with superior image quality, though they don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. Color accuracy can only be ensured through calibration in the environment where it will be used.
"The AOC Gaming 25G3ZM/BK offers a great proposition for gamers upgrading their PCs to jump right into the heat of online competitions and ranked matches. The ideal 24.5-inch size lets esports gamers and enthusiasts focus on the entire screen at once compared to larger 27-32 inch displays, ensuring they won't miss a single target in their peripheral vision," AOC says.
Gamers can dispute the size claim, though in terms of resolution, 1080p is popular in the esports community because it's less demanding on the GPU than 1440p or 4K. The upshot is being able to push more frames per second.
AOC is also targeting console players with this release, though it opted for a pair of HDMI 2.0 inputs instead of HDMI 2.1 (which is fine for the resolution and refresh rate). There's also a DisplayPort 1.2 connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Look for the AOC Gaming 25G3ZM/BK to be available in the UK this month for £189.99. There's no mention of when it will launch in the US and other territories.
