AOC Q29630 29" UltraWide IPS LED Monitor Review

AOC's first attempt at offering an ultra-wide display is a mostly successful one. We applaud AOC for choosing an IPS panel over a cheaper TFT display. Sure, AOC could have offered consumers a lower price monitor by opting for a less expensive panel, but it would have sacrificed picture quality and, equally important, risked introducing anomalies on the edges from working with such a wide viewing angle. This is an area where IPS panels excel and it was obvious choice to run with one here.

Multitaskers benefit the most from a monitor like this, especially with the features AOC built into the panel, such as picture-in-picture (PIP), picture-by-picture (PBP), and a screen splitter function. With all that horizontal real estate to play with, AOC effectively delivers a dual-monitor experience in a space friendly package that's noticeably less bulky than most 30 inch monitors.

Not all is a rose garden, however. We ran into some thorns in our time with the Q2963PM, most notably in the form of missing features. There's no built-in USB hub, the included speakers are dreadful, you can only tilt the stand, there aren't any cable routing features, and this panel begs to be rotated into portrait mode for surfing the web, though it's not an option. None of these by themselves are deal killers, but collectively, they dampen our enthusiasm over an otherwise wonderful monitor.

Take note of our gripes and then decide if any those features matter to you. If not, the Q2963PM is an easy recommendation, especially in its very reasonable price range, for those who might be considering a dual-display setup.