AOC Agon 4 Pro AG324UX: Finally in the big leagues

Details

I usually praise AOC in our tests for its great price-performance ratio, as the monitors we’ve tested so far have been aimed more at the lower to mid-range segment. Thus, there were usually a few compromises that the manufacturer made to keep the price attractive. The new AG324UX, however, is something entirely different. It is the first truly high-end gaming monitor from AOC in our tests to offer 4K at 144Hz, Adaptive Sync, HDR and USB-C.

Basic parameters


Packaging and accessories

The packaging of the new AOC monitor continues the trend of colourful and graphically interesting themes. Apart from the monitor itself, we can also see a few basic specs such as UHD resolution, 144Hz refresh rate or HDR support and the presence of a USB-C port.

The contents of the package (i.e. the panel itself and the accessories) are packed in a premium way in a separate box, which I like better than when the cables are just piled up between the polystyrene.With the monitor you get a manual with CD, HDMI and Displayport cables (both marked 8K), a cable with USB-C connectors on both ends,as well as a USB-C to USB-A reducer, then there’s a massive power adapter, a puck-shaped cable driver for menu control, a pair of cable grips and a screwdriver.

The stand got a new design, which is welcome, as we’ve seen the older version for quite a long time,
e.g. for models CU34G2X and Q27G2U. The new stand is thinner and has a small lift, which gives a premium impression.

The main part of the stand has undergone even more significant changes, it is much more robust. It has a metallic finish and red details, including a handle to carry the monitor by. I like that a lot.

You still don’t need any tools to connect the two parts of the stand and it’s just a matter of seconds.

The new stand hides one more interesting feature and that is a projector for displaying the logo on the table. We will show it in practice later in this article.

The rear side has also undergone significant changes. While it’s still plastic and black, the red lines have disappeared and the AOC logo has been replaced with the Agon gaming emblem. There’s no need to worry about the back being inconspicuous as the red lines have been replaced with transparent lines that will offer RGB lighting.

You might be interested in the gold contacts inside the VESA mount or at the end of the stand. These are for power and data transfer to the projector, and we’ve seen this solution on monitors that had a backlit stand. The gold quarter circle also tells us that the pivot will only be possible to one side,

   

What I commend the manufacturer for is the quick installation of the stand to the monitor without having to use any tools or screws.

A look at the front shows a bezel-less display on three sides with an average-sized chin that features the new red Agon logo. We can also see the new stand, which is certainly more attractive than the previous model.

The back side, as already mentioned, has undergone a significant change, and so far without being plugged into the wall we can’t see it in its full glory, but we’ll look at that in a moment.

The port selection has also improved significantly, offering up to four inputs, a USB hub and audio connectors, but let’s take it one step at a time. On the left we have the power adapter connector and the power button. Next up are two HDMI 2.1 inputs and one DisplayPort 1.4 input with DSC. New is the USB-C connector, which supports DisplayPort, data transfers and also 90W charging, so you can use it to connect your laptop with one cable.
Next to the USB-C connector is a pink microphone output. MicroUSB is used to connect a wired OSD controller. This is followed by USB Type-B to liven up the USB hub with four Type-A connectors, one of which supports fast charging. A pair of audio connectors for microphone input and headphone connection round out the lineup.

Worth mentioning is the presence of a KVM switch, which allows you to connect two computers to the monitor and control them with a single keyboard and mouse. Specifically, you connect both computers via video cables and USB to the monitor (one via USB-C and the other via USB Type-B), then connect the mouse and keyboard to the USB hub and change which computer you’re currently controlling when switching the video input.

A 5-position joystick is used to control the OSD menu, which is a significant step up from the 5 buttons previously used by the manufacturer. We’ll cover the joystick and menu options more on the next page.

The new stand offers a wide range of positioning options in portrait as well as tilt and pivot. Specifically, tilt is possible between +23° and – 5°, which are standard values.

You can adjust the height from 65 to 195 mm from the base. The top edge of the monitor thus moves from 488 to 618 mm from the table. The total height adjustment range is therefore 130 mm.

Rotation around the stand axis is possible in 20 degrees to either side.

The stand also offers the possibility of pivot, i.e. rotation to a vertical position. In the beginning we estimated that this would be possible only to one side, which was confirmed. The monitor can only be rotated clockwise.

Another interesting feature is a handy holder to put your headphones away when you’re not using them.

We’ve already mentioned that AOC has finally implemented RGB lighting, which was lacking on previous models. What’s backlit is a thin bar at the bottom of the front.

On the back, the previously mentioned transparent lines are backlit. There are a number of colours and effects to choose from, which we’ll mention when we look at the settings. Compared to other monitors, however, the backlight isn’t exactly high brightness, and what’s more, it gets even lower away from the centre, so that the lines on either edge are barely visible.

In addition to the RGB lighting, the monitor also has a tiny projector in the stand, which we showed during assembly. This can display the Agon logo on a pad, which looks spectacular, but you’ll probably be hard pressed to find a practical use for it.

The backlight bleed test turned out very well, except for a slight edge bleed on the top side, the backlight is more or less even and no significant defects are visible. It is therefore a significant step forward compared to other tested pieces from the manufacturer, and especially the last tested curved CQ32G2SE had significant shortcomings in this area. So the newcomer once again confirms that it has higher ambitions than what we have seen from AOC so far. We’ll measure the uniformity later with a colorimetric probe.


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