Monitor test of AOC U32U1: when design is priority

Details

AOC design monitors, in collaboration with Studio F.A.Porsche, have grown by a new piece. Last tested Q27T1 attracted attention with its unconventional stand and the new U32U1 plans to continue this trend. However, it adds larger dimensions as well as resolution and wider positioning options. It also wants to show great color reproduction for graphic work and very solid port selection. But will its design be the only reason for purchase?

Basic specs

Packaging and equipment

The design box print shows the monitor from the front and back. An interesting feature is the ribbon that runs past the entire box.

The package contains everything you need and something extra. Of course, there is complete cable equipment, including a power adapter, HDMI and DisplayPort cables, and even a USB-C cable for connection to a PC. I can confirm that charging and transferring the image exclusively via USB-C works without problems. The monitor will therefore be an ideal addition to laptops with USB-C especially with Thunderbolt 3 and 4. The package also includes documentation, including measured values of display calibration.

In other reviews, in the next step after packaging, we show the stand and its assembly. Here, however, the stand is integrated into the body of the monitor, so you don’t have to assemble or screw anything.

The front profile is minimalist and elegant. The display has narrow frames, which we will show you in a moment. The integrated stand also allows the panel to be rotated sideways by up to 40 degrees.

When looking at the back, you can see a silver metal part, which is a kind of heart of the monitor. It connects the display and the stand and has a built-in port selection.

On the left side there is a pair of HDMI connectors, but only one of them is type 2.0 for 4K@60Hz. You will also find DisplayPort 1.4 and 3.5 mm audio connector.

The other side also offers USB-C with DP Alt Mode, untraditionally also Micro-USB type B, power connector and three classic USB type A with 5 Gbps transfer. One of them also offers faster charging.

The lower right corner of the rear also has a joystick to control the OSD menu.

A closer look at the connection between the base and the display shows how the cables are run and also a rotary joint for pivot, which we will show right away. The base also has a pair of 2 W speakers at the top.

The display offers 115 mm vertical flexibility. At the lowest point, 103 mm from the pad is the bottom edge and 515 mm the top edge. In the highest position, it is 218 mm high and the top of the display is 630 mm high.

In addition to the height, you can also adjust the tilt of the monitor from -3.5 to +18.5 degrees. Rotation to the sides is possible by already mentioned 40 degrees to both sides.

A closer look at the movement of the base and the stand shows that the base is a sort of guide rail in which the stand moves. The movement is very smooth, but you can stop it exactly at the height you choose.

The monitor also offers already mentioned pivot, but only to one side. Personally, however, I think that 32″ is quite a lot for comfortable use.

The U32U1 boasts a very elegant design with minimalist frames on all four sides of the display. So goodbye thick lower bezel, you’re obsolete.

The detail also shows how the display is fitted into the body and how slightly it protrudes.

The backlight bleed is minimal, and in the photo below there is an intentionally longer exposure time to see any at all.

Of course, as always, each panel is different and your piece can be better, but also worse. In the next chapter, we will also measure the uniformity with a color analyzer.

AOC design monitors, in collaboration with Studio F.A.Porsche, have grown by a new piece. Last tested Q27T1 attracted attention with its unconventional stand and the new U32U1 plans to continue this trend. However, it adds larger dimensions as well as resolution and wider positioning options. It also wants to show great color reproduction for graphic work and very solid port selection. But will its design be the only reason for purchase?

Setting options

The already mentioned joystick is used for navigation, which moves in four directions and can also be pressed.

When moving to the sides, you can quickly switch between inputs, turn on Eco or ClearVision mode, or adjust the volume.

When the joystick is pressed, the compact OSD menu is displayed, similar to Q27T1.

The OSD menu is clear and easy to use, but compared to other monitors, I found it a bit blunt. However, this is because the last few monitors have been gaming-oriented and those offer more features as standard than classic monitors.

AOC design monitors, in collaboration with Studio F.A.Porsche, have grown by a new piece. Last tested Q27T1 attracted attention with its unconventional stand and the new U32U1 plans to continue this trend. However, it adds larger dimensions as well as resolution and wider positioning options. It also wants to show great color reproduction for graphic work and very solid port selection. But will its design be the only reason for purchase?

Image properties

We tested the properties of the display using Datacolor Spyder5Elite. The display has an IPS panel with a diagonal of 31.5″ and an aspect ratio of 16:9 with the resolution of 3840 × 2160 px, anti-reflective surface and minimalist frames from all four sides. If my memory serves me right, this is the first piece I have encountered, where the lower bezel is no bigger than the other frames. 4K resolution is already my sweet spot, I’ve been using it since about 2016, and 32″ is a dimension where it really makes sense. Smaller 27″ 4K monitors need to be scaled to see something on a miniature desktop, and you lose the benefit of higher resolution. At 32″ you no longer need such large scaling and thanks to that you get more usable space, for example for multitasking. As this is not a gaming monitor, no form of frame synchronization is presented, but I can confirm compatibility with G-Sync, which I verified on Pendulum Demo. The refresh rate is classic 60 Hz. HDR is often a topic I criticize about monitors. This is the first piece to test that has VESA Display HDR 600, and thus a higher form of certification. The experience of HDR content is also better on this monitor than other tested pieces with, say, the HDR 400 sticker. Even so, it can’t be compared to OLED, which I’m unfortunately used to, and at least until the arrival of miniLED, I don’t expect any monitor in this area to amaze me.

We compared the display quality in the default mode, i.e. the one in which the monitor will be immediately after unpacking. On the manufacturer’s website you will find information on 135% sRGB coverage, 100% AdobeRGB and 98% DCI-P3, 1300:1 contrast and 600 nit brightness. Thanks to the IPS panel, you can look forward to better color reproduction and especially viewing angles than in the case of units with VA panels and especially TN. What values did we measure?

The colorimeter confirmed more than 100% sRGB coverage and added information about 90% AdobeRGB, 100% DCI-P3. These are the best values we have measured so far. So there are already two first places for this novelty from AOC. The monitor offers three Gamma modes – 1, 2 and 3. The measured values are 2.3, 2.1 and 2.5. The maximum measured brightness is 390 nits, which is less than the specified 600 nits. Probably the 600 is only available for HDR content. The maximum contrast was 710:1, which is also less than the stated 1300:1, but this is not unusual. The uniformity shows some difference, but not large at all, and especially in the black level test, the panel was within standards. So I wouldn’t be very thrilled about this.

But I was surprised that the monitor does not offer any dedicated sRGB/AdobeRGB/DCI-P3 modes, you can just select sRGB when choosing the color temperature…

The package also includes a calibration report on a much more expensive color analyzer than we use.

Input Lag and Response Time

We also measured input lag on the monitor in several Overdrive modes.

I also measured the input lag, the course of which was very unconventional. It moved from about 42 to 26 ms regardless of which Overdrive/Acceleration mode was used. I have never seen anything like it.

On the manufacturer’s website you will find information about 5 ms response time, i.e. the speed of pixel refresh rate. Due to the fact that it is a 60 Hz IPS panel, it can be expected that the ghosting will be larger than with VA and TN gaming panels. This was also confirmed in the UFO test, where Acceleration in Off mode and Weak mode have visible ghosting. The medium setting starts to show a slight inverse ghosting for the change, and in the Strong mode the inverse ghosting is already very visible. I would therefore recommend choosing the Weak mode, so that ghosting is at least slightly reduced, but you will avoid an even more undesirable inverse ghosting.

AOC design monitors, in collaboration with Studio F.A.Porsche, have grown by a new piece. Last tested Q27T1 attracted attention with its unconventional stand and the new U32U1 plans to continue this trend. However, it adds larger dimensions as well as resolution and wider positioning options. It also wants to show great color reproduction for graphic work and very solid port selection. But will its design be the only reason for purchase?

Conclusion

AOC U32U1 Design by Studio F.A.Porsche is another exclusive piece of hardware where attention was paid to its design, which results in my opinion as the most beautiful monitor on the market. Frameless design from all four sides, unique stand design with all positioning options and a beautiful 32″ 4K IPS display with great color reproduction, what more could you want? The port selection is also very solid and I especially praise the presence of USB-C along with charging, which will be appreciated by all owners of newer ultrabooks.

In tests, the U32U1 showed two faces. The first is the good one with excellent color reproduction and a clear focus on graphic work, design, photography, videos, etc. This monitor was made for this. At the same time, however, it proved not to be the most suitable for gaming, either due to the fluctuating input lag or intensive ghosting. However, this could be taken into account, as it is by no means a gaming monitor, but given that we are testing these features, I consider it important to point this out.

A slight dilemma is the VESA Display HDR600 certification, which should already offer a better experience than the HDR400 I have often criticized. I can say that HDR videos on YouTube looked nice, but on the black background you could see the transitions between the backlit zones, which are striped, as the monitor does not use FALD. The maximum brightness should be 600 nits, but in the tests we measured “only” 400, so 600 will probably only be for HDR content, which we unfortunately cannot measure with the color analyzer. Either way, it still doesn’t reach OLED or miniLED, but it’s definitely a step forward compared to the amounts of monitors with HDR400 displays.

I can vividly imagine the U32U1 on the desk of a designer in a modern graphic studio, or on the desk in a modern home. If you are looking for a monitor that you will not have to be ashamed of even in the living room, or if you are already sick and tired of tasteless black plastic monitors, the AOC U32U1 definitely deserves your attention.

You can buy this monitor at our partner’s website czc.cz for 21 999 Czk/815 Eur

• Contents
• Details
• Setting options
• Image properties
• Conclusion