Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDM review: For those who crave a gorgeous OLED and high refresh rates for gaming

I've been using the ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM as the primary display of my gaming setup for about a week now, and it's easy to see why the enthusiasts in the community are raving about this monitor. Not only is it packed with a ton of great features that you'd want in a high-end monitor, but it also one-ups the competition by improving upon some of its weaknesses. The ROG Swift OLED 27" is a fantastic gaming monitor that is sure to elevate both your setup and your gaming experience.

About this review: This product was loaned to us by Asus for review. The company did not have any input in this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Pricing, availability, and specs

Has been around for a while

Asus has just launched this particular monitor in various markets, but it's been around in the U.S. for quite some time now, and is readily available to purchase from various retailers. In fact, it's also seeing some discounts at the moment, so you can grab one for around $810. While that's on the expensive side of the spectrum for gaming monitors, it's still a pretty good price for a high-end OLED monitor that brings plenty of solid features to the table.

Design and build quality

Striking ROG aesthetics for gamers

Asus has exceptionally well-designed hardware in its ROG lineup for gamers, and the Swift OLED PG27AQDM gaming monitor is no different. It distinguishes itself in the design department with a few elements that are exclusive to ROG monitors. The tripod stand itself makes it look very elegant, in my opinion, although the soft underglow that projects the ROG logo on the surface underneath it really seals the deal for me. There's another ROG logo on the back of this monitor that lights up, except it looks even better as it glows like Asus' AniMatrix on ROG laptops. The back of the monitor surrounding the AniMatrix display seems like a good place to put speakers, but this particular model doesn't have any. That's right, the PG27AQDM monitor lacks built-in speakers, meaning you'll have to rely on externals sources for audio.

Asus has exceptionally well-designed hardware in its ROG lineup for gamers, and the Swift OLED PG27AQDM gaming monitor is no different.

The ROG Swift OLED monitor has a frameless design, further adding to its overall appeal. I also like how incredibly thin the panel is, and yet it feels quite sturdy. The front panel is coated with a subtle, anti-glare microtexture that not only makes it look and feel great, but also reduces the incoming glare very well. The material used for the chassis is also finely textured, and it feels really great to touch. Another unique aspect that's worth pointing out about this monitor is that it features a 1/4-inch thread on the top of the stand if you want to mount a camera. It's thoughtful extras like this that make all the difference in the world, and they truly make this monitor feel like a premium product.

The included stand is an absolute joy to use, and it has impressive height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustability. You can even rotate the display a full 90-degrees for a vertical setup if that's something you want to do. If I were to complain about one thing, though, then it would be the fact that its stand takes a lot of space on the desk. I've used relatively bigger monitors — including some ultrawide monitors — that have more compact stands, taking up less space on the desk. This could potentially be a deal-breaker for many who may not have a desk that's too deep. Yes, there's a VESA mounting option should you feel the need to use it with a monitor arm, but it's something to keep in mind.

Connectivity

The usual selection of ports

There is nothing to write home about the port selection on the ROG Swift PG27AQDM gaming monitor, but you do get everything to cover the basics. It sports two HDMI 2.0 ports, a single DisplayPort 1.4, a couple of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's not an exciting selection because you're limited to HDMI 2.0, which locks the monitor to 120Hz. Similarly, there's no future-proofing with DisplayPort 2.1 port either, which is commonly seen on a lot of other high-end monitors out there on the market. None of these are deal-breakers, so to speak, but they would've been nice additions to a premium gaming monitor that costs upwards of $800.

Display

What you're here for

The overall panel quality on the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM is great, and it easily ranks among the best OLED monitors out there. The highlight of the monitor is the brightness, really, and it shines brighter than the likes of the LG UltraGear OLED, which also uses the same panel as the Asus one. This is one of the improvements that Asus made to one-up the competition, and it pays huge dividends to make this panel standout. It's rated for SDR brightness of up to 450 nits, while the HDR peaks at 1,000 nits. Being an OLED panel, the PG27AQDM also has great contrast ratios, so it essentially has you covered on both brightness and the contrast front.

The PG27AQDM monitor also comes color calibrated out of the box, resulting in a color difference delta of less than 2. It also covers 97% of the DCI-P3 and 91% AdobeRGB in SDR, and the sRGB mode on this monitor is fairly accurate for those who want to use it for content creation. HDR color accuracy is not very great, but it still makes all the visuals look great while consuming media and playing games with the default mode.

The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDM offers a fantastic HDR experience, especially in media and games that take full advantage of it. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 and the newly released Horizon Forbidden West look particularly great with HDR enabled. And what truly sets it apart is the 0.3ms response time, too, making it quicker than even the fastest LCDs out there. Pair the incredibly fast response time with a super high refresh rate panel, you get stunning motion clarity on this ROG Swift monitor.

The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDM offers a fantastic HDR experience.

Notably, the monitor also supports Adaptive Sync, allowing you to use G-Sync or FreeSync depending on the GPU you have on your PC. Not only is it great for experiencing high fidelity HDR titles, but it is also a solid pick for those wanting to compete with the best esports titles like Valorant and Apex Legends, too. There's a lot to like about this Swift OLED gaming monitor, and I'm glad it delivers an excellent gaming experience, combing great motion clarity and stunning HDR quality in the OLED space.

Features

Lots of useful features to maintain and improve the monitor

The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM offers a lot of features which are easily accessible via the on-screen display (OSD). You can reach the OSD using the two-axis joystick that's located at the bottom rear. There are a handful of OLED protection features, including pixel cleaning that shows up in the form of a notification every eight hours of consecutive use. Notably, you also get automatic screen saver, along with static screen detection which automatically dims static areas of the screen to prevent burn-in. I haven't noticed any signs of image retention so far, but it's recommended that you take advantage of the burn-in protection features to ensure your OLED panel remains in a good shape for years to come.

Asus has also cooked a program called the 'DisplayWidget Center,' which essentially lets you control all the settings of your monitor from your desktop. This includes the aforementioned OLED protection features, too, so it's a solid addition that's worth hooking up the included USB-B cable for. It's not a necessity, though, as the joystick to summon the OSD is very easy to use and gives you instant access to all the features you'll ever need.

Should you buy the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM gaming monitor?

You should buy the Asus PG27AQDM if:

• You want one of the best OLED monitors to experience rich and vibrant colors.
• You're after a fast and responsive gaming monitor for competitive games.
• You don't mind splurging, and also maintaining your monitor with good care.

You should NOT buy Asus PG27AQDM if:

• If you can't deal with the OLED woes and want long-term reliability of LCD panels.
• You're on a tight budget, and don't want to spend too much on a 1440p gaming monitor.

A drop-dead gorgeous monitor that delivers a solid gaming experience.

The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDM is not easy on the wallet, coming in at upwards of $800, but there is a lot to like about it that makes it one of the best in the OLED space. It's a drop-dead gorgeous monitor that delivers a solid gaming experience with an incredible contrast ratio, great viewing angles, vibrant image quality, high refresh-rate, and more. It also looks and feels like a premium monitor, and delivers some great features to reflect its price tag.

That being said, there are plenty of other great monitors in the 27-inch size range, so you'll be spoiled by choices while shopping for 1440p monitors. The MSI MAG 271QPX is also a great QD-OLED monitor to consider if you want something that costs a tad less. And if you are not able to cough up so much for a gaming monitor, then you can always turn to a more traditional LCD monitor to keep the price low and get comparable specs.