AOC CU34G2X/BK 34″ Curved Gaming Monitor Review

Guess whose back with another AOC gaming monitor review. This time I had the pleasure of trailing the CU34G2X/BK, yeah the name of the monitor is a bit wordy but I’ll roll with it. After using the AOC G2 series 27” gaming monitor last time round and absolutely loving it, I wanted to see what else the AOC range had to offer gamers. So with a few strings pulled and an impatient wait for the delivery man I finally received this monitor and put it to the test. For the time being its goodbye to my other monitor and hello to the AOC CU34G2X/BK 34” Curved Gaming Monitor and breath.

First Impressions

So if you read my last review on the AOC 27” you know that desk space was a bit of an issue so when you go and get a bigger monitor you kind of have to do some rearranging. Just one look at the box made it clear that the old desk clutter had to go; now this monitor sits on the desk like the centre piece of a museum or a crowning jewel. Again it came well packaged and there was no damage what so ever, taking the monitor out the box was a challenge in itself as the polystyrene case kept getting caught on the handles to the box, I’m not lying when I say this monitor was a two person job. Once removed from the box you had the cables that were neatly cable tied together and the paperwork that was in a little pouch but not going to lie these things weren’t the things I was interested in. The base and neck of the monitor were packaged securely and safely away from the monitor to prevent any accidental damage to the screen during transport but once you took the top section of polystyrene off you got to see the full beauty of the 34” curved monitor.

Like the 27 inch monitor the 34 inch monitor’s assemble was easy and quick, even more so seeing as I knew just what to do as both monitors were very similar when it came down to putting them together. I loved the frameless boarder on this monitor as it allows for the screen to go into each corner right to edges, again love the Black colour with the red segments it’s simple yet effective when it comes to the overall look of the monitor. It’s easy to adjust the height of the screen and also the angle, I like having it at max height and angling downwards it is the most comfortable position for me when I’m gaming due to not having a gaming chair and using a basic fold out chair. If I had an office or gaming chair then I would be able to adjust my height so the monitor wouldn’t need to be on such as the angle and height it is but for now it works perfectly.

Putting the cables into the back of the monitor is a bit awkward due to the size of the screen, I had to ask for help off the girlfriend when putting cables in and USB’s because I’m scared I will either drop it or the front legs would break. I’m sure they wouldn’t but it’s a paranoia of mine when it comes to monitor legs, as recently I accidentally broke one of the legs on my TV stand so now I have to wall mount it. This time round due to having a lot more space the front two legs aren’t getting in the way of my gaming mat and keyboard and everything can sit nicely on the desk, my little speakers just sit behind the monitor perfectly and I can even hide them if I put the monitor on its lowest height setting which makes the desk look not as cluttered. The only thing I miss from my old monitor is that the stand has a headphone holder so you can put your headphones on the holder and have them out of sight and just behind the screen whereas this monitor doesn’t offer that so the headphones sit on the desk, that’s not an issue really it’s just missing a luxury I had on my other monitor.

What Next?

So from the get go, I was more than happy with this monitor. Picture quality was fantastic and even more so now that I have my new PC having everything  running on max settings. Fortnite never looked so good and the same goes for Call of Duty Modern Warfare.  I find myself playing my PC even more now and even buying games that I already owned on PS4 because the image quality is so much better on the PC and this monitor makes a huge difference and allows for a lag free gaming experience. I experience no jittering while playing fast paced games and love that the screen is curved. I have found a recent fondness for curved monitors as I feel it helps with getting immersed with the games you are playing as the screen curves towards you making your field of vision focus more on the screen itself.

With the ports and USBs slots being located behind the monitor, it offers a clutter free desk and gives you the extra USBs port you might need for all the other peripherals you might have at home. I find myself drifting more to PC then ever nowadays and I think it is due to monitors like this that prove to me that over the last few years I have been missing out when it comes to having a perfect gaming setup, before I just had a standard monitor and a mid-ranged PC but when you upgrade to modern day Graphics cards and monitors I can see why people spend a lot of money on them because it does make the whole gaming experience ten times better. This time round I tested a few other games to see what they looked like on this AOC 34 inch Gaming Monitor and here is the verdict, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare looks gorgeous and the level of detail is phenomenal, Fortnite just looked more vibrant and crisp compared to the PS4 pro quality and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate looked like I was in London itself… Well back in Victorian London but you get my point, this monitor just tick all the boxes when it comes to the image quality and colour scale.

On the other hand my girlfriend might not like the fact that when gaming in the evening it’s like having a mini moon in the corner of the room. With the bigger display comes more light and with more light comes a very annoyed girlfriend who when trying to sleep doesn’t want to be in a lit room even when the lights are off but that being said I feel her pain when she watches YouTube and Crunchyroll through it and it keeps me up too. Though I get used to it and eventually nod off anyway.

Spec List

To go with the review, I ran a little test on a program called Monitor Test from Pass Mark Software. It is a cool little program that you install for free and when it runs it does a variety of different test to see how good your monitor is.

Please find some images below of the test results:

Here is a simple spec list for people who might just want the basic break down of the monitor:

Basic Spec

• Monitor size: 34 inch
• Resolution: 3440×1440
• Refresh rate: 144Hz
• Response time (mprt) 1ms
• Panel type: VA
• Brightness: 300

But if you liked to know everything about this monitor then please find below a full list of all the specs and information regarding this brilliant gaming monitor:

Screen Details

• Monitor Colour: Black
• Monitor size: 34 inch
• Resolution: 3440×1440
• Refresh rate: 144Hz
• Response time: 1ms
• Panel type: VA
• Freesync: 30-144
• Backlight: WLED
• Colour SRGB coverage: 119
• Flicker Free: Yes
• Aspect ratio: 21:9
• Brightness: 300
• Contrast (dynamic): 80M:1
• Contrast (static): 3000:1
• Pixel pitch: 0.2745
• Active Screen Area: 797.22(H) mm x 333.72 (V) mm mm
• Viewing Angle (CR10)
• Colours: 16.7 Million
• Bezel type: Frameless
• Weight without stand: 6.6kg
• Scanning Frequency: VGA/DP1.2/HDMI1.4: 30-160KHz (H) VGA: 50 – 146Hz (V) DP1.2/HDMI1.4: 48-146Hz (V)
• Adobe RGB Coverage (%) 88
• OSD Languages: EN, FR, ES, PT, DE, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL, CZ, RU, KR, CN (T), CN (S), JP
• Hard Glass: 3h

Connections

• Signal input: HDMI 2.0 x 2, Display port 1.2 x 1
• Display port version: 1.4
• USB: Yes
• USB Input: USB 3.0 x 4
• Audio input: Line in
• Audio output: Headphone out (3.5mm)

Features

• Curved screen: Curved
• Frameless design: Yes
• Height adjust: Yes
• Speakers: Yes

What comes in the box?

• HDMI Cable: 1.8m
• Display port Cable: 1.8m

Ergonomics

• Swivel: 30 degrees +2 degrees
• Tilt: 3.5degrees +1.5 degrees – 21.5 degrees +1.5 degrees
• Ergonomic height amount: 130mm
• Base removal: Yes
• Vesa: 100×100

Power

• Power supply: Internal
• Power Source 100 – 240V 50/60Hz
• Power Consumption On: 67 watt
• Power Consumption Off: 0.3 watt
• Power Consumption Standby: 0.5 watt

Dimensions

• Product Dimensions incl base mm x mm x mm: 528.2H x 808.4W x 237.4D mm mm
• Carton dimensions mm x mm x mm: 903(L)* 280(W)* 548(H) mm mm
• Net weight excl package kg: 8.1Kg
• Gross weight incl package kg: 12.7Kg

Conclusion

This monitor is designed for gamers of all levels, whether that is competitive or casual. If you’re in the market for a new monitor then look no further as I might have just found the one for you, with a price tag of £449.99 off amazon I believe that you are definitely getting your money’s worth. My original monitor is a 34 inches curved monitor and was cheaper than this one but I can tell just by playing the same games on it that if I had spent that little bit extra I would have whole different experience and to be honest a better picture quality. It has a pixel response time of 1ms which means speed without smear when playing games, 144Hz so that you can say goodbye to image stuttering and blurry motion and it’s ultra-wide. It offers the best quality visuals and gives the player extremely smooth gameplay and for those reasons I’m going to be lost without it when it has to go back in a few weeks. Maybe AOC will let me send them my other monitor back instead and keep this one but for now I’m going to have to give this monitor another perfect score or 10/10 as it ticks all my boxes for what I’m looking for in a gaming monitor as well as a flawless design.

Here is the link to the AOC website, which has more information on the stunning monitor: https://eu.aoc.com/en/gaming-monitors/cu34g2x-bk

If you are interested in buying this headset head here – https://eu.aoc.com/en/gaming-monitors/cu34g2x-bk

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