AOC has just unveiled its new C27G4ZXE 27-inch gaming monitor, which not only boasts some solid esports-centric specs, but also includes one really simple addition to help improve the lives of gamers on a budget and with limited space. Quite simply, it has a small stand.
This simple innovation means gamers have more space to move their mouse, as well as more room to reposition their mouse pad, keyboard, and mouse. There’s no guarantee that AOC‘s new display will be one of the best gaming monitors available, but its stand design is a simple little tweak that could tip the buying balance for some.
Specifically, AOC has thought about how gamers often like to pull their display forward and position their keyboard at a comfortable angle. The overall dimensions of the stand’s base are relatively small anyway, with it measuring just 177mm front to back and 280mm in width. Crucially, however, instead of being rectangular, the front corners of the stand are also angled back. This provides more room to position your peripherals as you please.
This is all in stark contrast to the many V-shaped stands we’ve seen on gaming monitors over the years. While this style of stand does admittedly look quite elegant, it’s impractical in several ways. Not only can the points of the V shape encroach on the space for your keyboard, mouse, and mousepad, but it can also be a pain to fit in and around the other items on your desk.
V-shaped stands can even make the display less steady. On some displays, if the end of just one of the V legs slips over the edge of the desk, the whole display will come crashing down. With a simple flat, square (or, in this case, oblong) stand, much more of the stand has to slide over the edge for the display to fall.
That may sound like a niche consideration but there are several instances where it can come up. Maybe you’re cleaning your desk or installing and setting up a display for the first time. Perhaps you’re packing it away for selling or moving your house, or rearranging the office. There are plenty of occasions where you can place a monitor down without full forethought or perhaps nudge into one.
Back to the C27G4ZXE, this display is remarkably similar to AOC’s other just recently announced 27-inch gaming display, the C27G2Z3/BK. Both sport a 1080p resolution with a 280Hz maximum refresh rate, and up to a 1ms gray-to-gray response time with a 0.5ms motion picture response time. The latter is achieved thanks to a backlight strobing blur reduction mode.
It uses a VA panel, which is traditionally considered the slowest-responding of the LCD panel types – so not normally ideal for esports – but those response time figures above suggest it’s a capable panel (we’ll have to test it to find out). Moreover, that VA panel gets you a high 4,000:1 contrast ratio that should result in this display producing deep blacks and providing a punchy, engaging image. Adaptive sync is also included to remove image tearing and stutter.
There is one downside to this display, though, which is that while its stand is compact, it doesn’t include height adjustment or any other adjustment than tilt. So, ironically, you may need to either use a monitor arm instead of the stand, or have to stack it on some books (or a monitor riser such as this one), to get it to your preferred height.
The AOC C27G4ZXE release date is in July 2024, and its price is £219.99 (~$225) in the UK. It’s not clear which other regions will be getting the new display, but hopefully it will make its way to US shores too.
In the meantime, if you’re unsure about which LCD monitor type is right for you, check out our IPS vs TN vs VA guide to find out more.