ASUS ROG Swift PG279QM 27″ 16:9 G-SYNC 240 Hz QHD HDR IPS Gaming Monitor

The PG279QM is the best display I’ve owned and was worth every penny.

– Pros:
• fantastic, detailed picture
• best in class colors
• the native g-sync module flawlessly handles changes in frame rate. New World at 1440p and max settings (for example) will regularly swing between 60 and 125 fps depending on what’s going on in the game at that moment. The PG279QM is silky smooth and can handle such drastic swings in FPS without showing any immersion breaking tears, lag or stutters.
• you can fully edit brightness and all display settings when in sRGB mode
• Surprisingly bright for just HDR400
• ASUS Aura Sync ARGB compatibility

-Cons:
• there is noticeable backlight bleed on all black screens (such as when you turn on the monitor). Turning off the variable backlight setting can get rid of this, but it hasn’t been a big issue for me.
• HDR400 with 16 local dimming zones isn’t true HDR. You’re not going to get an OLED or FALD IPS experience here.

Summary: if you want best in class refresh rate but don’t want to sacrifice on image or color quality, look no further.

Negatives:

I came from the Dell s2417dg monitor which had notoriously terrible color banding, and the Asus Pg279qm does not do much better in my experience. I could not believe my eyes when I saw some videos, pictures, and games exhibit this flaw. It is most apparent in darker shades of colors. I am too lazy to post pictures, but in the game Valorant, when I look at the walls in the map Haven, I see gradient banding that I never noticed before on my old monitor. In some instances of watching videos and playing games that has darker shades of the sky or shadow, I start seeing a posterization effect, and is as annoying as it was on my Dell.

Next thing I want to talk about is contrast. Contrast is very meh, but it is expected of IPS technology of todays. What is annoying however is that the contrast on my unit is lower than advertised. I have calibrated it with a colorchecker display pro, and the best contrast I could achieve was 970. Now, it is very close to its advertised 1000 ratio, but this is a setting that goes a long way even if it’s a 30 number difference. Also, on the Lagom black level test, this panel was unable to separately display the difference between the 3 levels of blackest boxes. This leads to a bit of crushed blacks in all content, but it is something I can tolerate because it is not as bad as my Dell. The only way to see all boxes on the Lagom test is to use the black level boost function in the osd settings, but it washes out the image at its max level. I really wish this display had a better contrast, even if it’s only by a bit.

When it comes to the HDR400, I don’t think it’s good or even functions because of the terrible local-dimming. Most notorious reviewers say it’s bad, so don’t buy this expecting anything out of its HDR.

Lastly, I want to mention text clarity and. It is bad. Like I couldn’t focus my eyes on any text at the panel’s native resolution at 100% scaling. I did not have this problem with my Dell once again. And I have to mention that my vision is not bad by any means as my optometrist tested that it is only a little off from 20/20. There is a workaround for this problem, and it is to use windows Cleartype fuction, along with windows 150% custom scaling. Text is much better after the change in settings, and my eyes can finally relax.

Positives:

-Great color coverage, a definite upgrade over my Dell. Proper sRGB mode that will please the creators that need it. One of the widest wide gammut monitors available right now.

-Native Gsync module. No clear noticeable overshoot/ghosting in any games I’ve played. But according to Hardware unboxed, in the 165-200 range of fps, overshoot rates are higher. I don’t play my games at those refresh ranges, so I can’t comment on this.

-Response time and input-lag are very good; I noticed the difference coming from my Dell.

Final Thoughts:

Nvidia’s RLA feature is something that I don’t use because I play my competitive games at low settings anyways to ensure the lowest amount of latency and stutter while retaining consistency in image smoothness. I say this because this monitor’s price is definitely influenced by the inclusion of this feature and Gsync. If you do not care about RLA and Gsync, while also finding the annoyances I mentioned above to be too much, I recommend looking at the Asus Xg27aqm or the Acer XB273U GXbmiipruzx as those two are on average 300USD cheaper than this monitor while still having 240/270hzOverclock/1440p resolution. Since I never tried what I suggested above, I can’t guarantee you won’t run into the same negatives I mentioned at the beginning of the review.

PS: my unit came has 1 stuck pixel and a noticeable backlight bleed on one corner and it’s got me really thinking about returning it. With the 900USD msrp, I really expect better quality control.

BACKGROUND 101: I needed two really good displays. I spent a great deal of time researching for one that could multitask with the best of them without breaking the bank (needed two!). I wanted something that could keep up with gaming (240hz), resolution (2k), and could photo edit (100%+ sRGB, 100% adobe RGB). HDR was a nice-ity, this one happened to have that too. I could not find many things I did not like about this monitor (more on that later).

My DISAPPOINTMENT: I saw the price and my reaction was, “wow! that’s really good for this monitor.” I quadruple checked to ensure it was not used or refurbished. Not seeing ANY indication they were, I punched the buy button for two.

MY SURPRISE: Days later they arrive. Unpacking them my immediate reaction was, these are used! I could tell right away just from the packing. Then I saw the dreaded stickers that says “Thanks to you, this product has a second life.” I have KNOWINGLY purchased used products before but there was ZERO notification when I purchased these – I know as I quadruple checked. I don’t have the sharpest vision, but I’m not blind – so where was it hiding?

SAGA CONTINUES: My initial impulse was to send them back but the price was good (not great, $505), especially for two. I’d give them a try. Any issues and I’d send them right back.

SURPRISE CONTINUES: The first display I unpacked. It was clearly a purchase and return. Set it up and there were no issues. Worked great. It was a keeper.

THE REASON FOR 3 STARS: But the second one…one word to describe, “gross.” Apparently, some kind of floral cleaning fluid had the pleasure of soaking the entire side of the box. Unpacked it and the pleasure continued. It had sat so long in this fluid that it had permeated that entire side of the box even to the components inside. It had sat so long that the screws on the base of the display stand rusted. Oh, how much fun it was to peal all the sticky, floral wrappings away from the box, foam, and components.

Come on Amazon, SOMEONE, ANYONE could have taken a few minutes to clean it up before you mailed the sticky, floral mess to a loyal customer. No excuses. A customer should not have to deal with this nasty. One of few times I have been disappointed by the big A. By the end, I nearly vomited from the floral smell that still haunts me. It was caked on and required many washings to get it all off and it still smells!

SILVER LINING: The sticky, floral cleaner mess was isolated to that side of the box only. Plus, I was mounting the displays onto adjustable arm monitor mounts. But I always think future resell. The display stand cleaned up for the most part, except for the rust. That and the box is unusable. I wouldn’t keep it anyway just because of the vomit inducing smell. Other that that, the monitor was for all intents and purposes brand new. So, also a keeper.

WHAT YOU PROBABLY CAME HERE FOR: The displays are as good as they say they are from any of the other reviews you’ve probably read and watched. They do have built-in speakers, but might as well not. Only good for notification sounds. I would not use them for gaming or any serious listening.
The display does not have the best blacks either. When the monitor is idle in a dark room, the black looks more gray than black. These aren’t on par with the black of OLED but they also don’t cost the same. That also means the contrast isn’t the best either.

Overall, I would recommend as they are near perfect for what I was looking for. But Amazon, EPIC FAIL!

I bought the PG279QM as a replacement for my PG279Q. The display on the PG279QM does look a lot better in my opinion. The colors are richer and the blacks are darker. Gameplay looks really good and very smooth. The viewing angles are ok but you might notice a slight drop in quality from different angles, depending on what you’re looking at. The very edges and corners of the screen are slightly dimmer/ darker. This gets worse depending on the angle. However I believe this issue is common with similar panels and I’ve read a handful of reviews that mention the same thing with this model, including in their replacements. So I think it’s normal for the PG279QM but a downgrade from the previous PG279Q. The PG279QM menu buttons are easy to use but very clunky, which is a downgrade from the PG279Q. As for backlight bleed, my first unit had pretty bad BLB but I ordered another one and the second one is great. BLB is barely noticeable, only a very slight glow. Overall, it’s a nice monitor. Is it worth $900? Probably not. It’s a premium price for a mostly standard experience. Some things are better than the PG279Q but some things are worse. I’m going to keep it because I need the monitor. I’m happy with the specs and I’m mostly satisfied with the overall experience but the overall quality absolutely needs improvement to justify the price point. Also, if you’re reading reviews, make sure to verify which model they’re for because sometimes the reviews show ratings for different monitors.

One decade the QC on monitors will be great. This is not that decade. I’m ordering another one though bc it really is better than the 165hz that I have and averages 15ms response times.

Edit 1: I just sent back the second monitor. This time there was a pixel that refused to display blue. It was fine on red, green, black and white. Blue scenes would just display a black pixel tho. Quality control, when? I’ve ordered a third one….sigh

Edit 2: I’ve purchased 3 and all 3 have had at least one pixel issue. I’m giving it a break for a while. This is horrible quality control. 1 dead pixel and 2 stuck pixels. 3 monitors total. I’m giving amazon a break on dealing with the returns. Yikes.

Pros: Colors are incredible, extremely crisp and responsive. Best all around monitor I’ve ever purchased. Would definitely buy another.

Cons: I’m not a huge fan of the monitor stand. It can get in the way of my mouse(I like to have a lot of room because i play on low sensitivity). However, the monitor rotates/swivles so I’m able to adjust.

Overall Review: Really great gaming monitor. The IPS and 240hz refresh rate really make this monitor shine. Colors are very vibrant. Minimal blur on the ufo test.

Washed colors, grainy coating. Not worth the premium price.

The Pg279qm is the right monitor for everyone. The colors are excellent, no backlight bleed and no dead pixels. This technology is 2 years old and other companies can’t compete. The pixel response time is so superior to all the other monitors I have returned (aw2723df, Benq Ex270qm, acer ED271U) it’s ridiculous and with that comes amazing montion clarity. You won’t be disappointed trust me.

A week after I built my new gaming pc I accidentally cracked the screen on my Asus Rog Swift PG279Q , the 2015 model of this line. Made the mistake to cheap out and replace it with another monitor for less than half the cost of this one, won’t say which one but it only took a day to realize you get what you pay for. Returned it and paid the price to go with the upgraded version of what I had and am very pleased. The cheaper monitor didn’t have a dedicated G-Sync module as my 2015 model had as well and it definitely makes a big difference from a software induced g-sync compatible IMO. The variable refresh rate of a true native G-Sync monitor is buttery smooth and this monitor is that and more. The out of the box colors are nice , however with a little tweaking it’s even better. I used the Icc profile from rtings.com , a few adjustments in the Nvidia control panel.
Forgot to mention my unit had Zero backlight bleed/IPS Glow or dead or stuck pixels. Also the text clarity is superb compared to the cheaper aforementioned bad buy.
Worth Every Penny!

Had the monitor for the last 6 months and worked and looked amazing. All of a sudden the buttons that control the OSD (On Screen Display) started freaking out. The Key Lock FUCTION will activate on it’s own, and as I show in the video the OSD will activate, when I’m not even touching the buttons! Reached out to ASUS and fingers crossed if their *infamous* repair center will fix my unit or send me one with dead pixels or another issue. Just please don’t even bother yourself with headache and stay the hell away from ASUS anything.