ASUS TUF Gaming VG32AQAY1A 31.5″ QHD 170Hz 1ms FreeSync Premium Gaming Monitor

This ASUS 32.5 inch WQHD gaming monitor is an excellent choice for anyone that wants a large, colorful display for gaming, but does not want to spend a lot of money. The overall image quality is excellent, and the high refresh rate of up to 170 Hz, makes it ideal for PC gaming. So not only is this monitor great for gaming, but it’s specs also make it a great choice for general computing functions.

For me the most important aspect of a monitor is the image quality. If the image quality is lacking then nothing else really matters. Thankfully I found the overall image quality of this monitor to be superb. I tested it with a variety of content and found the colors to be accurate, rich, and vibrant. Contrast is likewise excellent. I have used many monitors over the years, and think this monitor hits the sweet spot for cost vs picture quality.

Arguably, the most important feature of a gaming monitor after image quality is refresh rate. The refresh rate of this monitor is up to 170 Hz. As with resolution, the refresh rate depends on the video card capability. I tested this monitor with Starfield at the maximum resolution of 144 Hz that my NVIDIA game card is capable of and found the gameplay to be smooth, fast, and flicker free.

The monitor resolution is 1440p or WQHD, which stands for wide quad high definition. The display resolution of WQHD measures 2560 x 1440 pixels. WQHD is sometimes referred to as 2K. The ability to game at this 1440p resolution is of course controlled by your video card capability. I myself only game at the 1080P resolution because I think that the hit on processing power is not worth the increase in resolution. This monitor is HDR certified and capable. I did not test this function as I find the HDR standard for PC’s to usually look unnatural and actually worse than SDR. This may be because most games are not properly optimized for HDR. image

One limitation of this monitor is that I found it to be incompatible with the video output of some of the Hubs that I tested it with. This is because this monitor has a minimum refresh rate of 59.95 Hz, and many Hubs output video at a maximum of 30 Hz. So while it can receive a 30 Hz signal, the image flickers in and out frequently. Of course this problem is completely solved by feeding the video directly from your PC to the monitor. Likewise it worked perfectly with a Thunderbolt 4 Hub that I recently acquired. The Thunderbolt 4 standard is compatible with refresh rates of 30-240Hz, dependent on the resolution output.

This monitor is equipped with 1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort input. This should be adequate for most users. There are 2 internal speakers that are rated at 2W’s each. The sound they produce is best described as weak and thin, so a pair of quality headphones or an external speaker is highly recommended. There is a standard audio jack that can be used for headphones or speakers. The monitor tilt can be adjusted but height adjustment is not possible. I may look into getting a monitor stand but it would need to be wide enough to accommodate the width of the monitor legs.

This monitor is now my primary gaming monitor. It pairs perfectly with my ASUS ROG Zephyrus G 14. I like it so much that it will also be my primary PC video watching monitor because I enjoy the 31.5 screen size over the dual 27 inch monitors that I have in my primary workstation.

I only bought this monitor because it is similar to the one I currently have and the description states very clearly that it is VESA wall mountable. There is even what looks to be a plastic cover that you can remove to mount the thing. Imagine my surprise when it comes in the plastic plate doesn’t remove and is only there to make it look like it’s mountable but in reality you have to buy a $30 kit to mount it to your wall. This is bogus

TLDR: If you are in the market for a 1440p gaming monitor, or a large screen monitor for content creation, you would be hard pressed to find anything better.

KEY FEATURES
WQHD Resolution 2560 x 1440
AMD Free Sync Premium & nVidia Adaptive Sync Compatible
170Hz Refresh Rate / 1ms Response Time
HDR Capable (Approx 400 nits max)

This Asus monitor is the most comprehensive and feature-rich monitor I’ve used to date. There are so many options and settings that it is hard to find a spot where to begin.

GAMING FEATURES
Refresh Rates – Asus has apparently been looking hard at the monitor scene and decided to throw out almost every trick at its playbook. Anything that was needed to make a monitor a good gaming monitor, they took it and ran with it. This monitor has some terrific features for gamers. Starting off with a 170Hz maximum refresh rate and a 1ms response time. Fast moving images are clear and blur free. I occasionally get some blurring on fast action sequences on my lesser monitors but did not experience any perceivable blurring using the Asus.

Adaptive Sync – Asus equipped this monitor with AMD FreeSync Premium which, in a nutshell, allows the monitor to match the refresh rate of the graphics card, eliminating tearing and banding. It worked beautifully on my AMD based laptop with a Radeon 6600M card. There are so many things this monitor has to offer, I’m not sure why Asus didn’t go all in and have the monitor certified with nVidia’s G-Sync technology. Seems like an unfortunate oversight.

HDR – This monitor can support HDR (High Dynamic Range) content. HDR material, unlike SDR material can achieve brighter brights and darker darks without items and artifacts being washed out or lost in the background. My testing showed the monitor was capable of approximately 400 nits (at best) peak brightness, which isn’t revolutionary, but appears amazing if you have been on a monitor that doesn’t support HDR. The Asus is only compatible HDR10 encoded material, it does not support HLG or Dolby Vision playback and reproduction. Though, this really shouldn’t be considered a deal-breaker as a vast majority of videos are encoded with the HDR10 algorithm as this is the universal standard vs proprietary encoding of the other formats.

PICTURE MODES – The monitor has multiple, easy to choose picture and performance modes available at the push of a button. A shoutout should be given to Asus for their button design on the back of the monitor. There are 4 triangle shaped buttons and a joystick to make adjustments. The buttons are big and easy to differentiate from one another. I wish all manufacturers made their stuff like this. OK, back on topic. There are several modes to automatically adjust picture contrast, color temperature, input lag, cinema viewing, playing sports, racing, etc. The list is extensive, thorough, and exhausting. I found my go-to settings were race (lowest latency), normal color temperature, and all the Asus tweaks turned off like VividPixel, Shadow Boost, ASCR, etc.

FINAL THOUGHTS
There are so many more features that I can go on and one about, but it all comes down to this: This is one of the best monitors I’ve ever tested and played on. Not only does the monitor strut its stuff with an almost perfect D65 color reproduction, but its color uniformity is almost perfectly linear throughout its range of color reproduction. I was shocked at the results from my colorimeter.

Asus has gifted this monitor with MANY features an avid gamer could need or want, maybe even some they didn’t know they needed. I get that Asus bills the monitor towards gamers, but I think they are selling themselves short on their target audience. The color accuracy is so good, I feel this would be equally at home on a content creator’s desk as a gamer’s. I know I’ve gushed over this monitor and its many attributes, but it really is that good. Yes, it isn’t 4k. Yes, it isn’t an OLED. Even so, there isn’t anything not to like about it. Well done Asus!!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

While this monitor is not a 4K resolution monitor, it is still visually stunning at 2K (2160x1440p at 16:9 aspect ratio) with its HDR capability and the excellent VA panel present here. The size is excellent and is going to become part of a dual monitor setup, paired with my older 24” 1440p panel, for increased productivity for work and school while enjoying gaming and occasional Twitch streaming. This 31.5” monitor is overclockable up from 165hz to 170hz refresh and has a quick response time of 1ms. In my use case, this monitor is perfect for 1440p gaming on my 3060 GPU-equipped desktop PC and provides an excellent first-person shooter experience. I have used this monitor with BattleBit Remastered, Hunt Showdown, Rocket League, Doom Eternal, and Witcher 3 and have enjoyed stunning visual fidelity and performance in all these experiences!

One aspect of this monitor that should be noted is that it lacks HDMI 2.1 connectivity, but this is honestly fine for a 2K resolution monitor as you can still achieve 1440p@120Hz just fine. I specifically used this with the included Display Port cable in the setting of PC gaming on an ASUS ROG Gaming Desktop with an Intel Core i7-13700F, 16GB RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, and this pairing is honestly a match made in heaven! Especially with current sales, you could have a full 1440p high refresh rate gaming setup with this 31.5-inch monitor, all from ASUS (if brand loyalty or preference is a factor for you), for less than $1600! That is incredible and was unheard of 5 years ago.

I have noted a couple of things about this monitor that I want to share. First, the included stand is tiltable and directionally pivots, but there is no height adjustment. On my 28-inch-tall desk, this monitor feels ever so slightly low for my postural comfort, and I am not a tall guy in my office chair. So, if you are concerned with ergonomics and comfort over a long day of use, you may want to go ahead and consider a Vesa mounting arm for this monitor. Just make sure it is compatible with a large 31” monitor as many of the common ones on Amazon are limited to 27” size monitors.

Another thing that I wanted to share is the 170hz overclockable refresh rate. That setting is found in the menu of the monitor itself if you want to select to turn it on. However, the monitor is 165hz at its baseline and for me, that is plenty fast for even my most frenetic FPS shooters like BattleBit Remastered and Doom Eternal. I found that when I chose to overclock the monitor, I noticed some flickering and tearing happening on the previously listed games, so I decided to turn off the panel refresh rate overclock and be content with 165hz. Since then, I have had no discernable flickering of the monitor. On the note of refresh rate etc. this monitor is AMD freesync compatible but is not yet supported for NVidia G-Sync. I look forward to the day when/if it finally is G-Sync supported because I have always been one who has noticed frame rate drops while gaming and G-sync on my other monitor has always smoothed things out.

I hope these couple of details are helpful for you! The TUF series of products from Asus have always stood out to me as some of the best in the gaming business for dollar-to-performance ratio if you are not overly concerned with certain creature comforts like a height adjustable stand coming right out of the box. Thanks for reading and good luck with your purchase decision!

Monitor works great so far! Just so everyone else is aware, the VESA mount holes have little rubber protectors in them that you can pop out with something pointy. Threw me for a loop at first because they sit so flush and snug it feels like pulling them out is the wrong answer. It’s not, pull those bad boys out and you’re good to mount.

lousy warranty help they want you to send the monitor back but they will not send you one till they receive the broken one So I guess you have to purchase another monitor till you get yours!!!!!

This is a great monitor if you want to move to 1440p from 1080p! I’ve been using it for about a month or so and the image is fantastic and HDR is pretty good. Be advised it is a flat screen monitor so keep that in mind if you need/want a curved monitor.

THIS…Is the Asus TUF 31.5″ LED WQHD FreeSync monitor and it is easily my next multi purpose monitor for console and PC gaming. It is large enough to enjoy long format games while also being fast enough to play competitively should I choose. With HDR 400, 1500r curve and also built in speakers, this is also a great screen to watch videos and movies on as well. I found myself asking why wouldn’t you take the dive for this monitor… so lets take a look!

Interface
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This is my one and only gripe, It was actually a pain to turn the volume up and down and to navigate the menu with the hodge podge of buttons on the rear of the screen. I have seen not only other companies do better… but Asus themself. Certainly not a deal breaker but I was certainly scratching my head wondering why they designed it that way.

Screen
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The screen actually was great, while I could beg for it to be brighter and improve the HDR… at this price point and the size of the screen I really cannot complain. I found that there wasn’t any rough light bleed or weird spots on black screens and thoroughly enjoyed playing games, especially competitively with the 170hz refresh rate.

Speakers
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The speakers are good but not great, something to get you by but… headphones or a soundbar are needed if you want something quality. I enjoyed that they were included and played Starfield easily with them without having to struggle to understand what was happening.

Screen Specs
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-HDR 400
-Asus Extreme Low Motion Blur
-1ms MPRT (more accurate than GTG)
-Freesync Premium through both HDMI and DP
-1500R Curve
– Asus Shadow Boost
– 2 2W Stereo RMS (and they don’t sound too bad!)
-170hz overclocked refresh rate (60hz minimum)
-1440p WQHD
-300 CDM Brightness
-3000:1 contrast ratio

Conclusion
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This has turned out to be a great multi use monitor with all the features packed into it. I think that this is actually a steal, especially at 170hz, 32” with 1ms MPRT (so that you can actually be competitive on this monitor when you want to) and then to also throw in HDR 400 with Freesync Premium… I mean I was really wow’d by this monitor. While I think that the button UI can be better, I was able to master it rather quickly. As always, Bestbuy has an excellent return policy and even better customer service, so you never have to worry about buying a product that you don’t like… so why not test it out?!

Please note these display outputs for your respective device as they do change
For PS5:
Full HD(1920 X 1080)@120Hz
1440P (2560 x 1440)@60Hz non VRR (variable refresh rate)

For Xbox Series X/S
Full HD & 1440P(2560 x 1440)@120Hz VRR (variable refresh rate)

The ASUS TUF 31.5 inch LED monitor is probably one of the best monitors for gaming. It comes with a simple setup guide that requires a screwdriver. It comes with a stand that has the ability to change the angle of the monitor but doesn’t have the ability to change the height of the monitor to be higher or lower so if you want that feature you’ll have to buy another stand. The monitor comes with a display port cable but it also has a HDMI port so if you prefer HDMI you can use a HDMI cable instead. The monitor has a 2560×1440 resolution with a 165 Hz display but you can change it to a 170 Hz in the settings. Also to open the settings you use the buttons on the back or the thumbstick to navigate the settings where there are 6 menus: gaming, image, color, input selection, my favorite, and finally system setup.

The gaming menu lets you change the Hz to 170 instead with the overclocking option, variable OD which is the motion blur level, and free sync premium which is great to use on graphical heavy games, game plus where you can enable timers, cross hairs and fps counters, and finally game visuals where you can change it to modes that are better suited for racing games fps games and any games genres you play. The image menu and color menu lets you change the brightness of the Monitor, contrast, and saturation vivid pixel that makes the pixel more vibrant. ASCR that changes the brightness depending on what is happening on the picture the color menu lets you choose the color that is more prominent like cool for blues and warm for reds. Input selection changes the input between the display port and HDMI. My favorites lets you create shortcuts to a setting you’ll change constantly. System setup lets you change the language, sound, power indicator, Power settings OSD setup which lets you change the transparency position and timeout of the settings,where you navigate the menus, also the information of the monitor and all reset which resets all the settings to the standard. the monitor actually comes with speakers that although being a cool addition, aren’t very the best they are definitely usable just that you’ll probably would want to switch to headphones or better speakers instead

The monitor is great to use as your main monitor for gaming especially the size which is neither too big or too small which is great for competitive gameplay that lets you easily see everything on the sides and great picture quality for more cinematic games and the high frame rate of 170 is great for games since it gives you a more smoother experience. The color is vibrant and bright with the proper settings. The price is well worth it for budget setups since the monitor is well priced at $330. The monitor is well worth the price since you can use it for PC setups and console setups like a PS5 desk setup or xbox setup or whatever console you play. There is great accessibility and customization settings. HDR is able to be used which looks great.

The monitor is a must have for any budget setup and great for multiple monitors since it’s pretty big which is great for desktops since it adds a great amount of space for your desktop and simply just great for gaming and visuals. It’s the best priced with the amount of features and quality. The monitor is a must have if you need a bigger and faster monitor.

The Asus TUF 31.5 monitor features a 144hz 1440p panel with FreeSync Premium.

The 1440p resolution on a 31.5-inch screen size delivers crisp visuals, but there is a notable caveat. While the colors are vibrant, they can appear oversaturated, which might not suit the preferences of users who prioritize color accuracy. This oversaturation can be somewhat mitigated by using the cinema or natural setting while also turning down the saturation, but it does affect color accuracy.

On the note of minor drawbacks, this monitor has a slight ghosting issue. While the 144Hz refresh rate does an excellent job at reducing motion blur, some users might still notice slight ghosting during fast-paced gaming sequences or rapid cursor movements. This is helped by choosing the Overdrive 5 option in the menu, but ghosting is still present. I only ever noticed this while specifically testing for ghosting; it was not noticeable during gaming. It’s not a deal-breaker for most users, but it’s worth mentioning.

The stand only offers tilt adjustment, but I found the height about perfect for my needs. It is also pretty sturdy and attaches easily to the monitor.

Considering the features it offers, the price point of this monitor is reasonable. It offers a great balance between performance and affordability, making it a solid choice for gamers on a budget seeking a large monitor.