Review on ASUS XG49VQ Curved Gaming Monitor with FreeSync: 🖥️ 3840X1080P, 144Hz, Height Adjustment, Blue Light Filter and HDMI Support by Brian Gilmore

As an avid ASUS fan, it pains me to write this review, but the ASUS ROG Strix XG49VQ is (at best) a mediocre product in a sea of other high-end gaming monitors, peripherals, and devices from ASUS. Republic of Gamers trademark. While my monitor didn't have the discernible physical flaws that other reviewers have reported, I did notice a few key issues that are worth noting: 1. This monitor is technically an HDR display, but it's on the low end of the clinical definition of HDR, and this falls on some problems in reaching the target brightness, because there is simply no range. It's an HDR4 display masquerading as something more demanding, but most modern games that really make use of HDR will benefit from HDR8 or HDR10. Considering how boring low frequencies and dazzling bright colors are in HDR4, it's better to play without HDR in this model. Finally, if you have HDR enabled, you won't be able to adjust the GameDisplay settings - it needs to be disabled to make these changes. The low resolution is a vertical FHD display (think two large 1080p monitors connected horizontally). So if you're used to playing games at 1440p or better, you'll notice a drop. But given this monitor's 49-inch size, you can actually see all the pixels. Normally this wouldn't be a huge problem, but the monitor's rendering engine uses some weird sharpening effects (that can't seem to be fixed) that make text appear aliased regardless of your AA settings. This device's SDR calibration looks like an actual firmware or hardware implementation, not something you can tweak. 3. Physical Defects. While my unit didn't have any severe 'defects', there was definitely an LED backlight leak that exacerbates some of the previously mentioned HDR dysfunctions and likely contributes to some of the SDR overlays that make 1080p games really snappy. and is likely to crack or chip with typical wear and tear. tning and not even stylish or luxurious body elements. Instead just an implementation of a simple black monitor. Additionally, on the right side of the monitor frame is a silver "Designed and Manufactured by ASUS in Taiwan" advertisement, visible halfway across the room. who wants to see it Overall, this monitor isn't a "bad" monitor, especially for people new to variable refresh rate experience (FreeSync 2 works, but expect a lot of flickering and incompatibility with NVIDIA cards - as of the time of writing). (at the time of writing this review, it usually only applies to AMD cards) or for non-gamers looking for a productive workspace, but the $900 price tag really warrants something more thoughtful and put together. I returned my monitor after just four days of use when physical imperfections, LED backlighting, HDR malfunction and excessive SDR overlay made the limitations of this famous 1080p panel too severe. Your best bet is to save the money and upgrade to a 4K solution or go with one of ASUS' excellent 34-inch 1440p curved panels.