Review on 🖥️ ASUS Designo MX27AQ 2560X1440 Frameless Monitor: Sleek & Stunning Display by Paul Ferguson

I originally bought two 1080p 27" MX279Hs for a dual monitor setup in February 2016. The incident where my cat spilled a cup of water on one of them caused it to fry a couple of weeks ago. Since me Liked the monitor I decided to replace it with an updated MX27AQ aka the 1440p version. So right now I have a 27" MX279H at 1080p and a 27" MX27AQ at 1440p. The pictures below are for your reference. Below I write about some of the comparisons I made between the two monitors and my thoughts on both monitors.Size Although both monitors are 27" tall, the MX27AQ is 1/2" shorter than the MX279H That's mainly due to two factors: the MX27AQ's frame is noticeably thinner than the MX279H's frame, just looking at it I'd say its bezel is almost half the size of the MX279H's, plus that the gray menu bar at the un The lower edge with the "ASUS" logo and all menu control buttons is slightly smaller than the menu bar of the MX279H. You can see yourself in the pictures I leave. Menu/Controls The MX27AQ's menu/controls layout is a significant improvement over the MX279H. First off, the MX279H's touch controls are gone and real buttons are used instead. Also, menu navigation is much easier on the MX27AQ. The rightmost button is power. You'll notice that unlike the MX279H, the MX27AQ doesn't have icons representing the functionality of each button. This may seem cumbersome at first, but there is a reason. This is because on the MX27AQ, every button except the power button now brings up a menu. There's no reason to label buttons with an icon, since they all do the same thing: open a menu. Once open, the menu contains simple navigation instructions. Above each button are overlays that show what that button does, similar to an ATM or gas station. This makes menu navigation very easy. The menu controls on the MX279H always felt like I was playing a guessing game of menu navigation. Design Both models are more or less the same. The MX27AQ uses a slightly darker shade of gray for its stand and menu bar, but I don't have a preference for either color scheme. The main thing I wanted to pay attention to in this section is the back of the monitors. The back of the MX279H is very black and glossy (think jet black iPhone7), making it prone to fingerprints and smudges and reflecting light very well. You can see in one of my pictures below how you can basically see everything that is going on at the back of this monitor. The MX27AQ has a rougher black matte finish, so issues with fingerprints, smears, and reflections are gone. Obviously, most people don't touch the back of their monitors too often, let alone that probably isn't even a problem for most. I just wanted to point that out. Resolution Last but not least, resolution. This is my first experience with a higher than 1080p resolution monitor. It took about a good hour for my eyes to finally get used to the new pixel density. What I got used to the longest was that everything (programs, desktop shortcuts, etc.) looked smaller on the MX27AQ than on the MX279H. This is because the MX27AQ has a higher pixel density per square inch, which allows it to display the same content as the MX279H in a smaller screen real estate. After a day of use I would say that I love this new resolution without a doubt. I wish I had originally bought two MX27AQs instead of the MX279H. Now that I've experienced 1440p for the first time, I'm reluctant to go back. In fact, I'm currently selling my MX279H to buy a second MX27AQ and set up two 1440p monitors. In short, both of these monitors are amazing, but if you can afford them I highly recommend getting the MX27AQ. This is a complete upgrade over the MX279H due to the higher resolution among other factors mentioned above.