AOC C32G2ZE G Line Gaming Monitor Review

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

AOC has a reputation for building world-class gaming monitors. Now they’ve come out with a new line of G Line 2nd Gen monitors that are sure to keep the competition on their toes. All of these monitors are 1080p resolution and feature top-of-the-line specs designed specifically for high FPS gaming.

We recently reviewed their new AGM700 Mouse and AGK700 Keyboard and liked them both, so we were thrilled when AOC reached out to us again and asked us to give a fair and unbiased review of one of their new monitors. They sent us the C32G2ZE G Line 2nd Gen 32” so that we could do a hands-on review of its performance and let you know whether it’s worth adding to your setup!

Video Review

Unboxing and Build Quality

Let’s start with what’s in the box. The C32G2ZE G Line 2nd Gen 32” Gaming Monitor comes with instructions, a power cord, a DisplayPort cable, an HDMI cable, and a stand. The stand comes in two separate parts, the arm and the base, but connecting them doesn’t require any tools. There is a screw on the bottom with a toggle that can be used to attach it either with a screwdriver for an extra tight connection or simply by twisting the toggle by hand.

Connecting the monitor itself to the stand is also toolless. You simply line it up with the support prongs and click it into place. The stand supports vertical tilt, but does not have swivel or height adjustment.

The design is nice. It has a black frame and an extremely thin bezel (roughly .25”). The color scheme isn’t entirely neutral, though. There are red accents at the bottom and back of the monitor as well as around the base of the stand. Everything about the monitor feels sturdy and well built. The model we received didn’t have any dead pixels or uneven lighting.

Color and Picture

The color and picture are a little dim and muted with the out-of-the-box settings, but can easily be adjusted using the menu buttons on the bottom of the screen. It comes with several preset “Game Setting” configurations that AOC has deemed best suited to certain game types. There’s FPS, RTS, racing, and several “Gamer” profiles which can be personalized through the G-Menu software. Otherwise, you can simply leave game settings profiles off and personalize your settings on the fly. The G-menu software also has a feature called “Game Synch,” a setting that allows you to assign gamer profiles to individual programs so that they change automatically!

I like a bright screen, and I personally found FPS mode to be perfect both for gaming and general use as it’s bright, colorful, and responsive. There are several HDR modes, but I found that all of them lost a little bit of color purity so I didn’t end up using them much.

Gaming Performance

Let’s address the elephant in the room. This is a 1080p monitor, not 1440p or 4k. It’s important to know what you’re going to be using it for when choosing a monitor to game on. It’s easy to get excited about resolution, but refresh rate and response time are much more important for FPS gaming. These games frequently cause ghosting and motion blur on slower monitors. You’ll never have to worry about that here, though. 32” is admittedly a little big for 1080p, but the 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time on the AOC C32G2ZE make it ideal for fast-paced games that require quick motions such as racing games and shooters. These speeds are overkill for most people, to be perfectly honest. Only those with high-end GPUs seeking a competitive edge at the highest level will truly see results.

I played some GTA V and Doom to test the visible response on this monitor. My GTX 1060 was never able to push enough frames-per-second in these games to match the monitor’s incredible speed, but I never encountered any ghosting or motion blur at all. As far as I could tell, the monitor performed perfectly.

G Line 2nd Gen FTW!

So, does the C32G2ZE G Line 2nd Gen 32” Gaming Monitor stand a chance at making it onto our list of the best 1080p gaming monitors? I think yes! The only monitor that I could find that matched its specs was the Scepter C325B-FWD240, and Scepter is one of those brands where we’ve found the picture and build quality somewhat lacking compared to other brands. Not only that, but AOC has also managed to match Scepter’s price, making it the clear choice for those seeking a 32” 240Hz gaming monitor.

High Ground Gaming typically recommends 24” screens as the ideal size for 1080p gaming since the lower resolution is more noticeable on larger screens. That’s true here as well, but you’ll have a hard time finding a better monitor than this if you really want a bigger screen and you also enjoy FPS gaming.

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