AOC CU34G3S 34″ Ultrawide 165Hz Gaming Monitor Review

As one of the leading names in the monitor market, AOC always has something exciting to offer. They've got many of the coolest gaming monitors on the market, and today, they've got a (mostly) new one to show us! The AOC CU34G3S 34" is the 3rd generation of this model, offering improved performance and features over the model from last year. Actually, I reviewed that model, and you can check that out here. Straight away, I can see the refresh rate is higher, the curve is now 1000R instead of 1500R and a few other little tweaks. What I really want to see today, however, is how well it performs. AOC CU34G3S 34" Ultrawide With a 1000R curvature, you'll really be able to utilise that ultrawide design more easily, as well as getting: less eye strain, reduced glare, larger perceived images and higher immersion. The 165Hz refresh rate is a nice upgrade too, more than twice the industry "standard" of 60Hz. Add to that a 3440 x 1440 VA panel and FreeSync Premium, and this should be a pretty stunning monitor for gaming. While it's not the most extreme or high-end monitor AOC makes, it's certainly striking a good balance between practical features and more premium gamer features, and their mid-to-high-end approach will be reflected in the price too. Features 34-inch Panel3440x1440 Resolution1000R Curvature21:9 Ultrawide Design165Hz Refresh Rate1ms Response TimeFreeSync Premium (not G-sync Compatible)3-Sided FramelessAdjustable Stand For in-depth features and specifications, check out the AOC CU34G3S product page here. What AOC Had to Say "With 3440 x 1440 resolution, Wide Quad HD (WQHD) offers superior picture quality and crisp imagery that reveals every detail. The widescreen 21:9 aspect ratio is perfect for watching movies in an expansive format or immersing yourself in the latest game, plus it offers more space when it’s time to work. True 8-bit color provides a broad color palette for vibrant, natural-looking images." - AOC A Closer Look The new monitor for AOC doesn't look much different than the old one, but that's no big surprise, as much of the improvements they've made are to do with the panel and internal hardware in general. That being said, it was a great looking monitor design already, and I'm happy to say that it still is. It sticks to a classic "gamer" look with a lot of matte black and some hints of vibrant red on the lower bezel and stand. The bezel is very nicely designed, and while this is a big panel, the bezels are kept to an absolute minimum on the left, right and top edges. While it's unlikely many of you would purchase multiples of these, you can bet they'll work great in a surround configuration. While the red highlights do give the monitor some visual "pop" the design isn't too distracting overall. I like that they've kept the branding minimal too, with just a small AOC logo here. As you can see here, the 1000R curve looks pretty stunning. It's not too aggressive either, and certainly less so due to the overall width of the panel. It's got a very natural feel, and well... that's the whole point of what a curved display is all about. The stand is nice, using an X-shaped design, with two longer arms at the front and two smaller ones at the back. It feels very stable too, you can really pull and push on the monitor and it doesn't feel like it's going to topple or wobble. Of course, there's a good range of adjustment too, allowing to drop it down low. Move it up higher. And of course, a good range of rotation and tilting too. Overall, you should find the optimal viewing angle for gaming, or just tilt the monitor to remove a little sun glare when the need arises. Around the back, there are a few more dashes of red, which looks pretty cool actually. Not much use to me, as I'd wall mount it, but if you have an open desk, the back will be seen a lot. All the usual I/O stuff is tucked into the bottom, offering you a pair of HDMI and a pair of DisplayPorts. There's also a line out jack should you need to connect a soundbar or some headphones here. Another welcome addition is the USB hub, offering a whopping four USB 3 ports and even device charging functions. For hooking up a webcam, microphone, etc, this is going to save on a lot of under-desk cable routing. There's also a central cut-out in the stand, allowing you to easily pass cables through, and it'll make your desktop look a bit smarter overall. First impressions go a long way, and the colours on this monitor really do look rather stunning. They're not overpowered, but since this comes pre-calibrated from the factory, that's no big surprise. This is just on the default settings too, which is even more impressive. Really good detail, solid contrast and excellent black levels. I love ultrawide, but of course, it needs 21:9 content. If you want to use 16:9, you'll see vertical bars on the sides, but that's no different than horizontal bars on movies, really; It's less bothersome than you might think. Of course, there really is a vast collection of ultrawide software and movies now. Just be sure to setup the resolution correctly first. The motion on this monitor is excellent, having ultrawide games is great, but having ones with high refresh rate support is freaking jaw-dropping. Great colours, great motion, no screen tearing, and best of all, it's a massive panel, so it's very immersive. Look how much of my ship I can see in Spiritfarer, amazing! Thanks to having a 3440 x 1440 resolution, you can comfortably fit three windows side by side. This is great for productivity and even better for procrastination. What's really cool is you can actually have a 16:9 aspect window for movies or TV, and still have a perfectly good size window for working. A lot of movies are shot in wider formats too, meaning you can Luc Besson classic with no black borders. Yup, it's as awesome as it looks. Bonus points if you can name the movie. Calibration I ran the monitor at the stock out-of-the-box settings, then again at the sRGB and uniformity mode. How Much Does it Cost? The AOC CU34G3S 34" Ultrawide 165Hz Gaming Monitor is available now from many major retailers, with prices around £748. That's a lot of money, but then again, this is a lot of monitor too. Keep in mind, it has a high-refresh-rate panel and it's pretty massive, those two factors alone account for a significant chunk of that price. Having extra display inputs, a good USB hub, a good quality stand, etc, all fill in the gaps in that budget too. Overview AOC has hit the mark yet again. They've been delivering consistently impressive monitors for as long as I can remember, and really little has changed. Actually, that's true of this monitor, it's the 3rd revision of this model, and this year's updates are nice, but not a huge departure from last years model. The panel has been upgraded from a 144hz to a 165hz panel, that's not a huge upgrade, but it is better, and there's no need to argue with that. With FreeSync Premium you get a much wider range of refresh rate for the panel to respond to, ensuring there are even fewer chances of screen tearing. At 3440 x 1440, you get a lot of on-screen detail, and at 34" wide, it's a lot of screen to take in too, making every movie and game you play feel very engrossing. Admittedly, not a whole lot can make a spreadsheet exciting, but it's also a nice display format for working on any kind of document. There's one downside though, performance. Actually maxing out that refresh rate at this resolution takes some serious grunt, and AAA titles will need a beastly GPU to get the most out of it. The panel performance was superb though, and the out of the box performance was very impressive. However, setting it to sRGB and enabling the uniformity setting netted an even better result, and very accurate gamma and tone response. However, from a personal preference, the default profile had a little more pop to it that looked great while gaming. That's fairly subjective though, but at least out of the box, you really don't have to tinker with much. Should I Buy One? Yes, if you're looking for a large panel, curved ultrawide monitor with plenty of pixels and a bountiful refresh rate, you'll love what the AOC CU34G3S has to offer. If I had last years model, I wouldn't feel the need to upgrade, but it's certainly an improvement overall and one of the best monitors of this format you'll find (quite a lot) under £1000.