The gap between LCD technologies grows thinner thanks to AOC’s Agon Pro AG276FK, the first IPS monitor to sport a 520Hz refresh rate. While not the fastest on the market, it’s only 20Hz shy of its TN siblings and boasts markedly superior chops in display quality. Suffice to say, this bad boy boasts both speed and splendour to competitive gaming all the easier on the eyes.
Agon Pro AG276FK is 27in in size, with a native resolution of 1080p. This does leave it with a softer finish than 24in alternatives, with a PPI of 82, but some will undoubtedly prefer the larger panel regardless. Alongside its 520Hz refresh rate, AOC claims the monitor boasts a 0.3ms GtG response time.
Speed aside, the remaining specs are as you expect from modern IPS-type panels, i.e. 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 400nits brightness, and 178/178° viewing angles. It even comes with DisplayHDR 400 certification, but a lack of local dimming makes its support for HDR content rather lacking. Finally, its Adaptive Sync range covers 48-520Hz.
Its closest relative is Agon Pro AG246FK, but there are plenty of differences separating the two displays. AG276FK is larger, sports an IPS panel rather than TN, and actually has a faster response time (0.3ms vs 0.5ms) despite its small refresh rate shortfall (520Hz vs. 540Hz). Most noticeable to the eye, though, is how each monitor handles colour reproduction, with AG276FK handily outclassing its counterpart in sRGB (119.8% vs. 99.6%), according to AOC.
Naturally, you’ll need some beefy hardware to make the most out of AG276FK. The likes of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and the recently launched AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D seem like perfect partners to this monitor. That said, you’ll only be able to enjoy a 520Hz experience via its DisplayPort 1.4 port, as its two HDMI 2.0 ports only have enough bandwidth to run the screen at 240Hz.
Rounding off its I/O, AOC includes two USB Type-A downstream ports and a single USB Type-B upstream connector. There’s no KVM switch here, but this is par for the course with gaming displays at this price point.
Speaking of which, Agon Pro AG276FK will be available for £499.99, starting from November, 2024. This makes it a far better deal than the £600 Agon Pro AG246FK on paper, and puts it in the same ballpark as its biggest competition, the 500Hz Alienware AW2524HF.