AOC G2590PX G2 Signature Edition

High refresh, limited usability.

- Jeremy Laird

25-INCH TN PANEL? 1080p native resolution? For $370? Get lost. And that’s putting it politely. But hang on— the problem is that specialist gaming monitors, like AOC’s G2590PX G2 Signature Edition, suck in a productivity or media-consumption context.

That’s true of an increasing number of PC components, but when it comes to monitors, the gap between multimedia and productivity panels, on one hand, and gaming monitors, on the other, has widened into a veritable chasm. Gaming monitors offer features, such as adaptive sync, that have pretty much zero value for productivity or media consumption. And what makes sense for productivity, such as very high native resolutions, can kibosh your gaming performance.

That’s the context for AOC’s latest gaming monitor. The “G2” bit refers to a branding tie-in with the multi-team esports organization of the same name, and implies this is a monitor meant for esports. That makes it about as narrowly focused as gaming monitors get. The consequence? Those baseline specs look deeply unappealing at $370.