ASUS is in a good spot right now with its gaming monitors. Not only do they offer some great performance across the board but all PS5 and Xbox Series X owners can now look towards these fancy display as options. That is thanks to the console’s ability to output 120Hz. Of course, this is limited to 1080p on a PC monitor or 4K 120Hz on a supported television.
First off I want to get the price out of the way, the ASUS TUF VG32V is not a cheap monitor by any means. You can get some pretty decent 27-inch gaming monitors for under R10,000 like the Acer Predator XB27 with 240Hz support. The MSI G271 27-inch with 144Hz and even Samsung has some great 27-inch 144Hz monitors starting at R6,999. It was surprising to see the ASUS TUF VG32V come in at over R12,000. Considering the “TUF” range is meant to be the brand’s “affordable” lineup, it is far from it.
ASUS TUF VG32V Tech Specs
- Screen Size: 32-inches
- Display: 2560×1440 QHD /Anti-Glare coating / 1800R curvature
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- HDR: Yes
- Refresh Rate: 144Hz
- ResponseTime: 1ms
- Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
- Brightness: 400 cd/m
- Speakers: Yes / 2×2 Watts stereo speakers
- Stand: Tilt + swivel + pivot + height adjustment
- Mountable: Yes
- IO: 1x DisplayPort 1.2 / 2x HDMI 2.0 / 3.2mm Mini-Jack
ASUS TUF VG32V Design
The ASUS TUF VG32V is a gaming monitor and you can clearly see this from the moment you open the box. The back features this sort of Death Star black tech shell with sharp edges that stick out of the back. The matte black plastic shell helps keep things clean and if you had to bump and knock the monitor slightly for any reason, it would avoid scratches and damage.
I loved the overall build quality of the ASUS TUF VG32V. The stand screws on with very little effort and the long support arm can hold the massive 32-inch display up and allow it to move around, tilt up and down and side to side. Moving the display around and adjusting it is also smooth without much effort needed. The stand also helps keep things sturdy and the rubber feet prevent the monitor from sliding around while adjusting the display. I could move it in any direction and the stand stood firmly on the counter. It helps more than you think.
The ports are all located under the back flap and they are quite a mission to get to. The monitor does not tilt upwards enough to give the connectors a clear view so I still had to climb behind the counter and fiddle with my fingers to get the cables into the holes.
The OSD buttons are quite easy to get the hang of. It also helps that the display has a little analogue nub where I could move it up and down to select the options. It saves spamming buttons to try and figure out how to move and how to select something.
Was the ASUS TUF VG32V design outstanding? Not by any means but it works and has all the features you can expect from a gaming monitor. The curved display is built well and the stand is pretty great. I am grateful that the display includes two HDMI ports too which is great for those who want to use the monitor for their PC and console. Something many gamers will look for now given the high price tags of 4K 120Hz TVs.
ASUS TUF VG32V Performance
The ASUS TUF VG32V boasts a resolution of 2560×1440 and a refresh rate of up to 144Hz. It also comes with some other features like a 3000:1 contrast ration and 400 nits of peak brightness. The display is also VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified but in a monitor with 400 nits of brightness, this is nonsense. It may boast HDR but the quality of the feature set is lesser than what you get on a display with at least 500 nits and up. It is all a marketing gimmick. The display fails to produce high enough peaks of brightness and the darks are not dark at all due to its standard IPS panel. How this display got certified is a mystery to me and HDR is not a feature you should use as a selling point when looking to purchase this monitor.
Of course, everything you get out of the ASUS TUF VG32V depends on what you put into it. What PC or console are you using and what restrictions come with which hardware. In the perfect world, you would want this display for your PC which can run modern games over 120Hz. This makes it a viable option for those who love multiplayer games and enjoy the precision of playing these titles are higher frame rates.
I tested a few titles during the review process. This included 120Hz titles on PS5 such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. I also used my Gigabyte Aero XA which packs an RTX 2060 to run some dedicated PC games. None of this ever disappointed me when it came to the refresh rate. On the PS5, Call of Duty ran smooth and the 120Hz was a treat to experience on the display. Enabling it is a chore but the monitor worked wonders. It was a new experience from my part. I own a Sony Bravia X900H with 120Hz support but the monitor gave the game a “PC feel” thanks to the keyboard and mouse support and smaller display.
Of course, when it came to the PC games, it was even better due to the cap being lifted off the 120Hz found on the PS5. Overwatch was smooth, and the display handles motion very well. The VRR support also makes a big difference by reducing the input lag. Keep in mind that the monitor includes AMD FreeSync too so you can get the best of both worlds here. It does not support G-Sync but you can benefit from VRR either way.
There are some restrictions to keep in mind when making use of VRR over HDMI. VRR only works at up to 85Hz in 1440p. If you want VRR at up to 144Hz then you need to decrease the resolution to 1080p on the monitor. This also feeds into the amount of input lag you will experience across the various modes. Making use of the so-called “HDR” will push the input lag to around 9ms. Using 60Hz is also a little higher at 9.6ms compared to the 4.5ms at 1440p. However, VRR keeps it super low at 6.5ms. Still, the ASUS TUF VG32V has some fantastic input lag and you won’t even know the difference.
As for the display quality, the ASUS TUF VG32V was often a hit or miss for me. The pixel density was quite low given the display’s larger screen and limited 1440p resolution. However, the image quality is on par with other 32-inch curved monitors on the market. That is to say, you will have a lot of workspace to fiddle with here and games look great. However, ASUS is trying to sell some features here which just don’t perform as well as I hoped.
For example, HDR is meh. The peak brightness during HDR gaming dropped to 420 cd/m which is excellent, but it also means that all HDR content you view on the display won’t have that “kick” in image colour and brightness you would expect from it. Its display technology also lets the HDR down as there is no local dimming at all on the display and the black uniformity is atrocious due to the light bleeds around the edges of the display. As I mentioned before, it is a marketing gimmick.
The display’s OSD gives you some freedom to tweak the settings, enable various motion handling and slap counters and targets onto the screen. I have mentioned in the past how I despise these built-in on-screen images but there are clearly people out there that use them.
Lastly, there’s the sound. The ASUS TUF VG32V packs two speakers and delivers some decent sound but they are far off the track when it comes to providing any sort of kick. They are not suitable for gaming at all and are there more for a convenience point of view than anything else. Watching a YouTube video or Netflix. However, you would want to wear a headset when doing everything else.
VERDICT
The ASUS TUF VG32V is a good gaming monitor. It packs some decent features that you would look for in a 32-inch display. The VRR and FreeSync are great and the design is fantastic. However, it is expensive and the HDR is just not up to standard. R12,799 is a lot of cash to lay down on a monitor. That is to say, you won’t go wrong here. It is made for gaming and its feature set proves that but you have to weigh up the other list of 27-inch monitors that are half the price of this.
This ASUS TUF VG32V monitor review was based on a sample unit sent to us by ASUS ZA.
