AOC M2870Vq review

The AOC M2870Vq is by far the cheapest 28in monitor we’ve tested. As you’d expect, some corners have been cut for the low price, so whether it’s the screen for you depends on what you need from a big monitor.

The M2870Vq is a no-frills design; the frame is made of plain black plastic, with only a textured back to liven things up. There are also none of the extras you would expect to see on a more expensive screen; there’s no USB hub, no height adjustment and no swivel. The screen does however have a good selection of inputs, with VGA, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors.

Most screens we see this size have 2,560×1,440 resolutions, but it would be too much to expect that many pixels on a monitor this price. The AOC M2870Vq instead has a standard 1,920×1,080 MVA panel. MVA screens tend to be cheaper than IPS models, but can still claim wide viewing angles, exceptionally deep blacks and very high contrast levels.

The AOC screen didn’t disappoint. Our calibration device showed black levels as a very low 0.07 cd/m2, and we measured the contrast ratio as a sky-high 3299:1, which helped us see plenty of detail in dark areas in our high-contrast test images. The only area where the M2870Vq disappointed was in its colour accuracy. Out of the box, it was able to display just 89.9 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut, which is below average. After calibration, we were able to increase this figure to a more respectable 93.4 per cent. This still isn’t good enough for users conducting colour-sensitive tasks, but it’s fine for everyday use and tasks where you’ll appreciate the high contrast, such as gaming.

As expected, our colourful test images looked significantly less vibrant than we’ve seen on top-end screens, with solid reds, greens and blues all a shade paler across the board. If you want colours that really pop, you will need a more expensive monitor.

With colour and performance around what we would expect for a screen this price, the final thing you need to consider before buying this monitor is how far you’ll be sitting away from it. Looking at any large monitor close up will reveal its imperfections, but having a screen this large with only a 1,920×1,080 resolution in front of your nose means you’ll certainly be aware of the pixels. We would suggest moving it to the back of your desk if possible; from a couple of feet away the screen looks a lot better. You also won’t have any scaling problems in Windows, where icons and text in applications are often too small on high-resolution screens; everything is nice and large on a 1080p screen this big, but the relatively low amount of desktop space means it’s not ideal for working on two documents side by side.

With the M2870Vq, AOC has brought 28in screens to the masses. £180 is really not a lot of money for a monitor this size, although the lack of extras and cheap design may put some people off. If you have £15 more to spend and are willing to sacrifice an inch of screen size, we’d recommend the 27-inch BenQ EW2740L instead, with its better colour accuracy and higher contrast levels.