By Matthew Powell
Asus’s Republic Of Gaming (ROG) brand is gaining a reputation for high performance and leading-edge design at realistic prices. The XG32UCWG display, with its mouthful of a name, is a fitting entry.
Before getting into the details, it’s worth pointing out that this OLED display is not like all the other OLED displays. Most of its competitors use OLED panels sourced from Samsung, while ASUS has opted for the White OLED (WOLED) technology from LG. This means that as well as the true black you get from any OLED, this unit adds a white LED to the usual red, green and blue — so whites are truer and brightness is enhanced.
The downside is a slight loss of sharpness and not as wide a colour gamut as other OLED technologies. This is probably not an issue for gamers, but it does limit the unit’s usefulness as a mainstream display. If you work with text a lot, you probably don’t want to be staring at a WOLED all day.
Like other devices in the ROG sub-brand, the XG32UCWG features a glowing red logo that, thankfully, you can switch off. The only other branding is a quite subtle logo just below the display. Aside from that it’s a striking angular black casing that sits on a sturdy metal stand and takes up a very small footprint on your desk. A VESA mount is also provided.
The screen has a high-gloss finish, which ASUS calls TrueBlack Glossy and suggests that it improves apparent contrast. I’m personally not a huge fan of glossy displays, but I didn’t find the ROG unit’s gloss as bad as some others. Whether it improves contrast is probably a matter of subjectivity — I was not convinced. I do wish there were a non-glossy option though.
Rich choices are provided for connectivity, with 2x HDMI ports, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4, and 1x USB-C. It also has a headphone port, which is handy because, as with almost all gaming displays, it has no inbuilt speakers.
It also features a USB-B port and 3x USB-A ports, so you can use it as a USB hub if you wish. Unfortunately it only provides 15 watts of power, which limits what you can hang off of it. Nonetheless, this is considerably more options than you get from other gaming displays in this price range.
One feature that will particularly appeal to gamers is the ability to operate in different modes. By default, you get 4K resolution at 165Hz, but you can also choose lower resolution at up to 330Hz refresh rate if your games rely more on responsiveness and smooth motion. Nice.
Choosing between modes is handled via a little joystick just behind the ROG logo at the bottom of the bezel. It’s a little fiddly at first but I got the hang pretty quickly.
The menu system enables configuration of a wide range of parameters including white balance and colour calibration — unusual in a gaming display. And the colour performance of this unit was very good for a display in this price range.
Unfortunately the limitations of WOLED meant I wasn’t able to calibrate the colour gamut as precisely as I might have liked. So it’s a nice feature to see, but if your work relies on very accurate colour — video editing, for instance — this display isn’t for you.
Which is fine, of course — this display is aimed squarely at gamers, and it offers a range of features to enhance the gaming experience.
For instance, there’s a Shadow Boost (which ASUS claims is driven by AI) which dynamically increases brightness in dark areas without blowing out other parts of the scene. Handy for finding enemies hiding in the shadows — even if it does seem a little bit like cheating.
All things considered, the ROG XG32UCWG is a surprisingly high-quality display for its price, with better connectivity options and brightness than its competitors. It’s probably not ideal for productivity use, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s built from the ground up for gamers, and sports features those users will welcome.
Rating: 8 / 10
Pros
- Good value for money
- Dual modes mean gamers can optimise for the games they play
- WOLED technology means true blacks and true whites
- Lots of connectivity options
Cons
- Colour reproduction not as good as other OLEDs
- Only 15 watts of power as a USB hub
- Some flicker
