AOC Agon Pro AG456UCZD review: an OLED that’s curvier than Beyonce

With more OLED gaming monitors flooding the market, the panel tech alone isn’t enough to stand out from the crowd. As such, manufacturers need to offer something different on top of the self-emissive screen to catch your eye. AOC Agon Pro AG456UCZD demonstrates this nicely, with build quality that puts almost every other brand to shame.

AOC Agon Pro AG456UCZD

£1130 / $1400

Pros

• Gorgeous, robust design
• 240Hz refresh rate
• 90W USB Type-C
• Fantastic KVM switch
• Immersive curve

Cons

• Lower colour accuracy
• Text fringing issues
• Lower pixel density

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How we test and review products.

Throughout my week testing the display, I’ve come to a few different conclusions. Curved ultrawides aren’t a gimmick, but they’re not the best gaming monitor for everyone, especially the more shapely they are. AOC remains the single best brand for built-in KVM switches and it saddens me that rivals aren’t paying attention. And finally, colour accuracy is important when it comes to but it’s not the be-all and end-all.

Specs

Design and features

Agon Pro AG456UCZD is the curviest gaming monitor I’ve ever tested with a steep 800R. Combined with a huge 45in diagonal display, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s trying to give you a hug. It’s a highly specific setup that won’t gel well with everyone. In some cases, like with my partner, the bend can make the user feel claustrophobic or disoriented. For those it works with, like myself, you reap the benefits of higher immersion and reduced fatigue since it mimics the curvature of your eye.

From the moment you lift the box, you can tell something’s different. The substantial 13.35kg weight mostly comes from the metal chassis surrounding the panel, which looks as premium as it sounds. It’s a fingerprint magnet but well worth every wipe for the steely stunner perched in front of you. Forgoing a unibody design, the ports and RGB cling to a plastic box attached to the rear. I can’t say the lighting adds anything substantial as it’s not as bright as Ambiglow, and you’ll likely forget it’s there, but it adds flair for the rare few who point the display away from the wall.

Given the screen’s sheer heft, it’s no surprise that the stand isn’t tool-less. There’s a little extra hassle in putting it together, but everything you need to assemble it is in the box. Unfortunately, it falls into the same ultrawide trap. I’m not talking about the wobble. This behemoth does jiggle a bit, but that’s expected, given its size. I’m referring to the splayed feet, which are simply too big. Each demands 31cm (over a full foot) of desk space and clearly cuts into my mouse pad. There is a 100×100 VESA bracket, but you’ll have a tough time finding a mount that supports the weight. Fortunately, Secretlab recently launched a heavy-duty Magnus monitor arm that should do the trick.

As usual, AOC stuns with its ports and shows everyone else how it’s done. Alongside your run-of-the-mill dual HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, which are plenty to run 3440×1440 resolution at 240Hz, it’s all about the USBs. Both a Type-B and a Type-C upstream are on hand to feed the KVM switch, letting you plug up to four peripherals into your monitor. Unlike MSI MPG 341CQPX QD-OLED, each of these Type-A ports is USB 3.2 Gen 1, and one supports fast charging. It’s the ideal way to control two systems with a single keyboard and mouse, but you can attach high-speed peripherals without an issue. The Type-C also doubles up as a DisplayPort Alt for another visual source and offers 90W of power delivery, perfect for my Steam Deck OLED.

Featuring the usual vertical Agon OSD (on-screen display), you’ll find all the options to tinker with the picture. Notably, there are gamma settings, colour temperatures, and different picture presets you can cycle through until you find your favourite. Since AMD FreeSync and low input lag are on by default, I tend to leave the Game Setting well enough alone since it messes with the blacks and colours on-screen, but there is merit to Shadow Boost, which can make enemies more visible in competitive shooters like Rainbow Six Siege.

Although there isn’t a dedicated OLED Care menu like rivals have, it’s not short on options to protect your panel from burn-in. Everything you need is nestled under Extra, from pixel orbiting, which occasionally shifts the screen, to logo detection, and a manual pixel refresh. As with most modern models, it’ll automatically conduct your average four-minute pixel refresh whenever you switch off the display, which is recommended every four hours.

There are two ways to navigate the OSD, but I can only recommend one. The joystick on the rear has inconsistent controls, sometimes instructing you to press in to enter and flick right to exit, and other times this becomes push right to enter and left to exit. Fortunately, AOC gives you a remote control with batteries included, making the whole process seamless. It’s also ideal for changing the volume of the integrated speakers, which can get loud. They’re not as good as a dedicated soundbar since the bass is a little lacking, but they exceed my expectations when it comes to built-in solutions. Just make sure you don’t crank it up to 11 because things can get distorted.

Performance

The wrap-around approach makes multi-monitor setups a bit difficult, but a 3440×1440 resolution and 21:9 aspect ratio cover most needs without a second screen. It’s perhaps not my favourite way to work with several browser windows scattered about as text clarity continues to be an issue. Pixels fringe around the edges of text, which is less noticeable on some other OLEDs. Pixel density is also on the lower side at 83ppi, owed to stretching QHD across a 45in screen. Thankfully, the moment I’m in-game, it transports me to a different realm entirely.

The exceedingly silky 240Hz refresh rate isn’t the easiest to max out at QHD without the best graphics card driving it, but there’s enough headroom for anything. Paired with a 0.03ms GTG (grey-to-grey) response time, I find Agon Pro AG456UCZD shines in FPS games the most, giving you a distinct advantage as you’ll see your opponent before they spot you. The same applies to racing games, anything competitive, and even fast-paced single-player titles. Dying Light springs to mind with its zippy parkour traversal mechanics.

LG’s panels have a reputation for struggling with red tones, but I’ve found the opposite here. The OLED gives life to Rainbow Six Siege’s beige, brown, and auburn palette just as much as it makes Destiny 2 more vibrant. Any game I booted looked a treat, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales, XDefiant, and Hades 2.

As usual, you’ll need to keep an eye out for compatibility. Nowadays, most games support ultrawide resolutions, but there are exceptions, like Elden Ring. Even titles that work occasionally see cutscenes zip back to 16:9 with black bars on either side before assuming the full width again, taking you out of the moment. This isn’t an AOC issue, but something you need to keep in mind before committing to the purchase.

Colour accuracy and gamut

Straight out of the box, the default configuration gives you a warm colour temperature. It’s a slightly strange decision but one that covers the largest gamut with 100% sRGB, 97% DCI-P3, and 92% AdobeRGB. I personally prefer to stick with Panel Native for the full breadth, but there are sRGB and DCI-P3 options for professionals who need a stricter range.

You can also activate a DCB Mode, otherwise known as dynamic colour boost, to enhance certain shades in the spectrum. It narrows gamut scores and colour accuracy, but swaps the palette to something that might be to your liking.

Without the Samsung’s Quantum Dot solution, Agon Pro AG456UCZD falls behind in colour accuracy. Although AOC claims a sub-2 Delta E, the best I could get was 2.91. While there are more precise alternatives on the market, the good news is that the difference is largely imperceptible to all but trained professionals. To my eye, it looks almost as punchy as the QD-OLED I use as my daily driver.

Brightness and contrast

Although there are many different types of OLED panels, they all share the ability to turn each pixel off individually. This results in the great benefit of a near-infinite contrast ratio and perfect blacks. As you’d expect, Agon Pro AG456UCZD is no exception, offering a deep picture that emphasises darker scenes without the grey undertones you’d get from a backlit LCD.

Of course, nothing is perfect, and brightness is OLED’s Achilles’ Heel. Like its rivals, AOC’s latest won’t cut through the glare of direct sunlight, but it’s easily the brightest model I’ve seen. At 277cd/m², it’s only a touch above its closest challenger, but the monitor respects that every single nit counts in this arena. It makes all the difference in the long run.

Screen uniformity

Generally, the bigger a monitor is, the more trouble it has keeping its colour and brightness even. This is especially true for ultrawide monitors, but Agon Pro AG456UCZD keeps everything uniform from corner to corner. For reference, we set a 10% ceiling before questioning a display’s capability, but this model barely reaches a fifth of that limit.

Power consumption

For a chonky 45in monitor, AOC’s OLED doesn’t ask for the world to run it. On the lower end, at 0% brightness with a darker background, it asks for as little as 23W. This is a little more economical than other OLEDs given that the panel type is usually particularly power-hungry.

Upping the brightness as high as it’ll go with a white screen and the USB hub turned on demands around 105W. It’ll still have an impact on your electric bill but sticking with a UWQHD resolution at this size rather than opting for 4K certainly does it a few favours. In reality, you’ll land somewhere in the middle, as the self-emitting pixels turn off whenever they’re not in use.

Price

$1,399 / £1,129.99 is no small chunk of change for an OLED monitor as prices are slowly getting more affordable. At this spec, however, AOC undercuts its competition by quite a margin.

Corsair Xeneon Flex OLED offers the same 45in panel but charges considerably more because you can adjust the curve to your liking. While I haven’t reviewed it, I did have the pleasure of trying it out and don’t think the bendable screen is worth £850 more. On the other hand, LG UltraGear 45GR95QE-B is virtually identical to this review sample but is more expensive with fewer USB ports.

You’ll only get a better price if you look towards different screen sizes, refresh rates, and resolutions. For the curviest OLED around, Agon Pro AG456UCZD is currently unbeatable.

Should you buy it?

Agon Pro AG456UCZD excels in certain areas, particularly for gamers seeking immersion. Its large, wrap-around display won’t be for everyone, but it can enhance experiences alongside an instant pixel response and silky smooth 240Hz refresh rate. The OLED panel delivers deep contrasts and perfect blacks, keeping you engaged no matter what you’re doing. Colour accuracy could be better at this price range, but that doesn’t raise an eyebrow as much as its lower pixel density, which is part and parcel with such a chonky monitor.

All in all, the display is well worth the money, putting competition in their place regarding both price and build quality. It’s still worth considering other options, as MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED has a rock-bottom price in the US and Alienware AW3225QF does the same in the UK, but these are 16:9 alternatives that don’t scratch the same itch. Personally, I’m sold on the KVM switch alone, which to this day remains unrivalled.

Verdict: A steely screen with a blistering 240Hz refresh rate, luscious 800R curve, and reasonable price tag.