Gigabyte AORUS FO27Q3 Monitor Review

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has a simple design with a mainly gray body and some black accents throughout. It also features RGB lightning on the back.

The build quality is fantastic. There aren't any obvious issues, and the plastic stand, which features a metal base, holds the screen well. The circular piece that goes around where the monitor clips to the stand feels a bit loose, but it doesn't impact the user experience. Adjusting its height up and down feels smooth, and there isn't any noticeable noise from fans either.

The ergonomics are incredible as you can easily adjust it in many different ways. As you can only rotate it in one direction, the inputs always face to the left if you want to use the monitor in a vertical orientation. The stand also features a removable clip for cable management.

The thickness measurement is with the screen at the minimum height adjustment, but because it's on an angle, the thickness with the screen at the max height adjustment is 6.7 inches (17.0 cm).

There's a joystick and two buttons to control the on-screen display and power the monitor on and off.

• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• USB-B to USB-A cable
• 3x power cables (Type I, Type J, Type B)
• Power brick
• Cable clip
• User manuals, including calibration report

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has a near-infinite contrast ratio thanks to its QD-OLED panel that can turn individual pixels on and off. This means it displays deep blacks next to bright highlights in dark rooms. However, like any other QD-OLED, ambient light causes blacks to look purple, so it doesn't display the same deep blacks in bright rooms.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 doesn't have a backlight, so it doesn't require a local dimming feature. However, with a near-infinite contrast ratio, there isn't any blooming around bright objects, and it's the equivalent of a perfect local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can see how the screen performs and compare it with a monitor that has local dimming.

Settings

• Picture: Custom (after calibration)
• Static Control: Off
• APL Stabilize: High
• Sub-Logo Dim: Off
• Corner Dim: Off
• Brightness: Maximum

The SDR brightness is good. It gets bright enough to fight glare if you set APL Stabilize to 'High,' but it still struggles to fight really intense glare. That said, the trade-off is that there's a difference in brightness between different content, which can be distracting, like if you're opening and closing windows. If that bothers you, it's better to set APL Stabilize to 'Low' as there's more consistent brightness. The brightness is similar between APL Stabilize on 'Middle' and 'High' for the most part, except 2% windows get much brighter on 'High,' which you can see in the results below.

Another thing to note is that with APL Stabilize on 'High,' there's an issue with raised black levels. You can change Gamma to '2.4' to fix this issue.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has okay HDR brightness. It gets brightest with small highlights, so they really pop against the rest of the image, but it can't maintain that high brightness with larger objects. The PQ EOTF tracking is also good, so the image is accurate until there's a gradual roll-off before a sharp cut-off at the peak brightness. These results are with the following settings:

• Picture: HDR
• Static Control: Off
• APL Stabilize: High
• Sub-Logo Dim: Off
• Corner Dim: Off

These settings are the brightest and most accurate, as the 'HDR Game' only reaches a Real Scene brightness of 380 cd/m² and has worse PQ EOTF tracking as it overbrightens most scenes. You can also see the brightness for the 'HDR' mode with APL Stabilize on 'Middle':

• Real Scene 393 cd/m²
• Peak 2% Window 469 cd/m²
• Peak 10% Window 470 cd/m²
• Peak 25% Window 379 cd/m²
• Peak 50% Window 323 cd/m²
• Peak 100% Window 274 cd/m²
• Sustained 2% Window 467 cd/m²
• Sustained 10% Window 468 cd/m²
• Sustained 25% Window 377 cd/m²
• Sustained 50% Window 320 cd/m²
• Sustained 100% Window 272 cd/m²
• PQ EOTF

In September 2024, Gigabyte released firmware update F05, which adds 'HDR Peak 1000' picture mode. However, it has almost the same brightness as the 'HDR' mode, and has worse PQ EOTF tracking.

The horizontal viewing angle is exceptional. Although it technically isn't perfect, the image remains consistent from any angle without inconsistencies, and you can easily share your screen with someone else.

The vertical viewing angle is remarkable. The image looks the same, even if you're standing up and looking down at it.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has fantastic gray uniformity. There aren't any areas of dirty screen effect or noticeable issues. However, like any OLED, there are thin gray vertical lines in dark scenes, but you won't notice them unless you look for them.

Thanks to its OLED panel, there isn't any blooming around bright objects.

The accuracy before calibration in the sRGB mode is fantastic. It locks colors to the sRGB color space, so they aren't oversaturated, and both the white balance and color temperature are incredible, too. However, gamma is a bit high, causing most content to be too dark. These results are with APL Stabilize on 'Low,' as setting it to 'Middle' or 'High' results in much worse gamma tracking and color accuracy. The sRGB mode also locks a few picture settings, but you'll need to use another, less accurate mode if you want access to those settings, as you can see here.

The accuracy after calibration is fantastic, but calibrating it doesn't fix the gamma issues with APL Stabilize on 'Middle' or 'High,' so it's better to leave it on 'Low' if you want the best accuracy.

The SDR color gamut is fantastic. It displays all colors needed for the common sRGB color space, and it also displays a wide range of colors in Adobe RGB, but it oversaturates some colors in that space.

The HDR color gamut is remarkable. It displays nearly all colors in the common DCI-P3 and wider Rec. 2020 color space, but it undersaturates them in Rec. 2020. Unlike in SDR, the color accuracy is the same no matter what you set APL Stabilize to.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has an amazing HDR color volume. Thanks to its QD-OLED panel, it displays bright and vivid colors without any issues, and dark colors look fantastic, too.

The text clarity is decent, though it's not as good as some other 27-inch 1440p monitors. This is because programs don't render text well with the monitor's triangular subpixel arrangement. Enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) improves the boldness of letters. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.

Due to the triangular subpixel layout, there's some color fringing around letters and at the edge of windows, though it's hard to see unless you look closely at the monitor. Although we didn't experience any eye strain during testing, this is something that changes from person to person, and it depends on how sensitive you are to this subpixel layout.

The reflection handling is remarkable. The glossy coating does an amazing job at reducing glare even from bright light sources, but the biggest downside is that ambient light causes the black levels to raise, so blacks look purple. You can see an example of that here. This is typical of QD-OLEDs, and it's nothing out of the ordinary.

The gradient handling is remarkable, and you won't notice any banding.

Your graphics card needs to use Display Stream Compression (DSC) to reach the max refresh rate over DisplayPort or with 10-bit signals over HDMI, but there's no setting to disable DSC at all on the monitor. If you're looking for a monitor with a higher refresh rate, check out the LG 27GX790A-B.

On top of FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility, this monitor also supports HDMI Forum VRR.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has outstanding motion handling across its entire refresh rate range with VRR enabled. CAD remains low throughout, and there's minimal blur with fast-moving objects.

The refresh rate compliance is outstanding. As it has a near-instantaneous response time, it makes full color transitions before drawing the next frame.

The CAD at the maximum refresh rate is outstanding. It displays fast-moving objects as intended, and motion is extremely sharp.

The CAD at 120Hz is outstanding. Pixels transition to their target RGB level almost instantly, so there isn't any blur trail or noticeable inverse ghosting.

The CAD at 60Hz is outstanding. Pixels transition colors almost instantly, and any noticeable blur is persistent.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 doesn't have an optional black frame insertion feature to reduce persistence blur.

Unfortunately, this monitor has noticeable VRR flicker with changing frame rates. It's most noticeable in dark scenes, and you can also see it in dark areas of bright scenes. This is typical of OLEDs, and the best way to reduce the chances of this happening is either by setting a frame cap or disabling VRR altogether.

The backlight isn't technically flicker-free because it has a slight dip in brightness that corresponds to the 360Hz refresh rate. However, it isn't considered pulse-width modulation like on LED-backlit monitors because it isn't a full-screen on-and-off flicker, and you won't notice it.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 has low input lag for a responsive feel. If you're looking for a monitor with even lower input lag, check out the Sony INZONE M10S.

If you like this monitor's outstanding picture quality but want a sharper image, consider the 4k MSI MPG 322URX QD-OLED.

With HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, this monitor can take full advantage of the PS5, but it downscales 4k signals to 1440p, which is more detailed than native 1440p signals.

With HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, this monitor can take full advantage of the Xbox Series X|S. It downscales 4k signals, which is useful because the Xbox only supports HDR in 4k.

The DisplayPort Alt Mode on the USB-C port allows you to connect a laptop to display an image from it, but it doesn't deliver enough power to charge your laptop at the same time. If you prefer another QD-OLED that delivers more power over USB-C, look into the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG instead.

The bandwidth of the USB-C port depends on which settings you use. The Type-C Compatibility improves compatibility with mobile devices, and turning it on limits the refresh rate to 60Hz. Besides that, using USB 3.2 Support limits the refresh rate to 240Hz.

The Gigabyte FO27Q3 works well with macOS, but there are some oddities. When connecting over HDMI, the default resolution is 1080p, which macOS then upscales to 4k, and the monitor downscales to 1440p. Because of this, the max refresh rate is limited to 60Hz with an M1 Mac and 120Hz with an M2 Mac unless you select '1440p (Low Resolution)' from the list of resolutions. Doing this results in worse text and image clarity, though, so only do this if you prefer having a high refresh rate over the sharpest possible text clarity. However, this doesn't happen over USB-C, as the default resolution is 1440p. Besides that, everything works as expected, and if you're using a MacBook with a USB-C connection, you can continue working on the monitor with the lid closed, which you can't do over HDMI. Windows also return to the original position when reopening the lid with a USB-C or HDMI 2.1 connection, but not with HDMI 2.0.

The Gigabyte AORUS FO27Q3 has a ton of extra features, including:

• Game Assist: Includes extra settings, like crosshairs, FPS counter, PC info, and different vision modes.
• HDMI-CEC: Allows the monitor to automatically turn on when you power on devices like gaming consoles.
• KVM switch: Allows you to use the same keyboard and mouse with two different sources.
• Resolution Switch: You can use this setting to change the resolution and size of the display, including decreasing the image size to simulate a 24-inch screen size.

Like most OLED displays, there are also a few settings to help reduce the risk of burn-in, which you can find in the OLED Care section of the OSD. Gigabyte also offers a three-year warranty, including against burn-in, although that may vary between regions.

• Corner Dim: Dims the four corners of the screen.
• Pixel Shift: Moves the image by a few pixels to one side to help reduce the risk of burn-in.
• Sub-Logo Dim: Dims static logos and the taskbar to help prevent image retention.
• Static Control: Automatically dims the screen when there's inactivity.