A well spec’d and designed monitor is one of the most important peripherals for gamers. Gaming monitors are meant to be fast, responsive, and provide the clearest images to gamers so that they can react to the world around them. Today I’m going to review the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A gaming monitor. I’ll discuss its set-up, design, performance, and of course sharing my final thoughts.
ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A specs
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Unboxing and setting up the ASUS TUF VG30QL1A
The unboxing and set-up process for the ASUS TUF VG30QL1A is straightforward. Inside the box you will find the monitor, base, power supply, 1x HDMI cable, and 1x display port cable.
After removing the packaging, setting up the monitor is surprisingly simple. In my test unit the monitor arm was already attached to the back of the monitor, all I needed to do was connect the base. What I really appreciated in ASUS’s design is that assembly doesn’t require any additional tools. The base is connected to the monitor arm using 2x pre-installed thumb screws. Once you tighten both screws the base is securely attached.
Overall the set-up process is quick and simple, you can have the monitor on your desk and ready to use in less than 5 minutes.
ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A monitor ergonomics and adjustments
Something that’s often overlooked is the quality and design of a monitor stand. In the case of the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A, this monitor has a well designed stand with plenty of adjustments. Fine tuning is simple and the stand allows you to adjust the monitor height, tilt, and swivel. The stand also allows you to pivot the monitor 90 degrees from landscape to portrait mode.
Plentiful connectivity on the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A
Connectivity is plentiful on the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A. For video input there are 2x HDMI 2.0 ports and 1x Display port. There’s also 2x USB-A 3.0 ports for users to connect peripherals. Given that USB-C is becoming the new standard for many devices it would’ve been nice to see ASUS include a thunderbolt port for audio/video or at least a regular USB-C port to connect peripherals.
A monitor designed for gamers in mind
The ASUS TUF VG30QL1A sports a 30 inch VA panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1080. ASUS’s decision to use a VA panel reflects their target demographic of gamers. VA panels provide faster refresh rates, higher brightness, and better viewing angles. Gamers that need a fast monitor will definitely appreciate the ASUS’s 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time.
The ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A also comes with Freesync premium ensuring that the monitor will match the frames per second (FPS) produced by your graphics card. Adding to this the monitor also comes enabled with Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) which is meant to eliminate ghosting of on screen images. With these features gamers should experience near flawless images while playing any games.
The ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A also has a 1500R curve. Given how wide the monitor is I like the decision to make the screen curved. The curve adds more immersion to your games giving you easy visibility to the corners of your monitor without having to turn your head.
Gaming and media performance of ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A
In my testing with the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A I played some of my favourite games including Call of Duty and Tomb Raider. The monitor is HDR-10 compatible and looks amazing while playing games and watching movies, the colors are punchy, the contrast provides deep blacks in dark areas, and the image is sharp.
The high refresh rate of the monitor and ELMB really came through while playing both games. I’m able to clearly see what was happening during fast action sequences and the ELMB ensures that I’m not distracted by ghosting.
What I’ve really come to love with the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A is the ultra wide curved panel. Having an ultra wide panel gives you a wider field of view allowing you to see more of the game in your peripherals. When you add the curved nature of the screen it greatly improves your immersion, spatial awareness, and allows you to react more quickly to the environment.
Watching movies is equally enjoyable on this monitor. On traditional monitors with 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios, when watching movies you will see black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. However, with the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A the 21:9 aspect ratio means that when watching movies the image fills up the entire screen.
Average built-in speakers
I’m surprised to see that ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A also comes with built-in speakers. These speakers are on the average side, they have a slightly hollow sound and lack bass. If your computer doesn’t have speakers then the ASUS VG1A’s speakers will do in a pinch.
When comparing the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A speaker quality to my 2019 MacBook Air, the MacBook speakers are superior. The MacBook speakers produced clearer sound, more rich audio, and stronger bass.
Overall, the built in speakers of the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A will be adequate for general use. Hardcore gamers and movie enthusiasts will want to use dedicated headphones or external speakers to better enjoy their content.
ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A and productivity
The ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A performs equally as well when it comes to day-to-day productivity. As someone who’s working on multiple spreadsheets, video calls, and building PowerPoints throughout my day I can’t say enough good things about this monitor. The wide viewing angles, curved screen and adjustable stand make it easy for me to swap between applications, and comfortably multitask. I find portrait mode is most helpful when working on vertical designs or reading long documents.
Overall, the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A brings a lot of comforts and features that productivity professionals would like in their day to day workflow.
Easy to use controls
Using the ASUS VG1A’s controls is simple and easy to use. On the back right hand side of the monitor you will find 4x buttons and a navigation joystick. While this is a standard layout ASUS made two key design decisions that made this style of navigation more user friendly. The first change is that the buttons are much larger than other computer monitor buttons. Secondly, ASUS staggered the buttons which improves the tactile feel and prevents accidental presses.
Aside from the standard computer monitor options the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A offers some gamer centric features. For example the shortcut menu allows users to select game specific presets including racing, real time strategy, and first person shooters. Another feature that’s offered is the ability to enable a frames per second counter and the ability to have an on screen crosshairs for first person shooter games.
Overall, I found the controls on the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A to be easy to use, navigate, and offer helpful features for gamers.
Final thoughts on the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A
The ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A is a great monitor for gaming, media, and productivity. I love the flexibility of the monitor stand, the 1500R curve, its fast 200Hz refresh rate, and the 1ms response time. These features add up to a fantastic monitor that will satisfy even the most hardcore gamers. The only disadvantage I can find with the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A is it’s average speaker. This is a minor complaint in an otherwise feature rich and quality monitor.
If you’re in the market for a new monitor I strongly suggest checking out the ASUS TUF VG30VQL1A. If you’d like to see what other gaming accessories are made by ASUS you can check them out here.
Super interested in the rotation of the screen. With an ultrawide that seems super handy for fitting two apps on that screen or more.
I love the 2 hdmi + dp ports; I could connect my Switch, playstation and PC without using an hdmi switch
200 Hz with a 1ms refresh just makes me smile. I can’t image how crisp and quick everything is with this monitor!
The 200hz refresh rate is the standout feature to me.
I like the 200Hz refresh and 1ms response because it will make for a great gaming experience.
I Like the awesome portrait mode. 2 of these monitors would be great together.
The 200Hz refresh and 1ms for sure which will enhance your gaming experience with ultra fast speeds as well as any other content you watch.
Great image, size, and with 200 mhz and 1ms- what more could a gamer want. Non finicky buttons is a great plus.
I love the 1500R curved VA Panel it just makes it so much better to look at and view everything.
The 1500R curved VA Panel is the most interesting feature to me. Viewing angle will be much improved with this feature.
The fast response time is what get me on such a large screen. Multiple video inputs is a definite plus though for PC, gaming swap sessions.
I really appreciate the FreeSync premium technology it uses. I have a pretty good graphics card, so I’m glad this monitor can adjust its frames per second to match it. Will really come in handy for games with high-level graphics and not have to worry about fps conflicts.
The number of options for connecting HDMI, USB-C and other types is the most impressive to me.
The curved feature stands out to me because it would be more fun playing games on a curved monitor.
Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) combined with such a fast refresh rate and the immersion from the curved screen make the an awesome monitor.
I think I would like being able to switch the monitor to portrait mode.
FreeSync is there
I like that it has fast, responsive, and has 30″ monitor.! That it is crved is awesome!
My favorite features are the 200Hz refresh and 1ms response rate. These features would be perfect for gaming and movies.
The feature of this monitor that stands out as the most interesting is the curved screen. It would be great to enjoy a screen that size and not have to turn my head from side to side.
The curved feature stands out to me because of the more immersive factor it brings to content.
The Extreme Low Motion Blur might be good for my eyes!
I like tthat the screen is curved . With this I think I will get better viewing angles.
The 200hz refresh rate is my favourite feature. Great for gaming.
I like the flexibility of the stand as we share as a family so everyone has different needs.
The curved screen sounds like a great feature. A new level of game playing.
I really like the ASUS’s Curved Monitor’s 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response are amazing features!
The the fast 200Hz refresh rate stands out the most to me!
21:9 aspect ratio and 200Hz refresh rate are just amazing!
I love the fact it has 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time.
The wide curved screen stands out a feature.
My favorite would be the Extreme Low Motion Blur. I feel like it would make the movie and gaming experience more realistic
Yes, the 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time would make fast paced games so smooth (if you have a good video card)
The 200Hz refresh rate, will probably induce no or less eyes tiredness!
The flexibility of the monitor stand, and the 1500R curve will create an immersive experience.
Amazing ASUS’s 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time
The Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) is my favourite feature of this monitor for playing FPS or sports games.
I personally find the “Extreme Low Motion Blur” feature very appealing as it would provide a clean and realistic look to the movie/game that i would use it for.
Love ASUS’s 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time feature! This would be amazing for games with fast motion.
I like the fast 200Hz refresh rate the most.
Built-in speakers because it’s convenient as I don’t have a lot of desk space.
I would say what interests me most would be the built-in speakers because some monitors have terrible sound but this one looks awesome and I would play a lot of music on it if the sound was good!
I love the blue light filter because it’s easy on my eyes.
The Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) feature is the most interesting to me because I often play first-person shooters and would appreciate if ghosting was eliminated in my gameplay.
I like the ultra wide spec on this 30″ monitor. Most 27″ monitors that I have used before have a 16:10 aspect raitio so this change in form factor to a 21:9 ratio screen certainly makes this ultra wide screen format unique for me.
The 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time
The feature that stands out to me as most interesting is the built-in speakers of this monitor because not many high-end monitors come with built-in speakers nowadays and for somebody who lives and works out of a very small room with an even smaller desk it would be really nice to have a two in one monitor and speak set up so that I don’t have to put on my gaming headphones every time I want to do some productivity work at my computer
I really like the ASUS’s 200Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time
I like the multiple video inputs. Depending on what I doing I like to switch monitors and computers, the ability to switch inputs without switching physical HDMI cables or buying a HDMI Switch would be great.
Love the fact that the screen is curved
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