AOC U27P2CA 4K monitor review: an affordable option for the home office

You're not short of options if you're after the best 4K monitor on the market right now, and the AOC U27P2CA is another model keen for your attention in this particular category. In this detailed AOC U27P2CA review, we'll tell you everything you need to know about it.

Long story short: the 27-inch AOC U27P2CA wants to give you a 4K screen for your home office or your actual office for as little money as possible. It brings with it a number of useful features without dazzling in terms of its performance or the picture it produces.

There are certain areas where the AOC U27P2CA doesn't excel, and it's not going to be for everyone – this isn't a monitor that's going to trouble the best gaming monitors for example, so bear that in mind as you're weighing it up.

AOC U27P2CA review: price & availability

The AOC U27P2CA 4K monitor is out and available to buy right now: check the widgets embedded around this article for the very latest prices online, but as we're writing this review you can pick up the monitor for about £380 in the UK and $380 in the US. In the UK, it's at retailers including Amazon and CCL Online.

AOC U27P2CA review: design & setup

We have to give full marks to the AOC U27P2CA for the ease with which you can set it up: you don't need any tools, you don't need anyone else to help you, and we reckon that once you've got it out of the box you'll have it plugged in and ready to go in the space of about five minutes. You get HDMI and USB-A-to-USB-C cables included in the package, plus the power cable of course.

In keeping with everything else about this 4K monitor, the on-screen menu is business-like and functional. It's operated via four rather sombre and utilitarian buttons on the bottom edge of the display, giving you control over input selection, contrast, brightness, colour temperature, the picture-in-picture mode, and plenty more besides. It's all very straightforward and simple to operate.

The overall design of the AOC U27P2CA is simple and unspectacular, but not without elegance. There are pleasingly thin bezels around the top and sides, a textured effect on the base, and a subtle AOC logo around the back. You can change the height and tilt of the screen, but you can't swivel it on its stand. You can rotate the screen by 90 degrees too, into a portrait mode. When built, the monitor measures 614 x 545 x 200mm and weighs 7.1kg.

You're very well covered in terms of ports here too: there are two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.2 port, and one USB Type-C Gen 3.2 port with support for DP alt mode, upstream, and 65W power delivery. There are also four USB Type-A Gen 3.2 ports so you can use the monitor as a hub or charging station – we like the way AOC has put two of these ports on the left side of the monitor (as you look at it) for easier access.

AOC U27P2CA review: features & picture

With the AOC U27P2CA you've got a 27-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio, IPS LED screen running at a native 4K resolution (that's 3,840 x 2,160 pixels). Brightness tops out at 350 nits, the contrast ratio is 1,000:1, and the refresh rate is 60Hz (it won't work for high frame-rate content therefore, nor is its HDMI port compatible). That's a little slow for gaming, as is the 4ms response time – though it will display games, obviously. AOC has added flicker-free and low blue light technology to help minimise eye strain, too.

All that translates into a picture that's very comfortable to look at, and of course very sharp. We tested the monitor with office applications, movies and games, and had no complaints – this is one of those products that isn't best in class but that's perfectly good for most people, and that's reflected in the price. We've seen panels with brighter, more vivid, more accurate colours, for example, but they're also going to cost you more.

There's an argument to be made that a 4K resolution doesn't make a whole lot of difference at a 27-inch size, but Windows and macOS will scale their interfaces accordingly. We spent several hours writing up this review on the monitor, with no eye strain or fatigue at all.

We always like to see speakers included on monitors, even if they're not outstanding, because it gives users more options. The two 2W speakers here are not great, but they'll do if you're watching a few shows on your streaming services of choice. There's a 3.5 mm headphone jack as well, besides the USB options, so you're well covered if you want to wear headphones.

AOC U27P2CA 4K monitor review: verdict

In a lot of ways you get exactly what you would expect from the AOC U27P2CA: a no-nonsense, affordable 4K monitor that's going to serve you well for just about any office task. It's less impressive when it comes to gaming, movies, and creative work where colour accuracy is key, but that's factored into the price.

The on-screen menus are simple to work through, there are plenty of USB ports to make use of, and you can use the screen in portrait mode too if you want – something that coders and writers often like to see in their monitors. 

There are some areas where the AOC U27P2CA isn't as good as it could be – it's HDMI 2.0 and 60Hz only for example. It's these sorts of compromises and trade-offs that you need to weigh up if this monitor is anywhere near your shopping list. 

Overall we think the AOC U27P2CA gets that balance just about right, and we'd recommend it to anyone looking for a 4K office monitor that covers all the basics, especially if connectivity and versatility are important. Sometimes monitors can be very good without being spectacular, and that's the case here – it's a monitor that you'll be able to rely on for years to come.

Also consider

There are plenty of other 4K monitors around that compete with the AOC U27P2CA: the LG 27GP950-B, for instance, keeps the resolution and the 27-inch screen size, while reducing the response time to 1ms. That's going to make it more suitable for gamers, and it's currently one of the best 4K monitors on the market – though it's worth noting that it's significantly more expensive than the AOC model we've reviewed here.

If an affordable price is more important than anything else, then the Acer CB282K could be what you're after. It's even cheaper than the AOC U27P2CA, while keeping the 4K resolution and upping the overall screen size to 28-inches. It's another monitor that focuses primarily on everyday computing jobs, but which can be turned to other purposes like gaming if required.