I've never dropped or otherwise accidentally broken a monitor before—not even those hulking CRT displays from yesteryear, though I've come close to throwing out my back lugging one up a flight of steps—but I have to give kudos to AOC for implementing a new warranty policy that would cover such an incident.
Accidental damage protection is part of AOC's new "Re-Spawned" warranty program for all of its gaming monitors. Normally I would not devote an article to a warranty alone, but AOC's new terms are all kinds of awesome.
The overall warranty period is 4 years on AOC's premium Agon models, and 3 years on its G series (non-Agon gaming monitors), both effective from the purchase date (US and Canada only) when bought from an authorized reseller. It covers "any defect." Coverage is applied retroactively to purchases dating back to January 1, 2019 too, which is cool.
The monitor terms include a one-time accidental damage claim during the first year of ownership. This covers everything from the monitor leaping off your desk and crashing into the floor, to "even nuclear war." Hey, the world might be ending, but at least you can submit a monitor claim first!
So far, so good. Even better is that the retooled warranty terms include a zero-dead pixel guarantee.
"If even one pixel on your Agon or AOC gaming monitor is dead or 'bright', AOC will send you a new monitor," AOC says.
Finally, the Re-Spawned warranty also includes advanced replacement service. That means AOC will send out a replacement right away, rather than wait for the defective (or accidentally broken) model to arrive. I assume there's a credit card hold for this, as is commonly the case.
If there is an Achilles' Heel (other than this all being limited to the US and Canada), it's that you're on the hook for shipping the defective model to AOC. The days of absurdly heavy CRT monitors are behind us, but depending on the size and weight of your LCD display, this can still be pricey. AOC will at least foot the bill to send back a replacement, though.
