Earlier this month I reviewed the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM, a 32-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor that mixes a 4K decision with 240Hz refresh fee, spectacular HDR and fewer downsides than your typical OLED panel – albeit at an eye-watering £1350 asking value. I famous that whereas the Asus monitor was a technical tour de power and the perfect gaming monitor I would ever examined, it is not essentially the perfect worth 32-inch QD-OLED. For that, UK patrons should be trying on the topic of this assessment: Dell’s £940 Alienware AW3225QF, which makes use of the very same QD-OLED panel and due to this fact ought to supply nigh-identical efficiency – for £410 much less.
Regardless of that large value delta, the Alienware is much from a compromised funds different – it packs most of the similar options because the Asus mannequin and even provides on Dolby Imaginative and prescient help and a curved kind issue that go well with its expansive proportions.
On this AW3225QF assessment, I am going to cowl how the monitor compares to the dearer Asus mannequin, how significant Dolby Imaginative and prescient help is as a value-add and whether or not the curved display screen provides or detracts from the expertise – in addition to a abstract of the 32-inch QD-OLED panel’s traits for gaming, video and work, on condition that we have already lined the panel in some element within the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM assessment two weeks in the past.
In contrast to many different show varieties, OLED panels can curve – so after being produced by Samsung Show, distributors like Dell, Asus and MSI are free to decide on flat, curved and even versatile configurations (eg the 45-inch Corsair Xeneon Flex). Dell opted for a curved design, not like MSI and Asus, and so that is the primary level of differentiation you are more likely to discover – and care about – when contemplating every of those designs.
I’ve used a good few curved screens up to now, however I typically desire flat panels as I do a good quantity of labor in textual content editors, spreadsheets and different productiveness functions the place it is good for straight strains to seem straight. The excellent news is that the Alienware’s 1800R curvature is definitely fairly gentle for a monitor of this dimension, with every nook maybe only some centimetres additional ahead than it could be on a very flat monitor. That makes the AW3225QF a straightforward monitor to get used to, showing barely extra immersive in gameplay with out making your spreadsheets look noticeably odd. This seems like the precise alternative for Dell, who get a pleasant level of differentiation in opposition to their rivals with out making it a deal-breaker for those who desire flat screens.
Past the curve, the AW3225QF follows the identical design rules as Dell’s different new QD-OLED (the 1440p 360Hz AW2725DF, assessment coming quickly) with a subtly printed white Alienware wordmark throughout the marginally chunky backside bezel, a four-way joystick simply beneath and an influence button with LED indicator method on the precise facet of the monitor. (After utilizing a variety of screens with centrally-located energy buttons, I admit to some minutes of panic when prodding the joystick did not flip it on and I hadn’t but noticed the separate energy button.)
The again of the monitor is available in Alienware white plastic, and by default has a teal-backlit alien head on one facet and teal-backlit ’32’ textual content on the opposite – simply in case you overlook what monitor dimension you picked. The stand is elegant and succesful, with top, tilt and swivel adjustment and extra of that space-y white/black plastic end, however except you are actually making an attempt to match a white PC construct I would suggest utilizing a 100×100 VESA monitor arm to filter some much-needed mousing area in your desk. Fortunately, at six kilos the monitor is not exhausting to mount.
Beneath, you get a DisplayPort 1.4 port (for 4K 240Hz with DSC) and two HDMI 2.1 ports (4K 240Hz, although restricted to 4K 120Hz on PS5/Sequence X). Curiously, the primary HDMI port helps eARC to ship high-res multi-channel audio to sound techniques, one of many few screens I’ve seen to incorporate this performance – and a intelligent inclusion for a monitor that additionally helps Dolby Imaginative and prescient. Nonetheless, there isn’t any 3.5mm headphone jack or built-in audio system, both of which may have been good for console use.
Whereas MSI and Asus 32-inch QD-OLEDs embody a USB-C video and information port with as much as 90W USB PD and KVM change performance, the Dell solely features a easy USB-B downstream port that connects a four-port USB hub (one USB-C, three USB-A, all 5Gbps). Meaning you do not have an possibility to attach a contemporary laptop computer with audio, video, information and energy over a single cable, which is a little bit of a disgrace and maybe the primary true proof of value financial savings on the Alienware versus its rivals.
The OSD right here can be a bit of extra feature-poor than Asus and MSI’s menus, with solely two anti burn-in controls – to immediate a pixel refresh or full panel refresh – and toggles or changes obtainable for options like taskbar and brand detection. To be clear, these options nonetheless look like enabled, however there isn’t any consumer management of them which appears a little bit of a disgrace. As with the opposite fashions utilizing this 32-inch QD-OLED panel, a three-year guarantee that covers burn-in is included with the AW3225QF.
Let’s transfer now to the Alienware’s different distinctive function: Dolby Imaginative and prescient. That is one thing of a let-down in Home windows 11, as whereas Home windows recognises the monitor as having Dolby Imaginative and prescient help, I wasn’t in a position to truly play any native Dolby Imaginative and prescient video recordsdata and solely a handful of video games with Dolby Imaginative and prescient enabled. Streaming Dolby Imaginative and prescient titles in Netflix did work, no less than. The record of formally supported titles solely features a handful older Frostbite engine video games like Want for Velocity Warmth and Mass Impact Andromeda, they usually did not fairly work as meant, with Andromeda requiring 4K 60Hz output to work accurately. Fortunately, a firmware replace does no less than enable Dolby Imaginative and prescient mode to be disabled within the monitor’s OSD, so you do not have to take care of Dolby Imaginative and prescient getting used when HDR is enabled – with too-bright outcomes.
On Xbox it is not too a lot better when it comes to mainstream recreation help, however does no less than embody the likes of Borderlands 3, Forza Horizon 5 and Metro Exodus, and each recreation I attempted labored completely with none trouble. After all, you can too stream Dolby Imaginative and prescient video on the Xbox – and different HDMI units just like the Nvidia Protect – so Dolby Imaginative and prescient help remains to be fairly a helpful addition on that entrance.
Fortunately, common HDR content material nonetheless appears to be like improbable on PC and different platforms, so whereas the Alienware does not meaningfully achieve something in opposition to its rivals for PC use, watching HDR movies and enjoying HDR video games remains to be demonstrably higher than the overwhelming majority of LCD-based options available on the market – in order that’s one thing.
Going into extra goal testing now, the AW3225QF hits the identical highs because the Asus PG32UCDM, with full protection of sRGB in its Creator mode, 99 p.c DCI P3 protection and 97 p.c Adobe RGB protection. Color accuracy in sRGB was unbelievable, with a median Delta-E rating of 1.0 that means inaccuracies invisible to the bare eye, and HDR highlights are additionally impressively shiny at as much as 1000 nits. Lastly, pixel response occasions are extremely fast at round 0.3ms, however there isn’t any black body insertion function as we noticed on the Asus mannequin. I tended to maintain that mode disabled anyway, however it could have been good to this as an possibility.
As with different QD-OLED screens we have examined, shiny environments may cause black pixels to look barely purple or gray, however in darkish or reasonable lighting circumstances they give the impression of being correctly black as you’d hope – so W-OLED or an LCD-based monitor may be a better option for those who’re compelled to make use of the monitor in slightly harsh lighting circumstances. The shiny display screen coating right here can be efficient at dealing with reflections.
I did not face any points with SDR brightness, which at 250 nits was greater than enough for my use case, even with largely white content material like internet pages maximised on the display screen. This 32-inch 4K monitor defaults to 150 p.c scaling in Home windows, however 125 p.c and even 100% scaling are tremendous options you probably have good eyesight and wish extra display screen actual property.
As you’d anticipate from the specs on supply right here, efficiency is nice in a variety of PC video games. You could have the luxurious of the crisp particulars and beautiful color replica of a 4K OLED display screen with an esports-grade 240Hz refresh fee and close to on the spot pixel response occasions, so a variety of gaming genres are represented at their greatest. As I discussed with the Asus monitor, the bodily bigger dimension was surprisingly good in aggressive shooters like Counter-Strike 2 and Name of Obligation Warzone, the place the bigger pixels made distant enemies a bit of simpler to identify.
On Xbox Sequence X or PS5, you are unlikely to even be hitting 4K 120Hz in lots of video games, however with full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth obtainable, you are no less than taking full benefit of what the platforms have to supply. And who is aware of, possibly you may be absolutely prepared for the PlayStation 6 or Xbox Sequence XXX!
Outdoors of gaming, the third-generation Samsung Show QD-OLED panel used right here has an improved subpixel association that leads to sharper textual content with out the apparent color fringing that have been noticeable in older QD-OLED screens, making this a a lot better alternative for internet shopping, programming, content material creation and so forth. As at all times, OLED is not ideally matched for these use instances given that they are extra more likely to trigger burn-in than gaming or video content material, however with that three-year guarantee and countermeasures in place, I haven’t got any explicit hangups about utilizing this monitor for work when wanted. I am going to report again if I do discover any burn-in throughout long-term testing.
All issues thought-about then, the Dell Alienware AW3225QF is a straightforward advice for UK patrons, the place its considerably cheaper price than competing 32-inch QD-OLED fashions from Asus and MSI make it the apparent alternative. Elsewhere on the planet, the Dell remains to be a novel proposition effectively value contemplating – particularly if you wish to play Dolby Imaginative and prescient content material through an Xbox or different HDMI media participant, or notably like curved screens slightly than flat ones. Nonetheless, the disappointing Dolby Imaginative and prescient dealing with in Home windows 11, some lacking OSD choices, no BFI and the dearth of a USB-C enter are minor blemishes on an in any other case wonderful monitor.
