Tested: Alienware stakes claim as 4K 240Hz QD-OLED 'budget' buy

Price When Reviewed

$899.99

Best Prices Today: Alienware AW2725Q

$899.99

I’ll be trustworthy. The Alienware AW2725Q didn’t make a great first impression.

It makes use of Alienware’s new “AW30” design language that, although meant to really feel extra natural, doesn’t look premium. The monitor additionally lacks a USB-C port with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, one thing I contemplate important for contemporary displays.

However, the Alienware AW2725Q makes up for these issues with a easy benefit. It prices lots lower than its opponents.

Read on to study extra, then see our roundup of the best gaming monitors for comparability.

Alienware AW2725Q specs and options

The Alienware AW2725Q specs, although glorious, don’t stand out. I’ve already reviewed a number of displays this yr, such because the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM and MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED, with the identical 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel. In reality, the AW2725Q has a drawback subsequent to those alternate options: It doesn’t have a USB-C port with DisplayPort and enough USB Power Delivery to cost a related laptop computer.

• Display measurement: 26.7-inch 16:9 widescreen
• Native decision: 3840×2160
• Panel kind: 10-bit QD-OLED
• Refresh fee: 240Hz
• Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync, Nvidia G-Sync Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro
• HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
• Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x HDMI 2.1 with eARC/ARC for Dolby Atmos sign pass-through, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-B 5Gbps upstream, 3x USB-A 5Gbps downstream, 1x USB-C 5Gbps downstream with 15 watts of Power Delivery
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Audio: None
• Warranty: 3 years
• Price: $899.99 MSRP (U.S.)

But Alienware strikes again with the value. Most opponents listing a worth of $1099.99, however the AW2725Q is simply $899.99. That’s $200, or roughly 20 p.c, inexpensive. It’s an enormous distinction, and it really works to Dell’s benefit. Despite its worth, the AW2725Q is roofed by a three-year guarantee that features OLED burn-in.

Oh, and the AW2725Q has one different sensible benefit. It’s in inventory. While a number of different firms have launched 27-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED displays, availability is tight. I anticipate the AW2725Q shall be among the many simpler 4K 240Hz QD-OLED displays to purchase, as Dell has a historical past of delivery displays with new panels at bigger volumes than most opponents.

Alienware AW2725Q design

Alienware displays are recognized for his or her distinctive design. The AW2725Q isn’t any exception, however takes the model in a distinct path with a design language referred to as “AW30.” It exchanges the prior retro-futuristic search for a extra natural, rounded design. Oh, and it’s a deep navy-blue colour (Alienware calls it indigo), which is definitely totally different.

Yet I’m not bought on the brand new look. My greatest beef is the faux-metallic plastic on the rear of the AW2725Q. While the sheen of the plastic appears meant to look luxurious, to my eyes it comes off a bit low cost, particularly subsequent to opponents just like the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 collection. Also, although the Alienware does technically have RGB-LED lighting accents, they’re solely discovered on the Alienware emblem on the again and the ability button on the entrance. 

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The new design is practical, nonetheless. It has a compact stand that’s even flatter than the hexagon-style stand Alienware had used simply prior, which implies the stand retains most of your desk house usable. The stand ergonomically adjusts for peak, tilt, swivel, and pivot into portrait orientation, and the 100x100mm VESA mount can be utilized to connect the monitor to third-party stands and arms.

Alienware additionally blesses the AW2725Q with a large cable information that retains cables out of sight and has sufficient house to deal with a number of video connections.

Alienware AW2725Q connectivity

The Alienware AW2725Q’s video connectivity consists of two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4. All ports can deal with the monitor’s full decision and refresh fee (as much as 4K at 240Hz).

The AW2725Q’s USB-C connectivity is proscribed, because it lacks a USB-C port with DisplayPort and vital energy supply. Instead, the monitor’s USB connectivity is pushed by a USB-B upstream port with simply 5Gbps of knowledge switch functionality. That connects to a few USB-A ports and a single USB-C port with as much as 15 watts of Power Delivery.

However, the AW2725Q’s decrease pricing partially excuses this resolution, because the monitor’s MSRP is $200 lower than most 27-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED displays. I desire to see USB-C in all high-end displays, however I need to admit that ditching USB-C to decrease the value helps the AW2725Q stand out from the gang.

One port that’s absent is the 3.5mm audio-out jack. Most displays have this connection to help audio pass-through, however the AW2725Q doesn’t. That means you’ll want to attach a headset on to your desktop or laptop computer.

Instead of 3.5mm audio-out, the AW2725Q supplies eARC on one among its two HDMI ports. HDMI eARC can be utilized for audio alongside some dwelling theater sound techniques and soundbars. Alienware additionally says the eARC port works with Dolby Atmos (although I didn’t have a suitable system on needed to attempt it with).

Alienware AW2725Q menu and options

The Alienware AW2725Q has an LED-lit energy button that glows when the monitor is on. It’s a horny and trendy function, however the glow is dim sufficient that I didn’t discover it distracting.

Otherwise, the monitor’s options are accessed by a joystick centered behind the decrease bezel. It’s responsive and Alienware’s menus are logically organized, although I did discover the font measurement a bit small. I’d encourage the corporate to make use of a bigger, higher-contrast menu font to make the menu simpler to see from a distance.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

You can completely skip the on-screen menu, nonetheless, and as a substitute use Alienware’s Command Center utility. It supplies entry to most monitor options. Many opponents (together with Asus, MSI, Samsung, LG, and others) present related software program, however Alienware’s utility is probably the most enticing of the lot.

Image high quality choices are a bit restricted. The monitor has gamma adjustment, however solely in Creator mode. There’s additionally intensive colour adjustment for hue, acquire, and saturation, however solely in Custom Color mode. And there’s no colour temperature adjustment to talk of, apart from Warm and Cool modes, neither of which help gamma and colour adjustment.

The monitor additionally has a typical vary of gaming-centric options together with a timer, a body fee counter, and a darkish stabilizer which will increase the brightness of darkish scenes (so you possibly can see foes).

More unusually, it has a “display alignment” function, which produces a grid that can be utilized to exactly align the show space with one other monitor. The monitor additionally helps Alien Vision, a customizable mode that can be utilized to regulate the picture in a selected portion of the show (it may well zoom, for example, or improve sharpness and distinction).

The AW2725Q doesn’t embody audio system. That’s typical for a gaming monitor, as most assume homeowners will use their very own headset or desktop audio system, but it surely’s one thing to remember.

Alienware AW2725Q SDR picture high quality

The Alienware AW2725Q has a 27-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel from Samsung. This panel is present in all kinds of competing displays, such because the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM and MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

First up is brightness and, effectively, there’s not a lot to touch upon right here. The AW2725Q was technically a hair brighter than its friends, however the gaps listed here are so slim that they’re unnoticeable—particularly among the many displays with QD-OLED panels (the LG has an LG WOLED panel).

The AW2725Q’s brightness is rather more than enough to be used in a room with mild management (like shades or blinds), and I typically used the monitor at lower than 40 p.c of its most brightness. However, consumers planning to make use of the monitor in a room with out mild management and sunlit home windows, or in a brightly lit workplace, might wish to avoid OLED and take a look at higher-brightness LCD shows.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Contrast is a bonus for OLED displays together with the Alienware AW2725Q. It can attain a minimal luminance of zero nits which, in flip, vastly boosts distinction and creates a extra practical, lifelike picture. The distinction between OLED and LCD is apparent, with the latter trying washed-out and flat by comparability.

However, all trendy OLED displays obtain this stage of efficiency. So, although glorious, distinction doesn’t give the AW2725Q an edge over its competitors.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The identical is true of the monitor’s colour gamut. The AW2725Q achieved 100 p.c of sRGB, 98 p.c of DCI-P3, and 92 p.c of AdobeRGB. As the graph reveals, these are improbable figures and result in a vibrant, extremely saturated picture that appears improbable throughout a variety of content material. But different QD-OLED displays obtain the identical outcomes.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Color accuracy lastly supplies the AW2725Q an opportunity to separate itself from the gang. The monitor achieves a median colour error of lower than one, which is great for any monitor. A colour error this low is successfully indistinguishable, even for probably the most eagle-eyed viewers.

Like different QD-OLED displays, although, the AW2725Q’s good colour gamut and accuracy are barely soured by its gamma and colour temperature efficiency. The monitor achieved a default gamma curve of two.3, off the goal of two.2. This signifies content material will seem a bit darker than superb, and I did discover the impact noticeable. Color temperature got here in at 6200Okay, a bit hotter than the goal of 6500Okay, and I once more discovered this noticeable. The monitor’s on-screen menus can alter these settings, although.

Sharpness is great. The monitor’s pixel density works out to 166 pixels per inch. That’s a lot increased than a 27-inch 1440p monitor, which packs about 109 ppi. The improved pixel density supplies a tack-sharp picture that appears improbable in 4K video games and flicks.

Overall, the AW2725Q’s SDR picture high quality is each class-leading and typical for the class. The image quality of modern OLED monitors varies little between models, and the AW2725Q doesn’t buck that pattern. The monitor’s SDR picture high quality is principally similar to different 4K QD-OLED displays. In this case, although, that barely works to the AW2725Q’s favor, as a result of it’s inexpensive than a number of the alternate options.

Alienware AW2725Q HDR picture high quality

The Alienware AW2725Q is VESA DisplayHDR True Black licensed. It helps HDR10 alerts, which is typical, and Dolby Vision, which isn’t. The AW2725Q’s total HDR efficiency is strong, although consistent with opponents.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

As the graph reveals, the AW2725Q principally tied the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED in peak brightness and achieved moderately related outcomes throughout the board. A peak brightness of 935 nits is excellent for an OLED monitor and significantly better than older fashions, which regularly landed within the vary of 400 to 700 nits. However, whereas the monitor’s peak HDR brightness is great, brightness falls off shortly when bigger parts of the show are lit.

Improved brightness isn’t nearly brilliance in darkish scenes. It additionally helps reveal extra element in shiny objects. Those which in any other case may look uniformly shiny as a substitute present element.

This turns into apparent in Interstellar’s “Gargantua” scene. The disk of fuel swirling across the black gap seems moderately uniform in SDR, and on much less succesful HDR shows, however reveals swirling and effervescent clouds when seen on the AW2725Q.

Though it’s not good, the AW2725Q is an effective alternative for HDR and performs higher than most displays, together with OLED opponents. Keep in thoughts, although, that opponents with the very same 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel (such because the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED and Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM) provide related HDR.

Alienware AW2725Q movement efficiency

The Alienware AW2725Q’s 27-inch QD-OLED panel helps a most refresh fee of as much as 240Hz. That’s the identical as different new 4K QD-OLED displays, but it surely stays a wonderful refresh fee for contemporary video games.

Like different QD-OLED displays, the AW2725Q delivers terribly low pixel response occasions of simply 0.03 milliseconds. This means pixels change state nearly immediately, considerably lowering movement blur in comparison with conventional LCD panels which might’t match this efficiency.

The mixture of a 240Hz refresh fee with these distinctive response occasions leads to excellent movement readability. During gameplay, fast-moving objects stay clearly seen, scrolling textual content maintains readability, and small interface components (equivalent to hitpoint bars in DOTA 2) keep legible even in movement.

That’s to not say it’s the perfect movement readability obtainable. Some OLED fashions now attain as much as 480Hz, and the development is noticeable. These displays stick with 1440p decision, nonetheless. While extremely aggressive avid gamers will need each Hz doable, most avid gamers will discover 4K at 240Hz extra helpful than 1440p at 480Hz.

Adaptive sync is supported as effectively with official help for each AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync. Nearly all trendy displays that help Adaptive Sync can even work with AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync, even when help isn’t listed. Even so, I like that Alienware makes this help official as a substitute of leaving it as much as customers to seek out out.

Should you purchase the Alienware AW2725Q?

Alienware’s AW2725Q is one other glorious 4K 240Hz QD-OLED monitor. It supplies improbable picture high quality in SDR, good HDR, and enticing design with an ergonomic stand and quite a few picture high quality changes.

But Alienware did one thing intelligent: It slashed the value. The AW2725Q launched at an MSRP of $899.99, whereas most opponents launched at $1099.99. Alienware cuts just a few corners to make this doable: most notably, the monitor lacks USB-C with DisplayPort, which is disappointing. Even so, it’s exhausting to argue with the monitor’s bang-for-the-buck.

I’ve by no means considered Alienware as a price model however, on this case, it clearly undercuts the competitors. Whether it’s best for you comes down as to whether you want the USB-C port. If you do, the MSI MPG 272URX is the higher alternative. But if not, it can save you some cash with the AW2725Q.