Alienware AW3425DW overview: This OLED is aggressive on worth, picture high quality

Alienware AW3425DW design

The Alienware AW3425DW’s design doesn’t comply with the identical script as its predecessor. Like different latest Alienware displays, it ditches the older mannequin’s retro-futuristic vibe for a curved, natural look. It’s additionally accessible in only one colour: darkish blue.

To be trustworthy, I don’t very like the look of it. I believe it’s a transparent downgrade from Alienware’s earlier fashions, which appeared extra premium. The AW3425DW additionally reduces the RGB-LED lighting components discovered on earlier fashions. Solely the Alienware brand and the ability button present RGB-LED lighting, and each are fairly small.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

It’s not all unhealthy information, although. Whereas the design isn’t outstanding, it’s inoffensive, and the monitor feels strong in-hand. I additionally just like the monitor’s delicate curve. Personally, I choose flat-screen ultrawides (within the 34-inch measurement, not less than). The AW3425DW isn’t flat, however the curve is commonly unnoticeable in day-to-day use.

I additionally just like the small and compact stand, which minimizes the monitor’s impression in your desk. It’s an improve over the big, wing-shaped stand that shipped with the AW3423DWF. Like its predecessor, and most rivals, the AW3425DW’s stand adjusts for top, tilt, and swivel. It might probably additionally “slant” as much as 5 levels for fine-tuning the angle at which the panel sits relative to your desk.

A 100x100mm VESA mount is out there for connecting a third-party monitor stand or arm.

Alienware AW3425DW connectivity

The Alienware AW3425DW’s video connectivity contains two HDMI 2.1 ports and a single DisplayPort 1.4, all of which might deal with the monitor’s full refresh charge and backbone.

What you received’t discover, nevertheless, is a USB-C port with DisplayPort and USB Energy Supply. Many aggressive displays now provide USB-C with Energy Supply, so the dearth of USB-C is notable. The shortage of USB-C additionally means the monitor doesn’t have a KVM swap.

The monitor’s downstream USB connectivity doesn’t impress, both. It has only one USB-A downstream port and one USB-C downstream port. The USB-C port presents 15 watts of Energy Supply, and each ports present 5Gbps of knowledge. As a result of the AW3425DW doesn’t have USB-C upstream, homeowners as an alternative want to attach their PC to the monitor over a USB-B upstream connection (a USB-A to USB-B cable is included within the field).

You received’t discover a 3.5mm audio-out jack for audio passthrough, both. That is uncommon for a gaming monitor in 2025, and it’s unhealthy information when you use headphones with a 3.5mm connector.

Briefly, the AW3425DW’s connectivity is as primary because it will get for an OLED monitor in 2025. That is precisely the alternative of what I might have anticipated, as most of Alienware’s rivals are going all-in on USB-C.

Nevertheless, USB-C carries a premium, and rivals with it are sometimes costlier. The MSI MPG 341CQPX is similar to the AW3425DW however presents USB-C with 98 watts of Energy Supply, and it retails at $899.99.

Alienware AW3425DW menus and options

House owners can management the Alienware AW3425DW’s choices with a joystick centered behind the monitor’s decrease bezel. This can be a typical association for a 34-inch monitor, and the AW3425DW’s joystick feels responsive.

The monitor’s options can be modified by way of Alienware’s Command Heart software program. It’s a sexy utility that gives fast entry to many monitor settings together with brightness, distinction, and enter, to call just a few. It doesn’t provide adjustment for gamma or colour temperature, nevertheless.

The AW3425DW’s vary of picture high quality choices is first rate, although there’s nonetheless room for enchancment. Alienware supplies a Creator picture mode preset, which has sub-modes for sRGB and DCI-P3 colour gamut, in addition to gamma calibration which targets exact values.

Nevertheless, this mode doesn’t enable for colour saturation, temperature, achieve, and offset changes. These as an alternative are discovered in numerous modes; all recreation modes, in addition to the customized colour mode, present vital colour calibration. There’s sufficient right here for many customers to calibrate the monitor’s picture high quality as desired, nevertheless it’s odd that Alienware doesn’t present a picture mode that permits adjustment for all of the above concurrently.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Transferring past picture high quality, the AW3425DW presents a great vary of gaming-centric options. It has a darkish stabilizer, which might improve brightness in darkish scenes to make enemies simpler to see, plus an on-screen crosshair, timer, and FPS monitor. Avid gamers can even customise and choose from three Alienvision presets, which apply a few of these options to a restricted portion of the show (kind of like wanting down the scope of a gun in an FPS recreation).

One characteristic you received’t discover is a pair of built-in audio system. That is frequent amongst gaming displays, as built-in audio system not often carry out nicely sufficient to do video games justice. Nonetheless, the dearth of built-in audio system means you’ll have to make use of headphones or desktop audio system if you wish to hear something in any respect.

A lot as with connectivity, the AW3425DW’s characteristic set feels constructed to a finances. It covers the fundamentals however doesn’t present any vital options not accessible from rivals.

Alienware AW3425DW picture high quality

The Alienware AW3425DW has a Samsung QD-OLED panel with a refresh charge of 240Hz. Screens with QD-OLED panels are inclined to look nice in SDR (in addition to HDR), however there’s usually not a lot distinction between displays from totally different producers. The AW3425DW doesn’t change that development, although it does rating just a few small victories.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

First up is brightness. As anticipated, all of the OLED displays carried out roughly the identical. The Alienware AW3425DW’s most sustained SDR brightness of 258 nits is somewhat increased than some QD-OLED options, however in the true world, these outcomes will look fairly related.

It also needs to be famous that the LG Ultragear OLED 45GX950A-B scored the best of the displays used for comparability, and it makes use of an LG WOLED panel. So, when you do need the most effective SDR brightness, you may need to have a look at that monitor, though it’s fairly a bit bigger than the 34-inch options.

Even so, the Alienware AW3425DW’s SDR brightness is greater than satisfactory to be used in a typical dwelling workplace or a gaming den. Nevertheless, when you’re making an attempt to make use of it in a brightly lit room or room with massive home windows that don’t have shades or blinds, it may not be vivid sufficient. Additionally, the AW3425DW has a fairly shiny end over the show panel, which might make glare extra apparent.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Subsequent up is distinction. There’s not a lot to say right here as a result of all OLED displays carry out exceptionally nicely. OLED supplies an successfully infinite distinction ratio as a consequence of its capacity to achieve a minimal brightness of zero nits. This enables for a particularly immersive and deep picture. This can be a perk for the AW3425DW, nevertheless it’s additionally not a aggressive benefit, as all OLED displays provide the identical stage of efficiency.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Subsequent up is colour gamut. QD-OLED displays provide a few of the widest colour gamuts of any show you could put in your desk. The Alienware AW3425DW hits one hundred pc of sRGB, 98 % of DCI-P3, and 95 % of Adobe RGB. Because the graph exhibits, all of the QD-OLED displays have principally the identical stage of efficiency, give or take a share right here and there.

The LG Ultragear OLED 45GX950A-B, which once more makes use of an LG WOLED show, is the one monitor at a notable drawback as a result of it solely shows as much as 95 % DCI-P3 and 89 % of Adobe RGB.

These outcomes are extra relevant to content material creators than they’re to avid gamers. All of those displays have a colour gamut that’s greater than broad sufficient to make video games look vibrant, however if you need a really broad colour gamut to make sure that you’re seeing as many colours as doable when modifying a video or a photograph, the Alienware AW3425DW is an effective selection.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The Alienware AW3425DW excels in colour accuracy, delivering a mean colour error that considerably outperforms its rivals. Whereas any common colour error under 2 usually produces reasonable imagery (and none of those displays wrestle with accuracy), the Alienware has a transparent benefit for content material creation duties like video and picture modifying.

Gamma and colour temperature testing revealed each strengths and weaknesses. The AW3425DW ships with a great gamma curve of two.2, which is what most PC functions goal. This ensures photos don’t seem artificially darkish or vivid, and it’s a welcome enchancment over QD-OLED rivals that have a tendency towards a gamma curve of two.3, which shows content material barely darker than supposed.

Coloration temperature, nevertheless, misses the mark. At 50 % brightness, I measured a colour temperature of 6100K, which is hotter than the usual 6500K goal. Whereas I personally don’t thoughts a hotter tone, this deviation is noticeable.

The AW3425DW’s sharpness is merely satisfactory. Like all 34-inch QD-OLED ultrawides at present accessible, the AW3425DW presents 3440×1440 decision (roughly 110 pixels per inch). This feels more and more dated because the market shifts towards new 27-inch and 32-inch 4K QD-OLED shows. For these prepared to go bigger, choices like LG’s UltraGear 45GX950A-B ship 5120×2160 decision, which works out to about 125 pixels per inch.

Total, the AW3425DW’s SDR picture high quality is superb. Its nice out-of-box colour accuracy and spot-on gamma curve ship a barely extra refined and reasonable picture than options just like the Gigabyte MO34WQC. QD-OLED displays are inclined to look much more related than totally different, however a win is a win, and my testing exhibits the Alienware has a slight edge in SDR picture high quality.

Alienware AW3425DW HDR picture high quality

Issues get extra fascinating in HDR.

The Alienware AW3425DW helps HDR and has VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification. Testing outcomes present the AW3425DW is an distinctive HDR performer that outshines many previous WOLED and older QD-OLED displays. It reached a peak brightness of 978 nits in a ten % window, which is the second highest on this aggressive set, simply behind the MSI MPG 341CQPX. The Alienware additionally carried out nicely in a 50 % window, once more coming in simply barely behind the MSI.

The AW3425DW presents a major benefit over older QD-OLED shows in HDR content material. I measured peak brightness of simply 400 to 500 nits from the Gigabyte MO34WQC and the veteran Alienware AW3423DWF. In the event you’re searching for a cause to improve from the older Alienware QD-OLED, HDR efficiency is it.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Past the take a look at outcomes, HDR content material appears to be like improbable on the AW3425DW. Within the “Into the Storm” scene from Mad Max: Fury Street, lightning bolts streak by way of the mud storm with eye-searing brightness. Viewing the gargantuan scene from Interstellar, I may see glorious element within the accretion disk across the black gap—an space that always seems blown out and featureless in SDR or on much less succesful HDR shows.

Whereas the AW3425DW is strong in HDR, I used to be disenchanted to see that it wouldn’t let me alter brightness whereas in HDR. Some QD-OLED displays now provide elective HDR adjustment. It’s a useful characteristic, as HDR content material can at occasions really feel overly vivid on a pc monitor.

The AW3425DW is an effective monitor for HDR content material. Solely Mini-LED displays, which might attain increased brightness ranges when massive parts of the show are lit, will outperform it. Nevertheless, Mini-LED hasn’t gained a lot traction out there, so looking for a Mini-LED various might not be definitely worth the effort.

Alienware AW3425DW movement efficiency

The Alienware AW3425DW has a most refresh charge of 240Hz, that means the picture can replace as much as 240 occasions every second. It additionally has a minimal pixel response time of 0.03 milliseconds, which is typical for a QD-OLED monitor. For comparability, IPS LCD displays usually have a response time between 1 and eight milliseconds.

These specs conspire to offer glorious movement readability. Quick-moving objects are rendered with good element and fast digicam pans preserve most of a recreation’s surroundings intact. Viewing fast-scrolling take a look at photos from League of Legends, I discovered character silhouettes and terrain regarded crisp. Character names and transferring UI components (like HP bars) could possibly be somewhat laborious to make out however have been usually legible.

That is nice efficiency and, when you occur to be upgrading from a 60Hz or 144Hz IPS LCD, it’s going to knock your socks off. Nevertheless, just about all of Alienware’s direct rivals provide a 34-inch 240Hz QD-OLED ultrawide, they usually all have related movement readability. 240Hz is desk stakes for a gaming monitor in 2025.

Alienware additionally supplies official assist for VESA Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Professional, and Nvidia G-Sync Appropriate. Best displays solely record official assist for one or two of those requirements. The Gigabyte MO34WQC2 lists AMD FreeSync Premium Professional, for instance, whereas the Corsair Xeneon 34WQHD240-C lists Nvidia G-Sync.

Do you have to purchase the Alienware AW3425DW?

Very like new Alienware’s 27-inch 4K QD-OLED, the Alienware AW3425DW takes the model in an surprising course. The AW3425DW doesn’t attempt to beat its rivals on design or options. As a substitute, it’s all about delivering the most effective picture high quality doable at an reasonably priced worth.

If this was Alienware’s mission, I have to admit it was profitable. The monitor’s retail MSRP of $799.99 is decrease than the MSRPs of comparable displays and nonetheless aggressive with the most effective sale costs I’ve seen on rivals. But regardless of its pricing, the AW3425DW delivered nice ends in each SDR and HDR.

Then again, the Alienware AW3425DW is slim on options. There’s no USB-C video enter with Energy Supply, no audio system, and no KVM swap. RGB-LED lighting is technically included, nevertheless it’s so delicate it’s principally non-existent. The monitor additionally lacks an HDR brightness adjustment.

If it have been my cash, I’d spend somewhat bit extra on the MSI MPG 341CQPX, which presents practically similar picture high quality and does have USB-C with 98 watts energy supply, a KVM swap, and different options not discovered on the Alienware. However when you simply need QD-OLED picture high quality and a 240Hz refresh charge at a sexy worth, the Alienware makes a whole lot of sense.