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Conclusion

There are a lot of OLED gaming monitors vying for attention, but most of them are 27-inch flat panels. Surprisingly few are 34-inch ultra-wides. There’s no shortage of this format in the LCD realm, but if you want the best image quality available, it has to be OLED. The small number of OLED monitors available in the 21:9 format means it’s easier for the better ones to stand out. And one of the best I’ve seen is the Acer Predator X34 OLED.

Acer Predator X34 OLED — (Image credit: Acer)

The X34 OLED impressed me in every way with its colorful and deep image, and its superlative gaming feel and performance. It lacks a Quantum Dot layer, which reduces its gamut volume to 95% of DCI-P3, but that’s still a lot of color, especially for SDR content, where users will be spending their time. HDR is enhanced by high peak brightness. I measured 663 nits from a 25% window, which is the brightest in class after Asus’ PG34WCDM, which is only a little brighter and $400 more expensive. And it has variable brightness, another standout feature.

Its best attribute is game performance, where it not only operated free of all motion blur but also delivered the lowest input lag of all the 34-inch 21:9 OLEDs I’ve reviewed. The X34 OLED is super quick and responsive and more than qualified for pro-level competition. While some may point out that you can get faster refresh rates in other categories, the fact remains that all OLEDs have the same perfect motion resolution once you get to 240 Hz.

The X34 OLED isn’t the most or least expensive 34-inch 21:9 OLED, but it is the fastest and the smoothest. It’s missing some color volume, but it still has a lot and it’s accurate. It is one of the brightest and it has variable brightness. With these things in mind, I can call it a good value. If you have $860 in your budget for a premium gaming monitor, definitely check it out.

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Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.