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Alienware AW3225QF and AW2725DF expand QD-OLED gaming monitor family – 4K at 240 Hz and QHD at 360 Hz
Alienware entered the QD-OLED fray with the 34-inch AW3423DW and later followed up with the revised AW3423DWF. Dell’s premium gaming brand is doubling down on its QD-OLED offerings by adding two new entries: the AW3225QF and the AW2725DF.
We’ll start the discussion with the smaller of the two monitors, the AW2725DF. The AW2725DF has a 27-inch panel with a QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution. More importantly, it’s spec’d with a fast 360 Hz refresh rate, a first for a QD-OLED gaming monitor. It also boasts a 0.03ms gray-to-gray response time and AMD Free Sync Premium Pro to ensure smooth gameplay no matter what frame rates you’re experiencing (VESA AdaptiveSync is also officially supported). Nvidia G-Sync is not supported on the monitor.
(Image credit: Alienware)
OLED technology means infinite contrast is available, which should deliver inky blacks that IPS and VA panels can’t match in the gaming sphere. To that end, Alienware says that the AW2725DF is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified.
It also claims that the monitor has 99.3 percent DCI-P3 coverage and that its ComfortView Plus technology (which is TUV-certified) helps reduce blue levels to reduce eye fatigue. Maximum brightness is just 250 nits for SDR content but boosts to 1,000 nits for HDR material.
As you might expect, the AW2725DF has RGB AlienFX lighting effects that you can sync, while the stand is adjustable for height, tilt, swivel, and pivot. It also comes with a full assortment of ports, including two DisplayPort 1.4 (360Hz supported), one HDMI 2.1 (maxes out at 144Hz), two USB-A 3.2 and one USB-C 3.2 ports.
Next is the AW3225QF, a 32-inch monitor with a 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. Given the step up in resolution, it can’t quite match the 360 Hz of its smaller sibling but still manages an impressive maximum 240 Hz refresh rate over HDMI or DisplayPort interfaces. Again, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro is supported here, but you’ll also get Nvidia G-Sync support. Like the AW2725DF, the AW3225QF has a 0.03ms response time and a maximum 1,000 nits brightness value with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400
support. However, it also adds support for Dolby Vision.
(Image credit: Alienware)
Regarding connectivity, the AW3225QF features two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, and an assortment of USB-A 3.2 and USB-C 3.2 ports for your peripherals. The AW3225QF is adjustable for height, tilt, and swivel.
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The Alienware AW2725DF and AW3225QF are backed by a three-year advanced exchange and premium panel exchange warranty covering OLED burn-in. Both monitors will be available starting January 11th, with the AW2725DF retailing for $899.99, while the AW3225QF will be priced at $1,199. We were impressed with the performance of the QD-OLED-equippedAW3423DWF (one of the best gaming monitors) andAW3423DW in our reviews, so we have high expectations for the latest members of the family.
Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.
No video card on the market can natively drive 4k240 so it's an easy corner for them to cut to save money by using DSC.
As for the 1440p display it looks like they cut corners period, because proper HDMI 2.1 would be able to drive 360hz but the article cites 144hz so that's actually HDMI 2.0 bandwidth.
These monitors seem much more reasonably priced compared to previous Alienware products. Sony just announced its going to mini LED for its next gen flagship TV. I wonder which tech will win in the gaming space in the next 5 years. I think mini-LED is a lot cheaper to produce, so companies might try to push the boundaries of mini over oled. LG has their MLA+ and whatever comes after that to push OLED.
Side note, I turned saturation to 150 on my OLED through AMD adrenaline and COD enemies are a lot easier to spot.
Can't find anything on the cooling. Passive heatsink? Active fan? Little of both? The AW3423DW did this horrible puffing noise when it got hot, but a firmware update changed this to a more constant exhaust. It's better, but this monitor is louder than my gaming PC on the floor (which is all Noctua fans: steady 350 rpm case fans and a 1000 rpm CPU fan flat curve). It's fine when gaming, but a little annoying when just trying to browse Tom's Hardware :)
