Alienware AW3425DW WQHD QD-OLED review: Near-perfect color and premium performance

Not long ago, gaming monitors came with lowered expectations from picky videophiles who place high contrast and accurate color at the top of their priorities. The most important factor then and now, is speed and smoothness. Feel is king and color plays a supporting role.

With the arrival of the best OLED gaming monitors on the desktop, there is no longer a need to compromise. You can have ultimate gaming performance and professional-grade color accuracy in one monitor without spending thousands. Alienware’s AW3425DW delivers that concept in a 34-inch 21:9 WQHD curved OLED panel with Quantum Dot color, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, and HDR400. Let’s take a look.

Alienware AW3425DW Specs

The AW3425DW is nearly an all-but-the-kitchen-sink display. It has bleeding-edge gaming tech with a 240 Hz OLED panel, plus G-Sync and FreeSync Premium Pro certifications. You get a slick aiming point editor called AlienVision that can not only put a crosshair on the screen but pair it with a sniper and night vision modes. You also get a frame rate counter, timers and screen alignment marks for when there are two or three AW3425DWs in the budget.

I said professional-grade once already, and that term is well earned here. The factory color report is included in the OSD with eleven screens of information on color, gamma, grayscale tracking, and screen uniformity. And my tests confirmed every single parameter. The AW3425DW is one of the most accurate monitors I’ve encountered, from any genre.

With Quantum Dot technology comes an expanded color gamut, and the DCI-P3 coverage here is a hair shy of 108%. That’s firmly on par with the competition but a couple of screens I’ve reviewed manage 110%. You’ll find them in my comparison charts in this review.

Though the AW3425DW is loaded with premium tech, it doesn’t come with a high price. Alienware was among the first to market with 21:9 aspect OLEDs, and this represents a new product generation with updated styling and a lower cost. The out-of-the-gate number is $800, which isn’t quite a bargain but when compared with the opening bid of $1,100 for a AW3423DWF from almost three years ago, it’s clear progress.

Assembly and Accessories

Dell has gone entirely recyclable with the AW3425DW’s packaging, with molded pulp forms that support the curved panel securely and solidly. The easiest way to manage assembly is to attach the base to the upright with its captive bolt, then snap it onto the panel and lift it out. The shiny screen is protected by a thick acetate sheet, which must be removed; then you’re ready to rock. The power supply

Product 360

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The AW3425DW maintains Alienware’s familiar aesthetic from the front with a flush thin bezel on all sides. Only a small Alienware moniker appears at the bottom center. The stand seems to float above the heavy and substantial base, but is very solid and stable. The rounded corner look extends to the back, where you’ll find a smoothly tapered piece of plastic finished in a smooth matte texture. Only a fine grill and two logos break it up. The Alienware head lights up in any desired color and can breathe and flash with onscreen action if you like. The other logo, which is new to the current display line reminds me of a rolled-up bicycle chain and is set off by a polished finish. You can also change the color of the power button visible in the front bottom right.

The stand includes full ergonomics with 5/21 degrees tilt, 20 degrees swivel, and a 4.3-inch height adjustment. The screen curve is 1800R, or 1,800mm radius. That means a circle of AW3425DWs would be 3.6 meters across. It’s a tight curve, but not so much as to cause image distortion. Aside from the power toggle, the only other control is a joystick/button that sits under the center edge. It covers all monitor functions.

The input panel sits in the traditional spot up and under and features a DisplayPort 1.4 with Display Stream Compression (DSC) and two HDMI 2.1 ports. All three inputs support the AW3425DW’s full 3440x1440 resolution at 240 Hz with HDR and Adaptive-Sync, and VRR for HDMI to link with gaming consoles. Underneath and a bit to the left are USB-C and USB-A ports. There is no headphone jack, nor are there internal speakers.

OSD Features

The AW3425DW features Alienware and Dell’s familiar OSD, boasting a sleek, all-business look and intuitive operation. There are many options for all manner of game types and work tasks, and even a few things for creatives.

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Pressing the joystick opens a quick menu at the bottom and signal info across the top of the screen. You can also check on panel health with a green, yellow, or red status. It reminds you when to run the pixel refresh routine to stave off OLED burn-in, which, in my observation and experience, has yet to be a factor.

The Game menu includes 12 picture modes, each with differing purposes. Standard is the default, and it is spot-on accurate for color, grayscale, and gamma. No calibration is necessary; just set brightness to taste. Speaking of that, there is no option for variable brightness in SDR mode, but it does activate for HDR content and increases peak output significantly.

Other modes worth noting are Creator where you can choose sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts. The P3 option is the cinema version with its D63 (green) grayscale. Both include adjustable gamma, though I noted that for sRGB, the menu says 2.2, but I measured 2.4. The three Game modes let you change the Dark Stabilizer slider for more visible shadow areas and tweak grayscale with two-point RGB controls. Finally, there’s Custom Color where you also have two-point grayscale sliders and hue/saturation options.

But wait, there’s more… The Game menu also has a slick aiming point editor, AlienVision, that lets you pick crosshair shapes, colors and pair it with sniper and night vision. And you get timers and an fps counter along with display alignment marks.

AlienFX lighting controls the appearance of the power button and the Alien head on the back. They can be any color and stay solid, or breathe in sync with screen content.

HDR options are found in the Display menu, where you get six additional picture modes. The Custom Color HDR memory has adjustable contrast, hue and saturation. The best choice there is HDR1000 where you’ll get the brightest highlights and the most accurate color and luminance tracking.

21:9 monitors are great for PIP and PBP and the AW3425DW has both. You can pick between five different split ratios or position the window in any corner of the screen. In Personalize, you can specify the functions of the joystick directions and pick which options appear in the quick menu. The panel maintenance options include just pixel refresh, which you can run whenever the panel health indicator turns red.

Alienware AW3425DW Calibration Settings

The AW3425DW can be enjoyed without calibration in its Standard picture mode. I almost didn’t bother because it was so close but if you want that last one percent, reach for Custom Color where you can tweak a two-point RGB slider set to get even better grayscale tracking. If you want to control gamma and color gamut size, Creator mode allows that. Note that the DCI-P3 option is the cinema version with a 2.6 gamma and green-tinted D63 grayscale. sRGB defaults to a 2.4 gamma but you can change that if you wish. For HDR content, the HDR1000 option is best for color accuracy and luminance tracking. My SDR settings for Custom Color mode are below.

Gaming and Hands-on

My hands-on impressions of the AW3425DW were not vastly different from what I’ve experienced with any premium OLED gaming monitor. It’s bright and colorful for sure. You’ll see in my tests that it aces every metric for grayscale, gamma and color. The Quantum Dot layer certainly shows itself with vibrant reds and greens that you won’t see on a non-QD screen. And I could use and enjoy it equally well with or without calibration.

Gaming is an addictive experience. I turned on the fps counter to verify that it was maintaining 240fps, it did so without missing a beat. If you have a GeForce RTX 4090, Adaptive-Sync won’t be necessary because, in my observation, the frame rate never changes. I’ve said it many times, OLED is the best display tech for gaming. Moving images and backgrounds stay fully resolved no matter how frenetic the action gets. Response to control inputs is instantaneous. The AW3425DW is very fast and, among 34-inch ultra-wides, has no equal.

There are plenty of equally quick and responsive 27-inch 16:9 panels to choose from, so going for the AW3425DW means you want the immersion that comes with an ultra-wide. The 1800R curve used here is ideal for taking in the action all around you without introducing image distortion. WQHD resolution helps with frame rates as well. I’ve reviewed several Ultra HD screens that won’t quite stay pegged at 240 Hz. And you won’t notice the difference in pixel density here. The AW3425DW is extremely sharp and textural.

For other uses, the AW3425DW is ideal for work if you like a multi-screen setup. It’s equivalent to one-and-a-half 27-inch QHD monitors with the same 109ppi pixel density. If you’re sick of the dividing line, a 34-inch ultra-wide is a great alternative. I appreciated the color choices where I could dial in sRGB for work in Photoshop when needed. The gamma was a bit dark, more on that later, but it can be changed with ease in the Creator picture mode. Image-wise, I had two minor complaints. One, you can’t adjust gamma in Standard or Custom Color modes. And two, there’s no variable brightness for SDR content, which is nice for gaming and video. Luckily, it’s there for HDR.

Physically and aesthetically, the AW3425DW says gaming monitor only subtly. Its style will fit into any environment for work or play. The LED lighting is just a power button and an Alienware head, so it won’t attract too much attention, and you can always turn it off if you like. I missed the headphone jack, which required me to use USB-C instead. You can either get USB headphones or wireless cans with a USB dongle transmitter to compensate. There are no internal speakers either.

Takeaway: The AW3425DW represents an excellent value relative to the large OLED monitor category. At $800, it isn’t inexpensive, but it’s so good that I consider it a bargain. It’s colorful, bright, and accurate while delivering terrific gaming performance. My complaints are very small, and I’d happily make it my everyday display.

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