My Sony KD-55AF8 tv recently died after a good 6 years of use for gaming, and videos. So I decided to invest in a gaming monitor instead, something designed to adapt to different framerates, so I took the plunge and purchased the Dell Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED Gaming Monitor AW3225QF and I must say, I am absolutely blown away by this monitor.
I have tested this monitor using a PS5, Xbox Series X and a Dell Laptop with an onboard graphics card. For movies, I am streaming 4k videos from a laptop using Plex Server, and using the Plex app on the xbox as a client, movies are streamed at a steady 24hz.
In terms of graphics, the Sony PS5 is by far superior, Gran Turismo 7 with the settings aimed at ray tracing rendered the game around 90FPS to 110FPS and the graphics were flawless. I then tried out Call of Duty Black Ops 6 on the xbox, framerate is higher, but their seems to be a drop in quality in graphics. The Dell Alienware has a console setting that really does seem to enhance the graphics, and when dolby vision is enabled, this monitor is just fire.
That said, this piece of kit doesn't come with speakers, as is common with most monitors, so you will need a HDMI sound bar as there is also no optical out or phono port.
Technical Specs
| Diagonal Size | 31.6" |
| Response Time | 0.03ms (grey-to-grey min.) |
| Resolution / Refresh Rate | 3840 x 2160 at 240 Hz (DSC enabled and visually lossless) |
| Ports |
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| Adaptive Sync | NVIDIA® G-SYNC® Compatible, VESA AdaptiveSync Display Certified |
| Cables |
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Conclusion
All in all I genuinely think that the AW3225QF allows you to really get the most out of any graphics card, and is a brilliant monitor for work and play. My only criticism are there are only 2 HDMI ports, and since one is an eARC passthrough and the other the only option to output to a soundbar, you really only get one input device at a time, which is problematic if you own a PS5 and an Xbox Series X for example, or have a laptop you need to export to. This monitor does have a Display Port which supports up to 3840 x 2160 240 Hz, DSC, HDR.
This is a picture of the alienware aw3225qf in it's natural habitat on my desk, with a Sony soundbar.
Other monitors to consider
| Alienware AW3225QF | MSI MPG 271QRX | Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 | |
| Panel Size | 31.6-inch | 26.5-inch | 49.0-inch |
| Panel Type | QD-OLED | QD-OLED | QD-OLED |
| Resolution | 3840 x 2160 | 2560 x 1440 | 5120 x 1440 |
| Brightness | 250-nits SDR / 1000-nits HDR | 250-nits SDR / 1000-nits HDR | 250-nits SDR / 1000-nits HDR |
| Contrast | 1,000,000:1 | 1,500,000:1 | 1,000,000:1 |
| HDR | Dolby Vision, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 | VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 | VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 |
| Pixel Response | 0.03ms gray-to-gray, 2.1ms MPRT | 0.03ms gray-to-gray | 0.03ms gray-to-gray |
| Refresh Rate | 240Hz | 360Hz | 240Hz |
