Alienware 34-inch QD-OLED monitor is an ultrawide dream

Yum.

As soon as I loaded up my first test game I was wowed by the picture quality. I'm still dreaming about it now that it's gone.

Until testing the Alienware 34-inch Ultra-wide QD-OLED Monitor (AW3425DW) my experience with OLED has been on my (beloved) living room 65-inch TV. I work on a very nice 27-inch 4K IPS monitor as my main screen for desktop work, and it has been perfectly excellent for my needs. Until now.

There really is something about how our brain decides something is 'correct' and once you've crossed that threshold it feels disappointing to step back into the before times. It's been a week since this monitor left the office and I'm slowly getting back into the zone of comfort with my own monitors... but it's one of those times when it feels incredibly disappointing to have said goodbye to that gorgeous screen.

So what's so special? The QD-OLED leap at 3440x1440 is super impressive, with incredible picture quality and a 240Hz refresh rate that keeps it zippy for gaming along with the table stakes sync modes (G-Sync and FreeSync Premium Pro) to make the screen never tear as your GPU makes its adjustments on the fly to keep up with whatever is being processed. The colour depth and accuracy is also worth talking about, with 99.3% DCI-P3 coverage, Delta E ≤ 2 accuracy, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification.

Specs are good to read, but it really was completely obvious when just sitting in front of this screen. It's stunning. Your eyes can tell when they feel just right.

Notable since I last tested an Alienware gaming monitor is the new stand. The previous V-shaped stand could be very awkward on a desk when desk real estate is so precious – especially for gamers who have a lot of accessories chewing up space. Now the more traditional stand is compact but sturdy. It's a stand you won't have to think about. That's a good stand.

I work in a setup with three screens attached to a Mac mini for my daily work routines, two in landscape and one in portrait mode. So perhaps my saving grace here is knowing I'd need to overhaul my setup significantly to put this 34-inch ultrawide into my life permanently.

If there are ways to get clever with a monitor in a multi computer setup, this monitor isn't really helping. It isn't doing any clever USB hub support options, just a basic set of USB ports (A, B, and C with 15W). No KVM switch, no powered USB-C with DisplayPort to drive a laptop direct. No speakers and no direct audio jack either (though that's not so expected).

It's all worth noting, because if you want an elaborate set of cross computer integrations you're going to struggle here. Which is why, as sad as I was to see it go, I know it just isn't suited to my mixed use setup. But next time I'm adjusting my main desk arrangements this will be firmly in mind when I do.

But in a dedicated workstation cum gaming rig where it can become your immersive main screen for work and play? At $1499 this is an incredibly attractive proposition. And one I strongly recommend.