Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED Review (2024 Model) | They Did It Again!

Alienware earned itself quite a reputation  a couple of years ago with its 34 QD OLED   but if you're a watcher of this channel you  already know that but it had a strong hook on   its side being the first really good OLED gaming  monitor out there that you could buy that's not   really true anymore so the question is does  this new Alienware monitor the 32-in 4K  QD-OLED model give the crown back to Alienware  and yeah spoilers it totally does for now hey everyone this is luk with Digital Trends and  yeah I'm really excited for this one because not   only did we get an early chance to review the  32in 4K QD OLED from Alienware we also got in   the more Esports friendly model the 27in QHD QD  OLED which we have a whole separate review from   Jacob Roach on the channel which you should  definitely go check out after this one these   are both very exciting monitors featuring the  second gen QD-OLED panels from Samsung display   so if you like this content and you wouldn't  mind go ahead and hit that big red subscribe   button to the channel if you haven't already and  let's get into talking about how good this thing   really is so let's start with the specs because  that alone will tell you a lot of what you need   to know about this monitor cuz really this is the  first of its kind there have been a few other 4K   oleds out there but they've all been stuck at  60 HZ refresh rate not really for gaming or   they're like these massive 42in Behemoth and  even then we've never seen a 4K OLED with as   high a refresh rate as this which is 240 HZ now 4K  at 240 HZ might sound a little ridiculous and for   the average Gamers PC yeah it's still probably a  little overkill despite the fact that there have   been a few 4K 240Hz gaming monitors out there  in the wild such as the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8   but what this gets you is room to grow and it'll  ensure that your system isn't bottlenecked by the   refresh rate in multiple rounds rounds of GPU  upgrades down the line so if you're concerned   with the previous Alienware 34 was that it only  had a refresh rate of 175 HZ that's out of the   picture now which is handy when playing games at  a lower resolution Alienware 32 QD OLED is not   an ultra wide let's get that out of the way first  because it is a major difference between this and   the 34in model but as you can see it does come  with a 600r curve and for me I thought it was   just subtle enough to not feel weird in the  convention 16x9 aspect ratio now technically   that is slightly more of a curve than on the  Alienware 34 but it's really close and again   this isn't one of those 32in 1000r monitors that  take the curve way too far for this size I think   1600r suits this size of monitor really well just  gently wrapping around your field of view and   creating a little bit of immersion if you want to  call it that but it's not at all a distraction in   the way that it could have been aside from the  panel itself a lot of what you see here on the   32-in model resem resembles the 34in model so the  design and the setup is all basically identical   including the base the stand and the lighting on  the back got that two-tone black and white Vibe   which has kind of become iconic from Alienware  at this point but the back is still made out of   plastic which admittedly doesn't feel great when  you you know reach up to adjust the monitor or   something like that especially compared to these  newer Samsung monitors which have a bit more of a   premium feel speaking of adjustment you do have  just over 4 in of height adjustment and 40° of   tilt which all matches what you could do with the  Alienware 34 and of course you can swivel as well   it's enough to give you a comfortable position if  you move things around to find it the same is true   of the onscreen controls same as the Alienware 34  which happens all with the center joystick it's   all done really nicely like with the Alienware 34  however you still won't find any built-in speakers   here which continues to bother me despite the  fact that most people probably won't use them   very often it's just that there will be that  one time you know where your airpods die and   you're in a meeting and you don't have any audio  at all and it completely ruins everything you know   completely hypothetical it's never happened  before but that situation could technically   come up there's one other small but meaningful  change to the back which is in the ports you've   got display port 1.4 for the full 240 HZ at 4K and  an assortment of USB ports including an upstream   type B Port three USB-A 3.2 gen 1 ports and the  USB-C for power delivery biggest change to the   ports though is the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 this  time around which turns out to be kind of a big   deal for this monitor so we're going to talk about  that later and move on to image quality because   that's where there is actually a difference this  time around QD-OLED here is the star of the show   of course but this isn't 2022 again there are  plenty of great OLED monitors out there these   days just look at our video rounding up the best  options from all of last year the new Alienware   32 uses a brand new QD OLED panel from Samsung  display that isn't just in a new size and aspect   ratio this is actually better the good stuff is  all still the same here it's still OLED you still   get those perfect black levels you still get  the same brightness I measured well over 1,000   nits at a 1% window and around 830 nits at a 4%  window and that's important because color actually   does still significantly drop at those higher  brightness levels and again this is a monitor   you're sitting you know really close to it but  the combination of those black levels and the 1000   nit Peak brightness is some really gorgeous HDR  performance in games if you haven't experienced   this yet if you haven't played games on a monitor  that can actually do HDR proper you got to try it   because it really does make a huge difference in  bringing games to life but when you're not playing   games and I have to mention this the Alienware 32  isn't a super bright monitor in SDR you're still   only getting around 260 nits of brightness with  HDR turned off which I got in the Creator mode   I do still wish it were a little brighter without  HDR especially compared to you know just about any   high-end laptop you might have which sometimes  can have up to twice this much brightness if   you're like me and you find yourself in an office  setting with some bright overhead lights on often   I found myself often keeping hdr on which Windows  11 manages to handle fairly well while using this   monitor at full brightness but again that's just  me I like to sear my eyes with brightness while   working and I know a lot of people both work and  game from much darker environments at home but   getting back to image quality real fast if there's  one thing that the Alienware 34 struggled with it   was color accuracy it's not that it was bad but  it was sort of middle of the road for a high-end   display rather than exceptional in the way that  monitor was in pretty much every other aspect this   new crop of QD OLED monitors really fixes that in  a big way those overblown greens and reds are no   more in fact I measured an average color air of  just 5 6 which makes it along with the 27in model   we're reviewing the most color accurate monitors  we've ever tested and that includes testing we've   done on laptops and even MacBooks you name it  and just as a reminder that's outof thee boox   color performance before calibration which really  is kind of amazing especially since this isn't   you know a Sony TV with all its own processing  happening in the display itself seriously that's   impressive but really all of that is there to  support the gaming experience and what you're   getting here really feels like an unparalleled  experience the combination of the excellent   HDR performance the super fast 240 HZ refresher  rate the clarity of 4K and the response times of   OLED is seriously like the whole package and it's  hard not to get sucked into whatever game you're   playing on a display like this I should note that  although the Alienware 32 doesn't technically   have certification for Free Sync Premium Pro or  GSync Ultimate it does have variable refresh rate   which is really all that matters when it comes to  avoiding screen tearing really the only thing the   Alienware 32 is lacking especially as a 4K panel  is what these new LG OLED panels have which is   the ability to switch to a lower resolution  and a higher refresh rate mode LG's new 4k   OLED panels offer a 1080p 480 Herz mode which  is pretty incredible and completely eliminates   the choice that you have to make between monitors  with higher resolutions and higher refresh rates   I'm not going to mark down this as a negative for  the Alienware 32 for not having this I mean this   is a brand new feature but I thought it was worth  mentioning as something that new OLED monitors   are doing to sweeten the deal even more there's  one last thing to talk about with the Alienware   32 QD OLED and that's consoles and this is a huge  point in favor of this monitor I know this doesn't   apply to everyone by any means but this monitor  was clearly crafted to be a console friendly   display first of all the standard aspect ratio  is of course guaranteed to be suppor reported   by all console games that's a freebie but the  big deal here is what you can do with the HDMI   2.1 Port which gets you Dolby Atmos and variable  refresh rate essentially these features equip the   Alienware 32 to be a proper TV replacement for  your console especially since it has HDMI ARC   to support at most through signal pass through  it's the first gaming monitor also to have Dolby   Vision HDR and Alienware even has a dedicated  console mode here for H tone mapping so if you   happen to be a hybrid gamer and love the idea of  using both a console and a PC interchangeably with   this monitor I can't think of a better solution  this really is as good as it gets and I think   that's a good place to land the plane here because  alware now has three QD-OLED options and they're   all great especially since they all come with  that three-year OLED Burnin warranty which is   a pretty big deal all on its own throw in the fact  that Alienware will again be first to Market with   these and and it's clear the company wanted to  double down on the huge success of the 34 and   I think they're going to accomplish that it's not  hard to see who the Alienware 32 is for it's the   most expensive of the three monitors coming  in at $1,200 and it's also the most high-end   obviously since it's 4K but it's actually cheaper  than the Odyssey Neo G8 which is actually the   same price as the Alienware 34 when it launched  now the Alienware 34 will always have its place   especially because it's now cheaper and people  love their ultra wide displays these days but I   really do think the Alienware 32 takes things  a step further in terms of image quality and   throw in that HDMI 2.1 Port you've got a really  great strong display it's certainly my favorite   gaming monitor right now and hey if you happen  to want to hook your console up too this one's   a no-brainer so that's it but I'm really curious  what you guys think so jump down into the comments   and let me know how you think this one stacks up  against the 34in model and while you're down there   leave a like on this video and head over next to  our review of the 27in model thanks for watching

Channel: Digital Trends

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Id: 4nYUU8EJ1sk

Length: 11min 8sec (668 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 11 2024