Top 14 Best OLED Monitors I've Tested: The Ultimate Rankings

welcome back to monitors unboxed it turns out that up to this point I've reviewed 14 different OLED gaming monitors starting with the LG C1 48 inch variant a few years ago if you can call that a monitor right up to now with the Philips avnia 34 m2c 8600 I looked at recently and this got me thinking which of these OLED monitors has been the best overall and how would I rank them so that's what I'll be doing in today's video now I thought this would be a pretty simple exercise get the list of monitors go back look at how they perform slot them into an easy ranking but choosing the exact position for each of these products is pretty difficult there are some tight battles here especially because most of these displays are actually pretty good anyway should probably get on to it and we'll work our way from worst to best starting with 14th Place at number 14 I have the Corsair xenion Flex 45wq HD 240. this is really the only OLED monitor that I definitely wouldn't recommend to most people it's an interesting concept having a 45 inch Ultra wide OLED panel with a user adjustable curve and it's a concept I actually like keep the monitor flat for productivity work then curve it up for gaming to bring those edges in and increase its emulsivity but other elements to this display make it hard to recommend the biggest issue for me was the low pixel density having just a 3440 by 1440 resolution with the issues of rwbg subpixel layouts that we get from of course those W OLED panels it led to poor text Clarity which really severely impacted the usability of this monitor for desktop productivity work and without a very good productivity experience having an adjustable curve to suit productivity use cases becomes a bit pointless it's also a very expensive product coming in at two thousand dollars US which made it difficult to recommend over other Ultra wide options and ultimately that's why it sits in 14th on this list in 13th Place I have the gigabyte auris fo48u now this isn't a bad monitor but when thinking about all the oleds I've tested I find it difficult these days to recommend a 48 inch product to most people especially now that we have lots of 42 inch options 48 inches even at 4K like this monitor is simply too large for most desks and often requires a larger than standard viewing distance to get an optimal experience for that reason the 48 inch monitors I've reviewed have fallen down the rankings the fo48u is the lesser of the two variants I reviewed it was less bright than the LG C1 had fewer HDMI 2.1 ports didn't support Dolby Vision didn't have any Smart TV functionality and was typically more expensive than the C1 for most of its life the main advantage it brought was a display port connector but alone this wasn't enough to get a recommendation in 12th spot is the other 48 inch monitor I've reviewed the original LG C1 in its smallest size at the time again the primary reason for a low ranking here is the size I think 48 inches is too large however it did typically offer a better experience than the fo48u with higher brightness and many more features it also packed the same 120hz refresh rate as the gigabyte model which by modern standards is quite a middling refresh rate for an OLED panel one of the things LG did really well with its C1 was keeping it at a low price for most of its life not just in the US but in other regions as well it was pretty common to find it for below a thousand dollars making it one of the cheaper entry points to True HDR gaming for PC users if you could stomach the size these days we have more plentiful options including stuff at sane sizes but a few years ago the C1 was a sought after product among a certain crowd in 11th spot and above we get to the monitor sizes and formats that make sense to recommend but aren't quite as polished as the higher rankings will get to shortly in this position I have the Acer Predator x27u which is one of the products I've tested more recently the 27 inch 1440p 240Hz W OLED panel used here is quite good and provides a highly versatile gaming experience but unfortunately Acer didn't nail the execution which makes it the hardest to recommend of the four monitors I've tested that use this panel the main issues with the x27u were weak HDR accuracy mediocre brightness for this panel especially in the SDR mode and inability to disable the automatic brightness limiter and annoying firmware quirks when switching between the HDR and SDR modes given it also commanded a higher price than its competitors I think a position in this list of 11th is fair despite otherwise featuring all of the usual OLED benefits in 10th place I guess giving it a top 10 position is the Philips avnia 34 m2c 8600 this is the first 34-inch qdo led to make an appearance on the list but because we're going from worst to best that also means it's the least good of the five monitors I've tested that use this panel and like with The Predator x27u this isn't so much due to the panel itself but Philips integration and execution have the Phillips ahead of the Acer because it has fewer firmer annoyances but unlike any of the monitors ahead of it the evnir suffers from pretty janky HDR accuracy you can either choose between the full 1000 it experience with poor accuracy or a brightness limited mode with much better accuracy it's not a great limitation and when combined with the high price tag it sees itself bump down the rankings however I did like the ambiglow RGB LED integration and its excellent srgb mode calibration so it's not all bad here in ninth I have the Corsair zenion 27 QHD 240 another of the 27 inch 1440p 240Hz W OLED monitors this variant finishes above the Acer x27u and also the Philips qdo lid because it has fewer firmware issues than the Acer model and doesn't suffer from the bizarre HDR problems of the Philips it's not an especially accurate HDR monitor hence why it's in ninth position but out of the box it's more usable than the two previous displays while retaining excellent Factory calibration what the Corsair model doesn't do especially well hence its mid-tier ranking is brightness both in the SDR and HDR modes it's not a great monitor for desktop apps due to its low SDR brightness and for HDR I've seen better from other W OLED and qdo led variants but outside of this I quite like the design and it's quickly come down in price to something more reasonable so again not a bad monitor around this position is where things started to become exceptionally tricky at number eight I've got the Asus Rog Swift pg42 uq a 42 inch 4K W OLED monitor at 138 Hertz designed for PC gaming with features like DisplayPort and a matte finish this is quite a good Monitor and while still a large format display it's much more usable at a normal viewing distance compared to the 48 inch monitors I ranked much further down the main competitor to the pg42 uq is the LG C2 and for the most part these displays trade blows in performance and features the Asus model is brighter has a higher refresh rate matte coating and has some nice PC specific features like the ability to disable the abl but it lacks the smart TV functionality Dolby Vision support and full Hardware calibration controls which the C2 has alongside a glossy screen coding that some may prefer while it's hard to separate them from a feature standpoint I've ranked the pg-42 uq below the LG purely because of its typical price over its lifespan so far the LG model has been much cheaper which makes it easier to recommend so for the Asus model it'll have to settle for eight now you might think that with all I've just said I've put the C2 in seventh but I haven't instead here I'm sneaking in the Alienware aw3423dw which these days I have ranked in fourth spot of the five cutie Allied monitors I've tested this was undoubtedly a very impressive Monitor and one that I use daily with some strong functionality like it's 3440x1440 175 Hertz panel good calibration especially for HDR and its high levels of brightness among oleds but for a few other reasons I feel like it's not quite at the level of the other three variants that I've placed above it for a start it launched with a few firmware issues like not running the OLED care features at the right times it also has annoying fan Behavior it lacks user upgradable firmware and it has the highest input latency of all the qdob models for much of its lifespan it was also reasonably expensive Without Really justifying the extra price versus say the DWF model from Alienware but it did launch first so that price was set during a period of no competition with some of these problems it hasn't aged as gracefully as morals that launched after it so I've got it here in seventh just a little bit ahead of the aw3423dw in sixth spot is the LG C2 42 inch model I've talked about why this monitor is placed here versus the pg42 uq previously but I bumped it up one spot because for much of its life and even today it remains exceptionally good value being regularly priced below a thousand dollars U.S it's not the most gaming capable monitor compared to the 27-inch W OLED and 34 inch cutie OLED panels of today being limited to just 120 hertz featuring limited SDR brightness and lacking DisplayPort and this is the main reason why I haven't put this 42 inch model higher up in the rankings but it's the best large format offering and has been great value so it definitely deserves an upper mid table position in fifth place is the MSI Meg 342c cutioled which actually surprised me a little bit in terms of its overall place and getting into the top five but I just can't justify it being any lower and neither placing it any higher this isn't the best QD OLED on the market the design in particular is not very good but it's also not the worst in fact it ends up doing a lot of things right generally a good HDR performance including decent brightness user upgradable firmware HDMI 2.1 low latency MSI also launched this monitor at a great price of just eleven hundred dollars U.S making it one of the cheaper Cudi old variants a factor that definitely helped for these rankings ultimately though when we're talking about the top five oleds I've tested to get right up into the pointy end it needs to have Elite Performance or features and the 342c isn't quite at that level but it's a good display no doubt and MSI really need to start shipping more of them they can still be quite difficult to find in fourth spot the LG 27g09 5q8 this is a really good 27 inch 1440p 240Hz gaming Monitor and the second best to use this panel that I've tested crucially it's brighter in the SDR mode than both the lower ranked Corsair and Ace of variants which makes it better for desktop app usage and it's more accurate in the HDR mode it has fewer firmware quirks and even some additional features like support for Hardware calibration contributing strongly to the package is LG's pricing which is why I've ranked it ahead of the MSI QD OLED model while it did debut at a thousand dollars us earlier this year for several months now it's been available for 900 or less making it the most affordable way to access a 1440p 240Hz OLED when it's also better than some of its more expensive counterparts that's a winning combination the only really major thing holding the LG back from a higher ranking is its overall brightness which is fine but not on the same level as one particular competitor that I'll get to shortly in third spot I have the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 if not for its higher price tag of Thirteen hundred dollars right now versus its competitors it could have snuck into top spot but either way this is a great 34 inch 3440x1440 cutie OLED gaming monitor at 175 Hertz it has an awesome design with zero fan noise great performance including good HDR accuracy a full smart processor which allows for a wealth of calibration options and it supports firmer updates Samsung variant is clearly ahead of the MSI equivalent the Alienware aw 3423dw and of course the lower ranked Phillips model I have the OLED G8 ahead of the 27 GI 95qe due to its higher brightness in both the SDR and HDR modes as well as its Superior subpixel layout which makes it the more suitable product for desktop use but there are some downsides as well such as it's a lackluster brightness on AMD gpus and use of mini display connectors but to me the olig8 overall is a fantastic product and a top 3 spot is well deserved in second place the Asus Rog Swift OLED pg27aqdm this is an excellent monitor one that I highly recommend and one that is fitting over top three position everything that's good about the LG variant I've just spoken about is also good with the LG variant but on top of that you can add 30 to 40 percent more brightness that's a huge deal for a w OLED panel and it makes the monitor much better not just for HDR content consumption but desktop app usage as well I think this is the best W OLED gaming Monitor and the best of the 1440p 240Hz pack so that begs the question of why it's ranked in second place not first this ultimately comes down to W OLED versus qdo LED and in my opinion I have a slight preference for Cutie already although it's a very close and difficult call to make cutie OLED gets that tad bit brighter even compared to the pg278 udm is it better though not ideal subpixel structure better uniformity and I do slightly prefer the ultra wide format there's also a few benefits to the top rank competitor that this Asus model doesn't have plus the pg27aqdm doesn't pick up any bonus points for Value being priced at a solid 1 000 us but really these top three products could be interchangeable they're all very good OLED monitors that are worth buying the number one OLED monitor I've tested is the Alienware aw3423dwf from Dell now before the recent firmware update I definitely would not have had the DWF in first place the HDR accuracy simply wasn't up to scratch but in its current iteration I think the DWF makes an extremely strong case for itself and with my personal preference for the ultrawide format helping out a smidgen it ends up taking up the crown so why this particular monitor in first place well it simply performs really well and has very few downsides it delivers all the excellent HDR and SDR performance we know and love from the studio lead panel with excellent brightness great speed low input latency now it has decent extra accuracy a great srgb mode nice Port selection quiet fan upgradable firmware three-year burn-in warranty the list goes on but the really killer element to the DWF has been its price despite offering a great array of hardware and features the DWF has always been on the cheaper end of the pricing range with its 1100 MSRP and occasional sales to a thousand dollars well I think the olig8 does have some notable advantages like its design and better display processing Hardware the Gap in price is often 200 to 300 which is pretty significant for not a huge difference in end quality Dell really created a winner here and while it did take around six months to get the firm up to scratch buyers of this product would be extremely happy with what they've got anyway that's it for this ranking video just something a little bit different from monitors unboxed after quite a few reviews that I've been working on a few other things if you're interested in any of the products I've talked about here be sure to check out the full reviews on this channel I think some of them are on Hardware unboxed but most most of them are on monitors unboxed as you know this has been a pretty quick summary of each 14 products and there's a lot more to say about each and every one of them in those reviews and if you do find something that you like or interested in the links in the description below will give you current pricing beyond that if you want to support the channel we have flirt plan and patreon also down there in the description or you can simply subscribe to monitors unboxed and give the video a like if you enjoyed it so thanks for watching hope you guys liked it and I'll catch you in the next one foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: Monitors Unboxed

Views: 258,254

Keywords:

Id: rIEB37QXq1M

Length: 16min 30sec (990 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 09 2023