Alienware's AW2725Q is a Great 4K 240Hz QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Under $1,000

Alienware is nary alien to making top-tier gaming monitors. Its latest release, the AW2725Q, aims to beryllium 1 of the best gaming monitors of 2025 with a 4K, 240Hz, QD-OLED panel, on with bundle configuration, eARC with Dolby Atmos enactment for speakers and soundbars, and a caller fresh plan for the brand. The lone happening it lacks is DisplayPort 2.1, but astatine $899.99, it’s a large mode to measurement into the champion of what PC gaming has to offer.

Alienware AW2725Q – Design and Features

If there's 1 happening you tin accidental astir Alienware, it's that its products person a definite personality. Regardless of whether oregon not that strikes a chord with you, it's hard to reason with the quality built into astir of its products. But with the caller Alienware Pro headset, keyboard, and mouse, it’s pushing into a much restrained absorption and the AW2725Q follows suit. But with this propulsion into a much minimalist design, it besides manages to consciousness much refined and, successful my estimation, much broadly appealing without sacrificing the representation prime oregon show worthy of a high-end monitor.

As we've travel to expect from Alienware, the physique prime is fantabulous crossed the board. This caller exemplary is designed to grant the brand's 30th day and item its sci-fi aesthetic portion “evoking a caller consciousness of enigma and transcendence.” I’m not definite astir each of that – however mysterious and transcendent tin the plan connection of a gaming show be? There’s nary arguing with its crisp look, however.

From the small-footprint basal to the backmost sheet of the show itself, the show is steeped successful shapely contours. Curves are thing special, but arsenic a sci-fi fan, I perfectly spot what they were going for. Everything but the look of the show is designed astir its arcs, lending it the content of an alien craft. Less Alien and much Passengers. And yes, due to the fact that this is simply a flagship gaming show successful 2025, determination is simply a interaction of RGB with a tiny glowing alien caput connected 1 side.

Design lone goes truthful far, particularly erstwhile astir of it is astir the backmost wherever you won’t usually spot it, but remainder assured that the show has the specs and show wherever it counts. It uses the latest procreation of Quantum Dot enhanced OLED sheet for fantastic blacks and vivid colors, arsenic good arsenic fantabulous substance clarity, and a suite of protections to sphere its panel. For everything from gaming to productivity, it aims to impressment and does an admirable occupation of it.

The sheet offers top-tier specs and successful summation to its solution and refresh rate, it besides covers 99% of the DCI-P3 colour abstraction and is capable to deed a highest brightness of 1000 nits. Due to the mode OLED sheet exertion operates, it’s besides incredibly accelerated with a rated effect clip of lone 0.03ms, truthful ghosting and question blur are ne'er an issue. It’s VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified and offers Dolby Vision HDR, and due to the fact that of its size, it’s capable to connection a precocious pixel density of 166 PPI. Everything looks crisp and substance clarity is excellent. The surface features an anti-glare coating but it doesn’t hinder colour reproduction similar immoderate matte finishes do. It’s a bully mediate crushed if reflections are an contented successful your space.

A interest for each OLED panels is heat. Since each pixel is independently controlled, vigor buildup is simply a changeless interest and 1 of the contributing factors to representation retention (burn-in) implicit time. Every brand, Alienware included, has a vested involvement successful coming up with effectual cooling solutions. One communal mode to code this is utilizing outer powerfulness supplies, removing 1 vigor generating constituent from the portion itself. I was amazed to spot that the AW2725Q doesn’t bash this, truthful there’s nary outer powerfulness ceramic to negociate successful your setup. It has its ain solutions for shedding those other thermals, however, which see a graphite expanse down the sheet and a 360-degree ventilation strategy to gully and exhaust those thermals. Like each OLEDs I’ve tested truthful far, it inactive gets blistery implicit time, though.

Like different OLEDs, the mean brightness successful SDR isn't great. Alienware rates it for lone 250 nits, though it’s usually not a occupation if you presumption it distant from nonstop sunlight (also a bully thought to forestall the sheet from overheating). Because of the exceptional dynamic scope of brightness and contrast, I’ve recovered that astir of the QD-OLED gaming monitors releasing this procreation don’t consciousness dim successful the aforesaid mode that older OLEDs tended to. That said, portion the brightness is acceptable, it does look little agleam to the oculus than thing similar the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM and if you’re coming from a prime LED gaming monitor, you’ll astir surely announcement the difference.

It offers plentifulness of ports, but the connectivity options are a spot odd. Altogether, it comes with 2 HDMI 2.1 ports (one of which supports eARC) and 1 DisplayPort 1.4 for video input. If you’re tech savvy, you whitethorn already cognize that this means that determination is nary mode to tally the show astatine its afloat solution and refresh complaint without Display Stream Compression (DSC). For astir radical that won’t beryllium an issue, but determination are cases wherever radical mightiness find this grating (such arsenic the achromatic surface erstwhile Alt+Tabbing from a fullscreen game).

The backmost sheet besides includes a USB hub for speedy connectivity for outer devices. This includes 3 USB 3.2 Type-A ports and a USB Type-C that’s capable to present up to 15W of powerfulness to recharge your devices. It does not enactment arsenic a video input, however, and determination is nary built-in KVM to rapidly swap betwixt PC and console, for example. Finally, there’s a USB Type-B larboard to link the hub to your PC.

The included basal is of decent quality, but it didn’t precisely stroke my socks off. It feels a spot plasticky though it is dense capable to enactment the show passim each of its space adjustments. It offers 4 inches of tallness adjustment, -5 to +20 degrees of tilt, -20 to +20 degrees of swivel, and tin rotate 90 degrees to beryllium utilized successful representation orientation. I emotion the tiny footprint of the basal and the included cablegram absorption transmission is utile for keeping your setup tidy.

Alienware AW2725Q – Software and OSD

The AW2725Q allows you to configure its antithetic options done a premix of its on-screen show and the Alienware Command Center software. Command Center is helpful, particularly for assigning hotkeys to its Alienvision gaming settings, but it doesn’t reflector each of the options disposable successful the OSD. To customize much than brightness, contrast, and a tiny enactment of gaming features, you’ll request to navigate connected the show itself utilizing the included joystick tucked underneath the display.

The OSD is afloat featured and offers a heavy paper of antithetic options. In fact, I deliberation it’s just to accidental that Alienware could basal to condense things down to marque it easier to navigate. For example, sRGB and DCI-P3 colour modes, usually standalone presets for speedy and casual access, are some tucked wrong a sub-menu wrong the Creator preset. gamma, which is simply a staple representation setting, is hidden beneath that. These aren’t things you’re apt to set precise often aft archetypal setup, but you request to research to observe they’re disposable astatine all. Likewise, representation options are nested wrong their ain presets, brightness and opposition are fixed their ain menu, and HDR modes are hidden nether the Display tab, beneath the facet ratio setting.

Thankfully, there’s besides a speedy entree paper to find the astir communal settings and gaming features. The cardinal points connected the joystick tin each beryllium tied to personalized shortcuts, too, truthful if you cognize you’re going to request to set your brightness often, you tin simply property successful the absorption for nonstop entree to that value’s slider.

There are tons of options here, from picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture toggles, to three- and six-axis colour mixers for manual calibration. You tin configure the colour of the powerfulness LED and illuminated alien caput connected the backmost of the display. There’s a self-diagnostic paper to troubleshoot problems, HDMI CEC to powerfulness up a acceptable of speakers oregon a soundbar you person connected to its eARC port. You tin adjacent entree a full, multi-page mill calibration study consecutive from the mill with measurements and graphs, each done the OSD.

For gaming features, it’s mostly the staples – and FPS counter, Dark Stabilizer to rise the shadows, a built-in timer. Though Alienvision deserves peculiar mention; this is Alienware’s instrumentality connected the on-screen reticle. It tin beryllium toggled successful 3 modes: the modular reticle and 2 wherever the reticle is centered wrong a rectangle. The archetypal boosts the brightness of thing displayed wrong of it and gives you amended visibility successful the dark. The second, Chroma, is simply a spot of a premix betwixt nighttime imaginativeness and a thermal scope, highlighting objects successful green. Both tin beryllium configured to instrumentality up much oregon little space, zoom successful similar a sniper scope, beryllium opaque oregon translucent, and more.

It’s unfair for competitory shooters, without a doubt. It’s similar turning a pea shooter into a sniper firearm with a azygous click. There are immoderate situations wherever settings similar these could connection morganatic help, specified arsenic erstwhile you’re going for an accomplishment successful an particularly hard level, and that’s what Alienware intended… right?

Alienware AW2725Q – Performance

The Alienware AW2725Q is an fantabulous show for the price. Though its SDR brightness leaves thing to beryllium desired, determination is nary mistaking the show and fidelity that this show offers. For $899, it needs to unrecorded up to a definite standard, and it delivers portion besides demonstrating that you get what you wage for.

Beginning with responsiveness, my archetypal halt was Blurbusters' trial UFO ghosting test. As you tin spot successful the representation above, determination is nary ghosting whatsoever. I captured the photograph utilizing a high-speed camera and ran the show astatine its afloat 240Hz refresh rate, and it's crystal clear.

These results are echoed successful games – not lone is ghosting a implicit non-issue, but question clarity is noticeably enhanced. At 240Hz, successful games that are susceptible of making the astir of that refresh rate, you tin discern further item adjacent successful accelerated movements. Now, whether oregon not this volition marque you a amended gamer is simply a substance of skill; nary show volition marque up for dilatory absorption speed, but it tin rise your accomplishment ceiling.

Analyzing its colour gamut and code effect with my Datacolor SpyderPro colorimeter reveals bully results. It covers the implicit sRGB colour abstraction and 98% of DCI-P3. However, successful consequent tests, it bounced backmost and distant betwixt 98 and 99%, truthful I'm comfy saying that Dell's standing is accurate. My illustration demonstrated somewhat elevated brightness compared to the Gamma 2.2 modular but tracks alongside its output curve well. Its show is adjacent capable that the differences are imperceptible to the bare eye.

In SDR, its brightness impressively exceeds the manufacturer's rating. At 100% brightness, it reached 292 nits. Contrast, arsenic we cognize from the sheet type, is infinite, and blacks are arsenic acheronian arsenic they come. Moving implicit to HDR content, the show offers respective antithetic settings, including Game, Cinema, Desktop, DisplayHDR True Black, HDR Peak 1000, and Custom Color HDR. For sheer brightness, you'll privation to usage the HDR Peak 1000 setting. In a 2% window, I recorded a brightness of 992 nits. For highlights that are adjacent smaller, similar glints from water waves oregon the sparkles of stars, I person nary uncertainty that it would conscionable and apt transcend the 1000 nit rating; however, my repeatable investigating tools don't let for specified infinitesimal highlights. Every different mounting seems to headdress brightness betwixt 500-700 nits, trading brightness for colour balance.

Color Accuracy is excellent, too. In its default Game 1 preset, moving astatine afloat brightness with gamma acceptable to 2.2, it returned a Delta E mean of lone 1.61, making it close capable for nonrecreational colour work. Of that, lone a azygous hue, cyan, was acold capable retired that a nonrecreational colorist mightiness beryllium capable to spot a difference. This was easy reigned successful with a manual calibration, but the AW2725Q is 1 of the champion calibrated gaming monitors I’ve encountered from the factory, and you tin confidently usage it consecutive retired of the box.

Interestingly, if you acceptable it to the DCI-P3 oregon sRGB colour spaces nether the Creator profile, which should ideally beryllium the most accurate, the other is true. Both returned mean Delta E results greater than three. It’s inactive not bad, but it’s not what you would expect either. For contented creation, avoid the Creator mode.

Overall, we travel retired with a precise bully people for the show and my ain acquisition echoes this. After tweaking the representation settings to my taste, I recovered that the show looked large with beautifully vivid colour rendition. Quantum Dot enhanced panels truly excel astatine this and the aforesaid is existent here.

But there’s a catch: the default representation settings deficiency the wow origin that galore competing monitors, similar the Gigabyte AORUS FO32U2 Pro, connection close retired of the gate. In my case, that meant expanding some brightness and contrast, arsenic good arsenic turning up the saturation a interaction (this was done aft each of my testing). Setting opposition to 75% and brightness to its max brings the sheet to life. Running astatine specified precocious brightness isn’t perfect for an OLED panel, but it does consciousness indispensable to get the representation to a spot wherever it’s connected adjacent footing with different near-$1,000 OLED gaming monitors. This isn't arsenic overmuch of an contented successful HDR arsenic it's capable to standard overmuch higher arsenic the representation requires it. This is adjacent much existent erstwhile Dolby Vision is enabled and scene-by-scene brightness and opposition shines through.

Need to upgrade your video card?