Alienware AW3423DW 34" QD-OLED

The Alienware AW3423DWF’s QD-OLED panel delivers a stunning picture that’s on another level from even the very best LCD panels. With super smooth motion and very low input lag, it’s hard to imagine a better gaming monitor.

The Alienware AW3423DW is a next-level display with numerous advantages over LCD panels. It has a few quirks, but for the PC enthusiast I think this is the best gaming monitor on the market right now.

There's no other gaming monitor I'd rather use than the Alienware AW3423DW, but the kinks that come with using an ultrawide display in addition to its premium price point may understandably put some off.

Here's the thing: Even though Alienware's QD-OLED is a major investment, it's arguably a wise one that could last you for years. For the price of a premium display last year (and less than Apple's Studio Display!), you get next-generation OLED technology, an objectively gorgeous screen and all of the gaming upgrades you could ask for. It’s the rare gadget that makes me grin like an absolute idiot while I’m using it, surely that’s worth paying for.

The Alienware AW3423DW isn’t perfect, but it’s still incredibly impressive. At $1299, it’s expensive, but considering this may just be the best gaming monitor on the market today, it still winds up feeling like a good value. The future is coming, and Alienware is giving us our first look at what it might hold.

It may not be the perfect monitor for everyone. Its on-screen display and joystick controls are far less intuitive to use than they should be, and it may take some time to tweak the display’s settings to suit your non-gaming needs. It’s also lacking in high-end HDMI 2.1 ports for faster refresh rates over HDMI, and its 21:9 aspect ratio means that modern consoles won’t fill the whole screen. Admittedly, those are all minor gripes if you know what you’re getting into.

The Alienware AW3423DW’s isn’t perfect, but the QD-OLED panel makes it the best 34-inch ultrawide gaming monitor yet.

The 34-inch Alienware 34 Curved Gaming Display (AW3423DW) has a significantly updated design over its last-generation widescreen linemates; it highlights the thin profile of the screen, changes up the back lighting and stand, and tweaks the layout of the controls and connections. It will go on sale here by the end of March for a not-terribly-affordable but not overpriced $1,299.