Something to look forward to: Dell appears keen to maintain its pole position in the OLED gaming monitor race. The company’s envelope-pushing AW3423DWF will soon receive two follow-ups with higher refresh rates and the same or better resolution. Dell plans to release the high-end monitors in January but hasn’t revealed exact specs and pricing.
Dell unveiled two upcoming Alienware QD-OLED monitors at TwitchCon this week. Like the company’s top-ranked AW3423DWF, the curved panels will combine high resolutions with bleeding-edge refresh rates when they ship in early January.
The AW3423DW was the first OLED to reach 175Hz at 34 inches with Samsung’s latest QD-OLED panels when Dell launched it last spring. Later that year, the company significantly lowered the offering’s price with the AW3423DWF by dropping G-Sync (while maintaining FreeSync) and is now presenting high-end players with a new choice between pixels and frames.
Between the two upcoming models, the larger AW3225QF seems positioned to replace last year’s product. Although slightly smaller at 32 inches, it raises the resolution from 1440p to 4K and the refresh rate to 240Hz. Furthermore, like the AW3423DWF, it features a curved screen.
Meanwhile, users who don’t mind sticking to 1440p or want more frames will have the 360Hz AQ2725DF. The 27-inch flat-panel screen presents an ideal alternative for competitive esports players.
Dell hasn’t revealed details like pricing, available ports, response time, curvature, or color and HDR performance, but plans to soon. Wccftech expects more information to come during CES 2024, which seems likely given the early January release date. The outlet leaked a Dell product slide confirming that the two products include a three-year burn-in warranty.
High-resolution QD-OLED monitors aren’t the only Alienware displays recently pushing limits. In March, the company’s AW2524H became the first 500Hz monitor to hit the market. Asus is preparing a 540Hz competitor but hasn’t revealed a price or release date.
Both ultra-high-performance screens are limited to 1080p, and Dell used an IPS display while Asus opted for a TN panel. However, topping 500fps in any title, even at 1080p, will tax any GPU currently on the market.
Hitting that performance profile in Counter-Strike 2 requires the almighty GeForce RTX 4090, though the flagship card managed that framerate at 1440p in Overwatch 2. These and similar titles will likely benefit the most from the upcoming AW3225QF and AQ2725DF.
