It’s no stranger to the monitor world: Dell has been delivering top-notch computer screens for over two decades. And since its acquisition of Alienware in 2006, the new entity became the perfect avenue for Dell to market products with more gaming-focused specs, such as high-refresh-rate displays.

To separate its product identities, the company would normally release its creator-focused, high-fidelity displays under the Dell name. This can be an important distinction since PC monitors often take a hit in picture quality for an increase in responsiveness. But now, OLED technology has largely bridged this gap, with the company now launching a new monitor that could arguably be released under either name. Meet the Alienware AW3225QF, the first 4K 32-inch QD-OLED monitor.

About this review: The product in this review was loaned to us by Dell. The company had no involvement in the contents of this review. Testing was conducted on firmware version M2B105.

Pricing, availability, and specs

In the US, the Dell Alienware AW3225QF can be had for $1199, which prices it in the middle of the pack among other 32-inch 4K QD-OLED monitors. However, the AW3225QF was the first of its kind to launch, having started shipments on January 11th. It’s also one of the most readily available to order, with competing models often facing backorders at the time of writing.

Design and impressions

Premium looks with notable quirks

As far as gaming aesthetics go, the Alienware AW3225QF strikes a good balance that doesn’t get too obnoxious. It looks clean with a two-toned black and white finish on the rear and the feet. Although they’re plastic, the components all feel sturdy and appear high quality, as expected from a monitor at this price. There’s also an active fan with some venting around the back, though throughout my testing I’ve never even heard the thing.

It feels and looks like a win in pragmatics

The panel design I’m not a big fan of. There’s a branded silver chin that’s relatively thick, considering OLEDs no longer require much of a chin at all. The curve of the screen I could also live without, but it’s so subtle that in use it’s practically not there. One benefit is that the curve slightly narrows the input field of reflections, and distorts them in a way so that your eyes can’t focus on them. Conversely, the curve stretches out screen reflections horizontally, making them appear larger. On paper it seems like a win-lose situation, but the longer I test it, the more it feels and looks like a win in pragmatics.

On the topic of reflections, the AW3225QF has the same issue with real-world black levels that all other QD-OLED monitors have. If the front of the monitor is facing toward the middle of the room, you can expect moderate amounts of black lift when any light source is present. To look comparable in black levels to other OLEDs, the panel needs to be tilted away from any light sources, which in my case is only feasible with secondary monitors. I generally use my PC in the dark, with ambient light levels typically below 5 lux, and 25 lux at maximum during the day with blackout curtains partially open. As seen from the photo above, this is enough to noticeably increase the brightness of blacks, especially when directly compared to other OLED types.

In terms of clarity, the uptick to 4K when coming from 1440p makes a massive difference for QD-OLEDs. The existing subpixel layouts of current QD-OLED monitors produces a fringing component to horizontal edges, with green coming from the top and magenta on the bottom. Not only does the increase in resolution make this less noticeable, but a revised subpixel layout on these third generation of QD-OLEDs reduces the height of the green subpixel, making green fringes from the top less perceivable. In my experience though, magenta fringing is still noticeable from the bottom of light text on dark backgrounds, so there is still room for improvement.

As usual with OLEDs, its motion clarity is pristine with pixel response times being virtually instantaneous with no perceptible ghosting in any content. The super smooth 240 Hz refresh rate is just icing on the cake, and it should be more than enough for even the most competitive gamers. Today, you'll be hard-pressed to find modern games that can run at 4K and 240fps, even with a top-end system.

Connectivity

The bare necessities, plus extra for peripherals

On the rear of the display, you’ll get access to two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4 for your machines to connect to, relying on Display Stream Compression (DSC) to support the full 4K 240 Hz bandwidth. One of the HDMI ports also includes eARC with Dolby Atmos passthrough. Sadly, the monitor does not have a physical KVM switch if you wanted to seamlessly use the monitor with multiple machines.

For peripherals, the AW3225QF is well-equipped with three USB Type-A ports and one Type-C port, all 3.2 Gen1. There is one Type-A and one Type-C directly underneath the panel for quick access, while the other two are next to the video ports on the rear. There is also an upstream Type-B port (with the cable included in the box) that can be used to update the panel firmware, or for use with the Dell Display Manager software, which lets you change some of the display OSD settings through your PC.

Features & on-screen display (OSD)

Useful additions and clear from clutter

Beneath the chin of the display is a two-axis joystick that controls the monitor OSD. The layout of the OSD is very clean and avoids the “gamer” look many other monitors have. A single flick in one direction can be mapped to one of the setting shortcuts.

AlienFX Lighting

Behind the monitor are two LEDs that can light up in one of 17 predefined colors. These can be turned on to add a touch of color ambiance to your back wall. If you were planning on using them as a sort of bias lighting though, they aren’t nearly bright enough for that. Through the same menu, the active bottom LED can also be disabled, only briefly showing when first turning on the monitor, and to indicate when a pixel refresh is occurring.

Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)

One of the most polarizing gaming display features is adaptive sync, or variable refresh rate. The feature provides the best method for mitigating screen tearing, but on certain displays like OLED it can cause flickering when rendering dark color tones. The severity of the flicker can vary from panel to panel, and it ultimately occurs when there are variances in the GPU frame time.

On the AW3225QF, which supports both G-SYNC (Compatible) and VESA AdaptiveSync, I found the VRR flicker somewhat manageable. From my testing, it’s definitely not as strong as some other OLEDs I’ve used. However, it’s still there when you least expect it, and the input lag of other tear-free solutions is low enough for me to not really care for the feature. So, better than average, but I’m still going without it.

Dolby Vision

One of the main selling points of the Dell AW3225QF is its support for Dolby Vision HDR. Although it is arguably the best format for watching content on TVs, its advantages on a computer monitor are next to none unless you’ll be using it often to watch Dolby Vision films. Not only do most applications and games not support the format, but the benefits that make it superior for content delivery are not a factor in rendering engines that implement their own dynamic tone mapping. But as we’ll cover later, these modes do have other advantages — along with disadvantages.

OLED Protection

OLED technology poses a long-term risk of eventually burning in. In fact, it’s more of a matter of “when”, not “if”. Although other display types deteriorate as well, you can expect them to last a bare minimum of about five years, with most enduring over a decade. No one yet knows exactly just how durable these third-generation QD-OLED monitors are, but they do make certain measurements to extend the longevity of your investment.

The OLED care features on the AW3225QF are non-intrusive

Although it’s not mentioned in the OSD, the AW3225QF enables pixel shifting and multi-logo detection in the background. You may notice at times that the screen bezel isn’t perfectly centered, and that’s because the OLED actually contains a couple more vertical and horizontal pixels for the pixel-shifting feature. As its name suggests, the panel will occasionally shift the pixels around to diffuse screen wear. Multi-logo detection, on the other hand, detects static elements on the screen and reduces their luminance. Neither of these can be directly disabled. However, running the display in SDR in one of the Creator mode presets does disable logo dimming.

After every four cumulative hours of use, the OLED will need to perform a pixel refresh to clean up any short-term pixel wear variances. The implementation of the OLED care features on the AW3225QF is non-intrusive, with the pixel refresh occurring automatically once the monitor goes on standby. It takes approximately 7 minutes to complete, and the bottom LED will flash green while it’s active. To know if the display needs to run a pixel refresh, the Panel Health indicator in the OSD will turn yellow. After about 7000 hours, the Panel Health indicator will turn red, signaling that a panel refresh needs to be done, which takes about an hour to complete.

SDR Brightness

Adequate for most indoor settings

When first powering the display, the initial brightness measures about 170 nits for white in SDR. I reckon most people are used to computer monitors set to about 200 nits or higher, but the larger viewing angle of the 32-inch screen can give the impression of appearing brighter when coming from a smaller display. But if you do need it brighter, the AW3225QF can reach up to 240 nits at the highest brightness setting. And for the low end, it can get as dim as 30 nits.

The larger viewing angle can give the impression of appearing brighter

In SDR, there is no OLED automatic brightness limiter (ABL) present, meaning that the brightness and calibration of the screen remain consistent regardless of what’s being shown on the screen. However, there does appear to be a form of logo detection dimming, which is a protective measure to prevent burn-in on static elements on the screen. Fortunately, this feature is not present within the Creator mode, which you should use if you want the most accurate picture quality.

There is also one bug I’ve found: if using the HDMI port to connect to your computer, the monitor will not display at your chosen brightness setting when it resumes from sleep, despite the brightness value being saved. This does not occur when using DisplayPort.

HDR Brightness

A deliberate choice between high contrast vs. high brightness

Most QD-OLEDs, including the Dell AW3225QF, have two primary modes for driving HDR: TrueBlack 400 and Peak 1000. The most obvious difference between the two is that the TrueBlack 400 mode can deliver 450-nit highlights, while Peak 1000 mode reaches up to 1000 nits. There’s also presets for Desktop, Movie, and Game, but from what I can tell, the former two are identical to TrueBlack 400, while Game is similar but targets a slightly warmer whitepoint. It might seem like a no-brainer to pick the mode with the higher number, but there are actually a few areas where TrueBlack 400 is superior that ultimately make it my mode of choice.

The Peak 1000 mode often loses its ability to show things at the correct brightness.

When talking about OLEDs, brightness can become a very complex subject matter. Long story short, the total brightness of an OLED can vary significantly depending on what’s being shown on the screen. When most of the content is dark, the panel has enough headroom to drive small regions of the screen to a much higher luminance; as most of the screen becomes brighter, the panel may have to reduce the total brightness across the entire screen. This balancing act produces different results between the TrueBlack 400 and Peak 1000 modes.

In TrueBlack 400 mode, the peak brightness for HDR highlights can reach up to about 430 nits, which doesn’t sound all too impressive. The Peak 1000 mode on the other hand measures up to about 945 nits. This higher peak brightness allows HDR highlights to feel much more impactful, except for some certain situations.

For highlights to reach the full 945 nits, the HDR content must have an average frame luminance below 30 nits. For reference, the average frame luminance across most HDR films is typically between 5 to 20 nits. This means that for many scenes in a film, the Peak 1000 mode should be in the clear. However, well-lit scenes that average above 30 nits can often make up a quarter or more of any given film. Furthermore, most desktop environments are set up to show content at a brighter luminance than reference films, where 30 nits might seem comparably very dim. As things start to get brighter, the Peak 1000 mode begins to quickly lose its ability to show things at the correct brightness.

At a frame-average light level (FALL) of 50 nits, corresponding to a well-lit scene, the Peak 1000 mode loses over a quarter of its total brightness across the screen. At this point it’s not too noticeable, and a correlated peak brightness of about 700 nits is still very respectable. But once we start getting bright scenes on the screen — think sunny outdoor shots or snowy landscapes — then the total brightness dims drastically, significantly more so than the TrueBlack mode.

In some games, this heavy dimming can be a frequent occurrence; though in many others, no dimming might ever be observed. It ultimately depends on the type of content you routinely interact with. If you’re one to prefer leaving HDR permanently enabled throughout the OS, then the Peak 1000 mode will pesteringly dim the screen any time you open a white web page or application, whereas it’s mostly imperceivable when using the TrueBlack mode.

SDR Color Performance

Meticulous accuracy you can expect from a high-end Dell

Out of the box, SDR colors on the Dell AW3225QF are plenty vibrant with a warmer color balance than usual. Many will be satisfied with this punchy style of color rendering, but be advised that if you plan to do any color-sensitive work, it is far from what can be considered accurate. The Standard preset applies a color gamut that slightly surpasses DCI-P3 though a little shy off the panel’s total available gamut. Grayscale measurements reveal a white point color temperature of about 6100 K for our unit, along with a native 2.2 gamma tone response.

The AW3225QF can represent the industry standard color space with exceptional accuracy

For more accurate SDR color rendering on the AW3225QF, the monitor preset can be set to Creator mode with the color space set to sRGB. Given how long Dell has been in the office monitor space, it shouldn’t be surprising that the AW3225QF can represent the industry standard color space with exceptional accuracy. For our SDR measurements, we set the AW3225QF to a white brightness of 120 nits, a common monitor luminance for color proofing. Sadly, selecting Creator mode does not allow custom tuning of the white point RGB, which is crucial to have if the factory calibration isn’t accurate.

In this mode, the AW3225QF produces near-perfect results, averaging a ΔEITP color error of 2.7 (where lower is better) and a maximum error of only 4.3. In practice, a ΔEITP value below 3.0 is often adequate for a reference-level display, and the Dell AW3225QF is averaging below this for its sRGB Creator mode. Note that if you're familiar with display reviews, you may have been used to ΔE2000 instead, which is not as accurate and produces values that are about one-third the value of a comparable error using ΔEITP.

For the white point, our unit measures closer to 6300 K rather than the 6504 K target, but the total difference is not significant enough to be a problem, averaging about ΔEITP = 3.0. Color precision is also well controlled, with grayscale and colors remaining the same tint regardless of their luminance.

Things can look flat when coming from a gamma 2.2 display

In terms of tone and contrast, the sRGB Creator mode might look a little different than what people are used to. Instead of using gamma 2.2, which has arguably been the most common tone response used in SDR for computer monitors, the Dell AW3225QF tracks the sRGB IEC tone response in sRGB Creator mode despite specifying gamma 2.2. The two curves can appear very similar in some content, but the sRGB IEC curve produces brighter shadows that can make things look flat when coming from a gamma 2.2 display. For another point of reference, nearly every phone screen to this day is still calibrated for gamma 2.2. It would be ideal if Dell would provide an option to use actual gamma 2.2 in Creator mode. When set to the other gamma modes, the monitor behaves normally and tracks the gamma that was chosen.

Many sRGB emulation modes I’ve seen on other monitors have the negative side-effect of producing banding and crushing near-black tones. I’m happy to see none of this on the AW3225QF, with Dell handling color mappings exceptionally well. Choosing other gamma modes also produces gradients that are just as smooth, which is rare to see on a PC monitor.

On a side-note, the Creator mode also has a color space preset for DCI-P3, which targets the cinema standard rather than the web standard. This mode targets the DCI white point, which is tinted green, and a white level of 48 nits, which is the usual white level outputted for SDR by cinema projectors.

The big caveat

Up to this point, the color performance of the AW3225QF seems to have been nothing short of fantastic. But there’s a huge catch with these measurements: they were taken shortly after the monitor first turned on. Normally, screen color readings should be taken after at least thirty minutes of monitor usage to give the panel time to stabilize. However, we found that on our AW3225QF the lightness of shadows varied appreciably even after just fifteen minutes.

It looks like it has a hazy filter applied over the screen

In my testing, the picture seemed to finally stabilize after about 45 minutes. The color calibration in this state appears more washed out, with colors growing colder and lighter. Idling the display for one hour afterward still exhibited a lift that is similar to what you’d get after leaving the display on for about fifteen minutes after a cold boot. Paired with the sRGB IEC tone curve in SDR, what was initially a reference-level grading display now looks like it has a hazy filter applied over the screen.

This calibration drift occurs no matter the monitor mode, in SDR or HDR, with G-SYNC on or off, and regardless of refresh rate. I also tried using a different cable, both DisplayPort to HDMI, a different PC, and even factory reset the monitor, to no effect. During my testing, there was also a firmware update to version M2B105, which made no difference to the picture. It’s possible we were loaned a defective unit, but I’ve asked around and know at least one other person who claims to have the same issue. We’ve asked Dell for an official response on the issue, but have not yet received a statement.

HDR Color Performance

Strong base calibration hindered by hardware dimming

Since the color and luminance range for HDR is much greater than SDR, it’s not possible to accurately describe a display’s HDR color performance with only a few measurements. HDR assessments require a more case-by-case basis, so we’ll need to separate its performance into three regions: dim scenes, well-lit scenes, and bright scenes.

The AW3225QF is one of the most accurate displays in HDR I’ve measured

As for available HDR modes, the AW3225QF has presets for TrueBlack 400, Peak 1000, Desktop, Movie HDR, Game HDR, Custom HDR, Dolby Vision Dark, and Dolby Vision Bright. We’ll primarily focus on the TrueBlack 400 and Peak 1000 modes, with some impressions on Dolby Vision. Desktop HDR and Movie HDR appear identical to TrueBlack 400, with Game HDR being similar but using a warmer white point.

In dim HDR scenes, both TrueBlack and Peak 1000 are remarkably accurate, with Peak 1000 mode having a clear advantage in producing highlights that are about twice as bright. Most shows and movies are color graded to fall within this region, which makes Peak 1000 mode the best mode to use for most films and darker games.

In well-lit scenes, the color and luminance performance of the TrueBlack mode is largely the same, but in Peak 1000 we start to see its tone curve begin to dim and flatten. In terms of average brightness, the Peak 1000 mode is about 25% dimmer than TrueBlack at this content level, but with peak highlights up to 70% brighter. At this point, the dimming in Peak 1000 is not too severe, and its HDR performance is still much more impactful compared to TrueBlack mode.

Lastly, in bright scenes the advantages flip, with TrueBlack now delivering a much more luminous image. The average picture brightness for TrueBlack is now 88% greater than Peak 1000, while peak highlights are only 14% dimmer. This scenario also applies to light-themed desktop applications and websites.

Regarding color, the AW3225QF is one of the most accurate displays in HDR I’ve measured. Although it’s not quite as impeccable as its SDR calibration, an average ΔEITP color error below 5.0 is very respectable, and it’s much more difficult to obtain this degree of accuracy over each of the three brightness levels. The color calibration also makes use of more of the display’s native gamut, whereas some other monitors I’ve tested limit their HDR gamut to DCI-P3 even when their OLED gamut is larger. The bigger issues still lie in the color luminance drop with ABL in Peak 1000, as well as the calibration drift covered earlier that desaturates colors.

Dolby Vision HDR

The Alienware is a little different from the rest as it supports Dolby Vision, and it has dedicated display modes in the form of Dolby Vision Bright and Dolby Vision Dark. There’s also Dolby Vision Game, which is just Dolby Vision Bright that automatically enables when a supported Dolby Vision title is launched.

If you prefer a generally brighter picture, then Dolby Vision Bright is your best option.

Dolby Vision Bright is the last thing I want to touch on, which comes default on the AW3225QF. Despite its name, the mode works fine for viewing normal HDR10 content. What makes this mode different is that it intentionally deviates from the reference HDR10 tone curve, instead rendering it at approximately double the brightness.

With Dolby Vision Bright, the maximum tone map luminance — the value that the Windows HDR Calibration tool clips at — will max out at 500 nits, but the display itself outputs about double that. It’s common for HDR content to be color-graded to a similar brightness as SDR at 100 nits white, which can be too dim for some users. If you prefer a generally brighter picture, then Dolby Vision Bright is your best option.

In terms of accuracy, the colors within Dolby Vision Bright remain chromatically correct, just simply brighter. This can be a hard feat to achieve when veering off the reference curve, but the Dolby Vision calibration does this effortlessly. For near-black colors, both Dolby Vision modes are superior in gradually ramping out of black than the HDR10 modes, allowing them to reveal more details in dark scenes.

There are regrettably some bugs with the modes, though. One is that there are times when the monitor does not automatically enable Dolby Vision, and requires either re-toggling HDR or sometimes even rebooting the PC for it to work. The mode also falls back to the HDR10 calibration when entering fullscreen exclusive games or applications. Lastly, the black level within Dolby Vision does not fully turn off and is slightly lifted. But oddly enough, if a fullscreen exclusive application is opened and then closed, which temporarily disables and then enables Dolby Vision, the bug disappears and blacks return to black.

Should you buy the Alienware AW3225QF?

As the first 32-inch 4K QD-OLED monitor on the market, the Dell Alienware 3225QF makes an outstanding first impression. Although $1199 seems steep for a monitor, I think it’s fairly priced for what you get, especially compared to the competition. While the design is mostly subjective, the hardware undeniably looks and feels well-built, and the entire experience in and out of the display just feels premium.

The quality and attention to color you get from this screen are phenomenal, with factory calibration at the forefront rather than being an afterthought. In terms of calibration drift however, I can see it being a huge issue for anyone seeking to rely on this monitor for color-sensitive work, so I sincerely hope our unit is simply an outlier. Fighting with what mode to use for HDR to look its best can also be a bothersome game, as it can often vary from title to title.

Overall, whether you’re a gamer, a movie buff, or a content creator, it’s hard not to recommend the immersive, curated experience you’ll get out of this top-shelf monitor.

• You prioritize picture quality and want a sharp, immersive screen for games and movies
• You need a display with faithful color representation as well as deep, vibrant colors
• You want Dolby Vision support or the Dolby Vision Bright calibration mode

• You mostly use your computer in a well-lit room
• You’re used to much brighter TVs and displays
• You want the best set-and-forget HDR monitor experience