Dell
Alienware AW2725DF 27" QD-OLED Monitor
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Clara’s Verdict
ExcellentThis is the monitor serious gamers and creative folks have been waiting for, and at $634 it's a steal compared to what you'd normally pay for this quality.
Best for: Competitive gamers who want buttery smooth gameplay, Content creators and photo editors, Anyone upgrading from an older 240Hz monitor, People who care about picture quality as much as performance
Skip if: Casual gamers on a tight budget, People who need built-in speakers, Anyone who doesn't care about refresh rates
Ethan’s Verdict
ExcellentA genuinely impressive 360Hz QD-OLED display that's overkill for most gamers and priced like premium hardware.
Best for: competitive esports players, content creators needing color accuracy, high-refresh gaming enthusiasts
Skip if: casual gamers, budget-conscious buyers, users needing speakers
Clara’s Pros & Cons
- +360Hz refresh rate makes gaming feel impossibly smooth
- +QD-OLED picture quality is stunning with perfect blacks
- +Excellent color accuracy right out of the box
- +Premium build quality that feels solid and stable
- −No built-in speakers or headphone jack
- −Fan noise can be aggressive during intense use
- −Overkill specs if you're just a casual gamer
Ethan’s Pros & Cons
- +360Hz with 0.03ms response time is objectively exceptional
- +QD-OLED panel delivers tremendous contrast and color saturation
- +Excellent color accuracy out of the box without calibration
- +Premium build quality with solid ergonomic design
- −No built-in speakers or analog audio output at this price
- −360Hz is overkill for 95% of gamers, inflates cost unnecessarily
- −Aggressive fan noise reported by reviewers
- −$799 MSRP is steep; requires sales to feel reasonable
Score Breakdown
Picture Quality9.217% wt
HDR & Color Accuracy9.115% wt
Motion & Gaming9.317% wt
Design & Build8.715% wt
Smart Features8.510% wt
Connectivity8.610% wt
Value8.917% wt
Score Breakdown
Picture Quality9.025% wt
HDR & Color Accuracy9.015% wt
Motion & Gaming9.520% wt
Design & Build8.010% wt
Smart Features7.510% wt
Connectivity8.515% wt
Value7.05% wt
Clara’s Full Review
A Monitor That Does Everything Right
This is one of those products where everything just clicks. The Alienware AW2725DF is built for people who care about both performance and beauty, and it delivers on both fronts without asking you to choose.
Let's talk about what makes this special. The QD-OLED panel is the real star here. Colors are vibrant and accurate without any weird color shifts or washed-out areas. Reviewers tested it and found the color accuracy is excellent right out of the box, meaning you don't need to spend hours calibrating it. For gaming, that means your games look exactly how the developers intended. For content creators doing photo or graphics work, the larger color gamut and sRGB mode make it a legitimate editing tool.
The performance is where this monitor really shines. The 360Hz refresh rate paired with that insane 0.03ms response time means motion looks buttery smooth. In testing, reviewers hit 320+ fps in demanding games like Doom Eternal on max settings. If you play competitive shooters or fast-paced games, this monitor gives you a genuine advantage. Everything feels responsive and snappy.
Design-wise, it's thoughtfully put together. The stand is stable, the bezels are thin and clean, and the overall build quality feels premium without being fussy. The joystick controls are intuitive, and the OSD menu is actually easy to navigate. It's 14 pounds, so you can reposition it without needing a friend to help.
The brightness levels are solid too. At 250 nits for regular SDR content and 400 nits for HDR, it's bright enough for most rooms without being overkill. HDR content looks genuinely stunning with those perfect blacks and bright highlights.
The main trade-offs? There are no built-in speakers or headphone jack, so you'll need external audio. Some people also report the cooling fan can get noisy during intense gaming sessions. And honestly, if you're a casual gamer who plays story games at 60fps, you're paying for performance you won't use.
But here's the thing: at $634, you're getting a monitor that reviewers compare favorably to professional mastering monitors costing over $11,000. The performance, image quality, and build quality are genuinely excellent. For serious gamers, content creators, or anyone upgrading from an older 240Hz monitor, this is a no-brainer.
Ethan’s Full Review
A Monster Monitor for a Niche Audience
The Dell Alienware AW2725DF is genuinely impressive hardware, but it's built for a specific audience: competitive esports players and content creators who can justify its cost. Let's be clear about what this monitor actually is.
The specs are real. 360Hz with 0.03ms response time isn't marketing fluff. Reviewers confirmed it achieves 320+ fps in demanding games, and the motion clarity is exceptional. For a player competing in Valorant, CS2, or other esports titles where every frame matters, this monitor makes tangible sense. But here's the uncomfortable truth: most gamers won't notice the difference between 240Hz and 360Hz. The diminishing returns are brutal at this refresh rate tier.
The QD-OLED display is where this monitor earns its credibility. Excellent out-of-the-box color accuracy, tremendous contrast, and a larger color gamut than competing OLED monitors make it genuinely useful for photo and graphics editing. The 250 nits SDR brightness and 400 nits HDR peak aren't class-leading, but they're solid. The thin bezels and sharp 1440p rendering at 27 inches create a cohesive, premium experience.
But here's where the value proposition breaks. At $799 MSRP, you're paying flagship money for a monitor that omits basic features. No built-in speakers. No analog audio jack. In 2024, that's a deliberate cost-cutting decision on a product positioned as premium. You can find excellent 1440p 240Hz monitors for $400-500 that include audio. Dell's asking you to pay an extra $300-400 for 120Hz more refresh rate and OLED technology, then skimping on audio.
The aggressive fan noise reported by reviewers is also worth noting. You're not just paying for performance; you're getting the acoustic signature of a high-end display pushing thermal limits.
The real competitor here isn't another gaming monitor. It's the question of whether you actually need 360Hz. If you're a competitive esports player, yes. If you're a content creator, the OLED panel justifies the cost. If you're a casual gamer, this is a $400 solution masquerading as an $800 necessity. The monitor is exceptional at what it does. But what it's designed to do is narrow in scope.
At the current $634 sale price, the value proposition improves significantly. You're getting QD-OLED color accuracy and genuine esports-grade performance at a more reasonable premium. But at MSRP, this is a premium product for premium use cases.
Specifications
| hdr | DisplayHDR True Black 400 |
| display | 27" QD-OLED |
| resolution | 2560x1440 |
| connectivity | HDMI 2.1, DP 1.4 |
| refresh rate | 360Hz |
| response time | 0.03ms |
Overall Rating
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