Last year, manufacturers launched plenty of new 27-inch OLED gaming monitors. Offerings like the Asus ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG, the MSI MPG 271QRX QD-OLED, and the Alienware AW2725DF 360Hz QD-OLED were some of 2024’s standouts, and they all have one thing in common apart from their screen size: a QHD (2,560-by-1,440-pixel) resolution. With that in mind, the first OLED gaming monitor we’ve tested for 2025 ups the resolution ante. It’s the Alienware AW2725Q ($899), a 27-inch 4K monitor with a QD-OLED screen, offering the highest pixel density on an OLED monitor of this size. It’s an excellent panel, but while the improved resolution and higher density might win over gamers who haven’t yet switched to OLED, the changes aren’t grand enough to warrant a near-$1,000 upgrade for those who have. Besides, despite the lower resolution, the Editors’ Choice-award-winning AW2725DF offers a higher refresh rate and a lower asking price, a trade-off that we think most gamers will be happy with.
The AW2725Q is the first gaming monitor to flaunt Alienware’s new design language, which includes a rounded-off square base (as opposed to the diamond-shaped stand of the previous 27-incher), improved cable management, and a new color scheme (Interstellar Indigo) that gives it a bluish-purple glow. It weighs in at 14.9 pounds with the stand and measures 20.3 by 24 by 2.8 inches (HWD) with the stand arm fully extended.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The stand-design change is a surprise to me, as I’ve found that square stands might be limiting for some hard-core and professional gamers who use the angular stands of monitors like the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF) to anchor their keyboards. Perhaps this change dovetails with the drop in refresh rate. While the AW2725DF has a 360Hz refresh rate, the AW2725Q tops out at 240Hz. Of course, 240Hz is not to be scoffed at, especially given this is a 4K panel, but the very highest refresh rates tend to attract serious gamers, so they might not be interested in this monitor to begin with.
The stand aside, this monitor has ample tilt, height, and swivel adjustments at the ready. Turning the monitor around, you’ll spot the new AW30 “glyph” iconography, celebrating Alienware’s 30th anniversary. (Technically, it’s a little early; Alienware was founded in 1996, making the company 28 years old.) Curiously, the glyph does not shine with AlienFX lighting—only the Alienware logo does.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Features and Connectivity: A Dense-Dotted OLED
At the rear of the AW2725Q, you’ll find two HDMI 2.1 ports (one of which supports eArc for sound), a DisplayPort, a USB Type-B upstream connector, two USB Type-A ports, and a security lock slot. Away from the port hub, tucked under the edge of the screen itself, you’ll find another USB-A port and a USB-C port that supports power delivery of up to 15 watts. This model lacks built-in speakers and doesn’t offer a headphone jack.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Turning to the display itself, we find a gorgeous expanse of OLED that has a graphite-film heatsink within its panel layers to help dissipate heat and prevent burn-in. Alienware also injects the monitor with some AI functionality. (Cue the groans.) While some AI chatbots pry on your personal data and vacuum up copyrighted material, the AI implementation here is fairly innocuous. Alienware claims an enhanced AI algorithm regulates the electrical current on a per-pixel basis to maintain image uniformity and extend display health over time.
AI has found its way into monitors before. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8, for one, used Samsung’s NQ8 AI Gen3 processor to upscale streamed movies and games to near-4K resolution, and both the MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED and the MSI MPG 271QRX QD-OLED offered an AI Vision mode that automatically adjusted overall brightness and colors to the content on the screen.
Alienware claims that the AW2725Q offers the highest pixel density on a QD-OLED monitor of this size. At 166 pixels per inch (ppi), it’s higher than the 111ppi of the AW2725DF and the 140ppi of the AW3225QF. (Higher pixel density tends to contribute to better image quality, all other factors being equal.)
It’s easy to think that the bump from 2K resolution to 4K is where Alienware found the extra pixels, but the company credits an ultra-precise QD-OLED printing process that employs quantum dot “ink” sprayed through micro nozzles in micrometer sizes. But does that higher density come across in actual day-to-day use? The truth is that while the image quality is stunning, you’d be hard-pressed to notice the difference without a side-by-side comparison with a lower-density monitor, and even then, it’s hard to tell. It’s best appreciated if you’re coming from a 27-inch OLED like the Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 OLED, which offers a lower resolution and a lower pixel density. If you’ve already been using a 4K OLED monitor (like I have), the differences will be particularly hard to notice.
Testing the Alienware AW2725Q: Near-Flawless Color
We tested the AW2725Q’s color gamut, brightness, and color accuracy using Calman monitor calibration software, a Murideo Six-G signal generator, and a Klein K-10A colorimeter. We also ran the monitor through a gauntlet of games to measure input lag and judge its real-world performance.
First, we tested the brightness with the monitor’s default picture mode over an SDR signal. Under these conditions, it saw an average brightness of just 275 nits (candelas per square meter), though that’s brighter than what we recorded on last year’s OLED Alienware monitors. Switching over to HDR, we measured 445 nits of brightness while using the Standard preset profile with the HDR Peak 1000 setting. That’s slightly above the monitor’s VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification.
OLED monitors don’t have to get very bright because they can maintain contrast at lower brightness levels, so the picture will always look vibrant in low-light settings like gaming dens, even if the measured brightness seems low. In comparison, IPS panels can often reach 500 nits or more. However, their contrast ratios are far lower, and a lower contrast ratio on a monitor can affect the perceived brightness by making blacks look washed out.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Like previous Alienware OLEDs, the AW2725Q touts a rated 1,000 nits of peak brightness in HDR. We measured a peak brightness of 1,064 nits at a 2% sample size. (We measure sustained HDR brightness at a 10% window size, but to measure peak brightness, we drop the test size down to 2%. Why? Because OLED displays become brighter as the test patch size gets smaller.) However, few scenes in video games and movies have highlights reaching this peak measurement.
Moving from brightness to color gamut performance, we see the OLED panel continue to shine. It spanned 100% of the sRGB color gamut, 94% of Adobe RGB, and 98% of DCI-P3 in our tests. These are excellent numbers, though slightly below those we recorded from the AW3225QF and the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Color accuracy was a knockout, as the monitor recorded an excellent Delta E measurement of 0.7. The higher the Delta E, the more the colors tend to stray from their intended hue. A value under 1 is ideal, though very few gaming monitors reach it, especially out of the box.
The AW2725DF is rated for a peak contrast ratio of 1,500,000:1. (Contrast ratio indicates the difference in luminance between the brightest white and the darkest black that a monitor can produce.) It makes a difference in picture quality, especially during dark scenes in games. A ratio this wildly high is par for the course for OLED panels, but it’s not terribly meaningful as a comparison; it’s just inflated by the way OLEDs produce black tones. What’s important to note about sky-high contrast ratios like these is that they signify a display’s ability to produce perfectly deep blacks alongside bright whites, resulting in improved image quality in both light and dark scenes. In contrast, IPS panels typically feature contrast ratios of 1,000:1 to 3,000:1, so as you can imagine, they don’t really offer the same amount of range. (But you also shouldn’t expect a 500x-to-1,500x improvement in visual contrast, as the numbers suggest, either.)
Game and Media Performance
We’ve found excellent color range packed away in the AW2725Q, but as a gaming monitor first and foremost, the most important metric for some shoppers will be the input lag. To measure the monitor’s input lag, we use an HDFury Diva HDMI matrix; we also play a handful of games from our library to check for any noticeable blemishes, like screen tearing. Using the HDFury, we recorded less than 1 millisecond (ms) of input lag for the AW2725DF at default settings.
The AW2725Q does cap the refresh rate to 240Hz, down from the 360Hz offered by the AW2725DF, but that doesn’t take much away from the monitor’s overall performance. A lightning-fast response time and a 240Hz refresh rate should eliminate any potential ghosting. At the same time, Nvidia G-Sync Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and VESA AdaptiveSync certifications deliver tear- and stutter-free motion with any of today’s graphics cards.
We spent some time running Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Far Cry 6, Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Returnal on the monitor to see if there were any significant blemishes we could spot. All in all, the games looked fantastic, though we couldn’t help but wish the monitor were a little brighter in certain scenes.
Verdict: Otherworldly Pixel Density, Stratospheric Price
The AW2725Q manages to slide in under $1,000. While still expensive in a macro sense for a 27-inch panel, it’s comparable to many 4K OLED monitors. However, you can find cheaper alternatives. Though not an OLED, the Alienware 27-Inch 4K Dual-Resolution Gaming Monitor (AW2725QF), a 4K/180Hz monitor with a 1080p/360Hz mode, is $499, while the larger Alienware AW3225QF 4K QD-OLED has been discounted to as low as $899.
While we’re impressed with what the AW2725Q provides, it’s hard to recommend it as an upgrade if you already have a reasonably leading-edge gaming monitor. If you already use a 32-inch 4K OLED for gaming, you’ll find the jump in pixel density less impressive and probably not worth the step down in size. So the Editors’ Choice-winning AW2725DF 360Hz QD-OLED, which offers a higher refresh rate and is frequently discounted to as low as $699, remains our top pick in this category. You also have plenty of alternatives if you seek a slightly larger monitor, like the AW3225QF or the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM.
We recommend the AW2725Q if you’ve yet to upgrade to an OLED gaming monitor, or if you value visual fidelity foremost and don’t want to sacrifice too much desk space. Under those conditions, if you’ve got the cash and you’re in the market for the latest and greatest 27-inch monitor, the pixel-dense AW2725Q is a tough gaming display to beat.
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About Zackery Cuevas
Analyst, Hardware
