In brief: Monitor manufacturers are clearly trying to expand the potential user base for OLED and QD-OLED displays. Dell's gaming brand, Alienware, has now pushed pricing and acceptable brightness levels to new lows in an effort to further popularize their QD-OLED monitor lineup.
Alienware makes some of the best gaming monitors on the market, though they are not necessarily the cheapest. Now, the Dell-owned brand is taking a different approach by introducing a more affordable QD-OLED monitor with some unusual trade-offs in its hardware specifications. Getting a modern OLED panel for under $500 may be worth the compromise, however, so the new monitor could still prove to be a popular choice.
The newly launched Alienware AW2726DM is a 27-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor featuring a QHD (2,560 × 1,440) resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. Based on Samsung's Quantum Dot OLED panel technology, the AW2726DM offers a pixel density of 111 PPI, a 0.03 ms gray-to-gray response time, a 1.5 million:1 contrast ratio, and 10-bit color depth.
Like many other Alienware displays, the AW2726DM provides extensive adjustability, including tilt, rotation, height, and swivel. The monitor also comes with a three-year warranty and several features designed to reduce OLED burn-in risk, including Dell's AI-based pixel management algorithm and a graphite film heatsink.
Dell's latest supports AMD FreeSync Premium and VESA AdaptiveSync technologies to reduce screen tearing and smooth gameplay. Connectivity options include two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort 1.4 input, although the full 240Hz refresh rate is only available over DisplayPort. The monitor also features a 200 cd/m² brightness level in SDR mode, which is noticeably lower than many other 27-inch QD-OLED displays on the market.
This relatively low brightness specification could also impact peak brightness in HDR mode, although Alienware states that the monitor fully supports HDR10 content. Additionally, there is no official support for any G-Sync-compatible mode, a feature I now consider essential when choosing a new monitor.
Is 200 nits really too low for a capable OLED monitor that could serve as a daily driver for both gaming and office work? My current monitor, an Alienware AW2721D Fast IPS model, reaches 600 cd/m² brightness, so I suspect I would not find the AW2726DM particularly comfortable to use. The debate is still ongoing.
However, the AW2726DM's real advantage is its price. Dell is currently selling the monitor for $350, meaning it could soon drop even further through third-party retailers such as Amazon.