Alienware's 55-inch OLED gaming monitor hits in September -- for $4,000
That's a lotta loot.
The Alienware 55 OLED Gaming Monitor (AW5520QF) is thin on top with a fat bottom in the back.
Alienware jumps into Gamescom 2019 with a spate of product updates. Highlights include the company's 55-inch OLED gaming display -- the Alienware 55 OLED Gaming Monitor -- with a high refresh rate of 120Hz and bearing a higher price of $4,000 when it ships at the end of September, a new version of its Alienware 34 34-inch curved monitor (AW3420DW) with a bigger color gamut and Alienware's first 240Hz monitor, the Alienware 27 (AW2720HF).
We've known about the OLED monitor since January, but up until now the price and availability, along with concrete specifications, have been a mystery. I have to admit, though, the price flummoxes me a little. It sounds like it's based on LG's OLED C9P series, specifically the OLED55C9P, which also supports 120Hz and variable refresh rate, including automatic low latency mode (ALLM, or auto game mode, plus under 14ms input lag as tested). The LG is currently running about $1,600.
Alienware's does support FreeSync, but that doesn't add to the cost like G-Sync Ultimate does, nor does its four USB ports instead of the LG's three, and it replaces one of the four HDMI inputs with a DisplayPort connection. The color gamut is the same 98.5% or so DCI-P3.
And the Alienware sounds like a lesser product in a lot of ways. It doesn't seem to support HDR at all, while the LG supports Dolby Vision. If the specs we received are correct, It also has lower peak brightness -- only 400 nits, and that's for a window which takes up only 3% of the screen, not the standard 10% window, and brightness typically drops as the window gets larger. It also looks like it has a higher minimum black; using Alienware's stated "typical" brightness of 130 nits and typical contrast of 130,000:1, that works out to 0.001 nits. OLED's minimum black is technically zero, though we've measured as high as 0.0006 nits.
The back panel hides the cables and a VESA mount, but if you mount the Alienware 55 on a wall it won't sit flat because of the bottom bump.
What the Alienware 55 does have is snazzy lighting and the Legend design that all the company's new products are sporting.
Then again, baffling prices for big monitors isn't new; HP's Omen X Emperium 65 is still $5,000.
At least the $1,500 price tag on the Alienware 34, slated to ship by the end of August, makes more sense. It also supports 120Hz refresh and a 98% DCI-P3 gamut coverage, but it piles on G-Sync Ultimate. And it looks Legend-ary.
Rounding out the new monitors is the company's first 240Hz 1080p IPS FreeSync display, the $600 Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor (AW2720HF), shipping in mid-September. For the same money you'll be able to get the Dell 32 Curved Gaming Monitor (S3220DGF); it's DisplayHDR 400, which is HDR the way Astroturf is grass, nevertheless supporting it via FreeSync 2.
Alienware brings its mice and keyboards along on the Legend Express, starting this week.