It’s a few years since we first saw a 360Hz display, in the shape of the Asus PG259QN (see lssue212), but they’re still quite rare. As such, its a little surprising to see a 360Hz display from a premium brand such as Alienware available for under £ inc VAT. Read our ALIENWARE AW2523HF Review.
25IN GAMING MONITOR
TheAW2523HF has a pleasingly smart design as well. The stand and back have a simple metallic grey finish, with few overly brash ‘gamer’ additions. This means you miss out on any RGB lighting – a feature included with this display’s official G-Sync module-equipped sibling, the AW2521H -but it’s a small compromise considering the£ inc VAT price difference.
The stand measures just 30cm wide and 34cm deep, so it doesn’t needlessly intrude on your desk space. What’s more, it offers a full range of ergonomic adjustments, making it easy to set the height and angle of the screen, and to pivot the panel into a portrait orientation for easy access to the rear ports.
SPEC
| Screen size | 24.5in |
| Resolution | 1,920×1,080 |
| Panel technology | IPS |
| Maximum refresh rate | 360Hz |
| Stated response time | 1ms |
| Max brightness | 400cd/m2 SDR |
| Backlight zones | 1 |
| Stated contrast ratio | 1,000:1 |
| Adaptive sync | FreeSync Premium, G-Sync compatible |
| Display inputs | 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x HDMI 2 |
| Stand adjustment | Height, pivot, rotation, tilt |
| Extras | 100 x 100mm VESA mount, DisplayPort cable, DisplayPort-to-mini-DisplayPort cable, USB 3 upstream cable, 4-port USB 3 hub |
Connections consist of one DisplayPort and two HDMI video inputs, along with a 4-port USB 3 hub, headphone jack and even an extra audio line out, so you can route audio to a set of speakers and your headphones from the one screen. The headphone jack is located on the central underside of the bottom bezel, alongside two of the USB ports, for easy access.
Also housed on the bottom bezel is the single mini joystick that controls the on-screen menus. It’s a precise and easy to use control that works well with the speedy menus, which are intuitive, and contain all the gaming and image quality adjustments you should need.
However, while the image quality of the1080p IPS panel is very good in some ways, its less accomplished in others. Most obviously, the limited resolution looks blocky by today’s standards, with a pixel density of just 90ppi. You also miss out on an extended colour gamut, so HDR is off limits and colours are only as vibrant as the standard sRGB colour gamut allows. There’s also noticeable brightness drop in the last 0.5in of each side of the screen – not ideal on such a small panel.
Viewing angles are good, though, and contrast is on par for an IPS panel (1,030:1). Out-of-the-box colour temperature is also near perfect (6,466K), although the screen’s gamma setting is a little high (2.39). As for gaming performance, this panel’s 360Hz refresh rate delivers just the sort of blistering performance you’d expect. It’s every bit a very capable competitive gaming screen.
That said, with an average initial response time (the rate at which a pixel manages to transition from one colour to another) of 4.53ms at maximum overdrive, this panel is slower to respond than the likes of the 270Hz Acer XB323U, which managed a 4.11ms initial response time. Meanwhile, some 240Hz TN panels we’ve tested can register under 3ms response times, effectively providing a much snappier-looking image. TN panels have much worse image quality, though, so there’s a significant compromise in opting for such a panel.
Conclusion
The Alienware AW2523HF’s response time is a touch sluggish, so its effective gaming performance isn’t much better than 240Hz screens. However, its still a fantastic competitive gaming monitor that balances blistering 360Hz gaming performance with decent image quality and a competitive price.
EDWARD CHESTER
VERDICT
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