I finally upgraded to an OLED monitor. Now I wish I’d done it sooner

Guys, I’ve done it. I’ve drunk the kool aid and joined the pantheon of super gamers that will tell you without doubt, that if you aren’t gaming on an OLED monitor, you’re missing out. That’s what I wish I’d been able to tell myself earlier, at least. This upgrade was a long time coming, but finally, after eight years with my previous main monitor, I bought an Alienware AW3225QF and there’s no looking back.

I believed the hype for a long time, and have had a monitor upgrade on my to-do list for a number of years, but the timing was just never quite right. There was something else more important to upgrade next, or the pricing wasn’t right, or I was waiting for the right monitor to come along.

But this recent Black Friday I finally pulled the trigger. I got in at a price that worked for me, and now I work and game on a 32-inch, QD-OLED, 4K, 240Hz monitor that is every bit as good as I hoped, and more. It’s not perfect, but I do wish I’d bought it sooner.

Neglecting monitor upgrades is silly

I now realize that I’ve been rather foolish with my upgrade focus. I switched up my processor and graphics card in 2023, and updated the memory and storage in 2024. A new case too, because my old one looked trash and one of the fan covers was dented. And the CPU cooler needed upgrading too, for something quiet.

All the while I was gaming on a monitor from 2016. The Asus MG279Q was a great gaming monitor when it first released: 1440p resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, IPS panel, 4ms response time, and FreeSync support. It was almost as good in 2018 when I bought it, but by the mid-2020s, it was really starting to show its age.

It’s still a decent gaming display. Still pretty fast, and 1440p still looks great. But it’s not OLED. The 4K resolution and 240Hz refresh rate of the new monitor are nice, but OLED is the real game changer here.

Upgrading my monitor has been more noticeable than any of the performance or cosmetic upgrades I’ve made in recent years. I should have prioritized this sooner.

It looks gorgeous… but not always

Obviously OLED is the best and it looks the best and anyone who says different is not the best and they’re wrong. Obviously. But my first impressions of the Alienware AW3225QF weren’t as groundbreaking as I was expecting. In games at least. A few HDR videos on YouTube looked like I could have grabbed the dripping honey right off-of the screen.

Jon Martindale / Foundry

But when I jumped into Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, expecting this color-popping epic of gorgeous proportions, it all looked washed out. Super bright on the highlights and some decent contrast, but not the life-changing experience the Kool Aid had promised me. Once I realized I didn’t need (or want) HDR turned on in non-supporting games (or Window 11’s desktop, for that matter), it all looked and felt far better.

The inky blacks were there, the rich and vibrant colors, and in games and with movies and videos that support HDR, I could switch it on with a quick shortcut (Windows key + Alt + B) to get those eye-popping highlights I was hoping for.

One area it is 100 percent, undeniably better than my old monitor, though, is reflection handling. Even with a glossy panel like this Alienware model has, it’s a million miles beyond what was possible on my 2016 display. Where before, a bright light behind would illuminate my silhouette no matter what I was watching, now, I can’t see a thing. Sure, the curve introduces the odd weird reflection that I have to counter, and it’s not a scratch on the matt displays out there. But compared to what I had? Night and day.

I can finally play all the games I’ve been waiting for

I didn’t realize my list of games that I’d “Play when I get an OLED,” had grown so long. Space Marine 2 was a relatively recent addition, but since it was on sale the day I brought the monitor home, it was an easy first play.

Jon Martindale / Foundry

Other games I’ve been holding off on playing just so I can enjoy them for the first time on a monitor that doesn’t wash out the blacks include: God of War Ragnarok, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, and the Final Fantasy VII remake, among others.

My Steam wishlist is currently 155 titles long, which is utterly ridiculous, and more a reflection of my dad-of-young-kids phase of life than my previous lack of an OLED monitor. But now I will make some progress through it. Probably. When I’m not using this monitor to write about buying it.

The price barely changed

I did manage to get quite a good deal on the monitor this Black Friday just gone. “Just” £640 ($857 after taxes) and it’s definitely a 100 percent work expense, so I can write off some of the taxes on it. That’s around £200 ($268) off its historic average, and almost half the price it originally launched at. But that’s a complete outlier.

A look at this monitor’s pricing history shows that it typically bounces between £850 ($1140) and £990 ($1,325), and that’s been about it since the monitor released. It’s only been this last sale where it went anywhere south of that range. Whether I’d bought it two weeks after it came out, or right now, the only real time the price would have been different is when I got it.

Sure, in terms of pure savings I waited for the right moment, but if I hadn’t gotten lucky here, I wouldn’t have saved much at all. I neglected this upgrade for almost two years and it was almost for nothing.

Jon Martindale / Foundry

And next year? It could get even worse. While OLED technology might be getting cheaper, just about all electronics look poised to get more expensive in 2026 as the memory pricing crunch radiates out through the industry. Although monitors may not be directly affected, manufacturers everywhere might be forced to raise prices to offset the lost margins on memory-adjacent products.

I still haven’t upgraded my TV though

I enjoy big movies and TV shows as much as anyone else, and do plan to upgrade the big living room TV to an OLED at some point too. But that’s another expense that keeps getting pushed down the list, with my 7-year-old, non-HDR Samsung TV being perfectly adequate, for now. But I could have been watching HDR movies and TV shows with inky blacks on my PC for a much more affordable upgrade. Where my TV plans stretch into the near $2,000 territory, I got this monitor for less than half of that.

In the absence of a TV overhaul, an HDR monitor is a very capable alternative. I don’t plan to watch too many movies by myself in my office, but I do have the option now. Not to mention non-HDR movies look utterly gorgeous with QD-OLED-boosted coloring. I’m going to have to rewatch Redline for sure.

It’s awesome and I should have done it sooner

I’m still merrily skipping through the honeymoon phase with this monitor, so I’m sure I’ll bump up against some issues, or eccentricities in the months that come, but for now, it’s just gorgeous.

I didn’t need to go quite this fancy, though. I can take or leave the curve, and the 240Hz refresh rate, while nice and smooth, is complete overkill for a non-competitive gamer like me. All my lightweight indie games can now run at a buttery smooth infinite FPS, though, so that’s nice.

Jokes aside, this is a gorgeous monitor and the Kool Aid drinkers aren’t kidding. OLED really does look like nothing else when those high-contrast scenes hit. Mini LED isn’t far off though, so don’t pigeon hole yourself on a specific technology — especially if you’re working and gaming in a brighter room, or if you still don’t want to risk burn-in.

For me, though, this one was worth the wait… even if I wish I hadn’t.

Author: Jon Martindale, Contributor, PCWorld