The 4 Best Ultrawide Monitors - Fall 2024

The best monitor with an ultrawide screen is the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF. It's a 34-inch display meant for gaming that also delivers remarkable picture quality. This makes it an amazing choice for gaming and watching content like shows and movies. It uses a QD-OLED panel that displays deep and inky blacks against bright highlights, and colors are vivid, so the content looks life-like and realistic. It even has a near-instantaneous response time, so fast-moving objects are extremely sharp and clear, and it has a 165Hz refresh rate that's good enough for most gamers.

One of the bigger downsides to getting a QD-OLED like this is that it has a risk of burn-in with constant exposure to the same static elements over time. This is problematic for office use when you have many static elements on the screen all day. Only consider it if you're going to vary how you're going to use it, whether it's gaming or watching content, but it isn't an ultrawide monitor you should get only for work purposes, and it performs best when gaming.

If you don't need the gaming features of the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF, or you're concerned about burn-in and you need something mainly for office work, check out the Dell U4025QW. It's different from the other Dell because it doesn't deliver the same high-end picture quality with bright highlights and deep blacks, but you don't exactly need that for regular office work anyway. That said, this monitor has a large 40-inch screen with a high 5120x2160 resolution, which is the equivalent of an ultrawide 4k screen, so the text clarity is extremely sharp.

It also has a ton of extra features, including a massive USB hub to which you can connect various devices. This includes a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support and up to 140W of power delivery, which is ideal for connecting even power-hungry laptops. It also has a KVM switch that makes it easy to use the same keyboard and mouse with different computers connected to the monitor. It even supports daisy chaining to a second display, which is ideal if you need more screen space. That said, if you don't need such a big display, the Dell U3425WE is a similar monitor that you can get for less.

Should you be looking for something versatile for both gaming and office work and don't want an expensive premium monitor, then look into the LG 34GP83A-B. It's a 34-inch, 3440x1440 display, so it has the same size and resolution as the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF, but it's a step down in picture quality because it doesn't have a QD-OLED panel. This means that it doesn't display the same deep blacks and bright highlights, but that's the trade-off for getting something cheaper. It's still focused on gaming, though, as it has an overclockable 160Hz refresh rate that you can achieve over DisplayPort, and motion looks sharp across its refresh rate range.

Besides that, it's still good as a productivity monitor because it gets bright enough to fight glare, so it's a good choice to use in most well-lit rooms. Its viewing angles are also wide enough to keep the image consistent from the sides, which is great for sharing your screen with someone else. It even has two USB-A ports to which you can connect your devices, but it doesn't have any USB-C ports or a KVM switch like the Dell U4025QW.

If you're on a tight budget, there are some good options you can get, like the Dell S3422DWG. It's similar to the LG 34GP83A-B in terms of specs and features, but it's a step down in performance in a few areas. One of the biggest differences has to do with their panel types, as the Dell has a VA panel with more narrow viewing angles than the LG, making it harder to share your screen with someone next to you for office work. That said, it still has some useful office features, like a USB hub with four USB-A ports, and it gets bright enough to fight glare.

There are some differences between the Dell and the LG, especially when it comes to gaming. Although the Dell has a similar max refresh rate, it has worse motion handling with more smearing with fast-moving objects. It does have some advantages, as it has a high contrast ratio that displays deep blacks next to bright highlights, and it gets bright in HDR, which is a nice touch for a budget monitor.