Our Verdict
The Alienware AW2521HF is a good monitor for most uses. The 1080p resolution is decent for its 25 inch screen, but the smaller screen size also makes it less ideal for multitaskers, as there's less room to have multiple windows open at the same time. Response time and input lag are outstanding, and color accuracy is good, although its coverage of the Adobe RGB color space may not be wide enough for content creators. It's suitable for use in an average to brightly-lit room, but dark room performance is disappointing, as there's visible backlight bleed and the low contrast ratio makes blacks look gray.
- Exceptional response time.
- Excellent build quality.
- Wide viewing angles.
- Sub-par black uniformity.
- No HDR support.
The Alienware AW2521HF is a good office monitor. It's well-suited for average to brightly-lit environments, as it has a great peak brightness and great reflection handling, and its IPS panel provides excellent viewing angles, so you can share your work easily with coworkers. The stand allows for a good number of adjustments, however, the resolution and size of the monitor make it more difficult to multitask. On the upside, it has a flicker-free backlight, which helps to reduce eye strain during those long work days.
The Alienware AW2521HF is an impressive gaming monitor. It has exceptional motion handling and low input lag, whether you play at its maximum 240Hz refresh rate or 60Hz. It has wide viewing angles, which is great for co-op gaming, and it performs well in bright rooms, as it can fight glare easily and it has great reflection handling. However, dark room gaming is less ideal due to some visible backlight bleed and a mediocre contrast ratio.
The Alienware AW2521HF is a decent monitor for media consumption. The 25 inch screen and 1080p resolution are decent, however, it's not as good for watching in the dark due to its low contrast ratio and sub-par black uniformity. It does perform well in bright rooms, though, and it has wide viewing angles, allowing you to share content with others. Ergonomics are good, so you can adjust it to your optimal viewing position, and its fast response time and 240Hz refresh rate result in exceptionally smooth motion handling. That said, the lack of HDR support is rather disappointing.
The Alienware AW2521HF is a decent monitor for media creation. The main downside is the smaller screen and the 1080p resolution, and although its coverage of the Adobe RGB color space is good, it may be a bit too low for some. It has great viewing angles, so the image remains accurate from the side, and the stand allows for a good amount of adjustments, including rotation to portrait mode. Gray uniformity is excellent, but there's some backlight bleed and the contrast ratio is low, which is expected of most IPS monitors.
Changelog
- Updated Jan 26, 2023: Added that the Sony INZONE M3 supports VRR and HDR from the PS5, which this monitor doesn't.
- Updated Nov 24, 2022: Added a table in the Variants section to show differences with similar models, including the Dell Alienware AW2521HFL, which is very similar but with a different body color.
- Updated Nov 02, 2022: Added in the Variants section that this monitor was replaced by the Dell Alienware AW2523HF.
- Updated Sep 08, 2022: We updated the text in the response time boxes to match the latest results from our Test Bench 1.2 retests.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Dell Alienware AW2521HF, which is essentially a smaller variant of the Dell Alienware AW2720HF, as it has identical features and similar performance, except for its smaller screen size and black finish on the back. The Dell Alienware AW2521HFL is another extremely similar monitor, but the body color is different. This monitor was replaced by the Dell Alienware AW2523HF, which has a higher 360Hz refresh rate.
| Model | Size | Native Resolution | Max Refresh rate | VRR | Body Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AW2521H | 25" | 1080p | 360Hz | G-SYNC | Black |
| AW2521HF | 25" | 1080p | 240Hz | FreeSync | Black |
| AW2521HFL | 25" | 1080p | 240Hz | FreeSync | White |
| AW2523HF | 25" | 1080p | 360Hz | FreeSync | Black |
| AW2720HF | 27" | 1080p | 240Hz | FreeSync | White |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Alienware AW2521HF doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, such as the gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit of the Alienware AW2521HF was manufactured in January 2020, and you can see the label here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Dell Alienware AW2521HF is an overall good monitor that has very impressive gaming performance. Compared to its bigger brother, the Dell Alienware AW2720HF, this monitor has a slightly higher contrast ratio, much better black uniformity, and it's more color accurate out of the box. You can also see our recommendations for the best gaming monitors, the best ultrawide gaming monitors, and the best 240Hz monitors.
The Dell Alienware AW2521H is better than the Dell Alienware AW2521HF. The AW2521H has a 360Hz refresh rate, supports HDR, has significantly better gradient handling, and has a lower input lag. However, the AW2521HF has much better reflection handling and a wider horizontal viewing angle.
The Dell Alienware AW2523HF is the replacement for the Dell Alienware AW2521HF and improves on it in a few ways. Firstly, the AW2523HF has a higher 360Hz refresh rate and better motion handling with 120Hz and 60Hz signals. The AW2523HF is also better for console gaming because it has a Console Mode that downscales 4k images, which the AW2521HF doesn't have. Lastly, the AW2523HF supports HDR, which the AW2521HF doesn't, but because of its low peak brightness and low contrast, it doesn't deliver a satisfying HDR experience.
The Dell Alienware AW2521HF and the BenQ ZOWIE XL2546K are both 25 inch, 1080p, 240Hz gaming monitors but with different panel types. The Dell uses an IPS panel, while the BenQ has a TN panel. Motion handling is about the same, but the Dell has slightly better response times. It also has wider viewing angles, and it gets brighter to combat glare. The BenQ has a Black Frame Insertion feature, but it isn't usable simultaneously with VRR, and the flickering might bother some people.
The Dell Alienware AW2721D is better overall than the Dell Alienware AW2521HF, although they have different sizes and resolutions. The AW2721D is slightly bigger at 27 inches with a 1440p resolution, while the AW2521HF is a 25 inch 1080p monitor. The AW2521HF has a slightly better response time with less overshoot and much better reflection handling, but the AW2721D supports HDR, gets brighter, and has a wider color gamut.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, all of which we purchase ourselves, without cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized, custom tools to measure various aspects and deliver objective, data-driven results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance compared to the competition, and whether it's easy to find.
Test Results
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