Dell Alienware AW2521HF  Monitor Review

The Dell Alienware AW2521HF has a modern, gamer-centric design that's nearly identical to that of the Alienware AW2720HF, except that the back is black and it has a smaller screen. There are RGB lighting zones on the back of the monitor and the stand, and the bezels are thin on three sides, with the bottom being slightly thicker.

The Alienware AW2521HF has an excellent build quality. Even though it's entirely made of plastic, it feels sturdy, there are no obvious gaps in its construction, and wobble is minimal.

Very good ergonomics, the stand allows for good height adjustment and it can rotate to portrait mode in either direction. However, the swivel range is fairly narrow. The back of the monitor looks clean and modern. There are RGB lighting zones on the back and on the stand, which can be controlled using the AlienFX software. There's a small cutout near the bottom of the stand that serves as cable management.

The plastic stand supports the monitor well and there's very little wobble. The V-shaped stand is deep, but the feet are fairly thin, leaving a bit of usable desk space in between.

The monitor's controls are located on the back-right side of the monitor. It includes four buttons and a joystick to navigate the monitor's on-screen menu.

• Power cable
• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• USB to USB-B upstream cable
• User guide

As expected, the Alienware AW2521HF's IPS panel has a mediocre contrast ratio, resulting in blacks that look like gray.

The Alienware AW2521HF doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video above is provided for reference only.

The Alienware AW2521HF has an impressive SDR peak brightness. Visibility shouldn't be an issue in most well-lit rooms and the brightness is remarkably consistent when displaying different content.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

The Alienware AW2521HF has great horizontal viewing angles, making it a good choice for co-op gaming or for sharing content.

Decent vertical viewing angles. At normal viewing distances, the image should look accurate, but the top and bottom of the screen can look a bit washed out if you sit extremely close to the screen.

Excellent gray uniformity. The sides are darker, but thankfully, there's very little dirty screen effect and uniformity is a lot better in dark scenes.

The Alienware AW2521HF has sub-par black uniformity. There's backlight bleed at the top and bottom edges of the screen, although this is significantly better than the Alienware AW2720HF and could also be due to panel variance.

Prior to calibration, the Alienware AW2521HF has good color accuracy. There are minor inaccuracies with several colors as well as with shades of gray, and the color temperature is warm, giving the image a slightly reddish tint. Gamma doesn't follow the target curve all that well, as most scenes appear brighter than they should.

Color accuracy is outstanding after calibration. White balance, colors, and color temperature are almost perfect. Gamma follows the target curve for the most part, but dark scenes can appear a bit brighter than they should.

The Alienware AW2521HF's color gamut is excellent. It has near full coverage of the commonly used sRGB color space, and coverage of the Adobe RGB color space is good, although it may not be enough for content creators.

Excellent color volume. It can't display dark colors well due to its low native contrast ratio, very similar to the Dell Alienware AW2720HF.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

This monitor doesn't support HDR.

The Alienware AW2521HF has impressive reflection handling. It should be fine for most well-lit rooms; however, direct light shining on the screen can be a bit distracting.

Decent text clarity. Text looks sharper with ClearType enabled (top photo), especially for diagonal lines like the ones on the 'R' and 'N.' The pixels look blurry due to the monitor's matte anti-reflective coating.

Great gradient performance. Banding is most visible when displaying shades of gray and there's also some banding in dark greens and dark reds.

The AW2521HF has native FreeSync support and is certified as G-SYNC compatible. FreeSync works over DisplayPort or HDMI, but G-SYNC only works through a DisplayPort connection. If you prefer something with a higher 360Hz refresh rate, then check out the Dell Alienware AW2521H.

We had some issues with FreeSync during testing, as the screen would black out at random when testing the VRR range using a demo as well as when testing in-game. However, the issue seems to have resolved itself the following day.

The Alienware AW2521HF has an exceptionally fast response time at the maximum refresh rate. The panel behaves differently with FreeSync on and off. With it enabled, the 'Extreme' overdrive setting delivers the best results overall, as it has the fastest rise/fall time, and there's no distracting overshoot. With these settings, fast-paced action is incredibly clear, with almost no blur around fast-moving objects. With FreeSync disabled, the 'Fast' mode delivers the best results. Higher settings have a slightly faster rise/fall time, but there's significantly more overshoot, resulting in a distracting trail of inverse ghosting behind fast-moving objects.

The Alienware AW2521HF has an excellent response time when gaming at 120Hz. There's a slight difference in performance with FreeSync on and off, but at 120Hz, the 'Fast' overdrive mode delivers the best results regardless of the FreeSync setting.

The response time is very good when playing at 60Hz, much better than the Alienware AW2720HF, and great for console gaming. Like at 120Hz, the best overdrive setting is still 'Fast', regardless of the FreeSync setting. Higher settings have significantly more overshoot, so they're not recommended.

This monitor doesn't have a backlight strobing feature, also known as BFI. If you want a monitor that has BFI, check out the BenQ ZOWIE XL2546K.

The Alienware AW2521HF has a flicker-free backlight, which can help reduce eye strain.

The Alienware AW2521HF's input lag is outstanding. It's slightly higher when playing at 60Hz, but it shouldn't be noticeable for most people.

Like the Dell Alienware AW2720HF, this monitor has a 1080p resolution. However, since it's on a smaller screen, it has a higher pixel density, making images and text look sharper and with less jagged lines. The downside is that the smaller screen is less ideal for productivity tasks. If you're looking for a bigger monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate, check out the LG 27GN750-B.

This monitor has limited compatibility with the PS5 because it only supports 1080p signals and VRR doesn't work on it. If you want a 1080p monitor that supports VRR and HDR from the PS5, consider the Sony INZONE M3.

The monitor has a total of four USB 3.0 ports, including one that's powered, allowing you to charge your mobile devices even when the monitor is off.

The Dell Alienware AW2521H works well with recent MacBook Pros. The variable refresh rate feature works well both in-game and on the desktop. Windows go back to their original position when you wake your computer from sleep, but not when you close the lid.

The AW2521HF comes with a few extra features, including:

• LED Bias Lighting: RGB lighting on the back of the monitor and on the stand. These lighting zones can be customized using the AlienFX software.
• Display Alignment: Helps with alignment when setting up multiple monitors.
• Timer: Displays a timer on screen.
• FPS counter: Displays an overlay showing current frame rate.