The Dell Alienware AW3821DW is a good overall monitor. It's Dell's only 38-inch option in their Alienware lineup, and it has a high 3840x1600 resolution to deliver an immersive gaming experience. It has native G-SYNC support and a 144Hz refresh rate. Despite the lack of a Black Frame Insertion feature, motion looks smooth thanks to its quick response time, and input lag is incredibly low. Sadly, it has an IPS panel with a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray. It has an edge-lit local dimming feature, but it performs terribly, as it fails to improve the contrast and can't be disabled when viewing HDR content. It's also limited to a 120Hz refresh rate with a 10-bit signal over a DisplayPort connection. On the plus side, it's very well-built, but its ergonomics are mediocre, which is a bit expected for such a large screen.
Our Verdict
The Dell AW3821DW is very good for most uses. It has a 144Hz refresh rate and native G-SYNC support. Its response time is excellent and input lag is extremely low for gaming. It's good for productivity thanks to its 38-inch ultrawide screen and high resolution, allowing you to open multiple windows side-by-side. Even though it displays a wide color gamut for HDR content, it has a low contrast ratio and a terrible local dimming feature that you can't disable in HDR.
- High 3840x1600 resolution.
- 144Hz native refresh rate and native G-SYNC support.
- Excellent response time.
- Large screen delivers immersive gaming experience.
- Reflection handling is just okay.
- Low contrast ratio.
- Terrible local dimming feature that can't be disabled when in HDR.
The Dell AW3821DW is very good for office use. It has a large screen with a high resolution, allowing you to open multiple windows side-by-side and see text clearly. Its ergonomics are mediocre, but that's somewhat expected for a curved screen of this size. It gets bright, but it only has okay reflection handling, so it may be best to avoid using it in a well-lit room.
- Large 38-inch screen.
- High 3840x1600 resolution.
- Impressive SDR peak brightness.
- Reflection handling is just okay.
- Mediocre ergonomics.
The Dell AW3821DW is great for gaming. It has a high 144Hz refresh rate with native G-SYNC support. It has a very quick response time that results in smooth motion, and the input lag is incredibly low. Sadly, it's not good for dark room gaming due to its mediocre black uniformity and low contrast ratio that makes blacks appear gray.
- 144Hz native refresh rate and native G-SYNC support.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Excellent response time.
- Large screen delivers immersive gaming experience.
- No Black Frame Insertion feature.
- Low contrast ratio.
The Dell AW3821DW is very good for consuming multimedia content. It has a large ultrawide screen with a high resolution that helps deliver crisp images. It has fairly wide viewing angles if you want to share your screen with a friend, but its ergonomics are mediocre. However, blacks look gray when viewed in the dark due to its low contrast ratio.
- Large 38-inch screen.
- High 3840x1600 resolution.
- Fairly wide viewing angles.
- Reflection handling is just okay.
- Low contrast ratio.
The Dell AW3821DW is great for content creators. It has a big 38-inch screen that offers enough space to open multiple windows side-by-side, and the high resolution delivers crisp images. Its ergonomics are mediocre, as you can't rotate it into portrait mode. Sadly, its low contrast ratio makes blacks look gray when viewed in the dark.
- Large 38-inch screen.
- High 3840x1600 resolution.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Reflection handling is just okay.
- Mediocre ergonomics.
The Dell AW3821DW is decent for HDR. It displays a wide range of colors in HDR and has decent HDR peak brightness, but it doesn't get bright enough to make all highlights stand out. While it has a local dimming feature, it performs terribly and doesn't improve the dark scene performance, meaning blacks look gray in the dark.
- Wide color gamut.
- Low contrast ratio.
- Terrible local dimming feature that can't be disabled when in HDR.
- Limited to 120Hz over 10-bit signal.
Changelog
- Updated Feb 14, 2023: Added text in the macOS Compatibility and Console Compatibility boxes and clarified text throughout as part of Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Feb 10, 2023: Updated to Test Bench 1.2, resulting in changes to the results and scores with the Response Time and Input Lag. Added tests for Console Compatibility and macOS compatibility and made minor changes to other tests, which you can see in our Changelog.
- Updated Feb 03, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jan 29, 2021: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Dell Alienware AW3821DW, which is only available in this size, meaning the results only apply to this monitor.
| Model | Size | Panel | Resolution | Refresh Rate | VRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AW3821DW | 38" | IPS | 3840x1600 | 144Hz | G-SYNC |
Our unit was manufactured in November 2020, and you can see the label here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Dell AW3821DW is a great gaming monitor with a large 38-inch screen and high resolution. It has native G-SYNC support, and motion looks smooth thanks to its excellent response time. However, it's on the pricey side, even for an ultrawide option, and there are 27-inch, 1440p options available with a higher refresh rate, like the Dell Alienware AW2721D.
See our recommendations for the best ultrawide monitors, the best monitor sizes for gaming, and the best 4k monitors.
The LG 38GN950-B and the Dell Alienware AW3821DW are very similar overall. They're both 38 inch, 21:9 IPS monitors with a 3840 x 1600 resolution. The LG is a native FreeSync model with G-SYNC compatibility, while the Dell is a native G-SYNC model with FreeSync compatibility. The LG's refresh rate can be overclocked up to 160Hz, whereas the Dell is capped at 144Hz, and it has better response times than the Dell. The LG also has a better color gamut and higher peak brightness, resulting in a better HDR experience. The LG has wider viewing angles for sharing content or playing co-op games, but its ergonomics aren't as good as the Dell's because it doesn't swivel at all.
The LG 38WN95C-W and the Dell AW3821DW are each very good overall monitors. They're both 38 inch models with a 3840x1600 resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. The LG is mainly designed for office use, but it's slightly better than the Dell for gaming because it has a quicker response time, resulting in clearer motion. It's also slightly better for HDR gaming because it gets much brighter in HDR. However, if you have an NVIDIA graphics card, the Dell may be a better choice for you because it has native G-SYNC support.
The LG 34GP950G-B is slightly better than the Dell Alienware AW3821DW. The LG has a slightly faster refresh rate and a much faster response time, with significantly less overshoot. The Dell, on the other hand, has better ergonomics, it feels better-built, and it has better connectivity, with an additional HDMI port and two extra USB ports.
The Dell Alienware AW2721D is a bit better for gaming than the Dell Alienware AW3821DW, mainly because the AW2721D has a higher 240Hz refresh rate. The AW2721D also has a quicker response time, even at 60Hz, which results in smoother motion, and it has better ergonomics as you can rotate it into portrait mode. However, the AW3821DW delivers a more immersive gaming experience thanks to its larger 38 inch screen, and it has a higher 3840x1600 resolution that delivers crisp images.
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.
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