The Dell S3422DWG is a very good 34 inch 1440p ultrawide monitor with a VA panel. It has good contrast and great black uniformity, so it looks great in a dark room. It's not too shabby in a bright room, either, as it has good reflection handling and great peak brightness in SDR. It's mainly marketed as a gaming monitor. It delivers a great gaming experience with a good response time at the max refresh rate, excellent low input lag, and support for FreeSync variable refresh rate technology. Although it's not officially G-SYNC compatible, it's also possible to still use G-SYNC over DisplayPort, but unfortunately, it doesn't work properly if your frame rate drops below 60fps. Sadly, like most VA panels, the image degrades at an angle, so it's not the best for co-op gaming.
Our Verdict
The Dell S3422DWG is a very good monitor overall. It's a great gaming monitor with low input lag and a good response time. It's good for office use, but the image degrades at an angle, and it has limited ergonomics. It's very good for watching videos or media creators, with good contrast and a superb color gamut. Finally, it's a good monitor for gaming in HDR, but it's not bright enough for a true cinematic HDR experience, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature.
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Good contrast.
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Very good peak brightness in SDR.
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Excellent low input lag.
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Image appears washed out at an angle.
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Stand can't swivel.
The Dell S3422DWG is a good monitor for office use. It has excellent screen real estate, great for multitasking. It also has great connectivity, including a built-in USB hub, and it supports Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture, meaning that you can display two sources at once. It has good reflection handling and great peak brightness, so glare shouldn't be an issue. For work that requires accurate colors, it has a superb SDR color gamut, but unfortunately, it has disappointing accuracy out of the box, and there's no sRGB clamp, so colors are oversaturated.
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Great gray uniformity.
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Very good peak brightness in SDR.
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Superb SDR color gamut.
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Excellent low input lag.
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Image appears washed out at an angle.
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Stand can't swivel.
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No USB-C.
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Disappointing accuracy out of the box.
The Dell S3422DWG is a great gaming monitor. It has low input lag, a good response time at the max refresh rate, and a few great gaming features, including support for FreeSync. The large, ultrawide screen delivers a more immersive gaming experience, and it looks great in a dark room, with a good contrast ratio and excellent black uniformity. Unfortunately, G-SYNC doesn't work properly if your frame rate drops below 60fps, and there can be some black smearing in dark scenes.
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Good response time at the max refresh rate.
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Excellent low input lag.
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Fast refresh rate.
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Ultrawide format delivers a more immersive gaming experience.
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Black smearing in dark scenes.
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G-SYNC compatible doesn't work properly below 60fps.
The Dell S3422DWG is a good monitor for watching movies. The large size and 21:9 aspect ratio deliver a more cinematic viewing experience, with no black bars on most movies. It has good contrast and excellent black uniformity, great for watching movies at night. There are no issues using it during the day, as it has good reflection handling and great peak brightness. Unfortunately, the image washes out at an angle, so it's not the best for watching videos with a friend.
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Great gray uniformity.
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Good contrast.
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Excellent low input lag.
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Excellent black uniformity.
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Image appears washed out at an angle.
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Black smearing in dark scenes.
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Disappointing accuracy out of the box.
The Dell S3422DWG is a good monitor for media creation. The large, high-resolution screen makes it easier to see more of your work at once. It has a superb SDR color gamut, but coverage of the Adobe RGB color space might be a bit too low for some content creators. Unfortunately, the image washes out at an angle and the stand can't swivel, so it's not the best if you often have to share your screen with someone else.
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Great gray uniformity.
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Good contrast.
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Very good peak brightness in SDR.
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Superb SDR color gamut.
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Image appears washed out at an angle.
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Stand can't swivel.
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No sRGB clamp.
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Disappointing accuracy out of the box.
The Dell S3422DWG delivers a decent HDR experience overall. It has a good contrast ratio and excellent black uniformity, resulting in deep, uniform blacks in a dark room, but there's no local dimming feature to improve contrast. It has good peak brightness in HDR, so small highlights in games stand out well, and it can display a wide color gamut. Finally, it has incredible gradient handling, with almost no noticeable banding in areas of similar color.
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Good contrast.
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Excellent black uniformity.
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Good peak brightness in HDR.
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No local dimming feature.
- 7.8 Mixed Usage
- 7.6 Office
- 8.2 Gaming
- 7.6 Media Consumption
- 7.7 Media Creation
- 7.2 HDR
- Updated May 02, 2022: We tested the monitor with the PS5's new variable refresh rate feature and confirmed that it's not compatible, since the PS5 only supports HDMI Forum VRR.
- Updated Apr 08, 2022: 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 Aug 27, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Aug 24, 2021: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 34 inch Dell S3422DWG, which is part of Dell's S Series of gaming monitors. It's the only size available in an ultrawide format, but there are other models in Dell's S Series lineup, some of which are listed below. There's also a non-gaming variant of this model, known as the Dell S3422DW. It has a similar form factor, but a lower refresh rate and a completely different design.
| Model | Size | Native Resolution | Max Refresh rate | Panel Type | Curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S2522HG | 24.5" | 1920 x 1080 | 240Hz | IPS | No |
| S2722DGM | 27" | 2560 x 1440 | 165Hz | VA | 1500R |
| S3222DGM | 32" | 2560 x 1440 | 165Hz | VA | 1800R |
| S3422DWG | 34" | 3440 x 1440 | 144Hz | VA | 1800R |
| S3422DW | 34" | 3440 x 1440 | 100Hz | VA | 1800R |
If you come across a different type of panel or your Dell S3422DWG doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit was manufactured in May 2021; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The Dell S3422DWG is a great gaming monitor with good motion handling and excellent low input lag. If you often find yourself playing games in a semi-darkened or pitch-black room, a VA panel is definitely the way to go, and this monitor is one of the best VA gaming monitors available.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best 34-49 inch monitors, the best gaming monitors, and the best ultrawide monitors.
The Dell S3422DWG and the Gigabyte M34WQ use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The Dell uses a curved VA panel, so it's a better choice for a dark room, as it has better contrast. The Gigabyte is a flat IPS monitor, so the image remains accurate at an angle. The Gigabyte also has better ergonomics and a better selection of additional features.
The Dell S3422DWG is a bit better than the Gigabyte G34WQC. The Dell has much better black uniformity, slightly better viewing angles, and a much better HDR color gamut. The Dell also has a slightly better response time and better connectivity, with a built-in USB hub. There's also a slight design difference, as the Gigabyte has a slightly more pronounced curve, which might bother some people.
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B is slightly better than the Dell S3422DWG overall, but the Dell might still be better for some people. The ASUS has better contrast and a slightly faster refresh rate, as well as slightly better ergonomics. The Dell, on the other hand, has much better black uniformity and a faster response time at 60Hz.
The LG 34GP83A-B and the Dell S3422DWG use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The LG's IPS panel delivers much better viewing angles, and it has a faster response time. The VA panel on the Dell delivers much better black uniformity and better contrast. The Dell also has better reflection handling and an optional backlight strobing feature.
The Dell S3422DWG is better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C34G55T. The Dell has better ergonomics, slightly better viewing angles, and a much faster response time, despite the Samsung's higher refresh rate. The Samsung has better contrast, but the Dell has much better black uniformity. There's also a slight design difference, as the Samsung has a more pronounced curve, which might bother some people.
The Dell S2721DGF and the Dell S3422DWG use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The S2721DGF uses an IPS panel, and it has much better ergonomics, better viewing angles, and a better response time. The S3422DWG has better black uniformity, better contrast, and an optional backlight strobing feature.
The Dell S3422DWG and the Acer Nitro XV340CK Pbmiipphzx use different panel technologies, each one with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Dell has much better contrast and better black uniformity, so it's a better choice for a dark room. The Dell is also a lot brighter in both SDR and HDR. The Acer, on the other hand, has much better viewing angles and better ergonomics.
The Dell S3422DWG is better than the LG 35WN65C-B. The Dell is the better gaming monitor as it has a higher refresh rate and much better motion handling, and even if you want to use it for office use, it has better reflection handling. HDR also looks better on the Dell because it gets brighter, so highlights pop more.
The Gigabyte M32UC is better than the Dell S3422DWG. The Gigabyte has a much higher native resolution, resulting in sharper text, and it has a faster response time, with less black smear. The Gigabyte is especially good for console gamers, as it supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on both of its HDMI ports, which enables 4k @ 120Hz gaming from the new consoles.
The Dell S3422DWG is much better than the Dell S3220DGF. The S3422DWG has a faster response time, better black uniformity, and a higher-resolution screen, resulting in better text clarity. The S3422DWG also has an optional backlight strobing feature. The S3220DGF has better ergonomics, with a better height adjustment, and the base can swivel.
The Dell S3422DWG and the Gigabyte M27Q use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The Dell has a VA panel with much better black uniformity and better contrast. The IPS panel on the Gigabyte has much better viewing angles and a faster response time, resulting in clearer motion with less blur behind fast-moving objects.
Video
Test Results
The Dell S3422DWG looks very similar to the other 2021 Dell gaming monitors, including the Dell S3222DGM. It has a fairly plain design that looks great in any setting. The stand is okay, with a slightly different design than previous generations. Instead of a full RGB backlight, there's a fixed-color blue ambient downlight feature on the bottom bezel.
The Dell S3422DWG has decent build quality. Like the other 2021 Dell monitors we've tested, including the Dell S2722DGM, it's entirely plastic. There's a bit of flex along the bottom bezel, but no bubbling or areas of significant concern. The stand is okay, but there's a bit of wobble due to the weight of the display.
The stand has an okay height adjustment and a fantastic tilt range, so it shouldn't be too difficult to place it in an ideal viewing position. It can't swivel, and due to the ultrawide, curved screen, it can't rotate to portrait orientation. The ergonomic adjustments feel smooth and are easy to adjust.
The back is pretty plain, with no bias-lighting or other advanced features. The inputs are hidden beneath the VESA mounting point, so they won't get in the way if you're planning on mounting it. There's a hole in the stand for basic cable management. Unfortunately, the VESA mounting points are indented in the back of the monitor, so if you're planning on mounting this monitor, you'll need a VESA bracket that's exactly 100x100mm, or extra-long spacers.
The stand has a small overall footprint, so you can still place small objects in front of the monitor. It supports the monitor well but feels a bit cheap compared to most older Dell monitors we've tested and there's a bit of wobble due to the weight of the display.
There's a joystick control on the back for navigating the OSD. Four quick access buttons can be assigned to different options.
- Power cable
- DisplayPort cable
- HDMI cable
- USB-B cable
- User manuals
As expected from a VA panel, the Dell S3422DWG has good native contrast, so blacks look good in a dark room. Contrast can vary between individual units, but these results are similar to most other VA monitors we've tested. There's no local dimming feature to boost contrast.
The Dell S3422DWG doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video is for reference only, so you can see how the backlight on this display performs and compare it to a similar product with local dimming.
The Dell S3422DWG has very good peak brightness in SDR. There's no noticeable variation in peak brightness with different scenes, which is great. It's bright enough to overcome glare in most rooms. The minimum brightness level is very low, which is great if you're using it in a dark room and are sensitive to light.
These measurements were taken after calibration, in the 'Custom Color' Picture Mode, with the backlight at max. They're a bit lower than the advertised peak brightness for this monitor, but the peak brightness can change depending on which mode you're using.
The Dell S3422DWG has good peak brightness in HDR. It's not bright enough to deliver a true cinematic HDR experience when watching movies, but it's good enough for gaming. There's some variation in peak brightness in different scenes, but it's not noticeable. It significantly exceeds the peak brightness needed for its VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. The brightness of the display tracks the EOTF well, as most scenes are displayed close to the correct brightness level. Unfortunately, there's an extremely sharp cutoff at the monitor's peak brightness, so fine details in bright areas are lost.
These measurements are in the 'DisplayHDR 400' Picture Mode, with Brightness set to max.
As expected for a VA panel, the Dell S3422DWG has a mediocre horizontal viewing angle. Gamma starts to shift immediately as you move off-center, causing the image to wash out. Colors wash out quickly but retain their hue even at a wide angle. The curved screen helps compensate for the degrading image, but our testing doesn't show the effects of this, as we measure viewing angles from the center of the screen.
The Dell S3422DWG has a sub-par vertical viewing angle. As you move off-center, black levels rise and gamma shifts, causing the image to lose contrast and appear washed out. Colors wash out quickly but retain their hue even at a wide angle.
The Dell S3422DWG has great gray uniformity. The sides of the screen are a bit darker than the center, and there's a dark horizontal band running across the center of the screen, but it's not too noticeable. There's very little dirty screen effect.
The Dell S3422DWG has excellent black uniformity. There's a bit of clouding throughout the screen, but it's not very noticeable. Unfortunately, there's no local dimming feature to improve contrast.
The Dell S3422DWG has disappointing accuracy out of the box. The white balance is noticeably off, especially in brighter shades of gray, and the color temperature is a bit warm. Gamma doesn't follow the sRGB target curve, and most scenes are too bright. Unfortunately, most colors are oversaturated, and there's no sRGB clamp to prevent this.
After calibration, the Dell S3422DWG has much better accuracy. Gamma is very close to the sRGB curve, and white balance is nearly perfect. Colors aren't oversaturated anymore, and there are no noticeable issues with any color. The color temperature is very close to our 6500K target.
The Dell S3422DWG has a superb SDR color gamut. It can display pretty much the entire sRGB color space used by most desktop and web content. Coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space is great but might be a bit too low for some content creators.
The Dell S3422DWG has fantastic SDR color volume. The Dell S3422DWG can display most of the sRGB color space at all luminance levels. Despite the relatively high contrast ratio, it still can't display saturated colors at low luminance levels though.
The Dell S3422DWG monitor has a good HDR color gamut, and it can display a wide color gamut. It has excellent coverage of the DCI P3 color space used by most current HDR content. Coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space is mediocre, though, so it's not very future-proof.
The Dell S3422DWG 34 has great color volume in HDR. It's mainly limited by the incomplete color gamut, even in the DCI P3 color space.
This monitor has good reflection handling. The Dell S3422DWG has a matte finish, which diffuses direct reflections, reducing their intensity.
The Dell S3422DWG has good text clarity, thanks to the relatively high pixel density. We recommend running the ClearType wizard if you're on a Windows PC, otherwise, there are some issues with diagonal or curved lines, as shown in the bottom photo.
The Dell S3422DWG has incredible gradient handling. There's a bit of banding in darker shades, but it's not really noticeable with most content.
The Dell S3422AWG has a fast refresh rate. Due to the bandwidth limitations of the HDMI ports, the maximum refresh rate is limited over HDMI.
This monitor supports FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, with a wide supported range, ensuring a nearly-tear free gaming experience from an AMD graphics card.
Although it's not officially certified as G-SYNC Compatible, it's possible to enable G-SYNC when using this monitor with an NVIDIA graphics card, but only over DisplayPort. Unfortunately, there are some issues when using this monitor in G-SYNC compatible mode. As long as your frame rate stays above 60fps, you won't have any issues. If it drops below that, there's significant flickering that gets worse as the frame rate drops.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at the max refresh rate is good. We recommend the 'Super Fast' Response Time setting, as it delivers the best overall results. There's a bit of overshoot with this mode, but it's not very noticeable. The 'Extreme' setting has a faster response time, so there's a shorter blur trail behind fast-moving objects, but there's significantly more overshoot, and there's a visible trail of inverse ghosting.
Like most monitors with a VA panel, the Dell S3422DWG has a slower response time in dark scenes, resulting in significant black smear in dark areas. This is especially distracting when scrolling the web with a dark background, or if you're using a dark user interface. It's not as noticeable when gaming.
Note: There's also a fourth response time setting, 'MPRT', but this isn't actually a response time setting, it just enables the black frame insertion feature. This setting is only available if the refresh rate is between 100Hz and 144Hz.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| super-fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 120Hz is very similar to the max refresh rate. The 'Super Fast' mode still delivers the best results, with a fast average rise/fall time, but slow transitions in dark scenes.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| super-fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Dell S3422DWG has an okay response time at 60Hz. We recommend the 'Fast' Response Time setting at 60Hz, as there's significantly more overshoot in the other modes. Unfortunately, this model doesn't have a variable overdrive setting, so you'll have to change the overdrive setting if your refresh rate changes for the best results.
| Refresh Rate | Motion Blur Photo |
| 144Hz | Photo |
| 120Hz | Photo |
The Dell S3422DWG has an optional backlight strobing feature that can be enabled by setting the Response Time to 'MPRT'. Enabling this feature locks the overdrive settings. It has a narrow range of refresh rates that support the feature, which is a bit disappointing. The backlight timing seems to be pretty good, so there's little crosstalk. Sadly, like most monitors, this feature can't be used at the same time as the variable refresh rate feature.
The Dell S3422DWG has a completely flicker-free backlight, which is great.
The Dell S3422DWG has excellent low input lag at the max refresh rate, resulting in a very responsive gaming experience. The input lag is a bit higher at lower refresh rates, but it's still excellent.
The Dell S3422DWG has an excellent amount of screen space to work with. The pixel density is high, resulting in a sharp image and clear text.
The Dell S3422DWG monitor supports most formats supported by the PS5. Since the PS5 doesn't support ultrawide aspect ratios, you have to set the Aspect Ratio setting to 'Auto Resize', otherwise the image will be stretched to fill the space. This results in black bars on either side, but the image is displayed correctly. Even though the native resolution of this monitor is below 4k, it can accept a 4k signal and downscale it to 1440p, resulting in a slightly sharper image than a native 1440p signal. Due to the bandwidth limits of the HDMI ports, though, it's limited to 60Hz if you decide to send a 4k signal. For a similar monitor with better PS5 compatibility, check out the Gigabyte M32UC instead.
The Dell S3422DWG 34 supports most formats supported by the Xbox Series X. Since the Xbox Series X and S don't support ultrawide aspect ratios, you have to set the Aspect Ratio setting to 'Auto Resize', otherwise the image will be stretched to fill the space. This results in black bars on either side, but the image is displayed correctly. Even though the native resolution of this monitor is below 4k, it can accept a 4k signal and downscale it to 1440p, resulting in a slightly sharper image than a native 1440p signal. Due to the bandwidth limits of the HDMI ports, though, it's limited to 60Hz if you decide to send a 4k signal.
There are two sets of inputs on the Dell S3422DWG. The main inputs are located on the back of the monitor and face down, so they're easy to access.
Unfortunately, this monitor doesn't support USB-C. It has two sets of USB inputs including two along the bottom bezel that are very easy to access.
For the most part, this monitor works perfectly with recent Macs. HDR works fine, and there are no issues with sleep/resume. VRR doesn't work properly though, as it flickers a lot when you're not gaming.
The Dell S3422DWG has a few additional features, including:
- Timer: Displays a countdown timer on-screen.
- FPS Counter: Displays the current frame rate the monitor is receiving from the source.
- Dark Stabilizer: Adjusts gamma to make it easier to spot other players/enemies in shadows.
- Display Alignment: Displays gridlines on the screen to help align multiple displays.
- Downlight: Dell has added an ambient downlight on the bottom bezel. It's a fixed blue light that can't be changed, it can only be turned on or off.
It also supports both Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture, so you can display the image from two sources at once. Unfortunately, although there's a built-in USB hub, it there's no keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) switch, so you can't control both devices with a single keyboard and mouse without using third party software.
