The Dell Alienware AW2725Q is currently the most affordable 27-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor on the market. While competing brands like Asus and MSI are selling their models for $1,100, this brand-new Alienware is making its debut at just $900 a sizable 18% savings.Are you getting less at this lower price point, or is Dell simply undercutting the competition and offering better value? Let's find out.One of the key things to note about these 27-inch 4K QD-OLED monitors is that all brands use the same panel from Samsung. This means many fundamental aspects, such as response times, contrast ratio, and brightness, remain consistent across models. Differences do exist in features, calibration, and certain performance aspects, but nothing hugely substantial at least not on the level we see from monitors using different panels.We really like the design Dell has chosen for the AW2725Q. The 2025 Alienware lineup features what Dell calls the "AW30" industrial design, celebrating the brand's 30th anniversary. It's a rounded, sleek, minimalist aesthetic that looks fantastic. The build quality is excellent, with high-quality materials and a refined finish on the plastic panels, giving the monitor a premium look that surpasses what is typically found in gaming displays.What surprised us the most when unboxing the AW2725Q was that the monitor isn't black. Product images made it appear to have a standard black-gray finish, but in reality, it's a deep blue color that Dell calls "Interstellar Indigo."We actually think this finish looks great, but if you were expecting a neutral black to match an all-black setup, this has more of a blue-tinted black appearance. The product images could do a better job of showcasing this blue-black-indigo finish so buyers have a clearer expectation of the color.From the front, this monitor looks fantastic, partly due to its small, squarish stand base and sleek pillar. The compact base allows for a wide variety of keyboard positions, and since it's flat, you can still place items on top of it, maximizing desk space. It's also a sturdy stand, offering height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustments with a reasonable maximum height.The port selection is good but not quite on the level of MSI and Asus models. While those variants include DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20, the AW2725Q uses DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC.Both support the full 240Hz refresh rate over DisplayPort, but the DP 2.1 configuration on competing models does so without DSC. This difference likely won't matter much, especially since the latest GeForce 50 series GPUs provide full feature support regardless of whether you use DP 2.1 or DP 1.4 with DSC. There's no noticeable visual difference.Additionally, the Alienware includes HDMI 2.1 with DSC and eARC support, along with a four-port USB 5 Gbps hub consisting of three Type-A and one Type-C ports. Unfortunately, the USB-C port is mostly just a data port it doesn't support DP-Alt mode for video input, and power delivery is limited to 15W. This monitor also lacks KVM switch functionality, meaning it offers less connectivity and overall functionality in this area compared to the Asus and MSI models.The OSD is controlled via a directional toggle on the bottom edge of the display, just below the Alienware logo. It includes standard gaming features, most of which are found within the AlienVision settings, allowing users to combine crosshairs, shadow boosting, sniper mode zooming, and more. There are also features like a refresh rate counter and various color controls.However, the AW2725Q lacks some of the more advanced features found in competing models, particularly the Asus PG27UCDM. There's no OLED Anti-Flicker equivalent, no proximity sensor, and the burn-in protection features are not user-customizable. For example, on the 272URX, users can adjust the aggressiveness of screen dimming and disable certain OLED care features if they find them bothersome. On the AW2725Q, no such controls exist, making it a more basic setup.Also, the Dell AW2725Q uses active cooling, meaning there's a fan inside the monitor. We found the fan to be completely inaudible under normal usage conditions, but unlike the other variants, it's not a passive cooling design.Screen Coating, Subpixel Layout and Burn InOne of the best aspects of this new 27-inch 4K QD-OLED panel is its pixel density and resulting text quality. We go from 140 PPI with 32-inch 4K panels to 166 PPI at 27 inches, representing a 19% increase in density. Compared to 27-inch 1440p QD-OLEDs, it's a massive 50% increase, which is very noticeable yes, a 4K resolution makes a difference at this panel size, especially with an OLED.The pixel structure is essentially identical to what we saw with the 32-inch panels. It still features a triangle RGB layout, with green on top and red and blue below, maintaining similar proportions for each subpixel. The key difference is that this subpixel structure has been scaled down to achieve 166 PPI.This effectively eliminates the slight text artifacts seen in 32-inch QD-OLED panels and delivers text clarity identical to a 27-inch 4K LCD. With the 32-inch 4K QD-OLEDs, we found text clarity to be very good, though not quite on par with 32-inch 4K LCDs. However, the 27-inch 4K QD-OLED is a step better, and we're comfortable calling it identical to LCD.We couldn't detect any color fringing around text, even at a very close distance with 100% display scaling. This issue is now fully resolved, and the improvement over 1440p QD-OLED is significant in terms of reducing and eliminating text artifacts. This new panel is excellent for rendering text.What hasn't been improved at least as far as we can tell is the screen coating and panel composition. The way this panel handles reflections and appears slightly gray in brighter environments seems unchanged from the 32-inch QD-OLEDs. So, the same issues from previous reviews remain with the 27-inch 4K variant.In bright environments with light sources in front of the display, the panel tends to reflect ambient light, raising black levels to the point where they appear somewhat gray. This impacts one of the key selling points of OLED technology its deep blacks since they won't look as rich or deep in bright conditions, especially compared to glossy WOLED panels.However, general reflection handling is decent, so mirror-like reflections aren't too severe. That said, as with any glossy panel, some defined reflections will always be visible, worsening in brighter conditions.These issues with the coating can be minimized by optimizing the placement of light sources in the room, ideally keeping them behind the display. The darker the environment such as gaming in a dim or fully dark room the better this QD-OLED panel looks.Under dim conditions, you'll typically get the rich, deep blacks that OLED is known for. Whether this will be an issue for you depends on your setup and preferences. We do find it frustrating and consider it one of the bigger drawbacks of QD-OLED panels, but if you primarily game at night, it's far less of a concern. At the very least, it's something to be aware of.Another important factor to consider is that OLEDs generally aren't ideal for desktop use, productivity apps, and web browsing due to their susceptibility to permanent burn-in. While it's great that this 27-inch 4K OLED offers excellent text quality for desktop work, it is not immune to burn-in. Static content, such as toolbars or icons that remain on screen for long periods common in most desktop applications is at risk.On the other hand, dynamic content like gaming or video playback poses virtually no burn-in risk, so there's no need to worry if gaming is your primary use case. Even occasional desktop use is fine, but prolonged productivity work around eight hours a day may lead to burn-in, as we've observed in our ongoing burn-in testing series. Dell offers a three-year burn-in warranty.Response Time PerformanceResponse time performance is excellent on this 4K QD-OLED monitor, as it is for other OLED displays we've tested so far. OLED offers lightning-fast response times, around the 0.3ms mark at its maximum 240Hz refresh rate, leading to fantastic motion clarity.Dell Alienware AW2725Q - 240Hz, 120Hz, 60HzOLEDs also maintain the same performance at all refresh rates, so even when testing at 120Hz or 60Hz, we see similar results in the 0.3ms range. This is a nice benefit for variable refresh rate gamers, resulting in a single overdrive mode experience; in contrast, many LCDs typically perform worse at lower refresh rates relative to their maximum refresh.On OLED monitors, the main limiting factor is the refresh rate itself. This means that on two OLEDs running at the same refresh rate, you'll get the same level of motion clarity, which is important when comparing across models.For example, if you have a 240Hz 4K QD-OLED running at 120Hz and a 360Hz 1440p QD-OLED running at 120Hz, both will produce the same motion clarity. You'll only see better motion clarity on higher refresh rate OLEDs when gaming at frame rates above 240 FPS the maximum refresh the AW2725Q supports. If you don't expect to be playing games above 240 FPS, then there is no practical advantage to a higher refresh rate OLED in terms of motion performance.There is effectively no difference in response time performance between this QD-OLED and other OLED monitors, including WOLED variants. OLEDs are much faster than even the fastest LCDs we've tested, and this is true whether we look at the best performance or average performance across the refresh rate range. Not only are OLEDs fast, but they also have no overshoot artifacts, which can be an issue with some LCD models.When viewing cumulative deviation results, we can see that OLEDs get much closer to ideal response time behavior and, in most cases, offer performance an order of magnitude better in this metric than LCDs. In practice, this leads to around a 1.5x advantage in clarity at a given refresh rate, so 240Hz QD-OLEDs like the AW2725Q offer a similar experience to 360Hz LCDs speed that isn't currently available from an LCD at this resolution.Input latency is excellent, offering a 0.1ms processing delay in both the SDR and HDR modes. Combined with fast response times and a decent refresh rate, this OLED feels very snappy to use, only beaten by the absolute highest refresh rate models on the market.Despite its high resolution, we think this is still a great option for multiplayer gaming because the refresh rate is high and total lag is low. Also, unlike the MSI and Asus variants, the Dell model has a 1ms processing delay at 60Hz, making it a great option for fixed refresh 60Hz as well.The AW2725Q uses slightly more power than the MSI and Asus variants, at 80 watts for a 200-nit full-screen white image. That's about 8% more than the PG27UCDM, which is an interesting difference but not especially meaningful. QD-OLEDs are still relatively power-hungry compared to LCDs in particular, where even in the best-case scenario for an OLED, something like an LG 27GR93U will consume less power. So if you're switching from an efficient LCD to an OLED, you can expect higher power consumption.Color PerformanceColor Space: Dell Alienware AW2725Q - D65-P3All QD-OLEDs that we've tested so far offer a similar color space. In the case of the AW2725Q, we're looking at 98.6% DCI-P3 coverage, as well as 96% Adobe RGB coverage strong results for viewing HDR content or working in those color spaces. In total, we saw 76.1% coverage of Rec. 2020, which is slightly lower than some of the other QD-OLEDs we've tested but still great for a gaming monitor.Default Color PerformanceDell Alienware AW2725Q - D65-P3, tested at native resolution, highest refresh ratePortrait CALMAN Ultimate, DeltaE Value Target: Below 2.0, CCT Target: 6500KGrayscale, Saturation and ColorCheckerFactory color performance is decent. The grayscale results were quite accurate out of the box, with a near-perfect CCT and gamma, leading to a deltaE ITP average of just 4. There are the usual concerns around oversaturation, as this display does not use an sRGB gamut clamp out of the box. The Alienware model comes out a little ahead of the MSI and Asus models in factory grayscale and ColorChecker testing.New for 2025, we'll be testing the performance of monitors when using Windows' Auto Color Management (ACM) feature, introduced in Windows 11 24H2. This feature color-manages the display at a system level by using the color data the monitor reports.On wide-gamut monitors, this allows SDR sRGB content to be displayed more accurately without the use of a monitor's sRGB mode, as the color space emulation is performed by Windows instead of the monitor. It also allows you to avoid any sRGB mode restrictions, like locked white balance, because the monitor remains in its standard configuration with full setting control.Default ACM Color PerformanceDell Alienware AW2725Q - D65-P3, tested at native resolution, highest refresh ratePortrait CALMAN Ultimate, DeltaE Value Target: Below 2.0, CCT Target: 6500KGrayscale, Saturation and ColorCheckerWhen enabling ACM, the AW2725Q continues to offer great grayscale performance, but now color performance is also improved to a deltaE average below 5.0. This is a decent outcome and still allows full setting control via the monitor's OSD if you want to tweak things further. For Windows SDR use, this is probably the best configuration.sRGB Mode Color PerformanceDell Alienware AW2725Q - D65-P3, tested at native resolution, highest refresh ratePortrait CALMAN Ultimate, DeltaE Value Target: Below 2.0, CCT Target: 6500KGrayscale, Saturation and ColorCheckerFor inputs that don't support color management, Dell provides an sRGB mode, but we found it a bit disappointing. Color temperature and gamma are both worse than the default mode, which hurts accuracy. The actual gamut clamp is still effective at reducing saturation and ColorChecker deltaEs relative to the out-of-the-box configuration, but we wouldn't say the results are amazing.Specifically, if you compare this sRGB mode to the other options, it falls down the chart to a less desirable position. A lot of QD-OLEDs are shipping with very accurate sRGB modes, but we wouldn't say this is one of them, so the ACM configuration is preferable.Calibrated Color PerformanceDell Alienware AW2725Q - D65-P3, tested at native resolution, highest refresh ratePortrait CALMAN Ultimate, DeltaE Value Target: Below 2.0, CCT Target: 6500KGrayscale, Saturation and ColorCheckerA full calibration can improve performance further, and we used Calman for that. This panel is well suited to multiple color spaces, including DCI-P3 when fully calibrated.Brightness, Contrast, UniformityPeak SDR brightness on the AW2725Q is the same as other OLEDs, at around 250 nits. However, due to the way Dell configures the OLED care features, you're less likely to see 250 nits in practice compared to other monitors.Real-world peak brightness is typically around 30 nits lower than this, at around 220 nits, whereas on other monitors, you can disable the "multi-logo detection" feature and more consistently push the panel up to 250 nits.This feature can't be disabled on the Alienware. That said, brightness is still sufficient, and the SDR mode enables uniform brightness at all times. A minimum brightness of 30 nits is very good.We were very impressed with the viewing angles of this panel. They are very wide, making it easy to view the display even at quite extreme angles it really looks excellent. This also means there is a large sweet spot for viewing this QD-OLED, and you won't notice issues like the edges being slightly lower contrast or a bit washed out, which can be a problem with some flat LCD panels, particularly VAs.Uniformity was also very good with our unit nice and even when viewing full white and no dirty screen effect when viewing dark greys. This keeps QD-OLED in the leadership position for display uniformity among OLEDs.HDR Hardware PerformanceThe Alienware AW2725Q is well suited to HDR from a hardware perspective. OLED panels, including QD-OLED, directly emit light and have individual pixel control, making them ideal for displaying HDR content.This feature allows each pixel to independently vary from fully switching off to displaying bright highlights, giving us deep, zero-level blacks and per-pixel local dimming. The level of control OLEDs provide minimizes blooming in high-contrast scenarios and allows for a clean distinction between bright and dark areas that are close together.Compared to LCDs with a multi-zone backlight, OLEDs have far fewer ugly illumination artifacts, which are most noticeable when displaying difficult scenarios like star fields or subtitles, and there are no zone transitions as bright objects move around the display.With per-pixel control as its main advantage, OLEDs are best at displaying high-contrast scenes with rich shadow detail, which is a key aspect of a good HDR presentation. Darker content interspersed with dazzling bright highlights brings out the best in OLED displays, as does HDR content with fast motion. For gamers especially, input latency on most OLEDs is low in HDR mode.The weakness of the HDR presentation on an OLED is overall brightness. While peak brightness can be high in the best cases, full-screen brightness is low, limiting the punch in bright daytime scenes. LCDs may not have per-pixel control, but zoned backlights can simply get significantly brighter in bright scenes. Depending on what you want out of an HDR monitor, your preference could swing more toward LCDs or more toward OLEDs but typically, OLEDs are a great choice that deliver a fantastic HDR presentation.HDR Configurations and AccuracyDell offers many different HDR configurations, but most of them only have slight differences. The two we'll be focusing on are the usual QD-OLED configurations we've seen for a while now: the DisplayHDR True Black mode and the HDR Peak 1000 mode. In both of these configurations, we recommend enabling the Console HDR mode and turning Source Tone Mapping on.This improves accuracy and reduces roll-off relative to the standard configuration without Console HDR enabled. If you prefer a more gentle roll-off, disable Source Tone Mapping.The two main modes True Black and Peak 1000 operate in the same way as other QD-OLED monitors. The True Black 400 mode is the most accurate and doesn't have panel dimming in brighter scenes, but peak brightness is capped at 450 nits.The Peak 1000 nit mode removes the brightness cap, allowing peak brightness to hit 1,000 nits, but panel dimming occurs in brighter, higher APL scenes, impacting accuracy. Dell does not offer a boosted brightness configuration like we see on some QD-OLEDs, such as the Gigabyte FO32U2P.The accuracy of these modes isn't as good as the Asus model, which remains the best option for HDR. The True Black configuration has great roll-off, but brightness is slightly elevated, particularly for mid-to-dark tones. This display still looks great in HDR scenes when using the True Black mode, so this brightness elevation doesn't ruin image quality, but it's not as accurate as the PG27UCDM.This elevated mid-to-dark tone brightness is also present in the Peak 1000 mode, and there's no configuration of settings that prevents this. Naturally, this mode offers a higher level of brightness overall, though Dell hasn't solved or attempted to solve the panel dimming issue in this configuration when viewing brighter scenes.To be fair, no other manufacturer has fixed this issue either, so it remains a flaw with QD-OLED panels. Basically, we're still in a position where you can't achieve the highest peak brightness in darker scenes without bizarrely dimming brighter scenes. For the best experience, you'll need to change HDR modes depending on whether you're playing mostly brighter or mostly darker content or if you want to optimize for either of those conditions.HDR BrightnessHDR brightness is identical to other QD-OLED monitors. In these charts, other monitors are listed using their brightest configuration that preserves accuracy, and you'll see basically no difference at various window sizes. Right now, the best WOLED panels get around 15% brighter at a 2% window, which is not a significant difference. And in this chart, we can confirm that brightness vs. window size performance is the same as other OLEDs.In real-scene brightness, the results are close to what we usually see. The True Black mode has no panel dimming, while the Peak 1000 mode does. The True Black mode has higher brightness in mid-to-high APL content but is capped at 450 nits. The Peak 1000 mode can reach over 900 nits in real-world scenes but isn't as bright in higher APL scenes.The only real difference between the AW2725Q and other models is that some scenes aren't quite as bright as on other models. But the MSI 272URX, for example, is just 13% brighter on average, which isn't a large difference. It's only when compared to WOLEDs that the brightness experience becomes notably better, and right now, there is no 27-inch 4K WOLED alternative.In HDR calibration, due to the EOTF tracking results we saw earlier, the AW2725Q isn't as accurate as models such as the PG27UCDM. The Alienware model doesn't perform badly it's just more of a mid-table performer. So if you're looking for the absolute best accuracy for HDR content, the Asus model would be the better choice. That said, the results are still usable and don't ruin the HDR experience. For HDR color volume, we see great results in line with other QD-OLED monitors, provided you use the settings that enable the highest brightness levels.We should also mention that the AW2725Q supports Dolby Vision, which can be enabled through a toggle in the OSD settings. Right now, this is mostly useful for source devices that aren't a Windows gaming PC, because Dolby Vision support on Windows is pretty bad. But if you're watching video content using a media player, Dolby Vision is a useful inclusion though at the moment, we don't have solid tools to test Dolby Vision performance on monitors like this.HUB Essentials ChecklistThe final section of the review is the HUB Essentials Checklist. Dell largely does a good job of advertising this monitor, with the usual exception of response time numbers. Dell claims the display is factory calibrated, though we've given it a borderline result here, as that is possible through ACM in Windows but not necessarily with the built-in modes.As for the feature support matrix, we see strong results in contrast and motion performance, as is typical for an OLED, along with low input lag. Where the AW2725Q falls a bit short is in certain features, such as the lack of a USB-C display input and power delivery, the absence of DisplayPort 2.1, and the ongoing issue of panel dimming. However, it does support Dolby Vision, which is not available on the MSI variant.What We LearnedThe Dell Alienware AW2725Q is another impressive QD-OLED gaming monitor, delivering a similar experience to other high-end models we've come to love. This new 27-inch 4K 240Hz panel for 2025 isn't a revolutionary step for OLED gaming, but it successfully shrinks all the benefits of the larger 32-inch models into a smaller, sharper screen. Having quality options at this size is important, given the popularity of the 27-inch category.The increased pixel density of the 27-inch 4K OLED effectively eliminates any lingering artifacts related to the subpixel structure and text rendering, delivering the best text quality we've seen from a desktop OLED so far.This is truly equivalent to a 27-inch 4K LCD. Of course, with the panel being smaller than the 32-inch models, it's not quite as immersive for gaming, so we still prefer the 32-inch size. However, this 27-inch panel looks incredibly sharp and clear.In addition, we get all the usual benefits of OLED technology. The combination of a 240Hz refresh rate and ultra-fast response times results in excellent motion clarity. Deep blacks, per-pixel dimming, and bright highlights create a stunning visual experience in many titles.Unfortunately, this new 27-inch panel doesn't resolve some of the existing issues with QD-OLEDs, such as raised blacks in brighter environments due to the panel composition and panel dimming in brighter HDR scenes. And, of course, there's the risk of permanent burn-in, which limits this monitor's usability for desktop productivity, despite its excellent pixel density and three-year burn-in warranty. Improvements in these areas will have to wait for a future OLED generation.Having now reviewed three of these 27-inch 4K OLEDs, the big question is: which model should you buy? The Alienware AW2725Q, the MSI MPG 272URX, or the Asus PG27UCDM?Comparing all the test results and features, the Asus PG27UCDM remains the best model overall. It shares similar panel characteristics such as contrast, speed, and brightness but is better calibrated in both SDR and HDR modes. Additionally, it has a stronger feature set, including DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20, improved USB-C functionality, OLED anti-flicker mode, a proximity sensor, and black frame insertion. It also retains Dolby Vision support. If you want the best, the PG27UCDM is the model to get, but it comes at about a 20% premium.The AW2725Q is still an excellent monitor, and we prefer the Alienware design. However, there are few standout features or performance advantages that set it apart. It does support eARC, which the Asus model lacks, but beyond that, it offers fewer features. Fortunately, the QD-OLED panel does a lot of the heavy lifting, so in key areas like motion clarity and per-pixel control, it performs the same as the Asus.Ultimately, the choice between the Asus and Alienware models comes down to how much you value the Asus' expanded feature set. Both of these are clearly ahead of the MSI which doesn't fully justify its $1,100 price tag. If you're simply looking for a high-performance 27-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor, saving $200 and going with the Alienware model is absolutely worth it.For most gamers, it's likely the better value. However, if you're willing to spend around $1,000 to get the best of the best, the Asus PG27UCDM does offers enough extras to justify the higher price.What we're also likely to see is the Alienware model providing even better value outside North America. In Australia, the 32-inch Alienware AW3225QF was often much cheaper than other 32-inch 4K QD-OLEDs, so hopefully, that will also be the case for the 27-inch model.Shopping Shortcuts:Alienware AW2725Q on DellMSI MPG 272URX on NeweggAsus ROG Swift PG27UCDM on NeweggGigabyte M32UP on AmazonLG 32GR93U on B&H, LGMSI MPG321UR-QD on AmazonAlienware AW3423DW 34" QD-OLED on Amazon