I used Alienware’s Dual Resolution Monitor and it’s Really, Really Good

When it comes to choosing a new monitor to buy, you’re usually going to come down to two major selling points: do you want a high resolution, or a high refresh rate? Sure, it’s possible to get both of these, but there’s usually a pretty big cost attached to that.

However, a new kind of display has started popping up recently – a technology that is even making its way into laptops – which allows the display to effectively do both. Just not at the same time. I’ve been testing out one such display, Alienware’s 27” ‘Dual-Resolution Gaming Monitor’ (it’s a very catchy name), and, honestly, it’s really good. Like, it’s really good.

After testing a bunch of much more expensive monitors in recent months, it’s been surprising to me to use something that is just as impressive that sits at AU$699, while delivering almost all of the same features as monitors worth more than double that cost.

The dual-resolution idea is simple in concept, and I’m sure very complicated in practice. The monitor has two rendering modes: the first allows it to display at a 4K resolution at a max refresh rate of 180Hz, while the second drops the max resolution to 1080p but boosts the refresh rate to 360Hz. One is for general use, content consumption, or playing blockbuster, cinematic games, while the other is laser-focused on competitive gaming. This is Alienware, after all.

Now, I’m not competitive at the best of times, but using a high-refresh-rate monitor (and a PC capable of hitting high FPS in such games) does make a pretty substantial difference to how well you can ‘compete’. In my eyes, being able to hit 180fps is already more than enough for the vast majority of use cases, but potentially boosting that to 360fps while making the viewing area ‘smaller’ is pretty helpful when you’re fighting for your life in a game of Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2 or, god forbid, League of Legends.

So it’s good in theory, but what about in practice? Well, let’s find out.

Comparing the Competition

	Alienware 27” Dual Resolution Monitor AW2725QF	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCG	LG UltraGear 27” QHD OLED 27GS93QE-B
Price	AU$699	AU$779	AU$999
Display Size	27”	27”	27”
Panel Type	IPS	IPS	OLED
Resolution	Resolution Mode: 3840 x 2160 Performance Mode: 1920 x 1080	Resolution Mode: 3840 x 2160 Performance Mode: 1920 x 1080	2560 x 1440
Refresh Rate	Resolution Mode: 180Hz Performance Mode: 360Hz	Resolution Mode: 160Hz Performance Mode: 320Hz	240Hz
Response Time	0.05ms	1ms	0.03ms
Ports	– 2x HDMI 2.1 – DisplayPort 1.4 – USB-B 3.2 Gen 1 upstream – 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 downstream – USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 downstream – USB-A Gen 1 downstream w/ power charging	– HDMI 2.1 – DisplayPort 1.4 – USB-C (DP Alt Mode) – Earphone Jack	– 2x HDMI 2.1 – DisplayPort 1.4 – Earphone Jack – 2x USB-A 3.0 Downstream – USB-B 3.0 Upstream

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Why Trust Us

Here at Man of Many, we use a wide variety of technology. We’re not fans of any one brand, like to get our hands on the latest-and-greatest tech before we call it the next-best-thing, and we’ve built up extensive experience in reviewing tech as a publication over the past 10 years.

The author of this article, Dean Blake, is Man of Many’s technology journalist, and has followed the industry for years. He’s worked and gamed on many monitors throughout his career, and largely plays his games on PC. Alienware sent a review unit to Man of Many, but no money exchanged hands, and all opinions expressed are those of the author and haven’t been seen by Alienware ahead of time. For more information on our independence, testing and review guidelines, you can read our full editorial policies here.

The Good

Dual Resolution

I’d like to start here by saying that my baseline for a decent monitor is my trusty-yet-cheap 1080p@60hz Samsung display that’s been seeing my through the past few years, and is probably due for retirement. I don’t usually care for upgrades for the sake of upgrades, but I actually do really think that having a good monitor is an essential part of any gaming rig – probably more essential than having a fancy keyboard or mouse, to be honest.

The Alienware 27”, obviously, blows my aging monitor out of the water in every conceivable way. If you’re like me, and tend to make do with the basics, this thing is gonna be a big step up no matter which ‘mode’ you put it in.

In fact, let’s dive into those modes. As I mentioned above, this monitor is part of a new breed of display that enables easy switching between a high-resolution mode, and a high-refresh rate mode, attempting to deliver the best of both worlds. Alienware describes it as being ‘like two monitors in one’, and while that’s not exactly right, it’s also not exactly wrong.

I had the monitor hooked up to my PC for a little under a month, and the majority of that was spent in the standard 2160p@180Hz mode. To my eyes, 180fps is more than enough for any game I’d be playing, and honestly couldn’t really hit 4k@60fps comfortably with my set-up. I unfortunately fell back into the grips of Final Fantasy XIV this February, and while the game looks amazing in 4K it was hovering around 40fps on my rig – please note, that’s a criticism of my gaming PC, not the monitor.

I dropped it to a manageable 1440p to get a more steady 60fps, and the monitor, without skipping a beat, upscaled the image back up to 4K. I kinda, sorta, got the best of both worlds, but even in that configuration the game didn’t look nearly as crisp as it did at a native 4k.

On the other end of the spectrum is the high-refresh rate mode. Here, I jumped into some smaller scale games that could benefit from higher FPS on offer. To test this, I played Wizard with a Gun and Fortnite, which both ran extremely well at 1080p, with both running at well over 200fps. The difference this can make to how a game plays is palpable – even as someone that isn’t hyper competitive.

So the dual-resolution concept works well – but how do you make the switch? The easiest is to hold the single joystick button on the monitor’s bottom side for a few seconds, and it’ll automatically switch to whatever the other mode is, but you can also do it though the monitor’s built-in menu system.

It’s fairly seamless, but it isn’t something you’re going to make using on the fly as you play a game. Rather, Alienware recommends you make the choice between modes before jumping into a game. In fact, your best bet is to make the switch, go into Windows (or Mac) settings and ensure everything is set up according to the mode you’re in, launch the game you want to play, dive into the game’s settings and make sure it’s all set correctly, and then start playing. I didn’t expect a monitor to rid me of the PC gaming jank I’ve learned to deal with, and it didn’t, so no harm, no foul.

Still, if you’re expecting a one-button solution, the tech isn’t quite there yet. It’s close, but, as usual, it’s the operating systems that are the actual stick in the mud.

Well Designed

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: in my opinion, the gamer aesthetic is gross. Here, as they did with their Alienware Pro Wireless headphones, though, Alienware has smoothed things out to create a design that straddles the middleground between looking like a UFO and an everyday device.

All told, I actually quite like the design here: all the loud bits are easily hidden on the back of the device (and can literally be turned off in the monitor’s built-in menu system), meaning, again, you get the best of both worlds. Want your monitor to light up like a Christmas tree? You can do that, and I can also have something that doesn’t.

From the front, you’ll barely notice any kind of gamer-chic: rather, you’re presented with a surprisingly vibrant IPS panel that looks damn good, with few bells and whistles to distract you. If you’re peeking around the side or top to the backside, though, you’ll potentially be met with a neon “27” flashing or breathing in your colour of choice. It keeps the same design language Alienware has used in its recently launched Area 51 and Aurora desktops – which is a bold, rounded design that stands out as distinctly Alienware without becoming an RGB-laden mess.

Hidden away on the left-hand side of the monitor is a surprise: an extendable arm meant to hold your headset while not in use. It’s a fun little extra that isn’t quite a selling point, but is good enough that you wouldn’t need to buy a separate headset stand if you wanted a permanent home for your cans.

The ‘Bad’

It’s missing some bells and whistles

There’s a lot to like about the Alienware 27”, but if I had to find some things I didn’t it’d be a missing port, and the fact the panel isn’t OLED. Generally, it’s fine, but the absence of either speakers or an audio jack is quite odd, and assumes whatever you’re plugging into it has the capacity to handle its own audio output needs. I don’t think monitors, in general, need to include speakers, but a 3.5mm jack isn’t that difficult to include, right?

As for the display, while the IPS panel is good, it’d be even better as an OLED. The games I tested we’re pretty vibrant and colourful affairs, but I did throw something darker into the mix (Resident Evil 4) and the lack of true blacks did stand out. I get that adding that OLED support would probably double the price of the display, but it’s worth noting: if you’re a horror gamer, you might want to find yourself something else.

Do we recommend?

If you’re looking for a fantastic monitor that can keep up with whatever you’re playing, for under AU$1,000, I can absolutely recommend the Alienware 27” Dual Resolution Monitor. It’s a fantastic display that looks the part, performs exactly how you’d expect, and importantly doesn’t dominate your set-up.