I'm no esports fiend, but Alienware's OLED for the competitive scene could be cause for excitement

Alienware, Dell’s gaming sub-brand that will be celebrating its 30th birthday in October, has unveiled two rather lovely OLED gaming monitors that both feature LG’s tandem OLED tech delivering better than ever brightness. Most recently, our Jeremy was impressed by another tandem OLED from Alienware, and offers a breakdown of what it is in his AW3926QW review.

During the announcement, head of product Matt McGowan said that Alienware were aiming to offer “more price points people can actually reach,” though that pricing promise isn’t the only thing that piqued my interest.

First, something for the esports sickos: the AW2527HX. Head of product Matt McGowan pitches this as Alienware’s “fastest monitor ever,” featuring a 560 Hz refresh rate and a 0.03 ms response time.

Latest Videos FromPC Gamer

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Row 0 – Cell 0	AW2527HX	AW3226Q
Screen size	25-inch	32-inch
Resolution	To be announced	4K
Brightness	Penta-tandem tech	1,000 nit peak brightness, Tandem
Response Time	0.03 ms	0.03 ms
Refresh Rate	560 Hz	165 Hz
HDR	VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600	VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400
Features	Telescopic stand with extended 155mm adjustment range, rear-flip headset hanger	Anti-burn-in technology that uses a ‘personalized algorithm’, 3-year warranty
Price	To be announced Q1 2027	$699
Release	To be announced Q1 2027	Fall 2026

Co-designed with 4-peat World of Warcraft Race to World First champions Team Liquid, McGowan said that “Every detail [of this OLED has been] informed by how pros actually set-up and compete.” Pricing and release details for the AW2527HX OLED will be announced in early 2027.

Alienware isn’t the only company who has set its sights on the competitive scene recently. Last month, Asus announced that the ROG Swift OLED PG259QWS Ace would be the official monitor for PGL CS2 Major Singapore 2026 later this year. Odds are, Alienware is hoping for a similarly lucrative slice of the tournament pie. But it’s worth noting that the Asus OLED has a very slightly faster response time of 0.02 ms and a higher refresh rate of 720 Hz. Could Alienware be attempting to compete on price point instead? We’ll find out next year.

The AW2527HX, Alienware’s esports-geared gaming OLED. (Image credit: Dell, Alienware)

Some of the AW2527HX’s tournament-friendly features include a built-in headset hanger, plus a matte coating on the screen to minimise glare. On top of that, esports fiends can look forward to a screen with brightness to write home about thanks to Penta-tandem OLED tech. RGB Stripe subpixels will keep text sharp and offer overall improved image clarity too.

Alienware’s second OLED, the AW3226Q, is much less mysterious. For a start, I can already tell you it’s a 32-inch 4K OLED that will arrive this Autumn, and will set you back about $699. That’s more than twice the price of our top pick for the best budget OLED, the AW2726DM, which is also from Alienware but only costs $350. That said, this cheaper option doesn’t have the tandem OLED tech. The MSI MPG 322UR X24 that our Jeremy recently rated is a ‘5-layer tandem’ QD-OLED (so that’s Samsung’s tech, not LG’s) but will set you back over a grand from Newegg. With that comparison in mind, $699 is a good price for that level of brightness on the Alienware.

But what else is the AW3226Q offering for the money? Well, 1,000 nits of peak brightness plus Tandem OLED tech, though it may turn out to be slightly less bright than Alienware’s esports monitor. This gaming OLED also has a lower refresh rate of 160 Hz, but the same 0.03 response time plus the same clarity of image offered by RGB Stripe subpixels. Overall, it’s a less specialised bit of kit, with McGowan saying it will be “Stunning for gaming and equally impressive for everyday use.” Well, us lot on the hardware team will be the judge of that.