The 5 Best Ultrawide Monitors - Fall 2023 Reviews

The best monitor we've tested with an ultrawide screen is the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, a great overall monitor versatile for different uses. It's considered a super ultrawide monitor because it has a 49-inch screen and a 32:9 aspect ratio, equivalent to placing two 27-inch monitors side-by-side. This provides a lot of screen space for multitasking or an immersive gaming experience, and it has an aggressive 1000R curve that makes it easier to view the sides without turning your head too much. Still, it may take some time to get used to, especially if the content you're viewing has many straight lines.

The large screen makes it a great choice for office use because there's plenty of space to open multiple windows simultaneously. It gets bright enough to fight glare and has good reflection handling, which is useful in bright rooms. It's also an excellent gaming monitor because it has a 240Hz refresh rate and variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing, and motion looks smooth thanks to its quick response time. Combining its excellent gaming performance with good office performance makes this monitor a versatile option.

While the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is an excellent gaming monitor, if you want something for dedicated PC gaming, there are other options with even better motion handling, like the Dell Alienware AW3423DW. This is because it has a QD-OLED panel with a near-instantaneous response time, which results in smoother motion handling than the Samsung monitor. However, it's different from the Samsung in a few ways because it has a smaller 34-inch screen and 21:9 aspect ratio, meaning there's less space to view more of your game at once, but the smaller screen is also easier to see within your entire field of vision.

It excels in dark rooms, with a near-infinite contrast ratio that results in perfect black levels. Its native G-SYNC VRR support also makes it ideal if you have an NVIDIA graphics card. Still, if you have an AMD graphics card and prefer something with native FreeSync VRR instead, the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF is a slightly cheaper alternative with similar performance. Regardless of which one you get, they're both better for gaming than general work use because QD-OLEDs have the risk of permanent burn-in with constant exposure to the same static elements over time, but that isn't so much a concern for gaming.

If you like the super ultrawide format of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 and want the outstanding picture quality and fantastic gaming performance of the Dell Alienware AW3423DW, then check out the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9/G95SC S49CG95. Like the Neo G9, it has a 49-inch screen and 32:9 aspect ratio, so you can see more of your game at once, and it has a more subtle 1800R curve, which is nice if the 1000R curve on the Neo G9 would be too aggressive for you. It uses the same QD-OLED technology as the Dell, which displays deep and inky blacks in dark rooms and has a wide range of bright and vivid colors.

The one advantage it has over the Dell is an even higher 240Hz refresh rate, which is great if you have a high-end graphics card that supports compression and you want to play games at high refresh rates. It has a near-instantaneous response time, so motion looks smooth no matter the refresh rate you game at. While it doesn't have native G-SYNC support like the Dell, it supports VRR with both NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards to get a nearly tear-free gaming experience.

If you want an ultrawide monitor mainly for work and productivity, check out the LG 40WP95C-W. It's very different from the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9/G95SC S49CG95 and the Dell Alienware AW3423DW because it doesn't deliver the same outstanding picture quality without its QD-OLED panel, but that doesn't make much of a difference if you need something for general work use anyways. It has a 40-inch screen and 5120x2160 resolution, meaning the pixel density is even higher than both the Samsung and Dell, so it has incredible text clarity.

What also makes this monitor great for office work is that it has two USB-C ports that each support Thunderbolt 4 and 96W of power delivery. This means you can easily connect a laptop to display an image from it and charge it simultaneously. It also has two other USB-A ports, so you can connect extra devices to the monitor if you don't have any free ports on your laptop. While it has decent peak brightness if you want to use it in a room with a few lights around, it doesn't get very bright. If that's important to you, the LG 38WN95C-W is another option that gets brighter but has a lower resolution and worse text clarity.

If you're looking for an ultrawide monitor on a budget, you can save a lot of money by getting a low-cost ultrawide display like the Gigabyte M34WQ. While it isn't as good for work as the LG 40WP95C-W or gaming as the Dell Alienware AW3423DW, it's still very good for both uses. It has a 34-inch screen and 3440x1440 resolution like the Dell, but it uses a different panel type with better text clarity, and it doesn't have the same risk of permanent burn-in, which is why it's versatile for both work and play. It also has a quick response time at high refresh rates, meaning motion looks smooth, but there's more blur at lower refresh rates.

It has a few office-oriented features, including a built-in KVM switch. It allows you to control two devices with the same keyboard and mouse, which is great if you connect a desktop and a laptop simultaneously. It also has a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort Alt Mode, but because it's only limited to 15W of power delivery, this isn't enough to charge your laptop while using it. Lastly, if you want to use it in a bright room, you'll be happy to know it has high peak brightness and great reflection handling.