Computer Shopper - UK (2021-01)

ISSUE395|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JANUARY2021

ALIENWARE

AW2521HF

★★★★★

£350•From http://www.very.co.uk

VERDICT

Ahighlyresponsive240Hzmonitorforgames
enthusiasts,withdecentimagequalityaswell

FULLHDGAMINGMONITOR

SCREEN SIZE24.5in•RESOLUTION1,980x1,080•SCREEN

TECHNOLOGYIPS•REFRESH RATE240Hz•VIDEOINPUTS

HDMI,DisplayPort•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•

DETAILSwww.dell.com•PART CODE210-AVXJ

SPECIFICATIONS

CONNECTION PORTS

HDMI x2

3.5mm headphone jack

USB3x2 USB3x2

DisplayPort

THERIGHTMONITORcanprovideagenuine
advantageingames,andwithitssky-high 240 Hz
refreshrate,theAlienwareAW 25 21HFisalltoo
happytoobligeinfast-paced multiplayer games.
Despitethe ‘25’ in its name,the AW2521HF’s
panel measures 24.5in across the diagonal, andit
has aresolution of 1,920x1,080. It uses an IPS
panel, so viewingangles are nice andwide, and its
matt anti-glare coating almost completely
suppresses glare from nearby lights and windows.
£350 is quitealot foramonitor of this size,but
considering the refresh rate as well featuressuch
as onboard RGBlighting andAMD FreeSyncand
Nvidia G-Sync support, it’s notabad deal. The only
minorissueisthere’s no HDRsupport, but that’s
not yet amust-have feature forgamingmonitors.

HOLDSUPWELL
In terms of design and build, the AW2521HF is
unmistakably targetingthe gaming crowd, with
its dramatically splayed legs, customisable
illumination and Alienware logo at the rear.
Youcan even change thecolour of the power
button on the bottomright edge if youwish.
It’s not as flashy or garishasgamingmodels
from other manufacturers, however,and it’s
fantastically well put together.The chunkystand
offers height, tilt andswivel adjustment,and can
pivotall theway roundintoportraitview.
Should youwant to dispense with the stand
and use your own (orwall-mount it), that’s
possible,too,sincethe screen hasVESAstandard
100mmmountingpoints, although it wouldbea
shame to miss outonsuch astylishstand.
As forvideo inputs, there’s asingle DisplayPort
and two HDMIports behind the bottom edge,
plus two USB2 ports, apair of USB3 ports and a
3.5mmheadset jack. Allthisiscovered by a
removable plastic panel to keepthings neat. The
only thingmissing is USB Type-C, butsince this is
primarily agamingmonitor, that’s not ahugeloss.
There’s also no headset hook, but again this is a
nice-to-have feature rather than an essential one.
Often, picturequalitycomessecond to
responsiveness in gaming monitors, butthe
AW2521HF’s IPSpanelishandsome enough.
The panel’s native colour gamutisslightly
larger than sRGB, withthe volume of colours
produced reaching up to 112%inStandard
mode,which equates to around77.1% of Adobe
RGB and 79.2% of DCI-P3.
Peak brightness reaches an impressive
424cd/m2,whichwhen coupledwith the matt
coating means this is aprime candidatefor
use in brighterrooms.Colouraccuracyisfine

special.InStandardmode,wemeasuredan

averagecolourdifferencedelta-Eof2.67and

contrastratioatanacceptable999:1.

With a240Hzrefresh rate,however,crisp,

virtuallyblur-free visuals and low input lag, not

to mention support forFreeSync andG-Sync,

the AW2521HF is abrilliant monitor forgamers.

Motion bluriseffectively non-existent, and

bumping up the responsetime fromthe default

Fast setting to Fastest or Extreme doesn’t seem

to have much effectother than to introduce a

tiny amount of inverseghosting, so it’s probably

besttosticktothe defaultsetting.

EXCESSIVE FORCE

Before buyingthe AW2521H, you should consider

if you really need a240Hz monitor –and indeed

whetheryourGPU is up to the task of feeding it

with those kinds of extreme framerates.

In truth, there isn’tmuchvisual difference

between240Hzand 144Hz, and decent 144Hz

1080pmonitors at this size canbehad for

much less thanthe AW2521HF.The 24inversion

of the 27in Samsung CFG70, forexample,isan

awesome 144Hzgaming monitor, supportsHDR,

andcostsnearly £100less.

All that beingsaid, if gaming is whereyour

priorities lie,thenthe AW2521HF is agreat choice.

It’sfast andresponsive,and is compatiblewith

bothAMD FreeSyncPremium and Nvidia’s

G-Sync technologies fortear-freegaming, which is

asensible move if you own acard from one

manufacturer and thinkyou might switch

allegiance sometime in thefuture.

It’salsoanexceptionally well-made screen,

with plentyofadjustment potential and decent

connectivity.Colour accuracy isn’t great but it’s

not terrible –all told,the AlienwareAW2521HF

is just acrosshair’s breadth from greatness.

JonathanBray