Alienware 32 Gaming Monitor (AW3225DM) - Review

2025 must be the year of hardware reviews, as I feel like I have been doing more items in that range than anything else, case in point the new Alienware 32 Gaming Monitor, or the AW3225DM if you want to get technical. Now unlike other recent monitors we have reviewed from Alienware, this one is down in the affordable range, so does that mean it still has that Alienware quality about it?

Upon cracking open the box for the first time, what truly struck me was just how insanely massive the display is. I knew that it was a 32inch display, I mean it even says so on the box, but sometimes the size of something doesn’t feel real until you see it for yourself. I think what surprised me was that this is marketed as a curved gaming monitor and almost all of those tend to be much wider, than they are taller. This is not the case, in fact the best way to think about this one, is if imagine taking your regular PC monitor and adding a curve to it. This was something I thought I would hate upon setting it up, the screen looked to big, it had a curve that was a little to gentle and it just felt like it was consuming my desk, but as it turns out, I loved it all.

So, what makes this screen worthy of such adoration? I mentioned the screen size being 32inches, which is at the top end of gaming screens these days and even though it was big, it felt right. My normal main screen is a 32inch ultrawide, so it has a lot less vertical space and over the years I have had that, I have gotten used to it. Having what essentially amounts to another display below it, really took some adjusting on my part, but once I did get used to it, I hated the idea of sending the screen back. The resolution of the screen was 2560 x 1440, so it is a QHD, that is Quad High-Definition. That means it’s better than HD but not quite 4K, so it does fall within this weird space between the two, but that meant it did not feel out of place sandwiched between my two 1080p displays. This was great as the last screen from Alienware was a 4K display and it had issues with resolution jumps between the screens. The display also supports HDR and VRR, making it a vibrant one and one capable of matching all games, and for those who have an AMD card, it also supports AMD FreeSync.

In terms of other features, like most Alienware displays it has a USB-B input near the display ports, which powers the two USB-A ports located to the left of the function button. That is really all this screen has; there is no 3.5mm headphone jack nor any internal speakers. It only offers one HDMI port that supports version 2.3, the other is a basic v1.4 offering. The DisplayPort thankfully offers up to 2.3, so between the three video inputs, you should be covered for every scenario, outside of 4K. Now I am sure some folks will see this lack of inputs and outputs as a big mistake, but it really isn’t. As I said at the start, this is a monitor that for Alienware, falls well into the affordable range, the 4K version of this is another $1,300 to buy. So, the feature set for the price is really well balanced.

But you don’t buy a PC screen for the USB hub functionality, you buy it so you can game, watch movies, or basically just enjoy the display. In that case, I am happy to report that I had no issues with the display. The time between it turning on and being ready was just a few seconds and it delivered a crisp image all the time. As with almost every other monitor I tested, I threw up the usual games, DOOM 2016, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Phantom Abyss. The three games, at least to me, offer up vastly different visual experiences and using them as test cases makes sense. Now DOOM is DOOM, it always looks great, even on Nintendo Switch and here there was no difference. I did not notice any tears in the image, or artifacts from the game left on the screen. Spider-Man is another fast-paced game, but its open-world nature means there is a lot you see at once and like DOOM, I didn’t notice any issues with the game. Phantom Abyss is a bit different, I did notice some weird artifacting with a few rooms, but I was not able to repeat those tests again, due to the games random nature. Given I only spotted issues there, I suspect it was a game related issue, rather than a screen one.

Now as part of my job here, I watch a lot of videos on YouTube and Twitch, and I happened to have this screen during Faux-3, the season of gaming showcases. Being able to watch the Future Games Show, Xbox Games Showcase and all the others on the screen was great, of course it would have been better if I could just enjoy those, but that is not the screens’ fault. Over that week and change, I got to see trailers for games with visuals that were bright and cheerful and some that were dark and foreboding and each looked good on the screen. Outside of watching those, I also watched some movies, anime and even a few Twitch streams on it and everything looked great. There was one instance of a YouTube video being darker than normal, but a refresh fixed that, and I suspect that was a YouTube or browser issue.

There really isn’t a lot to say about this screen, it is large and yes that could be a concern for some, but it doesn’t feel big when in use. The panel is not the Quantum Dot, or even OLED that Alienware have been using a lot of lately, but it still provides a nice clear image. The input and output options are small, especially compared to other Alienware screens, but what is on offer is perfect for a basic setup. The biggest issue that users of the screen with face is the size, you can’t get away from it, but if you account for that, you will get a great display and even better, at a great price. Are there better displays from Alienware around, yes there are, but not at the price this one comes at, making this an easy addition to suggest.

The Score

8.5

Review unit provided by Alienware

The Pros

The quality of the image is great, it provides clear visuals in games, movies and just general use

The screen size is large and if you use it right, you can take advantage of that size…

The Cons

…but the overall size of the display means you need to have the right space for it

It features only the most basic input/output options, which may not be enough for some users