Aside from a couple of minor convenience issues, the Acer Predator X34 OLED is pretty much flawless. It delivers best-in-class gaming performance with a bright and colorful OLED image that will prevent you from regretting that you bought the very best.
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Since OLED gaming monitors first appeared, they have seen only small evolutions in their capabilities. Wide-gamut color has been there since the beginning, but now it’s a little wider thanks to Quantum Dot technology. Video processing was always on another level because they refresh so quickly that motion blur completely disappears at speeds over 180 Hz. The main improvement has been brightness. Early OLEDs did well to hit 300 nits; now you can see peaks of 1,300 nits for HDR highlights.
Acer has delivered a steady stream of some of the best OLED gaming monitors, and here, I have the Predator X34 OLED. It’s a 34-inch 21:9 WQHD panel with an 800R curve, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, DisplayHDR True Black 400, and wide gamut color. And the price is attractive at around $860. Let’s take a look.
Acer Predator X34 OLED Specs
Swipe to scroll horizontally Panel Type / Backlight Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) Screen Size / Aspect Ratio 34 inches / 21:9 Row 2 - Cell 0 Curve radius: 800mm Max Resolution and Refresh Rate 3440x1440 @ 240 Hz Row 4 - Cell 0 FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible Native Color Depth and Gamut 10-bit / DCI-P3 Row 6 - Cell 0 DisplayHDR 400 True Black, HDR10 Response Time (GTG) 0.01ms Brightness measured 407 nits SDR Row 9 - Cell 0 663 nits HDR Contrast Unmeasurable Speakers 2x 5w Video Inputs 1x DisplayPort 1.4 Row 13 - Cell 0 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C Audio 3.5mm headphone output USB 3.2 1x up, 3x down, 1x type C Power Consumption 42w, brightness @ 200 nits Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base 30.9 x 17-21.7 x 12 inches (785 x 432-533 x 305mm) Panel Thickness 6.5 inches (165mm) Bezel Width Top: 0.28 inch (7mm) Row 20 - Cell 0 Sides: 0.3 inch (8mm) Row 21 - Cell 0 Bottom: 0.5 inch (13mm) Weight 18.7 pounds (8.5kg) Warranty 3 years
The main thing keeping the price down here is the absence of a Quantum Dot Layer. The X34 OLED covers over 95% of DCI-P3, which is about average for non-QD displays. This is enough to make it very colorful and impactful for both SDR and HDR while saving you a bit of money. Accuracy is included as well with a precise sRGB mode and gamut selections for other commonly used standards. Though squarely aimed at gamers, the X34 OLED can serve as a post-production reference monitor.
Of course, you’re buying it for gaming, and in that area, it is loaded for bear. The refresh rate is 240 Hz, and while that sounds ordinary when compared to a 500 Hz display, it is quicker than many monitors with higher rates. And it achieves perfect motion resolution, i.e., no blur, at any frame rate over 180 fps. Resolution is 3440x1440, WQHD, which equates to 109 ppi, the same as a 27-inch QHD panel. The curve is a tight 800R, which maximizes immersive quality while introducing just slight image distortion. If you sit close enough, you can hear your voice reflected into your ears. It’s a bit like sitting in a bubble.
The X34 OLED’s panel is bright, with over 400 nits available for SDR content and 663 nits measured from a 25% window pattern in HDR mode. Acer claims 1,300 nits for a 1.5% window, and there is no reason to doubt that. HDR images are bright, colorful, and impactful.
No features have been sacrificed on the altar of value here. You get USB ports, including USB-C with 90 watts of power, internal speakers, KVM control, plenty of video inputs, and a nice adjustable stand. OK, there’s no LED lighting, so Acer did sacrifice that one thing. But no one would call the X34 OLED incomplete.
... continue reading