Best Gaming Monitor

(This article is one of 16 parts in our Tech Awards 2024: Editor's Choice content series.)

Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitor

Ultrawide gaming monitors are gaining popularity amongst PC gamers looking for an immersive gaming experience. These monitors offer more horizontal space, allowing gamers to see more of their surroundings in games that support wider aspect ratios like 21:9 or the even more extreme 32:9. As such, this is our main scope for assessing the best gaming monitor category.

But it’s not just PC games that benefit from these ultrawide monitors. All of the display space is even better for ramping up your productivity and working with multiple apps on one screen. For example, a 49-inch ultrawide gaming monitor offers the same display space as two 27-inch gaming monitors – and without a “border” cutting in the middle of the screen.

For our “Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitor” criteria, we are looking at premium, top-of-the-line models with an OLED panel that is 45 inches across or larger. They must be gaming-grade models, launched between April 2023 and April 2024 and available officially in Singapore.

Here are our nominees:

• Acer Predator X45 (45-inch)
• ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD (49-inch)
• LG 45GR95QE UltraGear WQHD Curved OLED (45-inch)
• MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED (49-inch)
• Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC (49-inch)

Note: Brands such as Alienware and HP that do not have a gaming-grade monitor with the screen sizes we're looking for, do not qualify. LG does have a 49-inch ultra-wide monitor but it’s not an “UltraGear” gaming-grade model, while Acer’s Predator X49 QD-OLED is not available in Singapore at the point of qualification. 

And the winner is…

In all fairness to the nominees that use a QD-OLED or OLED panel, the differences in terms of display quality are marginal. That is to say, the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD produces the kind of output you would expect from a high-quality OLED panel (trivia: Samsung is the only supplier of QD-OLED panels) – gorgeous pictures with the deepest blacks and vibrant colours.

But we really like how ASUS has squeezed in a lot of connectivity features into the ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD, including a USB Type-A port on the underside and one facing upwards on the right rear. It’s a stroke of genius, as they are very convenient to reach with the odd cable or USB stick. If you’ve tried contorting your upper body and struggled to reach the back of your monitor to get a charging cable connected, you’ll know what I mean. We are surprised how so many monitor brands have not thought about this.

We also have to bring up the Smart KVM feature of this ROG monitor, which truly takes advantage of the expansive display space that a 49-inch monitor affords. Smart KVM essentially allows you to control two computers with one keyboard and mouse, with both screens split across the wide display. When you move your mouse between one side of the screen and the other, it’ll automatically switch control between the two devices, all without the need for specialised software or additional hardware. You can even copy a file from one device and paste it to the other – thanks to its speedy USB 3.2 support. The monitor even comes with a full-function USB Type-C port with 90W power delivery so that you can charge up a connected device, like a laptop, even while connecting it to the display.

Well done, ASUS.

Note: The ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD is available on ASUS e-store for S$2,499.

*Launch SRP was used when considering value.

In the meantime, here's how the other nominees fared in a snapshot.

Acer Predator X45

It’s really hard to not like a gaming monitor with an OLED panel. The Acer Predator X45 produces excellent colour accuracy, and the colour range is what we expected of an OLED gaming monitor.

But the Predator X45 stands out not by having features, but the lack of them. For instance, there are no HDMI 2.1 ports (it only supports HDMI 2.0), and it's also worth noting that its underside ports are also the hardest to reach compared to the other gaming monitors featured in this Tech Awards category.

For a rather exorbitant launch price of $2,998, we really expected a bit more from the Acer Predator X45.

Note: The Acer Predator X45 is available on Acer's webstore for S$2,998.

LG WQHD UltraGear 45-inch Curved OLED – The best 45-inch OLED gaming monitor

The WQHD UltraGear Curve OLED is a 45-inch OLED gaming monitor from LG. That means it comes with gaming features such as a fast 240Hz refresh rate with 0.03ms response time. It also supports NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium. It even offers a 3.5mm audio jack that supports DTS Headphone:X, which offers accurate spatialisation and localisation when enjoying 3D audio with compatible headphones.

Design wise, we like how LG has designed this UltraGear gaming monitor with razor-thin bezels that frame its 45-inch screen. Oddly enough, there are no physical buttons on the monitor to control the on-screen display – you can only do so with the bundled remote control. That’s kind of a big risk because if the remote control is ever misplaced, you’ll never be able to access the monitor’s settings.

With great picture output, this LG UltraGear is a neat 45-inch option. Be careful where you place the remote control, though.

Note: The LG WQHD UltraGear 45" Curve OLED is available at Courts Online and Harvey Norman for S$2,724.

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED

With its massive 49-inch QD-OLED panel, speedy 175Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time, MSI has made a striking gaming display.

Like the ROG Swift 49-inch, the MSI MPG gaming monitor also gets a USB hub and KVM feature. This means you can switch connected mice and keyboards and two computers, but it’s a little surprising that MSI added USB 2.0 ports only, while the ROG equivalent got USB 3.2 support.

Design-wise, the MSI MPG 49-inch is pretty much no-frills. Unlike the other nominated models here, there are no RGB lights, and we would even go as far as to say that the monitor is the most plain-looking of all. Looks are in the eye of the beholder, but we don’t think it’s hard to argue that the MSI MPG 491CQP gaming monitor does not have much to differentiate it from the rest of the competitors as far as looks are concerned.

Note: The MSI MPG 491CQP is available at Lazada for S$2,749.

Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC – The most feature-rich 49-inch OLED gaming monitor

Like the other QD-OLED gaming monitors, the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 has a great display output that produces stunning image with deep contrast and saturated colour. It also has the best calibrated colour of the box and comes with the fastest refresh rate of 240Hz. The Odyssey OLED G9 looks really beautiful too.

It comes packed with features including Samsung TV Plus and Game Hub for streaming online content without the need to be hooked up to a computer or any other device. It even comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay.

But the Odyssey OLED G9 also comes with the most convoluted on-screen menu that we have ever come across in a gaming monitor, making its vast sea of features and options confusing to navigate because it comes in two different versions – one is focused on gaming and another that looks like Samsung’s standard TV menu. There’s a degree of learning curve for first-timers.

Despite that, we would go as far as saying that the Odyssey OLED G9 is on par with the winning ROG Swift gaming monitor, and gamers won’t go wrong picking either. But while the features on the Odyssey OLED G9 are aplenty and impressive, we think that the ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD just offers better practical usage with its well-placed USB ports and impressive KVM features.

 Note: The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is available at the Samsung Online Store for S$2,588 (usual $3,430).

References
 

• Acer Predator X45 (tested and scored internally)
• ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD (review coming soon)
• LG WQHD UltraGear 45-inch Curved OLED (review coming soon)
• MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED (tested and scored internally)
• Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC (review coming soon)

(This article is one of 16 parts in our Tech Awards 2024: Editor's Choice content series.)

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