Ultrawide gaming started out as a bit of a curiosity in the gaming world. Ultrawide and curved monitors started trickling out onto the market and very few games supported the bizarre resolutions required to hit ultrawide monitor sizes. Thankfully support has caught up and ultrawide gaming has become commonplace, which is great news for those of you who want a truly immersive experience. Long the realm of racing games and space sims, having an extra-wide viewing space game make a real difference across a lot of genres. Not to mention that more screen real estate is always good for productivity.
All of the monitors we've chosen here, in addition to being ultrawide, all support higher refresh rates, response times under 5ms, and some form of adaptive sync technology. So regardless of which model you land on, you're going to have a good time gaming on anything you find here.
AOC CU34G2X
| Size | 34" |
| Resolution | 3440x1440 |
| Response Time | 1ms |
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | Adaptive-Sync |
AOC exploded onto the market a few years ago offering monitors that were so affordable for their hardware category that they were met with a good amount of skepticism. Thankfully, that skepticism was unfounded because AOC just continues to put out very solid products with an insanely generous three-year warranty with a zero dead pixel guarantee and a one-time accidental damage warranty. The CU34G2X sports a 1500R curved VA panel, height, and tilt adjustment, and their own version of adaptive sync. Not being G-Sync certified means that there will likely be extra steps getting adaptive refresh setup properly if you're on an Nvidia card, but AMD FreeSync users shouldn't have any issue.
Lenovo G34w-10
| Size | 34" |
| Resolution | 3440x1440 |
| Response Time | 4ms |
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | AMD FreeSync |
Lenovo has been in the monitor game for a while now, and they've started breaking out of their business-like reputation and into more gaming-focused hardware in recent years. Their G34w-10 offers a 1500R curved VA panel with a solid feature-set. With wide-range height and tilt adjustment, AMD FreeSync, high refresh rate, solid resolution it'll get you up and gaming in no time. The big trade-off here is a response time at 4ms, which is within our specified gamer-friendly range of 5ms or under but just barely.
Sceptre E345B-QUT168
| Size | 34" |
| Resolution | 3440x1440 |
| Response Time | 1ms |
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | AMD FreeSync Premium |
Sceptre is one of the few monitor manufacturers willing and able to undercut even AOC, which is really saying something. Their E345B-QUT168 is an IPS panel equipped with AMD FreeSync Premium, an extremely thin bezel, and a fully adjustable stand. Finding an IPS panel with a high refresh rate is already a bit of a challenge, but doing so in this price category for an ultrawide is almost unheard of.
Related: 2021’s 5 Best 8K TVs for Gaming
Acer Nitro XZ342CK
| Size | 34" |
| Resolution | 3440x1440 |
| Response Time | 1ms |
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | AMD FreeSync |
You probably know Acer as a budget computer manufacturer, which is true. They've been cranking out affordable workstation-level hardware for years now, and their Nitro line of products seeks to do the same thing for gamers. The Acer Nitro XZ342CK is another 1500R curved VA panel, but includes a VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification to ensure high color accuracy. Acer pairs this with a profile-based firmware that allows you to quickly change between different monitor modes quickly and easily, for those of you who really like to dial in your settings for specific games.
LG 34GL750-B
| Size | 34" |
| Resolution | 2560x1080 |
| Response Time | 1ms |
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | Nvidia G-Sync Compatible |
LG has just been crushing it in the monitor market in recent years. Their 34GL750-B is an IPS panel with 99% sRGB color accuracy, HDR10 support, and compatibility with Nvidia G-Sync. That translates to a monitor that has great colors, deep blacks, and solid gaming performance. It's also outfitted with a height and tilt adjustable stand with extremely thin bezels. The drawback here is the lower resolution, which means a relatively low pixel density for the screen size. But for some people, things like pixel density are less of a concern, and gaming at lower resolution is going to provide much better performance for those of you running older or mid-tier hardware.
Acer Predator X38
| Size | 37.5" |
| Resolution | 3840x1600 |
| Response Time | 1ms |
| Refresh Rate | 175Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | Nvidia G-Sync |
Acer is all about gaming on a budget with their Nitro line, but their Predator line is real-deal top-tier stuff. The Predator X38 is a full G-Sync IPS panel monitor with a 2300R curve, and it still manages to offer DCI-P3 98% color gamut across its spacious 38-inch screen. Thin bezels, USB ports, full adjustability, and a solid gaming-focused OSD with their GameView firmware makes for an attractive, accurate, and fast monitor. It's hard to go wrong with this one.
SAMSUNG Odyssey G9
| Size | 49" |
| Resolution | 3840x1600 |
| Response Time | 2ms |
| Refresh Rate | 240Hz |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | Nvidia G-Sync |
We've talked about the Samsung Odyssey G9 before, and that's because it's a truly impressive monitor. It has a blazing fast refresh rate, high resolution, massive VA panel, and 1000R curve packed into the space of two side-by-side 27-inch monitors. It has full HDR 1000 support and uses QLED backlighting to maintain an even, solid viewing experience across its massive frame. If you want a truly immersive, no-compromises monitor then this is where you want to be.
Ultrawide gaming isn't just for racing and space sims anymore. Having more peripheral vision can make a big difference in FPS games and many other genres. Not to mention the fact that it's significantly more space-efficient than trying to fit dual monitors on your gaming desk.
For more hardware recommendations check out 2021’s Best Uninterruptible Power Supplies and How to preorder the Apple Watch Series 7 on Pro Game Guides.
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Published: Oct 6, 2021 07:56 am