A good monitor can make or break your gaming experience but there are so many monitors on the market it can be difficult to make the right choice.  And that the right choice for one person may not be the right choice for another.

What we try to do is to give you the highlights and any lowlights of a monitor and then it is up to you to decide which highlights you need most and which lowlights are deal breakers for you.

The Alienware 27 4K Dual Resolution Gaming Monitor is, as you’d expect a monitor that is capable of displaying 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution and it does so at an impressive 180Hz.  It is not the highest refresh rate going around but remember it is at 4K.

If you want a higher refresh rate you can change the resolution of the display to FHD (1920 x 1080) and you will get a massive 360Hz resolution.  The FHD resolution isn’t as bad as it sounds given the “smaller” 27-inch size of the monitor and you really do not notice any difference, especially with a fast-paced game (I’m assuming you are playing a fast-paced game because you gave up the 180Hz 4K to get to 360Hz).

Both of these resolutions are what Alienware call “native” resolutions.

Read on to find out how this performed in our testing.

Design + specs

  • Panel Type: IPS
  • Screen Size: 27-inches, 16:9 ratio
  • Resolution and refresh rate:
    • 3840×2160 @ 180 Hz
    • 1920×1080 @ 360 Hz
  • Colour Gamut: 95% DCI-P3
  • GTG: 0.5ms
  • Brightness: 600 nits
  • Contrast: 1,000:1
  • Ports:
    • Two HDMI 2.1 ports (HDCP 1.4 and HDCP 2.2), (Supports 3840 x 2160 at 165 Hz, 1920 x 1080 at 330 Hz, FRL, HDR, VRR as per specified in HDMI 2.1) (including one HDMI 2.1 FRL with eARC to support Dolby ATMOS signal pass-through)
    • One DisplayPort 1.4 connector (HDCP 1.4 and HDCP 2.2), (Supports 3840 x 2160 at 165 Hz, 1920 x 1080 at 330 Hz, DSC, HDR)
    • One USB-B 3.2 Gen1 upstream port (5 Gbps)
    • Two USB-A 3.2 Gen1 downstream ports (5 Gbps)
    • One USB-C 3.2 Gen1 downstream port (5 Gbps)
    • One USB-A 3.2 Gen1 downstream port (5 Gbps) with BC1.2 power charging
  • Dimensions: 612 x 409-518 x 244mm 
  • Weight: 7.2kg                     

The back of the monitor is very Alienware with RGB lighting of the screen size number and the Alienware head logo.  It looks great but I mount my monitors on a wall so it’s kind of useless to me there.  The power button on the bottom right of the monitor matches the colours of the lights on the rear.

One nice addition to the monitor is a retractable headset hanger on the left-hand side of the monitor.  Finished gaming? Just hang up your headset to keep your desk tidy and your headset handy for your next gaming session.

The USB-C port is underneath the monitor but unfortunately, it is only a downstream port but on the other hand, it supports 15W PD charging so you can easily charge your devices while gaming, freeing up your ports for other peripherals.

Display Quality

The last gaming monitor I reviewed was a massive 45-inch OLED monitor which I absolutely loved, and very nearly pulled the trigger on purchasing one when its price dropped 33% during PAX Aus 2024.  

This monitor is a lot smaller, has a higher refresh rate and resolution and, not coincidentally, only costs a third of the previous gaming review monitor.

This monitor is more for the pure gamer, given the higher refresh rate and resolution.  You will often see pro gamers using these sized monitors as it allows them to easily see the entire display right in front of their eyes.

The colours appeared to be incredibly accurate (and the specs match this with 95% DCI-P3) so for those looking to use the monitor for creative purposes as well as gaming can do so with confidence.

The colours, although muted more than an OLED display are still amazing and it shows just how far IPS panels have improved in the last couple of years – my current monitor is a poor cousin with much more muted colours and it is only a few years old now.

The display, as you would expect with the specs of this monitor, was able to handle all the games I threw at it, mostly fast-paced driving and shooting games.  

Other features:

Other features include support for NVIDIA G-Sync and VESA AdaptiveSync along with Picture-in-Picture (PiP) and Picture-by-Picture (PbP).  Dolby Vision support is also included, although the number of games that support this is few and far between.

Final verdict

The Alienware 27 4K Dual-Resolution Gaming Monitor is a monitor for the gamer who wants the best of both worlds. You can choose to game in 4K resolution at a refresh rate of 180Hz or at 1080P and 360Hz refresh rate. The other specs match what you would hope for out of a gaming monitor.

The colours are as good as you could hope for with an IPS display with accuracy and vibrancy when you need it.

If you are looking for a decent gaming monitor and can’t decide whether you want a higher-resolution display or a higher refresh rate then you should consider this and get both.

The Alienware 27 4K Dual-Resolution Gaming Monitor is available now from Dell online for $1,059.30.