I’ve been using an LG UltraGear monitor for a few years now. Until I purchased that, I’d been a serial user of ‘whatever was laying around’. The switch to a large, good quality display was a game-changer and the chance to check out the latest was too much to resist. Available now, I got to check out the LG UltraGear 32-inch 4K AI Smart Gaming Monitor (Model 32G810SA-W): Intelligent Gaming Hub.

Launched in March for $999, the 32” IPS Display brings crisp 4K resolution with high refresh rate and fast response. The monitor also includes multiple HDMI inputs, as well as Display Port, and USB-C connectivity. 

It also has WebOS built-in making it not only a high-end gaming monitor, but a smart display that can run apps and more. It even includes a remote control, turning it into a dual-purpose device that can cover your entertainment needs, with a slim-line remote included for added convenience. 

I’ve been using the LG UltraGear 32-inch 4K AI Smart Gaming Monitor for a couple of weeks now and here’s how it went. 

Design

For a start, the white is a cool, crisp choice for a monitor colour, with the LG logo standing out nicely on the back – and it looks damn cool when the Hexagon RGB lighting is cycling through. 

The white display is complemented by a range of included white accessories including the smart remote, power supply and power cable, as well as 1.5m long HDMI and Display Port cables.

Setup is easy, with the two-piece stand easily slotting into the rear mount on the back of the display with the ‘one click system’ which locks it in place – though there’s a release below if you ever need to take it apart. The stand then screws to the base plate with a tool-less twisting screw. 

Once it’s together, the monitor feels extremely stable on the stand – but it also fit quite well onto my monitor arm when I tested it.

The stand itself is a versatile marvel, with the ability to tilt, raise and lower, as well as swivel the display from landscape into portrait orientation – great for those Reels, Shorts and TikTok videos. 

You’ll need to start plugging in cables next, starting with the 180W power supply, which is relatively slimline for a PSU. The input panel on the monitor is underneath – however that swivel stand allows for easy access to see what you’re doing – once the cover plate is removed. 

The Stand also has a hole for managing your cables, letting you keep things a little less cluttered on the desktop.

The display itself has a 3-Side Virtually Borderless Design which has minimal bezel around the top and sides – with just a small UltraGear branding on that bottom bezel.

Connectivity

There’s a heap of options to connect to the display, all hidden behind the panel. Once removed, the connectors are labelled on the back panel to make them easier to see- and that swivel stand is, again, fantastic. 

There’s a 3-pole Aux jack for your wired headset, as well as an RJ45 port to hardwire it if you want – though Wifi is also available. You also get two HDMI 2.1 ports, a USB-C out which can supply up to 65W, a DisplayPort 1.4 port, dual USB-A ports and the power input. 

I initially had difficulty with the HDMI inputs – nothing displayed. I switched to the DisplayPort cable to connect my desktop and it was off and racing. I did give HDMI a second attempt the next day, and it connected without issue ever after.

The monitor runs WebOS, so there’s limited functionality when it comes to ‘casting’ to the display – basically you can ‘cast’ from the YouTube app, which is linking the apps and not natively ‘casting’ – but you can quickly access most apps on the WebOS menu.

If you want, you can attach a Chromecast (or FireTV stick etc.) to the rear for that sort of functionality.

Remote

For the most part you’ll simply turn the monitor on when you use it with your PC, or use the included slimline remote. 

It’s fairly on-par with slim-line remotes we’ve seen before, with simple controls for power, input, volume (and mute) and channels – LG Live channels are on-board – as well as settings and Home, with a D-Pad for navigating the menus. 

There’s also shortcuts to streaming services including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and the ‘Movie’ collection – which shows a series of movies out on the various services. There’s also a dual-action button offering More actions, or with a long press, access to the Color key to bring up the four colour keys.  

It’s powered by a CR2025 button cell battery which is easily accessible from the spring loaded tray on the base.

On-Screen Display controls

The monitor has a multi-function power button on the rear, easily accessible from the front by reaching under the front bezel. 

The button can be pressed, then used like a D-Pad to navigate the on-screen controls, which give you fast access to inputs, then accessing and navigating the main menu.

Display

The spec list for the UltraGear 32G810SA display is pretty stacked. 

It’s a 32” 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution IPS panel with 178° viewing angles, in 16:9 aspect ratio. It comes with HDR10 support offering over 1 billion colors, with 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms Grey-to-Gray response time – and it’s both NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium compatible.

In use, the monitor is fantastic on both gaming and using the built-in WebOS SmartTV services. 

The display is bright enough, capable of up to 400 nits, with no light bleed I could see – and while it’s not OLED black, it was still pretty decent. The HDR10 support also means it’s super colourful, though it’s good to note you can play around with the display settings to find your the best settings for you.

I trialled the card on a desktop system with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX3080 leveraging the G-Sync support, and used a DisplayPort 1.4 cable. The results were super smooth. Cyberpunk 2077, Crysis Remastered, Sons of the Forest and more just ran smooth at high settings. 

Audio

There’s dual 5W speakers in the monitor for easy playback, as well as the 3-pole aux out and Bluetooth if you want to pair a headset or speakers. 

The in-built speakers offer good clarity, and sound great while listening to people speaking though they lack a bit of oomph in the low-end. LG has included ‘AI Sound’ which can simulate a 9.1 channel surround sound system – which works surprisingly well for a virtual system.

It’s a pretty decent audio system overall, giving you options while using the WebOS apps if you prefer your own speakers or headset while using your PC.

WebOS – Smart TV

A big feature of the LG UltraGear 32-inch 4K AI Smart Gaming Monitor is the WebOS install, giving you access to your streaming video services, apps and games without another device. 

While I was testing the monitor, it was setup in my 14-year old sons room – and let me tell you. He loved it. 

Access to all the free-to-air streaming apps from local TV, as well as streaming services, YouTube, Netflix et al. which gave him freedom to use them on a lovely 32” display with a remote, so he could kick back in his chair at his desk and relax. 

Running WebOS 24, the Smart Monitor also includes their GameHub, with access to services like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud game streaming – connect your Xbox controller and start gaming.

You can also access LG’s Live Channels – a mix of live and on-demand TV, movies, sports and more, giving you a ‘live’ TV experience. LG has added localised options like Sky News, as well as local content including Bondi Vet.

All-in-all, it’s a pretty comprehensive platform for a smart monitor – and just a bunch of bonus content and options for your new monitor when you’re not using it on your PC.

Final Thoughts

The LG UltraGear 32-inch 4K AI Smart Gaming Monitor is a winner in my book. 

The price tag for a 32-inch 4K display is great, and adding in the smart features when used in an environment like a home office, or bedroom,  lends the option for using it for more leanback relaxation as well as your computer monitor, without shelling out for a second display..

The quality of the IPS display is there when gaming, watching video, or just working on office documents. The panel is excellent, highlighting the smooth 144Hz refresh rate, and low response time along with brilliant colour reproduction thanks to the HDR10 support. .

If you’re not in need of the smart features, there’s other options – but for me, this is a great way to add an excellent dual-purpose entertainment device and gaming monitor to anywhere.

If you want to check it out further, you can head over to the LG website.