At a look

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• The finest movement readability accessible in the present day
• Bright, vivid picture high quality
• Compact ergonomic stand
• AMD FreeSync mannequin will get a worth drop

Cons

• Lackluster HDR
• Still costly for a 25-inch monitor

Our Verdict

Alienware’s AW2524HF ditches Nvidia G-Sync for AMD FreeSync, but it surely retains 500Hz in all its high-refresh glory. If you’re somebody who needs a aggressive edge and can accept nothing wanting the most effective then this show is the one to get.

Price When Reviewed

$649.99

In March 2023 Alienware launched the primary 500Hz monitor, the Alienware AW2524H. Priced at $829.99, it offered improbable movement readability and Nvidia G-Sync assist at a steep worth. As a follow-up Alienware has launched the AW2524HF, which retains the 500Hz refresh price however as a substitute helps AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. It additionally cuts the worth to $650.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best gaming monitors to study competing merchandise.

Alienware AW2524HF: The specs

The Alienware AW2524HF’s specs are typical of a 25-inch esports monitor. It sticks with a 1080p IPS panel and offers only a handful of connectivity choices. The star of the present is clearly the 500Hz refresh price, which stays the best refresh price of any pc monitor at present accessible.

• Display dimension: 24.5-inch
• Native decision: 1920×1080
• Panel sort: IPS LCD
• Refresh price: Up to 500Hz
• Adaptive Sync: AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, VESA Adaptive Sync
• HDR: Yes, HDR10
• Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 4x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x headphone-out 3.5mm jack, 1x audio-out 3.5mm jack
• Stand adjustment: Height, swivel, tilt, pivot
• VESA mount: Yes, 100x100mm
• Speakers: No
• Price: $649.99 MSRP

Alienware’s AW2524HF is extraordinarily just like its sibling, the AW2524H. The fundamental distinction is present in Adaptive Sync: The cheaper AW2524HF helps AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and VESA Adaptive Sync, whereas the AW2524H helps Nvidia G-Sync. The AW2524HF additionally has two DisplayPort 1.4 ports and one HDMI 2.1, whereas the AW2524H has one DisplayPort 1.4 port and two HDMI 2.1, plus two audio line-out jacks. Finally, the AW2524H consists of customizable LED lighting not discovered on the AW2524HF.

Alienware AW2524HF: Design

Matt Smith

Alienware’s AW2524HF makes use of the corporate’s now-familiar “Legend” design language, a mixture of flowing curves and texture variations that come collectively for a retro sci-fi look. The monitor seems exceptionally just like its G-Sync cousin, the AW2524H, and older Alienware displays just like the AW2524HF.

The solely notable distinction between the brand new AW2524HF is the absence of LED lighting accents. That’s a distinction from the AW2524H, which has them—and a bit disappointing. Yes, the AW2524HF is the “affordable” 500Hz monitor, but it surely nonetheless carries an MSRP of $650.

Matt Smith

Missing LEDs apart, the AW2524HF continues Alienware’s custom of wonderful construct high quality. The monitor’s exterior panels are plastic, however the supplies used really feel thick and using various textures offers an upscale really feel. The monitor additionally has a spring-loaded headset stand on its left flank, a function it shares with the AW2524HF.

The monitor is supported by a compact stand with a hexagonal footprint. A small stand is sweet information when you have a small desk and may also show helpful for esports gamers, as some want large, sweeping mouse actions that eat quite a lot of desk house.

Ergonomic changes embody top, tilt, and swivel. The monitor may even pivot 90 levels for portrait orientation, although I doubt that adjustment will see a lot use given the monitor’s deal with esports. A 100x100mm VESA mount is supported, too, to be used with third-party monitor arms and stands.

Alienware AW2524HF: Features and menus

The new Alienware AW2524HF barely alters its video connectivity, dropping one HDMI 2.1 port in favor of an additional DisplayPort 1.4, for a complete of two DisplayPort ports. This is a great alternative, as HDMI 2.1 helps a most refresh price of 240Hz at 1080p decision. While I anticipate most homeowners will join only one gadget (a high-end gaming desktop), it’s good to have the choice so as to add a second PC and benefit from the most refresh price of 500Hz.

Alienware tosses in a USB hub pushed by a single USB-B upstream port. The hub connects to 4 extra USB-A downstream ports (two on the rear, and two on the monitor’s decrease lip). USB-C is absent, sadly—a function I’d prefer to see Alienware embrace, since a USB-C hub can be so useful. Still, the presence of 4 USB-A downstream ports is sweet for a gaming monitor. Most follow two.

Matt Smith

A joystick centered on the monitor’s decrease lip offers entry to the on-screen menu. It’s fast to reply and sensibly organized, with a improbable quick-select menu for minor changes. The full menu is equally straightforward to navigate, however picture high quality choices are a bit restricted. The monitor has quite a few customized presets, an sRGB mode, and a customized coloration mode with RGB coloration adjustment throughout acquire, offset, hue, and saturation. However, the monitor lacks coloration temperature and gamma choices (except for a generic “warm” and “cool” mode).

The monitor consists of the standard array of gaming options together with a crosshair, timer, FPS counter, and darkish stabilizer, which makes foes simpler to see by growing the brightness of darkish areas. Alienware additionally tosses in a number of distinctive “Alienvision” modes that alter picture readability in numerous methods, like a heat-vision model impact referred to as “Chroma.” I’m a bit skeptical of their utility, however they’re there.

Speakers aren’t included with the AW2524HF. That’s widespread for a gaming monitor, and particularly for one targeted on esports and aggressive play: Most avid gamers will likely be utilizing a headset, anyway. The monitor additionally lacks audio line-out jacks, so exterior audio system (or a headset) have to be related on to your PC.

How is the Alienware AW2524HF’s SDR picture high quality?

It’s cheap to anticipate the Alienware AW2524HF to behave like its predecessor and sibling, the AW2524H. They’re each 24.5-inch, 1080p, 500Hz displays, and even share terribly comparable mannequin numbers. This is broadly true, although there’s some minor variance between them.

Matt Smith

Brightness pegged the AW2524HF’s most SDR brightness at a pleasant, spherical determine: 400 nits. That’s fairly excessive for SDR content material and greater than sufficient to make the monitor usable in any scenario it’s seemingly for use in. It’s not exceptionally vibrant for a high-end gaming monitor, although, and that can have penalties on the subject of HDR efficiency.

Matt Smith

The AW2524HF delivered a shock with a most measured distinction ratio of 1480:1. That’s fairly good for a monitor with an IPS panel. In reality, it’s the most effective distinction ratio I’ve ever recorded from a gaming monitor with an IPS panel (and with no Mini-LED backlight).

Don’t get too excited: A ratio of 1480:1 continues to be meager in a world the place OLED alternate options can obtain infinite distinction, and Mini-LED opponents come shut. But an improved distinction ratio is all the time good to see, and it dampens the hazy “IPS glow” that may destroy darkish scenes on many IPS displays. It’s there, but it surely’s solely distracting in extraordinarily darkish video games performed in a really darkish room.

Matt Smith

The AW2524HF hits a coloration gamut that covers one hundred pc of sRGB and 88 p.c of DCI-P3 (primarily similar to the AW2524H). I wouldn’t take into account this Alienware a “wide gamut” monitor, but it surely’s an improve over older aggressive gaming displays. The outdated Alienware AW2521H, for instance, solely achieved 74 p.c of DCI-P3.

A decent coloration gamut helps the AW2524HF ship vivid, saturated coloration that appears engaging however doesn’t creep into the hyper-saturated look of displays with a particularly large coloration gamut. That’s a great match for video games. Content creators, alternatively, could discover the colour gamut limiting, because it’s too slim to be ultimate for modifying images and movies.

Matt Smith

Color accuracy is respectable, with a solidly midrange consequence that matches smack in the course of comparable displays. While coloration accuracy may very well be higher in idea, it’s adequate to supply a sensible, lifelike picture in video games, and it received’t look out of kinds in opposition to opponents.

The AW2524HF additionally achieved a default gamma curve of two.3, barely off the goal of two.2. This signifies content material seems a bit darker than it ought to — but it surely’s a small variance, and I discovered it troublesome to note outdoors of testing. The similar might be stated of the monitor’s default coloration temperature of 6400K, which is only a smidge hotter than the goal of 6500K. This, too, is troublesome to note.

You will discover the AW2524HF’s lack of sharpness, nonetheless. The monitor’s 24.5-inch 1080p panel packs roughly 90 pixels per inch (ppi), which isn’t rather a lot. A 27-inch 1440p monitor has 109 ppi, and a 27-inch 4K monitor offers 163 ppi. Low pixel density results in a gentle look in video and images, jaggedness round wonderful fonts, and extra noticeable aliasing artifacts in 3D video games.

The AW2524HF’s picture high quality is unremarkable when in comparison with all displays, but it surely’s fairly good for a monitor within the esports class. Its brightness, coloration gamut, and coloration accuracy are aggressive with different top-tier aggressive gaming displays, and its glorious distinction ratio (for an IPS monitor) offers a greater sense of depth and immersion than some alternate options. I believe most avid gamers will likely be happy, particularly if upgrading from an older esports monitor that used a TN panel or early era Fast IPS panel.

How is the Alienware AW2524HF’s HDR picture high quality?

The Alienware AW2524HF helps HDR however, in contrast to the AW2524H, it’s not VESA DisplayHDR 400 Certified. This, it seems, is indicative of diminished HDR efficiency, as I measured a most sustained brightness of 402 nits in HDR mode — a big discount from the 465 nits of the AW2524H.

In fact, neither 500Hz monitor can ship a satisfactory HDR expertise. That’s a disappointment, however one shared with different high-refresh displays. No pc monitor above 240Hz presents an OLED panel or a Mini-LED backlight, so brightness is inevitably restricted. And that’s an issue in HDR, since improved brightness (and luminance element) is way of the purpose.

How is the Alienware AW2524HF’s movement efficiency?

Matt Smith

Design, connectivity, and picture high quality matter, however the Alienware AW2524HF’s 500Hz refresh price is the headline function — and it delivers.

The AW2524HF has a local refresh price of 480Hz, which might be overclocked to 500Hz. The hole between them is totally trivial — I anticipate that Alienware picked the 500Hz goal as a result of it may (and it sounds cool), not as a result of it’s mandatory. Still, the monitor offers stellar outcomes at each 480Hz and 500Hz.

Motion readability is as near good as any pc monitor I’ve ever witnessed. Scrolling check pictures from League of Legends and DOTA 2 present that just about all particulars are preserved in character, terrain, and spell results. Character names are straightforward to learn, well being bars are crisp, and smaller characters stay straightforward to pick amongst a crowd.

Upgrading to 500Hz offers benefits even over various 360Hz displays. This is most noticeable when viewing small, difficult particulars, like character names hovering over foes or wonderful textual content in a wall texture. A 360Hz monitor, just like the Acer Predator XB273U F, can trace at these particulars, however they’re normally troublesome or unimaginable to learn. The AW2524HF can convey these particulars to the fore. Similar enhancements are seen when quickly handing over a first-person shooter. This usually obscures the background however, on the AW2524HF, I discovered the picture almost as clear as when standing nonetheless.

It’s not good, in fact. Small textual content is readable, however can nonetheless trigger some pressure, and a speedy about-face will nonetheless present some blur that obscures element. But the advance over 360Hz is current. Nothing else comes shut.

The Alienware AW2524HF helps AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and VESA Adaptive Sync. This differs from its sibling, the AW2524H, which helps Nvidia G-Sync and Nvidia Reflex Analyzer, a instrument for testing complete system latency in your PC. Compatibility apart, I didn’t discover any distinction in how every monitor carried out with Adaptive Sync. Both present a slick expertise that feels so responsive it appears wired to your mind.

Alienware offers three response time modes: Fast (the default), Super Fast, and Extreme. The Super Fast and Extreme modes are sharper in idea, however I discovered the distinction extraordinarily laborious to note. The Extreme mode seems a bit sharper than Fast, however I additionally felt I observed minor overshoot, which prompted shimmering in wonderful textures and round edges—although it was terribly delicate.

The 500Hz refresh price is an plain benefit for the AW2524HF, however avid gamers eyeing this show ought to be sure they’re ready. A 500Hz show requires a body price of 500 frames per second (FPS) to totally use each final hertz, which, clearly, is a tall order. Some video games have an in-engine body price cap effectively under 500 FPS, whereas others will battle to hit 500 FPS as a result of they’re too graphically demanding. I like to recommend avid gamers double-check their favourite video games, and the capabilities of their video card, to make sure it’s a great match for the monitor.

If all the things checks out, although, you’re certain to be impressed—the AW2524HF’s movement readability is the most effective accessible in the present day.

Should you purchase the Alienware AW2524HF?

The Alienware AW2524HF is a wonderful esports and aggressive gaming monitor. It has a 500Hz refresh price that delivers very good movement readability and fluidity that no present competitor can match. The AW2524HF additionally offers a big worth minimize relative to its predecessor, the AW2524H (from $829.99 to $649.99). $650 continues to be rather a lot to ask for a 1080p monitor, however the benefit over 360Hz displays is notable. It’s nonetheless not for each gamer—however those that get pleasure from aggressive titles ought to give the AW2524HF critical consideration. Its movement efficiency stays unmatched.