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Having one of the best monitors on your desk is a near-necessity, whether you work on a laptop for up to eight hours, five days a week, or you're an avid gamer and want the best-looking experience. Given the rapid rate at which technology has advanced (and continues to do so), we're spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a screen. OLED, 4K and even 5K monitors are all the rage, but what if I told you I've been testing an LED IPS monitor that won't make you care that its resolution is limited to just 1080p, and one that doesn't cost thousands? It sounded too good to be true... until I tested the Alienware AW2525HM 25-inch 320Hz monitor. This is the gaming and work monitor for you if you're on a budget. Look, I'm no stranger to 4K resolution and just how fantastic it looks, but when the colors look this good and the monitor is this fast, I can look past that. With a whopping 320Hz refresh rate, 0.5ms response time, and mindblowing color reproduction, it didn't take long for the AW2525HM to become my favorite monitor. My mind was blown even further when I saw the price tag, so let me take you through it all. If Speedy Gonzales was a monitor Ever heard of the fastest mouse in all of Mexico? If Speedy Gonzales was a monitor, he'd be the Alienware AW2525HM. Marketed as a gaming monitor — and for good reason — the AW2525HM has a whopping 320Hz refresh rate and a 0.5ms response time. "What does that mean?" The 320Hz refresh rate ensures smooth, fluid motion, while the 0.5ms response time reduces ghosting and motion blur. Sounds great in theory but what about in real-world usage? It works, and boy, does it work well! Regardless of the game I played to test this monitor, I was stunned by the performance, and I was left highly impressed. There was no choppiness during fast-paced combat in Cyberpunk 2077, or while sprinting in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. And no, no signs of ghosting either. Given the AW2525HM's speed, I'm happy to trade off 4K resolution. Before you come for me, there's another excellent reason for this — and that's the color rendition, which I'll talk about next. Any color you like When I see an opportunity to make a Pink Floyd reference, I take it. Now that we're past my exquisite taste in music, let's talk about the Alienware AW2525HM's performance when it comes to color reproduction. 1080p isn't as good as 4K, but when the colors look this good, I'm inclined to not care as much. First, let's talk about objective testing. I conducted my standardized lab testing to see how the AW2525HM fared in terms of color, and the results blew me away, as you can see in the table below. What do these numbers mean? The monitor covers 148.5% of the sRGB color gamut, which means it covers the entire color spectrum and then some, and it delivers bold, bright, vivid colors, shades and hues. Then we've got DCI-P3, another common color space with a wider overall gamut than sRGB, meaning it delivers a more accurate rendition of lifelike color. 105.2% coverage means it can render more shades than the actual gamut. Lastly, Delta-E, which tells us how accurate or close the color on screen is to the color output from the source, such as your computer or laptop. The closer the score to 0, the more color-accurate the image — yes, 0.06 is an outstanding score. The numbers are great and tell us half the story, but testing the monitor by playing video games confirms the AW2525HM's prowess in color rendition and reproduction. In Cyberpunk 2077, the neon lights appears brightly colored but not oversaturated to the point that they looked fake. This made the game feel more immersive, which is exactly what you need in an FPS/RPG. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is more of a challenge because there are many dark areas and dungeons in the game. Regardless, the AW2525HM excelled in balancing highlights and shadows to deliver a fantastic image. I was able to make out details in the dark areas, such as plants or objects which were otherwise obscured. And while a lot of the graphics performance comes down to your GPU, all the cutscenes appeared highly detailed and, again, bright and bold, which helped keep my immersion intact. Wait, how much?! What does the Alienware AW2525HM excel at? It's ridiculously fast with its 320Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time. It reproduces colors vividly and accurately. It looks great. When I first started using this monitor, I honestly thought it cost more than $500, and you probably will too. But to my surprise, it costs less than half of what I expected. The question, then, isn't how much it costs — it's how little. That's right. The AW2525HM is a budget monitor and one of the cheapest screens that delivers outstanding performance, retailing for just $249 / £209. 4K and OLED panels cost a lot more money, but given that you're getting a speedy monitor that makes colors look the best they ever have, I really can't complain about being limited to a 1080p resolution. If you're looking for a monitor that makes games feel immersive with beautiful color reproduction, and makes scrolling through long spreadsheets smooth and fluid, then I can't recommend the AW2525HM enough. Of course, there are better monitors out there which offer crystal clear 4K resolution, but for the little money you're paying, there's not much to fault here. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! More from Tom's Guide
