The bigger the better. At least that seems to be the premise of the Alienware AW5520QF. It is a monitor that brings it to TV format with a whopping 55 inches. However, this has its price, because with currently 3,499 euros the display bolide is really not a bargain. But is this monster really worth the price? And above all: why should you buy a 55-inch monitor when there are so many good TVs of the same size? We investigated this question in our test.
The expectation of the Alienware AW55QF is of course not exactly small in terms of the price. We were all the more fidgety to finally get the body behind us and see the racing car at work. But before that, Alienware first faced the hurdle of unpacking and setting up. And that is not manageable alone, a second man is essential to pull the well-packed and padded device out of the box.
Some things are easy. Screwing the foot to the stand with four screws is still the simplest part. Unpacking the display is a bit more difficult, since the upper half consists almost entirely of the display panel and you struggle a little with the panic not to scrap it. Finally, the part of the protective film is washed away. Attach to the stand, tighten six Phillips screws again and you're done. Optionally, you can also hang the thing on a VESA 200×200 or 200×300 wall mount using the included adapter.
<a href = "https://img.gameswelt.de/public/images/202003/b7d4937cd3a84c231459e1cf7582f70e.jpg" data-title = "Alienware AW5520QF Image 1
Date: 02.03.2020 "data-lightbox =" b7d4937cd3a84c231459e1cf7582f70e.jpg ">
A first look reveals a very chic design, thanks to the design that makes the upper part look very slim. The whole interior is hidden in the display case, which makes up the lower half, pretty in matt white with sensible cable routing, which allows you to actually lay all the strings largely invisibly. Finally, a magnetically attached cover hides connections and cable routing. Pretty. Only the clip on the foot does not inspire confidence, especially if you have to squeeze thicker cables through it. The back also has AlienFX lighting in the form of a horizontal stripe and the Alienware logo. Very nice.
The monitor is definitely ready for connection. 1x HDMI, 2x USB (one with charging function) and a jack for headphones are easily accessible on the left side. To the left on the back are 2x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB 3, 1x USB uplink and 1x SPDIF. Too bad that the price does not already rely on HDMI 2.1, which would be of particular interest for the upcoming console generation. Thanks to the SPDIF connection, you can also optionally connect external sound systems if you don't want to use the decent stereo speakers.
It is a pity that the HDMI connections have neither CEC nor ARC. Otherwise, only a power connection is waiting to be operated by cable without an external power supply. Positive: all necessary cables (HDMI, DisplayPort, USB upstream) are included. When fully assembled, the monitor takes up a lot of space. 1225.9 x 770.6 x 263.91 mm with stand is not exactly little, we have seen slimmer solutions with regard to the installation depth even with such large-format displays.
It is operated either using buttons on the lower right edge of the housing (boo, like old-fashioned), or using the enclosed remote control. The battery compartment is hidden behind a magnetically attached flap that can take a little more grip. The remote control itself works fine and conveniently controls the clear on-screen display, which with its numerous setting options, presets and gaming options is not one of the worst representatives of its kind.
<a href = "https://img.gameswelt.de/public/images/202003/9bb342aebe28533c8994436923c7853d.jpg" data-title = "Alienware AW5520QF Image 1
Date: 02.03.2020 "data-lightbox =" 9bb342aebe28533c8994436923c7853d.jpg ">
Let's get to the basics. The AW5520QF uses a 55-inch OLED panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz via DisplayPort or 60 Hz via HDMI. Of course, the monitor offers 4K resolution, anything else would have been a disappointment. The specified update rate of 0.5 ms, which results in a very good response time, is also convincing. The panel also supports AMD FreeSync for Radeon graphics cards and is also on the NVIDIA list of G-Sync-compatible models, so tearing and stuttering are not an issue. It is a shame, however, that Alienware does not rely on FreeSync 2, here too there is no future.
While the color space coverage with specified 98.5% DCI-P3 (measured 97%) can collect points and, thanks to OLED, you can expect strong colors, very good contrasts and a rich black, further weaknesses are accumulating. The lighting is stated at 400 cd / m², but this is only achieved in peak values. The display normally beats around at less than 200 cd / m². Accordingly, it was not enough for an HDR certification. Although there is an HDR mode that is also recognized and used by consoles or PCs, the visible effect is rather disappointing due to the poor brightness and not worthy of a 3,500-euro monitor.
There are other weaknesses in the company, especially the moderate (or rather nonexistent) anti-reflective coating. The panel is not much fun in rooms with more powerful light sources. It is also striking that the display via HDMI (in our case, an Xbox One X) appears a bit washed out. The image sharpness via DisplayPort is significantly better. We would therefore primarily recommend using a PC and not a console.
<a href = "https://img.gameswelt.de/public/images/202003/6bce10ba5f89fb1c3c4953029d9c76c2.jpg" data-title = "Alienware AW5520QF Image 1
Date: 02.03.2020 "data-lightbox =" 6bce10ba5f89fb1c3c4953029d9c76c2.jpg ">
However, it should be noted that even using a PC only makes sense at a certain distance. Anyone who thinks to put the racing car on the desk will have little physical pleasure. The monumental size is ergonomically very unfavorable, partly because the top edge of the picture is too high. Over time, this goes on the neck. We also had to struggle a little with motion sickness when gaming on the desk.
It should also be mentioned that using a PC is only worthwhile with a high-end machine that is able to handle 4K fluently. What really appeals to the PC are the contrast, general color representation and response time. Even with nimble shooters, we could not notice any delays. You shouldn't forget that the monitor cannot play content independently. There are no apps like TV sets, i.e. a PC, a console or a set-top box must be connected.
So there are some shortcomings that are actually unforgivable given the price and ultimately massively question the meaning of the 55-inch monitor. If you then consider that really good TVs like Samsung Q85R or LG C9 cost less than half the AW5520QF, it becomes even clearer. Although they do not have DisplayPort connections, which allow higher refresh rates on the PC, their features are a bit rounder overall. In addition to the response time, a little bit to justify the additional cost of the monitor compared to the TV sets.
