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Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide gaming monitor: Three-minute review
Having used an OLED ultrawide for years now, specifically the Alienware AW3423DWF QD-OLED (a mouthful, I know), I’ve been curious about a switch to mini-LED. The idea of higher brightness while gaming is intriguing, to say the least, and in came the Mobile Pixels 34-inch curved mini-LED ultrawide gaming monitor.
This monitor left me impressed with its quality while gaming or watching content built for high brightness – so much so that I didn’t miss using my main OLED monitor. For the first time ever, I’ve been able to push brightness very high in games and enjoy fascinating visuals, and most importantly, without too much exposure.
Images don’t really do it much justice, as it will mostly seem too bright to view in images below. However, believe me when I say it’s a treat to view in person – and it comes down to its HDR1000 VESA certification (allowing 1000 nits of peak brightness), and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio producing incredible deep black levels.
With an 180Hz refresh rate, which is higher than what you might find on some of the best ultrawide gaming monitors, I was able to enjoy my favorite games easily.
It’s important to note, though, that it’s not all great. Dark level smearing (especially when reading white text against dark backgrounds) and ghosting in games are noticeable, and while that’s to be expected for a VA panel, it will be bothersome for those who are accustomed to faster displays.
While it didn’t completely spoil my gaming or movie viewing experiences, it was a lot more evident for me when playing fast-paced games, especially when using Frame Generation against darker backgrounds in-game. It gets worse (as expected) when enabling any of the overdrive settings via the monitor OSD menu – which I must add, is very finicky, as it sometimes won’t save settings or simply undo them randomly.
The biggest examples for me were using path tracing in Cyberpunk 2077, and notably path tracing mods in Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, which comes with a lot of ghosting already and lacks a denoiser (but served as an easier way for me to notice the difference). When in lighter backgrounds, ghosting was noticeable, but it wasn’t too extreme. When stepping into darker areas, the ghosting and smearing were seriously bad.
Perhaps it’s a bit unfair coming from using an OLED to a VA mini-LED, but its price is in the same region as other OLED monitors that don’t have this issue. It would have worked in Mobile Pixels’ favor to use an IPS panel instead of VA for better response times, but that would potentially be a drawback on the great contrast available here.
In terms of blooming, it’s kept to a minimum when sitting directly in front of the monitor. Bear in mind, what you’re seeing below isn’t the best representation of how well the haloing effect is kept to a minimum, due to different lighting conditions.
There’s a ‘Halo Control’ setting in the OSD menu, but I found that adjustments weren’t very necessary. I was quite happy with how well this monitor handles bloom. Compared to my mini-LED TV (specifically the TCL 55QM8B), which has 300+ full-array local dimming zones, I’d say the results were fairly similar.
I must reiterate that this is a VA panel, so viewing angles are narrow. Essentially, blooming is significantly worse when viewing from either side, but I’ve never used my ultrawide monitors when sitting away from my desk (unless it’s a 32:9 display).
Lining this up with an OLED display, again, is pretty unfair, since the AW3423DWF is night and day ahead, but it gave me a good impression of how good the deep black levels are on the Mobile Pixels 34-inch ultrawide. If you’ve been using a regular LED display, mini-LED will still blow you away – and in my eyes, it’s the best alternative to OLED.
And the comparison below is proof of that. The OLED’s deep black levels are genuinely phenomenal, and while the mini-LED strays far behind due to blooming, it was still great enough for me to enjoy content – and that’s even better when you throw in the benefit of very high brightness.
It’s also worth noting that there’s no worry of burn-in, unlike OLED monitors. It’s been a breath of fresh air not to baby my Alienware display with OLED care and pixel refreshes. In some ways, you can almost say that makes mini-LED the better choice, as you’re getting the best of the ‘brightness world’, while still taking some benefits of great contrast – and with an OLED, you’re mostly getting the best of the latter.
Yes, multiple OLED monitors like the AW3423DWF can utilize HDR1000, and OLEDs are about to get brighter with True Black HDR1000 VESA certifications. However, my display has a very aggressive Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL), which kicks in when trying to use HDR1000, and I’ve not had to deal with that on the Mobile Pixels ultrawide.
It’s taught me to respect mini-LED monitors, which I once saw as too low of a step down from OLED, and I’d very much consider using one in a multi-display setup.
I’m very pleased with Mobile Pixels’ decision to place the ports of the monitor directly on its rear, instead of the underside like most monitors do. I get that this is done to avoid strain on cables standing upright and prevent any damage, but it’s so easy and convenient to reach if you need to unplug or plug any of them – and it’s super beneficial if you have a cramped desktop setup like me.
The 90W USB-C reverse charging port is a welcome addition, and I could use it to charge other devices – and I really saw the benefit of this since I have tons of devices occupying power sockets.
It features 4-array microphones with DNC noise reduction, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t my PC wouldn’t recognize this, so I had no luck with testing there.
The RGB lighting is decent enough, but not bright enough to appreciate. I won’t knock the monitor down for this, though. Most monitors I’ve used don’t have RGB lighting that stands out, except for the Philips Evnia displays that have a special Ambilight feature to sync content on the screen to its RGB lights.
Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide gaming monitor: Price & Availability
- How much does it cost? $899.99 / around ÂŁ660 / AU$1,370 without import costs
- When is it available? Available now
- Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia (shipping from the US)
The Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide monitor retails at $899.99 / around ÂŁ660 / AU$1,730, and while this display’s high brightness and contrast ratio have left me impressed, I think it should be much cheaper. Some OLED ultrawide monitors are currently cheaper and don’t have issues like dark level smearing or ghosting.
It’s not a bad monitor despite some of its issues, but I’d have been more fond of it if it didn’t cost this much. Import fees will also bump up the cost if you’re outside of the US, which makes its potential total price even more unappealing.
Fortunately, it gets a lot right, specifically within the region of HDR brightness and contrast; there’s hardly any loss of detail when looking at bright scenery in movies or games when at maximum brightness, so it’s something to consider if you’re looking to get your hands on it.
Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide gaming monitor: Specs
|
Screen Size |
34-inch |
Row 0 – Cell 2 |
|
Aspect Ratio |
21:9 |
Row 1 – Cell 2 |
|
Resolution |
3440×1440 |
Row 2 – Cell 2 |
|
Brightness |
450 nits (Min) 1000 nits (Max) |
Row 3 – Cell 2 |
|
Contrast Ratio |
1,000,000:1 |
Row 4 – Cell 2 |
|
Refresh Rate |
180Hz |
Row 5 – Cell 2 |
|
Color Accuracy |
99% sRGB | 94% DCI-P3 | 99% Adobe RGB |
Row 6 – Cell 2 |
|
Speakers |
2x 5W Midrange, 1x 12W Bass |
Row 7 – Cell 2 |
|
Microphone |
4-array microphones with DSC noise reduction |
Row 8 – Cell 2 |
|
Weight |
18.51 lbs |
Row 9 – Cell 2 |
|
Wall Mountable (VESA) |
100 x 100 mm |
Row 10 – Cell 2 |
|
FreeSync Premium technology |
Yes |
Row 11 – Cell 2 |
|
Power Consumption |
Typ. 65W, Max. 270W |
Row 12 – Cell 2 |
|
Panel Type |
VA |
Row 13 – Cell 2 |
|
Connections |
2 Ă— USB-A 3.0 1 Ă— USB-C 3.1 2 Ă— HDMI 2.0 1 Ă— DP 1.4 1 Ă— 3.5mm Audio out |
Row 14 – Cell 2 |
Should you buy the Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide gaming monitor?
|
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Value |
Plenty of high brightness to enjoy across movies, TV shows, and games, but could benefit from a slightly cheaper price tag. |
3 / 5 |
|
Design |
Bogged down by the mediocre speakers on the bottom of monitor, but is adequate in other areas. |
3.5 / 5 |
|
Performance |
Besides dark level smearing and ghosting, the high brightness with HDR 1000, significantly enhances visual experiences, standing as a great alternative to OLED. |
4 / 5 |
|
Features |
OSD needs an improvement, but a 180Hz refresh rate and USB-C 90W reverse charging port are a very welcome addition. |
4 / 5 |
|
Average rating |
The Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide would be much better with a lower retail price, repositioning of the speakers, and an IPS panel for less ghosting and smearing, but excels at high brightness for immersion, making it a good option for PC gamers. |
3.5 / 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy if…
Also consider
Acer Predator X32QFS
If dark level smearing and ghosting are a big issue for you, and you don’t mind a 4K mini-LED instead of an ultrawide, then the Acer Predator X32QFS should be on your radar. This features a mini-LED IPS panel, which handles ghosting much better, and compatibility for both PS5 and PC with HDMI 2.1.
Read our full Acer Predator X32QFS review
|
MSRP/RRP |
ÂŁ899.99 / AU$1,099 (No US availability) |
|
Panel Size |
31.5in |
|
Panel type |
Mini-LED IPS |
|
Panel resolution |
3840 x 2160p; 4K |
|
Aspect ratio |
16:9 |
|
Refresh rate |
150Hz |
|
Response time |
0.5ms |
|
Brightness |
700 nits (native) / 1000 nits (peak HDR) |
|
Contrast ratio |
1000:1 |
|
HDR |
VESA DisplayHDR 1000 |
|
Ports |
1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A, 1 x audio jack |
|
Color gamut |
99% Adobe RGB, 99% DCI-P3 |
|
Display colors |
1.07 billion |
|
Warranty |
2-years |
How I tested the Mobile Pixels 34-inch mini-LED ultrawide
- Two weeks of usage on movies, TV shows, and games, notably titles that implement HDR well
- Some examples are Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Street Fighter 6, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Resident Evil 4 remake, and Cyberpunk 2077
- Multiple contrast tests and comparisons with Alienware AW3423DWF OLED ultrawide monitor
Throughout my two weeks of testing, especially when gaming, I had plenty of fun with the Mobile Pixels 34-inch monitor, and put my OLED monitor aside as a secondary display. Despite the drawbacks of blooming and ghosting, it was easy to enjoy bright content without losing much detail.
Testing Stellar Blade, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Cyberpunk 2077 first left great initial impressions, specifically in Cyberpunk 2077, where neon lights and vivid streets provide exceptional visuals on any display, but it took things up a notch. The ghosting issues became far more noticeable when using Frame Generation in Cyberpunk 2077 and Dragon’s Dogma 2, and even more so in fast-paced FPS games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Placing this next to Dell’s Alienware OLED monitor, allowed me to point out the mini-LED monitor’s drawbacks more easily. However, in terms of deep black levels, I was impressed with the Mobile Pixels 34-inch display, with just how close it can get to OLED, albeit still quite far off.
I used it for work and multitasking, which proved to be beneficial, in comparison to OLED, which notoriously has readability issues – and the mini-LED was a breeze to use while deep into productivity.
Read the full article here
