Dell 32 Inch Curved Gaming Monitor S3222DGM Review

Dell 32 Inch Curved Gaming Monitor S3222DGM Review

Buy it at Amazon: Dell 32 Inch Curved Gaming Monitor S3222DGM [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Vibrant and bright with smooth blur-free motion.

#sponsored #freeproduct You’ll receive the monitor, stand base and column, assembly and warranty manuals, a DisplayPort cable, HDMI cable, and power cable. The monitor measures 28” wide with a 16” screen height and 32” diagonal. The stand base is roughly shield-shaped and measures 9” x 11” and 1” tall. It attaches quickly and easily to the support column which connects to the back of the panel, though it doesn’t swivel nor can the screen be rotated to portrait orientation. However, the height is adjustable with a minimum height of 18” and max of 22”, and you can tilt the screen around 30 degrees to pitch up or slightly down. With the stand the monitor weighs 21.5 lbs. Alternatively, you can use a 100mm VESA compatible mount in lieu of the included stand.

The curvature of the screen is 1800R so the optimal viewing distance for the screen if 2-4 feet away. The bezels around the screen are quite thin, though keep in mind there’s about a ¼ inch gap from the viewable screen to the edge. The power button is located in the lower right-hand corner along the bottom edge and OSD menu controls are located on the back of the panel: a 5-way clickable joystick and 4 selection buttons.

And the back are the input, vertically oriented, with the power port and Kensington lock slot on the left, and on the right are two HDMI inputs, DisplayPort and audio out jack. Note is that this monitor does not have built-in speakers, however, it can pass-through audio from the video inputs to headphones or external speakers. You’ll also notice that there is no USB hub, so you won’t be able to connect any USB accessories to it. A cutout in the stand column helps with cable management, so you can feed the cables through to keep them hidden behind the column. Navigating the OSD using the joystick is fairly easy, just note you'll have to press it to select on option.

The max resolution for this screen is 2560x1440 (or 1440p QHD) and it is a VA display with a 2 ms response time and max 165Hz refresh rate. Note that 165Hz can only be achieved using a DisplayPort connection and with HDMI the refresh rate is capped at 144 Hz, though still plenty fast. The max brightness from this monitor is 350 nits, and its noticeably brighter than my previous gaming monitor (ASUS VG249Q) which only had 250 nits; this is especially helpful in a brightly lit room. At full brightness though it was a tad intense, so I set the color mode to ComfortView which is Dell’s “Low Blue Light” setting that reduces eye strain and fatigue. This mode will impact color accuracy though, so you may need a different mode for creative work where color accuracy is important. The colors on the screen are vibrant and well-saturated with full 8-bit color depth that covers 99% sRGB color gamut.

For internet browsing, email, and work, text is crisp, clear, and easy to read. If you’re switching from a flat to a curved screen, there may take some getting used to the slight distortion of straight lines. With a curved screen though, you can pretty much keep the whole screen in your field of vision all at once which is great for immersive content or gaming where action at the periphery of your vision may be important. The contrast of this monitor is good at 3000:1 producing dark blacks and bright whites. Performance is uniform across the screen provided you’re centered in front of it, but because this is a VA panel, there can be a color shift at off angles.

This monitor can support both Adaptive Sync for AMD FreeSync Premium and G-SYNC via DisplayPort, though performance and compatibility aren’t always not guaranteed. Adaptive Sync over HDMI is only available with AMD GPUs. For me, G-Sync appeared to be working just fine with my RTX 3070 and gaming in large, fast-paced arenas like Fortnite and Counterstrike was a super smooth with tear-free motion. You can customize the bottom 3 OSD buttons to change the various settings like preset modes, dark stabilizer, and brightness and contrast from the OSD menu. The top one always performs the ""cancel"" action. Interestingly, there’s also a soft blue downlight in the center of the screen that you can toggle on or off by simply tapping just under the logo, but you can also disable it in the menu as well as white the light in the power button.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the performance of this monitor for gaming. It’s fast, smooth, bright and responsive, and the curvature allows for a more immersive experience. It’s even pretty decent for watching movies and productivity or creative work if you don’t mind that lines and grids will look curved as you track your eyes along them. However, if you don’t need all that screen real estate, you can simply work in a smaller window centered on the screen instead.

Buy it at Amazon: Dell 32 Inch Curved Gaming Monitor S3222DGM [Affiliate Link]