Alienware AW2525HM review: A 320Hz monitor for $250! Wait, what?

Best Prices Today: Alienware AW2525HM

$249.99

The AW2525HM is an entry-level monitor in Alienware’s 2025 monitor lineup, though you might not know that from a glance at the specifications. This 25-inch monitor has 1080p resolution with a maximum refresh rate of 320Hz, as well as official support for both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium. Despite that, it retails for just $250.

Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best gaming monitors for comparison.

Alienware AW2525HM specs and features

At its core, the Alienware AW2525HM is a traditional IPS-LCD monitor like thousands sold over the past two decades. It combines a 1080p IPS panel with an edge-lit LCD backlight. What sets it apart, though, is the monitor’s low price and high refresh rate. Serving up 320Hz at just $250 is an incredible deal at face value. By comparison, Amazon currently sells the older AW2523HF (a 360Hz monitor) for about $330, and even white label 320Hz monitors typically sell above $250, albeit sometimes with 1440p resolution.

• Display size: 24.5-inch 16:9 aspect ratio
• Native resolution: 1920×1080
• Panel type: IPS-LCD
• Refresh rate: 320Hz
• Adaptive Sync: Yes, AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible
• HDR: Yes, HDR10
• Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-B 5Gbps upstream, 1x USB-A 5Gbps downstream, 1x USB-A 5Gbps downstream with 7.5 watts power
• Audio: None
• Price: $249.99 MSRP

You might expect the low price to force some compromise, but there’s less than you think. The monitor lacks USB-C, but that’s not typical for a gaming monitor at this price point, and it still has a bit of downstream USB-A connectivity. The monitor also has broad Adaptive Sync support with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync officially supported.

Alienware AW2525HM design

The AW2525HM embraces the new look and feel of Alienware’s monitors which, in my opinion at least, is a downgrade from the company’s earlier efforts. The old retro-futuristic vibe is gone, replaced by an organic, smooth look that strangely is available in just one color: navy blue.

It’s an odd choice, to be sure, but there are a few benefits. Alienware’s new design language makes a hard pivot toward stands with a small, flat base that minimizes the monitor’s footprint on a desk.

The stand also provides a good range of ergonomic adjustment. It provides 110mm of height adjustment, 25 degrees of tilt, 40 degrees of swivel, and rotates 90 degrees for use in portrait mode. These features mark a difference between the AW2525HM and even less expensive white-label monitors available on Amazon, most of which have a more limited range of ergonomic adjustment.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The monitor also has a 100x100mm VESA mount for use with third-party monitor arms and stands.

As a bonus, the monitor also provides a flip-out headset rack for hanging a gaming headset when it’s not in use.

Alienware AW2525HM connectivity

The Alienware AW2525HM’s connectivity is solid but expected for a budget- to mid-range gaming monitor. It has two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4 for a total of three video inputs. The HDMI 2.1 ports support only 255Hz at 1080p, which means only the DisplayPort can handle the monitor’s full resolution and refresh rate. This isn’t uncommon at this price, though some white-label monitors claim higher refresh rates across the HDMI ports (with the caveat that the specifications of such monitors can prove less reliable).

USB connectivity is limited, but present. The AW2525HM doesn’t have USB-C, which is true for most gaming monitors in this price bracket. It does provide two USB-A ports, however, which are driven by a USB-B upstream port. One of the two USB-A ports also provides 7.5 watts of power for charging or powering basic peripherals, like a smartphone or a portable hard drive. The inclusion of two USB-A ports means you can use the monitor as a USB hub for a wired keyboard and mouse, which is always handy in a gaming monitor.

Alienware AW2525HM menus, features, and audio

Alienware ships the AW2525HM with a familiar, easy-to-navigate menu system controlled by a joystick centered beneath the lower bezel (alternatively, users can control monitor features with Alienware Command Center, a software application).

The menu system is a small but notable advantage over competitors. Asus does as well in this area, but brands like Acer and Gigabyte tend to fall a bit behind, often because the menus are smaller and a bit harder to read. Monitors from white-label and Amazon brands (like KTC and Koouri) tend to have menus that are annoying to navigate. On top of that, I’ve yet to test a monitor from an Amazon brand that provides a software utility like Alienware’s Command Center.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

With that said, the AW2525HM’s feature set doesn’t differ from competitors. It has gaming features, like a crosshair and a dark stabilizer (which increase the brightness of dark scenes to reveal foes). There’s also some image customization, including color calibration for hue, gain, and offset—but that’s only found in the Custom Color mode. Color temperature and gamma adjustment is limited. An sRGB color profile is the only image mode that targets a specific color gamut; no DCI-P3 or AdobeRGB mode here.

As for audio, well, there isn’t anything, though that’s no surprise. Budget monitors often omit speakers and, when they are included, they provide barely passable audio quality.

However, the AW2525HM also omits a 3.5mm audio-out jack, which is more unusual. That means you won’t be able to pass-through audio and will need to connect your speakers or headphones directly to your PC. Alienware believes (correctly, I’d guess) that most gamers are now using USB headsets.

Alienware AW2525HM SDR image quality

A lot rides on the Alienware AW2525HM’s SDR image quality. Though it does technically support HDR, SDR is clearly the focus, both because of the monitor’s price point and because fast-paced PC titles built for high refresh rates tend not to focus on HDR support (especially if the game is not also available on console).

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The AW2525HM comes out swinging with a maximum sustained SDR brightness of 459 nits. That’s not record-setting, but it’s rather high for a monitor priced at $250. That level of brightness is more than enough to make the monitor stand out even in a brightly lit room that lacks good light control.

On top of that, the monitor has a semi-gloss finish that reduces glare, so bright light sources have less impact on the image. The result is a monitor that’s very easy to view in a wide range of lighting conditions.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Unfortunately, though not unsurprisingly, the monitor’s excellent brightness is paired with sub-par contrast, with a measured contrast ratio of 1010:1 at 50 percent of maximum brightness (and, in case you’re curious, this did not vary significantly at other brightness levels).

A contrast ratio of 1010:1 isn’t awful for an inexpensive gaming monitor, but it’s not amazing. The limited contrast ratio often results in an image that seems flat and lacks a convincing sense of depth. This is most noticeable in dark scenes, as the monitor can’t properly render dark hues, instead displaying them as a hazy, pale silver-gray. This is the dreaded “IPS glow.”

As the graph shows, a better contrast ratio can be had at this price point. Monitors like the Xiaomi G Pro, which has a Mini-LED backlight, and the Lenovo Legion R27fc-30, which has a VA display panel, can provide better contrast on a budget (though they can’t match the AW2525HM’s motion clarity).

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The Alienware AW2525HM posts respectable color gamut figures. It can display 100 percent of sRGB, 93 percent of DCI-P3, and 87 percent of AdobeRGB. These are good though mid-pack figures. The AW2525HM defeats monitors like the Lenovo Legion R27fc-30, but doesn’t perform as well as the Gigabyte M27QA ICE or Xiaomi G Pro.

In general, though, the AW2525HM’s color gamut is a good match for PC games. Titles will look colorful and vibrant, particularly in bright scenes that play better to the monitor’s strong brightness and obscure its mediocre contrast and poor performance in dark scenes.

If you want to edit photos, videos, or digital art, the AW2525HM is passable for less demanding work but won’t cut the mustard for more rigorous professional use. It simply doesn’t display enough of DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB, which means some colors will not be visible on the monitor.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The Alienware AW2525HM is also mid-pack in color accuracy though, with that said, the average color error of the AW2525HM is low. It comes across as mid-pack only because most budget monitors have managed to achieve a solid level of out-of-box color accuracy.

I also saw decent color temperature and gamma results. The AW2525HM’s color temperature of 6500K was spot-on my target and means the image doesn’t appear too warm or cool. The gamma value of 2.3 is slightly off my target of 2.2 and means the image can appear a tad darker than it should, though I found that hard to notice in real-world use.

Sharpness is a downside. 1920×1080 resolution is nothing to boast about in 2025 and, on a 24.5-inch panel, it works out to about 90 pixels per inch. A 27-inch 1440p monitor, as a point of comparison, reaches about 110 ppi, and a 27-inch 4K monitor delivers about 163 ppi. The AW2525HM manages to avoid an obvious aliased or pixelated look, but it’s noticeably softer than even a 1440p display.

The AW2525HM’s SDR image quality is a mix. It takes a win in brightness and provides respectable color performance but falls short in contrast and sharpness. A wide variety of 1440p and 4K monitors are available at $250, as well, though not with a 320Hz refresh rate. And that, really, is the core compromise made here: a reduction in overall image quality in the service of better motion clarity.

Alienware AW2525HM HDR image quality

The Alienware AW2525HM supports HDR10 input but it lacks VESA DisplayHDR certification and makes no strong claims on HDR performance. In fact, Alienware’s marketing doesn’t appear to mention HDR at all. I only saw reference to it in the monitor’s specifications.

That says everything you need to know about HDR on the display. It’s bright, reaching up to 469 nits in my tests, but that’s about it. The monitor lacks both the contrast and color performance necessary to do HDR justice. HDR content looks a bit different, and a bit brighter, than SDR, but not necessarily better. Personally, I wouldn’t bother to use HDR on this monitor, but some owners may prefer the brighter presentation.

Alienware AW2525HM motion performance

There’s a lot riding on the Alienware AW2525HM’s motion performance. Fortunately, it’s rather good.

The monitor’s Fast IPS panel does the hard work. It has a refresh rate up to 320Hz, as previously mentioned, and provides pixel response times as low as 0.5 milliseconds (which is about as quick as IPS monitors can manage). Games that can achieve a frame rate of 320Hz look smooth and crisp with blur only obvious in the finest details and high-contrast edges.

You can find better motion clarity, to be sure: A 360Hz OLED, for example, will blow the AW2525HM out of the water. But for $250, this level of motion clarity is outstanding. Fast-paced titles feel amazingly tight and responsive.

I would recommend avoiding the monitor’s fastest response time modes, however. Like most IPS and VA panel monitors, the AW2525HM offers a variety of settings. The fastest can deliver the best clarity but can also cause image artifacts such as apparent halos around high-contrast objects. This problem is known as overshoot and is common among IPS and VA panel monitors. Personally, I think sticking to the slowest response time mode is the best choice for most gamers.

The AW2525HM supports Adaptive Sync and has official support for both AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. Most monitors that support Adaptive Sync work with AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible (whether their support is listed or not), as those standards are built off Adaptive Sync. Still, I’m pleased to see Alienware list official support. It reduces confusion and provides gamers confidence the monitor will work with their video card.

Should you buy the Alienware AW2525HM?

The Alienware AW2525HM is yet another competent entry in Alienware’s 2025 monitor lineup which, like its peers, is worth a look mostly because of its price. The monitor’s design isn’t remarkable, and while it does offer a couple USB-A ports and a wide range of ergonomic adjustment, its feature set is typical for a budget gaming monitor. But with a refresh rate of up to 320Hz, broad Adaptive Sync support, and a retail MSRP of just $250, the AW2525HM is a solid pick if you want great motion clarity on a budget.