The Asus ROG Swift OLED is a powerful gaming monitor for hardcore gamers — here’s why

The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN is one of the loveliest gaming monitors I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. Not only does it look great on a desk, but its curved OLED panel makes games feel more immersive. Though it’s pricey at $1,299, it’s a worthwhile investment that’ll enhance your gaming experiences for years to come.

Like the equally awesome Alienware AW3426DW, Asus’ monitor features an ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio, which is great for expanding your gaming POV and letting you comfortably have more open windows on the screen. The 800R curvature isn’t too extreme but still does a nice job of enveloping you. The sharp 3440 x 1440 resolution and vivid OLED panel also keep you immersed. It can also get surprisingly bright for a gaming monitor.

Performance is smooth and responsive, thanks to the fast 360Hz refresh rate and low 0.03ms response time (respectively). Whether you’re playing fast-paced first-person shooters or enjoying a more cinematic experience, the ROG Swift OLED has you covered.

Aside from its high price compared to similar monitors, the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN is easily one of the best gaming monitors you can buy. Find out why in my full review.

Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Asus ROG Swift OLED is a curved gaming monitor.
• Who is it for? Gamers who need a monitor with a high refresh rate for fast-paced competitive gaming.
• What does it cost? Asus ROG Swift OLED (PG34WCDM) costs $1,299 on Newegg.
• What do we like? We like the sleek design, immersive curved panel, vivid image quality, and smooth performance.
• What don’t we like? We don’t like that it costs more than similar gaming monitors.

Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN review: Specs

Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN review: The ups

The Asus ROG Swift OLED impresses thanks to its eye-catching design, vibrant image quality, and blazing-fast performance.

Sleek design

You won’t mistake the ROG Swift OLED for anything other than a gaming monitor, thanks to its dark chassis, sharp angles, and standard red lighting. It’s a pretty aggressive design, but that’s what makes it so striking.

While certainly not as gargantuan as the 49-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, you’ll still need a relatively large table for this monitor. Its tripod-like stand is just a few inches shorter than the 30.9 x 21.6 x 11.5-inch panel. Though wide, the legs are elevated high enough to let you keep peripherals under them if you’re running out of space.

There’s a cutaway on the stand’s shaft that makes management simple. It’s also easy to raise or lower the monitor to your desired height, tilt it backward by 5 degrees or forward by 20 degrees, and swivel the screen 15 degrees left or right.

You’ll find plenty of ports on the back. This includes one DisplayPort, two HDMI ports, three USB-A ports, one USB-C port, a headphone jack, and a USB-C port. Given the monitor’s size, you’ll need to either go around it or rotate it to access the ports, as you can’t easily connect cables by feel alone.

This wouldn’t be a proper gaming monitor without RGB lighting. On the back, there’s a large ROG logo you can customize with different colors and lighting effects via the menu. My favorite lighting feature is a red ROG logo projected under the stand and onto your table. The lighting here isn’t intrusive and nicely complements the monitor’s overall aesthetic.

Vivid display

The OLED panel delivers bright, colorful images that make every game you play look its best. The contrast between dark and light elements is fantastic and enhances the already oversaturated hues. The 21:9 aspect ratio and 800R curvature also draw you in. Even if you’re not getting a 4K image, 3440 x 1440 is still very sharp.

A game like Cyberpunk 2077 shines on the Swift OLED. The neon-drenched streets and holograms come alive thanks to the monitor’s oversaturated color reproduction. On the 21:9 panel, I can see more of the surroundings than I would on a standard 16:9 display. The sharp resolution and overall brightness also ensure everything comes through clearly.

And what do our lab tests have to say? In its default User mode, the ROG Swift OLED produces oversaturated hues in both the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, as both are well above the 100% target. As you can see in the table above, the panel on Asus’ monitor is more colorful than the one on the Alienware AW3426DW in its standard mode.

One major win here is brightness. In dedicated HDR modes, the ROG Swift OLED reaches nearly 500 nits at 10% of the display and about 280 nits across the entire screen. Dim HDR brightness has been my chief complaint with the gaming monitors I’ve reviewed, so it’s great to see Asus (and Alienware) bucking this trend.

Speaking of dedicated display modes, you get a total of nine here. This includes standard fare like FPS, RTS, and Sports modes, each tuned for its respective gaming genre. The modes differ only slightly from one another, depending on their functions.

Blazing fast performance

The ROG Swift OLED delivers professional-grade gaming performance thanks to its 360Hz refresh rate and super-low 0.03ms response time. Compatibility with Nvidia G-Sync also helps deliver smooth gaming performance. While it doesn’t match the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B’s insane 540Hz and 720Hz modes, you won’t complain about this monitor’s performance.

To test the ROG Swift OLED, I connected it to the Alienware 16 Area-51, a powerful gaming laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. You’ll want a sufficiently powerful rig like this to take advantage of this monitor’s stellar performance.

Cyberpunk 2077 ran smoothly thanks to the high refresh rate and low latency. I couldn’t get the frame rate anywhere near the 320Hz refresh rate, but the extra headroom meant I didn’t experience choppiness. And unless you’re a hardcore competitive gamer, you probably won’t notice much, if any, input lag—I certainly didn’t.

Clean UI

The ROG Swift OLED has a clean UI that you can easily access by clicking the OSD joystick. This is where you'll see all the display modes and make fine adjustments to brightness, RGB lighting, and other features. Everything is organized into clear sections, and it’s easy to navigate.

The OSD joystick rests behind the ROG logo at the bottom center and is easy to reach. The stick is relatively rigid but still has enough give when you move it. It also sticks out enough to not feel like a nub.

Though the menu is a bit more complex than on other gaming monitors, it doesn’t overwhelm either.

Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN review: The downs

There’s no denying that the Asus ROG Swift OLED is a fantastic gaming monitor that checks all the right boxes. That said, it has one major drawback.

Pricey

To be fair, the Asus ROG Swift OLED isn’t the most expensive gaming monitor I’ve reviewed. It’s fairly priced for what it offers. However, unless you’re a hardcore competitive gamer who needs an ultra-fast refresh rate, there are other, more affordable options.

The main example that comes to mind is the Alienware AW3426DW, which also has a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 3440 x 1440 resolution. While it has a “lower” 280Hz refresh rate and a less curved panel, you get most of the Swift OLED’s key features for just $799. Because of that, you’ll have to ask yourself whether the extra $500 for a higher refresh rate and flashier RGB lighting is worth it.

Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDN review: Verdict

Gaming monitors designed for high-level competitive play usually sacrifice picture quality for faster performance. The Asus ROG Swift OLED doesn't, proving that you can have the best of both worlds. Yes, it’s designed for fast-paced online gaming, but it also delivers stunning overall picture quality.

If the $1299 asking price is too steep, then check out the $799 Alienware AW3426DW I mentioned above. But if Asus’ monitor fits your needs as a competitive gamer, then I promise you won’t be disappointed. Right now, it’s one of the finest gaming monitors you can buy.

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