Tested: Monoprice 35-inch Zero-G Curved Ultra-Wide 4K Gaming Monitor is somehow $300

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First world problem, I know, but I often find myself running out of room on my iMac’s 27-inch 5K display. I like to have things like Twitter, messages, Discord, music, or Slack kind of running off to the side while I’m hammering away on articles or paperwork. Also, I wanted something to play games on when work time was over.

Enter the Monoprice 35-inch Zero-G Curved Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor with 3440×1440 resolution and 100Hz refresh rate. And at a current sale price of $299.99, it ticks off all of the boxes and I’m now using that 5K iMac display as the side monitor. Head below for my hands-on review.

I ordered this about a month ago when it was originally on sale for $299.99 – it is usually $399 or $349 not during Black Friday week. The box came about four days later via FedEx. The curvature of the display required extra thickness in the packaging.

Setup? Straightforward.

This is one of those pull it out of the box and put it on the desk type of products…though this one is going to take up a huge portion of your desk. At almost 18lbs, you might also want to make sure you are lifting with your legs. The dimensions with the stand are 33.0″ x 9.8″ x 19.0″ but it also has a 75×75 VESA mount.

I bought a Thunderbolt 3 to HDMI adapter to connect up the display but for gaming, I’d recommend pumping DisplayPort (cable included) directly into your gaming machine. It just works™.

Build quality? Solid. Substantial even. You can even impress your kid with red RGB lights on the backside. Just don’t let it fall on your toe. The MP logo will probably have people thinking it is an HP.

Freesync and G-Sync?

I should probably note here that Apple uses AMD chips but refresh-wise, I was only able to get 100Hz refresh rate on my iMac (might have been the cable/HDMI I used). The gaming rig uses NVIDIA card, and I was surprised to learn it supports both Freesync and G-Sync, though it is just labelled for Freesync.

Easy on the eyes

The 1800mm curve radius display is great in this case. As I swerve my head around to the 5 or 6 windows I have open, they all seem about the same distance from my eyes, releasing them from having to refocus too much. I sometimes require reading glasses so the dot pitch of the 5k retina display is lost on me without my glasses. With them on, which I only use during long sessions or when my eyes become tired, I definitely notice the smaller pixels and more rounded fonts of the smaller 5K display vs. the ultra-wide Monoprice.

I’m not a hardcore gamer by any means but I do appreciate the smoothness of a good monitor. I’m currently setting up for Flight Simulator which should run really well here.

Downsides

We’re venturing into real first world problems here but out of the box, the Monoprice 35-inch Zero-G color saturation falls short of the iMac’s next to it. You can adjust the tone and make up some ground but it just isn’t quite as rich and colorful as the iMac’s display. That’s not a huge problem and together with the slight pixel inferiority I mentioned above, it barely registers on the “noticeable” scale.

As far as the adjustability the monitor swivels up and down from its base but without putting some books, or theoretically something more professional, under the stand, you can’t raise or lower it. So it currently lines up about 1 inch shorter than the 27-inch iMac display which I’m somehow living with.

You could also complain about lack of USB ports, speakers, lack of HDR, OSD/controls but this isn’t a $1,000 all you can eat buffet display. And frankly, any respectable rig is not going to use the monitor speakers for sound. This is a display, pure and simple.

gadgetnewsonline Tested: Monoprice 35-inch Zero-G

It is hard not to recommend this display to both the casual and semi-serious gamer on a budget all the way to someone knocking out spreadsheets and long days of writing. You are getting a huge, perfectly curved 35-inch display that runs at 100Hz. It will even allow you to have 3+ browser windows open at the same time! What more could you want?

Normally an incredible deal at $400, today’s price of $299.99 makes it a steal!

Monoprice 35-inch Zero-G Full specs:

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