LG 32-Inch UltraGear OLED review: This is the 4K OLED monitor of my dreams

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED:
one-minute
review

I’ve
been
waiting
a
long
time
for
a
monitor
like
the

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear

OLED.
With
a
brilliant
OLED
display
and
a
gorgeous

4K
resolution,
backed
up
by
an
ample
240Hz
refresh
rate
and
brilliant
picture
quality,
this
LG
monitor
makes
OLED
technology
a
must-have
for
anybody
who
plays
PC
games
or
bases
their
home
life
around
their
computer
desk. 

There’s
a
noticeable
quality
difference
between
OLED
and
IPS
monitors
when
playing
cinematic
and
competitive
games
alike
on
a
computer,
and
with
this
thing
sitting
on
your
desk
you’re
bound
to
get
bang
for
your
buck
on
the
picture
quality
front.

But
while
we
can
celebrate
LG
for
bringing
the
cost
of
an
OLED
monitor
down
with
the
32GS95UE-B,
let’s
be
honest
with
ourselves
–
$1,199
/
£1,199
/
AU$2,399
is
still
expensive
for
a
monitor
no
matter
how
impressive
the
tech
is. 

Those
looking
more
greater
image
depth
and

HDR
performance
may
also
want
to
look
elsewhere,
as
the
LG’s
peak
brightness
doesn’t
reach
the
retina-searing
heights
of
similarly
priced

Samsung
and
Alienware
models.
My
biggest
bugbear
though?
Surely
we
can
give
peripherals
better
names
than
difficult
to
understand
numbers
and
letters.

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED:
price
and
availability

• 
  How
  much
  does
  it
  cost?
  $1,199
  /
  £1,199
  /
  AU$2,399
• 
  When
  is
  it
  available?
  Available
  now
• 
  Where
  can
  you
  get
  it?
  LG
  directly
  and
  technology
  retailers
  in
  the
  US,
  UK
  and
  Australia

It’s
tough
to
find
a
cheap
32-inch
gaming
monitor
–
especially
one
with
an
OLED
panel
(with
prices
often
starting
well
above
$800
/
£800
/
AU$1,000)
–
but
the
LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED
offers
a
sensible
price-to-cost
ratio
for
enthusiasts.
It’s
kind
of
a
rarity,
considering
that
it
ditches
an
ultrawide
profile
and
a
curved
screen
for
a
more
standard
design,
while
most
OLED
monitors
elect
to
have
at
least
one
of
the
aforementioned
traits.

Similar
monitors
are
available
from
Gigabyte
and
Alienware
with
significantly
lower
costs,
with
the
closest
competitor
being
the

Samsung
Odyssey
G8
OLED
G80SD
(with
a
listed
price
of
$1,299
/
£1,099
/
AU$1,999). 

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED:
Design

An
achilles
heel
of
many
gaming
displays
is
the
design
–
thick
bezels,
beefy
stands
and
a
focus
on
big,
obvious
branding
offen
make
a
monitor
look
cheap
and
overdesigned.
This
is
in
no
way
a
problem
for
the
LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED.

It’s
tempting
to
head
this
section
off
with
‘it’s
a
big
black
rectangle
with
a
pentagonal
stand’
but
we
can
entertain
the
monitor
more
than
that.
It’s
a
premium
design
language
that
LG
and
Samsung
alike
have
been
leaning
into
with
their
high
end
monitors. 

It’s
mature
to
the
point
of
only
having
the
‘UltraGear’
and
‘LG’
brand
signifier
in
the
front
of
the
pentagon
stand,
without
any
branding
on
the
actual
display
bezels.
There’s
RGB
lighting
on
the
back,
allowing
you
to
shine
numerous
colors
onto
the
wall
behind.
If
you
know
this
feature
isn’t
for
you,
 it’s
easily
turned
off
through
the
monitor
settings. 

Cables
can
be
fed
through
the
back
of
the
monitor
easily
thanks
to
a
neat
cable
management
system,
and
you’re
able
to
raise
the
panel
quite
high
up
off
the
base.,It
would
be
nice
if
it
could
go
lower,
but
we’re
being
quite
picky.
The
monitor
can
swivel,
tilt
and
pivot
as
well
if
you
want
to
adjust
the
pitch
of
the
display.

The
panel
is
extremely
premium,
too.
It’s
polished
with
an
anti-glare
coating
that
only
shows
a
warped
reflection
at
most
in
low-light
or
reflective
light
situations.
This
is
quite
remarkable
for
an
OLED
display,
as
the
technology,
inherently,
can’t
go
particularly
bright.
This
means
it
can
occasionally
suffer
in
bright
rooms,
but
as
I
found
during
testing
in
my
office-bedroom
–
which
is
filled
with
light
at
all
times
during
the
day
–
I
was
able
to
play
games
with
little
issue.

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED:
Features

The
big
sales
pitch
of
the
LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED
is
its
‘dual
mode’
functionality.
At
the
press
of
a
hotkey
(located
conveniently
under
the
monitor),
this
monitor
can
switch
between
4K
240Hz
to
1080p
480hz.
The
first
is
more
ideal
for
those
after
more
cinematic,
graphically
beautiful
gameplay,
albeit
at
a
lower
framerate,
while
the
second
is
intended
for
high
octane
competitive
gamers
after
smooth
frames.

We
can
err
on
the
critical
side
with
this
feature
and
note
that
4K
240Hz
gameplay,
at
its
height,
would
be
difficult
for
even
the
most
expensive
gaming
computers
to
reach
in
gorgeous
single
player
games
like
Cyberpunk
2077
and

Star
Wars
Outlaws.
I
would
even
go
as
far
as
to
say
that
240Hz
is
not
just
difficult
to
attain
but
is
also
very
much
overkill
–
144Hz
will
suffice
for
a
story-rich
game.

The
flipside
of
the
feature
makes
much
more
sense
to
me
–
1080p
gameplay
at
480Hz
for
fast-paced
games
where
you
want
to
see
more
frames
rendered
in
a
second.
I
can
see
the
benefit
of
this
in
a
game
like
Counter
Strike
2
and

League
of
Legends
–
but
those
high
frame
rates
may
even
be
seen
as
unnecessary
by
a
competitive
gamer.
Leveling
with
you,
dear
reader,
that’s
not
me
–
I
prefer
a
pretty
picture
to
a
consistently
smooth
one
(though
I
do
like
my
frames
to
be
above
60FPS).
The
monitor
has
a
smart
cleaning
process
for
when
it
doesn’t
detect
an
input,
refreshing
the
pixels
to
avoid
burn-in
–
a
common
issue
with
OLED
monitors. 

The
monitor
also
comes
with
FreeSync
Premium
Pro
and

Nvidia
G-Sync.
It
has
a
Display
Port,
HDMI,
headphone
jack,
USB
(downstream)
and
USB
(upstream)
ports,
with
support
for
a
100
x
100
mm
wall
mount.
Satisfying
me
as
someone
who
likes
to
watch
stuff
on
their
computer
in
bed,
the
monitor
also
has
built-in
speakers
and
comes
with
a
Displayport
and
HDMI
cable
in
the
box.

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED:
performance

The
LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED’s
display
is
matte
–
not
glossy
like
you’d
expect
from
most
displays.
The
extreme
blacks
and
darker
shades
that
the
OLED
pulls
off
in
use
–
and
when
turned
off
–
are
so
deep
that
you’ll
at
most
see
a
rough
reflection
of
yourself,
but
not
enough
to
ruin
the
experience. 

That’s
an
OLED
panel’s
entire
deal
and
it
leads
to
better
performance
on
every
front
–
deeper
blacks
equals
 better
contrast
–
the
difference
between
the
darkest
and
brightest
parts
of
an
image.

And
at
the
32-inch
size,
I’ve
found
this
monitor
to
be
the
best
way
to
experience
a
lot
of
cinematic
games.
Star
Wars
Outlaws
and
Warhammer
40K:
Space
Marine
II
both
play
exceptionally
well
on
the
monitor
and
look
much
more
gorgeous
on
the
OLED
screen
than
my
previous
32-inch
Gigabyte
M32Q
monitor. 

TV
shows
like
The
Acolyte
and
The
Bear
look
equally
impressive
–
particularly
The
Bear
for
its
attractive
use
of
color
sharpness
in
central
objects
amid
a
bland
palette.
The
LG
32GS95UE-B
aces
it
on
color
clarity.

The
speakers
are
pleasantly
surprising,
too.
I
was
expecting
sound
that
peaks
too
readily
and
sounds
washed
out,
but
the
32GS95UE-B
performs
just
about
as
well
as
any
TV
without
a
separate
speaker
system.
This
can
be
chalked
up
to
LG’s
‘Pixel
Sound’
feature,
which
provides
a
directed
sound
experience
without
any
external
speaker
system.

The
monitor
performs
relatively
well
on
brightness
and
HDR
–
though
both
could
be
better
at
this
pricepoint.
The
maximum
brightness
(1300nits)
and
enhanced
darkness
clarity
doesn’t
fare
much
better
for
content
than
just
using
the
display
with
HDR
disabled
(275nits
standard
luminosity).
 

And
while
it
doesn’t
fit
into
any
other
category
in
Techradar’s
review
format,
I’ve
just
got
to
say
it
–
this
name,
the
LG
32GS95UE-B,
is
just
letters
and
numbers.
They
have
meanings
obviously
but
it’s
extremely
difficult
to
communicate
to
a
customer
–
so
much
so
that
LG
just
calls
the
display
the
‘32″
UltraGear
OLED
Dual
Mode
4K
UHD’
on
its
website,
and
hence
why
we’ve
been
naming
it
interchangeably
throughout
this
review.
Less
letters
and
numbers
please.

Should
I
buy
an
LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED?

Buy
it
if…

Don’t
buy
if…

Also
Consider

LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED:
Report
Card

How
I
tested
the
LG
32-Inch
UltraGear
OLED

As
soon
as
I
received
this
monitor,
I
got
to
work
unpacking
it
and
setting
it
up.
Pulling
it
out
of
the
box
was
easy,
as
was
the
process
of
putting
the
stand
together
(no
tools
were
needed,
as
everything
slots
and
screws
into
place
by
hand).
As
my
main
space
in
my
home
is
my
bedroom-office,
this
monitor
was
switched
on
at
almost
all
hours
whenever
I
was
home.
To
avoid
burn-in,
the
panel
was
often
turned
off
for
cleaning
when
not
being
used.

The
main
use
of
the
monitor
was
for
gaming
using
a
separate
headset.
I
played
a
variety
of
games,
including
Caravan
SandWitch,
Team
Fortress
2,
What
The
Car,
Star
Wars
Outlaws,
Warhammer
40K:
Space
Marine
2,
Forza
Motorsport
and
Forza
Horizon
5.

I
also
used
the
monitor
for
watching
Twitch
streams,

YouTube
videos
and
lots
of
TV
shows,
including
The
Bear
and
The
Acolyte.

• 
  First
  reviewed
  September
  2024