Asus ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD review

The promise of vibrant worlds strewn across a 49-inch ultrawide OLED is what a PC gamer's dreams are made of. The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD makes good on that promise. It's a mammoth monitor capable of enveloping your entire vision with whatever game you choose to play on it (providing it supports ultrawide resolutions). It's absolutely glorious. For gaming, at least.

If you think the PG49WCD with its 5120 x 1440 resolution panel is huge, you should see the box it came in. It's a monument to this monitor's absurd breadth. The monitor's 49-inch QD-OLED panel is snugly fit inside alongside a three-legged monitor stand, a couple of cables, and a VESA mount kit. The screen itself isn't quite as thin as some QD-OLED TVs out of Samsung, which makes this monitor easier to set up without damaging the panel. That said, I would recommend two people tackle putting this together, considering the price.

The ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD is priced at $1,499. That's more than even some large QD-OLED TVs, such as Samsung's S95B that I've close by for comparison. What you get here is much more tailored to the PC gaming experience than your average television, however. 

The first noticeable difference is you're getting a proper gaming monitor stand—one that swivels, moves up/down, and tilts. This monitor is made of quite creaky plastic, which you only really notice when you do move it around, but otherwise, it's a fairly shallow stand that doesn't get too in the way of a gaming keyboard placed in front of it. Asus has also packed in lots of connectivity on the rear of the panel, including a USB hub. I want to call this out as the addition of a central USB Type-A port on the underside center of the screen and one facing upwards on the right rear is a stroke of genius. These are incredibly handy for the odd charging cable or USB stick—more of this please, monitor manufacturers.

Screen size: 49-inch
Aspect ratio: 32:9
Resolution: 5120 x 1440
Brightness: 250 nits @ 100% APL, 1000 nits max
Colour