Step into the world of ultrawide gaming with this 34-inch 2K curved monitor for just $295

ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B | 34-inch | 1440p | 165 Hz | VA panel | 1500R curve | $379.99$294.99 at Newegg (save $85)
For the ultimate in gaming immersion, it's pretty hard to beat a huge, ultrawide, curved monitor. Normally they're really expensive but not this one, and you're getting a whole lot of display for very little money.

Price check: Amazon $361.99

Given that this ASRock display is our recommendation for the best budget ultrawide monitor, we would obviously suggest buying it at its normal MSRP of $369. But when it's a cent under $295? That will do very nicely, thankyouplease.

Until you've gamed on a big, curved, ultrawide monitor, it's a little hard to appreciate just how much it does for the gaming experience. You really do feel drawn into the world and depending on what game you're playing, it can make a traditional flat-panel monitor look dull in comparison.

So what exactly are you getting for your 295 dollars? The ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B (a name that just rolls off the tongue) sports a 34-inch VA panel, with a resolution of 3440 x 1440 and a refresh rate of 165 Hz. Sure you can get better ultrawides than this but certainly not at this price.

That VA panel isn't the fastest you'll come across but it offers a really good HDR experience, even though it's not an OLED. As we found when we reviewed this monitor last year, SDR content looks really good when you run the display in HDR mode. «Running a game like Cyberpunk 2077 does actually look punchier and more dynamic in HDR mode, which is far from universally the case for this class of monitor,» said our monitor expert Jeremy.

It's only certified to DisplayHDR 400 and doesn't have local dimming, so it's not the greatest HDR experience you can have but it's far better than any IPS monitor, that's for sure.

VA panels aren't as quick as IPS or OLED displays, and the fast MPRT (mean pixel response time) mode ruins the overall brightness. Using the switchable pixel overdrive also incurs some