Corsair XENEON 32QHD165 Monitor Review
Conclusion
Any time a manufacturer flexes their muscles and enters a new sector of the market it always comes with a level of expectation. When that company is Corsair the expectations are heightened based upon their track record of nearly always getting things right at the first attempt. Thing about the design of current hardware or most popular builds and Corsair are going to be one of the first got on that idea. RGB lighting. AIOs. Affordable, reliable memory. Builder-friendly cases. Corsair have done it all. How does the Xeneon 32QHD165 stack up then?
Very well. That was simple. The panel itself is an IPS Quantum Dot model which gives you excellent viewing angles and fantastic colour reproduction. The brightness is also very good without reaching the levels where the blacks wash out into grey. Wrap all this up in a 1440P panel – the best combination between sharp images but not requiring a RTX 3090 to run it – and bring 165 Hz to the party for all the high-twitch gamers and there is very little to complain about. The 32″ size is also something that we enjoy very much. Normally when you get up to that sort of size you’re having to put up with a curved display, and no matter how much they might claim otherwise there is always an element of visual pincushion distortion. The Xeneon is flat which eliminates this. If you solely game then maybe a curved panel is an option, but most of us don’t solely game, so flat displays give you a more accurate image representation.
The stand is an absolute show stopper. It’s huge, which takes a bit of getting used to if you’re on a tiny desk, but it has loads of adjustability built in and is solid enough to ensure that you won’t have to immediately run out and get a more capable stand. By having the streaming focused Elgato brand under the Corsair umbrella you also get the benefits of a Stream Deck holder on the front, and at the top of the stand is a industry-standard 1/4″ connector for you to attach a ring light, webcam or any number of devices to without having to balance a webcam on your display bezel, or have a light just off camera. Add to that the flexible cable management options and it’s a joy to use. Adding to the ‘clever touches’ that we appreciate is the ability to control the Xeneon 32QHD165 with the iCUE software. Anyone who gnashes their teeth at OSDs will enjoy the simplicity of a familiar software package, although OSD options are there too.
With Freesync Premium and G-Sync compatibility the Xeneon has plenty of synchronisation options for you to go along with its multitude of connectivity elements. Indeed about the only objective negative is the use of the VESA DisplayHDR 400 format, which experience has shown us to be not enough HDR to justify using. Think of it as a taster of HDR rather than the main focus and you’ll be happier. Although it’s worth noting that is true of all HDR 400 panels not just this one.
The Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 has a high refresh rate, a sharp 1440 image, one of the best stands we’ve seen, plenty of connectivity options and the visual impact that only 32″ of eyeball-filling pixels can bring. The IPS Quantum Dot panel has no ghosting or weird artifacts and with 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 rating it is as colour accurate as you could find at this price point. Admittedly it’s in the upper end of 1440 panels, but you’re getting excellent image quality and a host of user-friendly features for your investment and it wins our OC3D Gamers Choice Award.
MSRP for the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 is £699.99.
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