LG UltraWide 34WQ500-B 34" Black 2022

A 34-inch ultrawide that's smooth and colorful but soft on text. Buy it cheap or don't buy it at all.

The 100Hz refresh rate and FreeSync support are the real story here. It's not going to blow anyone away, but for casual gaming and general multitasking, it feels noticeably smoother than a 60Hz office panel. The 5ms response time is fine, not great, and you'll see some ghosting in fast scenes if you're picky. What surprised us is the color coverage. 99% sRGB on an IPS panel at this price is genuinely solid, and the 400 nits brightness means it won't look dim in a normal room. But the 2560 x 1080 resolution is the bottleneck. On a 34-inch screen, that's roughly 82 pixels per inch, which lands it in the middle of the pack for sharpness. Fine for games and video, less fine for long reading sessions.

Against something like the Dell UltraSharp U4025QW, this LG looks like a toy, but that's an unfair fight. The Dell is a 40-inch 5K2K productivity monster that costs several times more. The more realistic comparison is against 27-inch 1440p high refresh monitors like the Alienware AW2725D or the Samsung Odyssey OLED G6. Those give you much sharper text and better gaming performance, but you lose the ultrawide aspect ratio and screen width. The MSI MPG 271QR QD-OLED is another strong alternative if color and contrast matter more than horizontal space. The LG's pitch is simple: it's the cheapest way to get a 34-inch ultrawide with 100Hz and USB-C. If you don't need the width, skip it and get a sharper 27-inch instead.

Pricing is all over the place. In the US you can find it for USD 330, which is reasonable for a 34-inch ultrawide with 100Hz and USB-C. But in Canada, listings range from CAD 426 to CAD 1,810, and that spread is wild. The CAD 426 listing is the only one worth considering. Anything above CAD 500 and you're getting into territory where a 1440p ultrawide or a high refresh 27-inch makes way more sense. At USD 330 or CAD 426, it's a decent deal. At the higher end of that Canadian range, it's a bad joke.

The LG UltraWide 34WQ500-B is a 34-inch ultrawide that gets the basics right but skips the fancy stuff. It's a 2560 x 1080 IPS panel at 100Hz with FreeSync, which sounds fine on paper, but that resolution stretched across 34 inches means a pixel pitch of 0.312mm. Text won't be razor sharp, and if you're used to 1440p or 4K, you'll notice the softness. The one thing to know: this is a budget ultrawide for people who want screen real estate and a smooth refresh rate, not pixel density or color accuracy bragging rights.

If you're looking for a sharp productivity monitor for text-heavy work, this isn't it. The 1080p vertical resolution on a 34-inch panel will annoy you every time you read an email or a spreadsheet. Go get a 27-inch 1440p monitor like the Alienware AW2725D or a 4K panel instead. And if you're a competitive gamer who wants high refresh rates and low response times, this 100Hz 5ms panel will feel sluggish. Get a proper 144Hz or 240Hz gaming monitor.

The LG 34WQ500-B is a budget ultrawide that makes sense only if you find it at the low end of its price range and you specifically want the 21:9 form factor. The 100Hz refresh rate and FreeSync are nice, the color coverage is better than expected, and USB-C is a genuine bonus. But the 1080p vertical resolution on a 34-inch panel is a real compromise, and the lack of buyer feedback makes it hard to trust long-term reliability. If you can grab it for USD 330 or CAD 426, it's a reasonable buy. If you're paying more than that, get a 1440p monitor instead.