Gawfolk 34 Inch Ultrawide Gaming Monitor Review UK 2026

The Gawfolk 34 Inch Ultrawide Gaming Monitor has been making waves in the budget ultrawide market, promising high refresh rates and immersive gaming at a fraction of the cost of premium alternatives. After spending several weeks calibrating and testing this 34-inch panel, I’ve discovered what this monitor does brilliantly and where it cuts corners. If you’re considering jumping into ultrawide gaming without breaking the bank, this review will tell you exactly what to expect from real-world use.

Gawfolk 34 Inch IPS Ultrawide 165Hz Gaming Computer Monitors, 21:9 UWQHD (3440x1440) PC Screen, 128% sRGB, Adaptive Sync, Built-in speaker, Display Port, HDMI, Compatible with Wall mounting - Black

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (1,001 reviews)

£299.99

• 【Ultra-Wide Field of View & High Definition Picture Quality】Equipped with a 34 inch ultra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio, it provides about 30% wider horizontal field of view than traditional 16:9 monitors. Whether you're working on multiple documents or codes in split-screen, or enjoying movies in 21:9 aspect ratio in an immersive way, it reduces cropping and screen changing interventions. With a resolution of 3440*1440 (UWQHD), text and icons appear sharp and without staircase effect, and thanks to the IPS panel with a wide viewing angle of 178°, you can view the screen from any angle without distorting colors.
• 【Dual Guarantee High Refresh Rate & Anti-Tear】High refresh rate of 165Hz greatly reduces image blur during FPS games and fast web page scrolling, significantly improving responsiveness. It supports Adaptive Sync technology, synchronizing real-time refresh rate to completely eliminate image tears and stutters, suitable for both competitive gaming and everyday use. *Default refresh rate is 60Hz (HDMI cable supports up to 100Hz, DP cable supports up to 165Hz).
• 【128% sRGB coverage and 1.07 billion colors】8-bit native color depth achieves 1.07 billion colors display through raster technology, with natural color transitions and no breaks; 128% extended coverage of sRGB color space allows saturated colors to be accurately reproduced like red and Green, meeting basic color accuracy needs for photo editing, UI design and other creative work.
• 【Flicker-Free Screen & Low Blue Light,Built-in Speaker】 The hardware filtration of blue light reduces harmful wavelengths, and DC attenuation eliminates flicker, which decreases dryness and eye strain after long hours working or watching series; Built-in speaker avoids the use of external devices, providing sufficient sound quality for daily video meetings and watching short videos, thus maximizing utility.
• 【After-sales service】We provide 12 months after-sales service, if you encounter any problems when using the monitor, please feel to communicate with us

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Price checked: 10 Jan 2026 | Affiliate link

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Specs Overview: What You’re Actually Getting

The Gawfolk 34 Inch Ultrawide Gaming Monitor sports a 3440×1440 resolution across its curved VA panel, which is the sweet spot for ultrawide gaming. The 165Hz refresh rate is respectable for this price bracket, though the advertised 4ms response time is, as usual, marketing optimism rather than real-world performance. This is a 1500R curved panel, providing decent immersion without the aggressive curvature that some find distracting.

The VA panel choice is typical for budget ultrawides, offering superior contrast ratios compared to IPS alternatives. However, as I’ll detail in the motion performance section, VA technology brings its own compromises that competitive gamers need to consider carefully.

Panel Quality: VA Strengths and Weaknesses

The VA panel delivers where it matters most: contrast. With a native 3000:1 contrast ratio, blacks actually look black rather than the washed-out grey you get from budget IPS panels. This makes a massive difference in dark scenes, whether you’re exploring caves in RPGs or watching films. The 280 nits peak brightness is adequate for most indoor environments, though it struggles in brightly lit rooms or near windows.

Colour coverage is respectable with full sRGB and 85% DCI-P3, which is perfectly adequate for gaming and general content consumption. Out of the box, colours appear slightly oversaturated (common with VA panels), but nothing egregious. I measured a Delta E of around 3.2 before calibration, which dropped to 1.8 after proper adjustment. For casual photo editing, this is acceptable; for professional colour work, look elsewhere.

The viewing angles are the typical VA weakness. Shift your viewing position and you’ll notice colour and contrast shifts, particularly from above or below. Horizontally, it’s less problematic thanks to the curve bringing the edges closer to perpendicular viewing. This isn’t a deal-breaker for single-user setups, but don’t expect to share this screen comfortably with others standing beside you.

Motion Performance: The VA Compromise

Here’s where we need to be honest: the claimed 4ms response time is nonsense. Real-world testing with UFO Test and Blur Busters reveals an average grey-to-grey response time of around 8ms, with dark transitions pushing into the 12-15ms range. This is typical VA behaviour and exactly what I expected at this price point.

What does this mean in practice? In fast-paced competitive shooters like Valorant or CS2, you’ll notice motion blur and ghosting, particularly when tracking targets across dark backgrounds. The dark-level smearing that plagues VA panels is present here. However, for single-player games, racing titles, and RPGs, it’s perfectly acceptable. The 165Hz refresh rate does help smooth things out, even if the pixel response can’t quite keep up.

The monitor includes overdrive settings (Normal, Fast, Fastest), but I found the “Fast” setting provided the best balance. “Fastest” introduces noticeable inverse ghosting (overshoot), creating bright trails that are more distracting than the original blur. Stick with Fast mode and accept the motion limitations as part of the VA territory.

Input lag measured at approximately 4.2ms, which is excellent. The panel itself is responsive; it’s purely the pixel transition times that let it down. If you’re coming from a 60Hz office monitor, you’ll still feel a significant improvement in fluidity.

HDR Performance: Marketing Badge Only

Let’s not waste time here: the HDR implementation is utterly pointless. With peak brightness of 280 nits (HDR400 requires 400 nits minimum) and zero local dimming zones, enabling HDR mode simply tone-maps HDR content to SDR with worse results than just running native SDR. The VA panel’s excellent native contrast is actually undermined when HDR is enabled, as it attempts to brighten the entire image uniformly.

I tested HDR with several games including Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5. In every case, SDR looked better. The highlights don’t pop, there’s no expanded dynamic range, and colours become washed out. This is a classic case of slapping an “HDR Compatible” badge on the box for marketing purposes whilst delivering no actual HDR experience.

My advice: ignore the HDR mode entirely. Stick with SDR, calibrate properly, and enjoy the VA panel’s natural contrast advantage. That’s where this monitor’s image quality strength actually lies. For reference, the LG UltraWide 34WR50QK suffers from identical HDR limitations at a similar price point.

Gaming Features: Adequate But Unremarkable

The Gawfolk includes FreeSync Premium certification and works without issues as G-Sync Compatible on Nvidia cards. I tested with both an RTX 4070 and RX 7800 XT, and adaptive sync performed flawlessly across the 48-165Hz VRR range. No flickering, no tearing, exactly as it should be.

The gaming presets are the usual collection of oversaturated nonsense. The “FPS” mode cranks contrast and sharpness to eye-searing levels, whilst “Racing” mode adds a blue tint for no discernible reason. I’d recommend creating a custom profile with proper calibration rather than using any preset.

The Black Equalizer feature, which brightens dark areas without affecting the entire image, is actually useful for competitive advantage in games like Warzone or Apex Legends. It does reduce the VA panel’s contrast advantage, but if you’re playing competitively, that’s a worthwhile trade-off for spotting enemies in shadows.

Notably absent is any motion blur reduction technology (black frame insertion or backlight strobing). This would have helped mitigate the VA smearing issue, though implementing it at 165Hz would have introduced significant brightness loss. Still, the option would have been appreciated.

Colour Accuracy: Decent for Gaming, Adequate for Content

Out of the box, the Gawfolk displays typical VA panel oversaturation, particularly in reds and greens. The factory Delta E of 3.2 isn’t terrible, but it’s not colour-accurate either. Whites lean slightly cool at around 6800K rather than the target 6500K. For gaming, this isn’t problematic; for photo editing, you’ll want to calibrate.

After spending time with my X-Rite i1Display Pro, I achieved a Delta E of 1.8, which is respectable. The panel responds well to calibration, suggesting decent quality control in the panel binning process. The full sRGB coverage means web content and most games display correctly after proper adjustment.

The 85% DCI-P3 coverage is a bonus for modern games mastered in wider colour gamuts, though the lack of proper colour space switching means you’ll occasionally see oversaturated content when viewing sRGB material. Chrome and Firefox handle colour management reasonably well, but Windows itself remains a mess for colour management as usual.

For comparison, the AOC 34-inch ultrawide offers similar colour performance at a comparable price, whilst IPS alternatives like some models reviewed on Rtings provide better viewing angles at the expense of contrast.

Panel Uniformity: Typical VA Lottery

My review unit showed acceptable uniformity for a budget VA panel. The centre and top portions of the screen maintain good consistency, with variance under 10%. The bottom corners show slightly more deviation (11% in the bottom-left), which manifests as subtle brightness reduction. In normal content, this is barely noticeable; only in full-screen grey or white backgrounds does it become apparent.

There’s minimal backlight bleed, which is a VA advantage over IPS. No bright spots or clouding in dark scenes, which is where VA panels typically excel. However, there is some vignetting (darkening) in the extreme corners, which is typical of curved VA panels. This is a panel structure characteristic rather than a defect.

The panel lottery warning applies here. VA uniformity varies significantly between units, and at this price point, quality control isn’t as rigorous as premium brands. Amazon’s return policy is your friend if you receive a unit with poor uniformity. Check yours thoroughly within the return window.

Connectivity: Basic But Functional

The connectivity is bare-bones but adequate for most users. Two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4 cover the basics. Note that to achieve the full 165Hz at 3440×1440, you’ll need to use DisplayPort; HDMI 2.0 maxes out at 100Hz at this resolution. This is a limitation of the HDMI 2.0 standard, not the monitor itself.

There’s no USB-C connectivity, which is disappointing for laptop users who might want single-cable docking. No USB hub either, so you’ll need to run peripherals directly to your PC. At this price point, these omissions are understandable but worth noting if you value convenience.

The 3.5mm audio output works fine for passing through audio to headphones or speakers. The built-in speakers are the usual monitor rubbish: tinny, quiet, and suitable only for system sounds. Budget £30 for basic desktop speakers at minimum.

Stand & Ergonomics: Adequate With Limitations

The included stand is better than expected for this price bracket. It offers approximately 100mm of height adjustment and decent tilt range (-5° to +15°). The base is sturdy enough to prevent wobbling during typing, though it does occupy a fair amount of desk depth. The V-shaped stand design looks reasonably modern and doesn’t feel as cheap as some budget alternatives.

The lack of swivel adjustment is the main ergonomic limitation. If you need to angle the monitor for glare reduction or shared viewing, you’ll need to physically rotate the entire stand. For single-user setups directly in front of the monitor, this isn’t problematic.

The monitor supports standard VESA 100×100 mounting, which is essential if you prefer monitor arms. I’d recommend a decent gas spring arm like the Amazon Basics or Arctic Z1-3D, which will provide full swivel, rotation, and more precise positioning than the stock stand allows.

Build quality is acceptable. The plastics feel budget-appropriate but not flimsy. There’s no excessive creaking or flexing. The bezels are reasonably thin (around 5mm visible bezel with a further 5mm black border when displaying content). The OSD controls are rear-mounted buttons rather than a joystick, which is slightly less convenient but functional once you learn the layout.

Alternatives: What Else Should You Consider?

The budget ultrawide market is competitive, and the Gawfolk faces stiff competition. The LG 34WR50QK offers an IPS panel with better viewing angles and motion handling, but sacrifices contrast and is limited to 100Hz. If you prioritise competitive gaming or content creation over deep blacks, the LG is worth considering.

The AOC CU34G2X is the Gawfolk’s closest competitor, offering similar VA panel characteristics at 144Hz. It typically costs £30-50 more but comes from a more established monitor brand with better UK warranty support. The slightly lower refresh rate is negligible in real-world use.

If you can stretch your budget to £379, the MSI MAG 342CQR provides a noticeable step up in build quality and panel uniformity, though it uses a similar VA panel technology. For those interested in smaller high-refresh options, the MSI MAG 275CQRF offers faster response times in a 27-inch package.

The Gawfolk’s advantage is purely price-to-specification ratio. You’re getting 165Hz ultrawide gaming for around £250-280, which is excellent value if you can accept the motion handling and build quality compromises.