LXZ 34-Inch Curved 165Hz Ultrawide Review 2026

Look, I’ve been staring at monitors through colorimeters and high-speed cameras for over a decade now. The spec sheets tell you one story, but what actually matters is whether you’ll notice ghosting in Apex Legends or if that “HDR” badge means anything when you’re watching films at night. That’s what I’m here to figure out.

The LXZ 34-inch ultrawide landed on my desk with some proper ambitious claims. 165Hz refresh rate, 3440×1440 resolution, and a 1500R curve, all at a price point that makes you wonder where the catch is. I’ve spent two weeks with this monitor, running it through calibration tests, gaming sessions, and enough spreadsheet work to make my eyes water. Let’s see if it’s actually worth your money or just another budget panel with flashy marketing.

That 1500R curve is proper tight. Some ultrawides use gentler 1800R or 2300R curves that barely feel curved at all. This one wraps around your peripheral vision noticeably, which I actually prefer for gaming. It does mean you need to sit relatively close (around 60-80cm) for it to feel natural, but that’s normal for a monitor this size anyway.

Here’s the thing about VA panels that nobody tells you: they’re brilliant for immersive gaming but they have quirks. The contrast ratio on this LXZ is genuinely excellent. I measured around 3800:1, which is nearly four times what you’d get from a budget IPS panel. When you’re playing something like Cyberpunk 2077 or watching a film with dark scenes, those blacks actually look black rather than glowy grey.

But (and there’s always a but), VA panels have slower pixel response times, especially when transitioning between dark shades. In practice, this means you might see some trailing in very dark scenes. I noticed it most in horror games where you’re creeping through shadowy corridors. It’s not ghosting exactly, more like a slight smearing effect. Annoying if you’re sensitive to it, but most people won’t notice during normal gaming.

The viewing angles are decent for VA. There’s some gamma shift if you look at the edges from an angle, but honestly, with a curved screen this tight, you’re always looking at it fairly head-on anyway. The curve actually helps compensate for VA’s traditional weakness here.

So the 165Hz refresh rate is proper, not marketing nonsense. You can actually run it at 165Hz via DisplayPort without overclocking or weird settings. Coming from a 60Hz monitor, this will feel like a revelation. Even desktop cursor movement is noticeably smoother. In games, it’s the difference between feeling sluggish and feeling responsive.

The FreeSync Premium certification means you get variable refresh rate support that actually works. I tested it extensively with both an AMD RX 7800 XT and an Nvidia RTX 4070. Both worked flawlessly. No tearing, no stuttering, just smooth gameplay even when frame rates fluctuate. Nvidia users should know this isn’t officially G-Sync Compatible certified, but it works fine if you enable G-Sync in the Nvidia control panel.

Right, so that “1ms” claim on the box? Rubbish. Marketing departments love quoting the absolute fastest pixel transition under perfect conditions. In reality, this VA panel averages 6-8ms grey-to-grey, which is typical for VA. It’s not slow enough to ruin gaming, but it’s not as snappy as a fast IPS. You’ll notice some motion blur in really fast-paced games like Valorant or CS2, but for most gaming it’s absolutely fine.

Input lag is excellent at 4ms. That’s the delay between your mouse movement and the screen updating. For context, anything under 10ms is imperceptible to humans, so you’re golden here. I played hours of Apex Legends and couldn’t feel any delay between my actions and the screen response.

The overdrive settings (they call it “Response Time” in the OSD) have three levels: Off, Standard, and Fastest. Off is too slow and you’ll see trailing. Fastest introduces noticeable inverse ghosting where bright halos appear behind moving objects. Standard is the sweet spot – it speeds up transitions enough to reduce smearing without adding overshoot artefacts.

The colour performance is what I’d call “good enough for gaming, not good enough for work”. The sRGB coverage is excellent at 98%, which means it can display pretty much the full standard colour space used by most content. But it overshoots into 118% volume, meaning colours are more saturated than they should be. Reds are redder, blues are bluer. For gaming and watching films, this actually looks brilliant. Everything pops.

The Delta E of 3.2 means colours are slightly off from perfect accuracy. Anything under 2.0 is considered professional-grade accuracy, so this isn’t suitable for colour-critical work like photo editing or graphic design. But for normal use, you won’t notice the inaccuracy unless you’re comparing it side-by-side with a calibrated reference monitor.

Look, I’m going to be blunt here. The HDR on this monitor is completely pointless. It can accept an HDR10 signal, but without high peak brightness or local dimming, all it does is make the image look washed out. The panel tops out at 280 nits whether you’re in SDR or HDR mode. Real HDR needs at least 400 nits peak brightness and preferably local dimming zones. This has neither. Just pretend the HDR feature doesn’t exist and enjoy the excellent SDR image quality instead.

That contrast ratio though. This is where VA panels shine. The 3800:1 native contrast means blacks are nearly four times darker than on a typical IPS panel. When you’re watching films or playing games with dark scenes, this makes a massive difference. Space games look incredible with properly black space rather than greyish space.

Right, so I’ve put about 40 hours of gaming into this monitor across different genres. Here’s what actually matters:

In fast-paced shooters like Apex Legends and Valorant, the 165Hz refresh rate makes a noticeable difference compared to 60Hz. Tracking moving targets is easier, and everything feels more responsive. But the VA panel’s response time does create some motion blur during quick flicks. It’s not terrible, but if you’re a hardcore competitive player who plays at 300fps on low settings, you’d be better served by a faster IPS panel. For casual and semi-competitive play though? It’s absolutely fine.

Where this monitor really shines is immersive gaming. I played through a chunk of Cyberpunk 2077 and it was genuinely stunning. The ultrawide format makes Night City feel massive, and that deep contrast ratio means the neon lights pop against properly dark shadows. Racing games like Forza Horizon 5 benefit massively from the peripheral vision – you can see apex corners earlier and the sense of speed is enhanced.

The curve helps with immersion too. At first it looks a bit weird if you’re coming from a flat screen, but after a day or two your brain adjusts and it just feels natural. It particularly helps in first-person games where you want to feel surrounded by the game world.

My honest recommendation? Budget another £30-50 for a basic monitor arm. The 100×100 VESA mount works with any standard arm, and you’ll get proper height adjustment, swivel, and a much more stable mounting solution. It’s what I ended up doing after the first day of testing.

The build quality is what you’d expect at this price point. The bezels are thin which looks modern, but the plastic feels cheap. There’s some flex in the back panel if you press it. Nothing that affects performance, but it doesn’t feel premium. The OSD buttons are on the back right edge and they’re a bit fiddly to use. I’d have preferred a joystick control.

There’s no USB-C, which is a shame for laptop users. There’s also no USB hub, so you can’t use the monitor to connect peripherals. You do get a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio passthrough, but there are no built-in speakers. Most people will use external speakers or headphones anyway, so this isn’t a huge loss.

Against the AOC CU34G2X, which is a more established ultrawide option, the LXZ offers higher refresh rate (165Hz vs 144Hz) at a lower price point. The AOC has better build quality and ergonomics, but you’re paying extra for that. If you’re planning to use a monitor arm anyway, the LXZ’s rubbish stand becomes less of an issue.

Here’s my honest take on value: this monitor delivers features that normally cost £400+ for under £200. The ultrawide format alone usually commands a premium. You’re getting a genuine 165Hz refresh rate, decent VA panel quality, and that immersive curve. The compromises are in areas that can be worked around (rubbish stand – get a monitor arm) or don’t matter much (pointless HDR – just ignore it).

What you’re not getting: factory calibration, wide colour gamut, meaningful HDR, premium build quality, or fast response times. If you need any of those things, you’ll need to spend more. But if you want ultrawide gaming on a budget and you’re willing to compromise on the non-essential bits, this is exceptional value.

This isn’t a monitor for everyone. If you’re a competitive FPS player, get a flat 240Hz IPS instead. If you do colour-critical work, you need something with factory calibration and wide gamut coverage. If you want meaningful HDR, look at monitors with proper DisplayHDR 600 certification and local dimming.

But if you’re a regular gamer who wants to experience ultrawide gaming, plays a mix of genres, and values immersion over absolute competitive performance, this is a proper bargain. Pair it with a decent monitor arm and you’ve got an excellent gaming setup for less money than most premium 27-inch monitors.