You know Alienware's 5K2K 39-inch ultrawide OLED gaming monitor beast, the AW3926QW, the one I reviewed the other day? It's an absolute beauty, probably my favourite current PC monitor, save for one niggly flaw. But what if you fancy something similar, but cheaper and in a more conventional 32-inch 4K form factor? Well, give it up for the new Alienware AW3226Q, because it ticks all those boxes.Notably, it sports exactly the same LG Tandem WOLED panel tech as its bigger 39-inch sibling. That includes being the latest RGB-stripe variant of that new LG OLED panel generation that everyone is going bananas for. Well, it's nearly the same. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, this 32-inch 4K panel clocks in at 250 nits full-screen brightness and 1,000 nits peak HDR. The aforementioned 39 incher rocks 300 nits and 1,300 nits figures for the same metrics, respectively.Alienware AW3226Q specsScreen size32-inchResolution3,840 x 2,160Brightness250 nits full screen, 1,000 nits peak HDRResponse time0.03 msRefresh rate165 Hz @ 4KHDRDisplayHDR True Black 400FeaturesLG Tandem WOLED RGB-stripe panel, 2x HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, USB-A/C hub, 3.5mm audioPrice$699 | £649 Buy if...✅ You're an OLED purist: LG's new RGB-stripe WOLED tech offers beautifully neutral colours.Do not buy if...❌ You want the brightest possible OLED experience: This version of LG's Tandem WOLED panel technology takes a small brightness hit.As it happens, the numbers for this 32-inch 4K model are actually more in line with expectations for this panel type. The thing is, with all previous WOLED panel generations, LG used a white subpixel to boost brightness.This new pure RGB-stripe—or red, green, blue—item ditches the white subpixel in favour of pixel precision and improved colour volume. But that comes with a cost in terms of peak brightness.Even the 39-inch AW3926QW is a little dimmer than the RGWB version of LG's latest Tandem OLED monitor panel tech, where the "W" in "RGWB" indicates the added white subpixel. Oh, and just for clarity, the "W" in "WOLED" has always referred to the white colour of the light produced by the emissive OLED material in all of the subpixels, rather than the added white subpixels in all previous WOLED monitor generations prior to the newest RGB-stripe variants. Baffling, but there you go.(Image credit: Future)Anywho, monitors with RGWB Tandem OLED panels, including the Asus ROG Strix XG32UQWMS I reviewed recently, tend to weigh in around 330 nits full-screen and 1,500 nits peak HDR. So the 39-inch 5K2K RGB-stripe panel gives less away in terms of brightness than expected, and in turn this new 32-inch 4K model is pretty much where you'd expect it to be.Got all that? Then it's also worth understanding that those brightness figures can be misleading. Like I said, LG has been including a fourth white subpixel in all of its previous WOLED monitor panel generations to boost brightness. But that doesn't automatically boost colour brightness. At least it can't while maintaining colour volume.That's why Samsung's competing QD-OLED panels, as also used by a wide variety of monitor makers including Alienware, have often looked more vibrant despite typically offering slightly lower ratings. Samsung has never used an additional white subpixel, so its brightness rating reflects real-world usage. And real-world gaming means a colour image rather than a pure white image pretty much all the time.Get a load of those RGB subpixels...FutureThe point I'm making here is that it's important not to assume that the 4K RGB-stripe Tandem WOLED panel in this new Alienware is a step backwards just because it has lower brightness ratings than RGWB Tandem WOLED in monitors like that Asus model I mentioned above. It's more complicated than that.Along with the brightness and colour volume implications, the RGB-stripe has the same pixel precision and text quality upsides here as it does on other RGB-stripe OLEDs. In short, the Windows OS assumes it is rendering to a conventional RGB-stripe subpixel layout, so having RGB-stripe solves issues like fuzzy text and colour fringing.It's important not to assume that the 4K RGB-stripe Tandem WOLED panel in this new Alienware is a step backwards just because it has lower brightness ratings.As for the rest of the speeds and feeds, well, the refresh is a relatively modest 165 Hz, the panel is flat, and it's covered in a glossy glare coating. Inputs include DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1 ports, but there's no USB-C for single-cable connectivity, albeit along with the two USB-A data ports, there is a USB–C downstream socket as part of the USB hub.Oh, and I haven't mentioned the price. It's $699 or £649 at launch, which is pretty punchy, especially given the cutting-edge panel tech. Heck, the 34-inch ultrawide AW3426DW is more expensive. It's also not far off half the price of the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCWM, which has the same RGB-stripe panel, albeit running at a higher refresh and with more features.That's one big ol' glossy panel.FutureFutureFutureFutureSo, the surprisingly low price perhaps explains the 165 Hz as opposed to 240 Hz refresh and lack of USB-C support. It's probably also why there's no dual-mode support offering a higher refresh rate at a lower resolution.If that's the stats and specs covered, what's the actual gaming experience like? Mostly pretty fantastic. Like the bigger AW3926QW, I really like the AW3226Q's overall look and colour balance. It fixes the slightly washed out and green-tinted vibe of LG's RGWB panels without suffering from the overly warm colour temperature and purple-tint in bright ambient light of competing Samsung QD-OLED-based monitors.FutureFutureIn many ways, this is the perfect OLED panel tech, it's just so nice. The colours look super natural, the lighting control is perfect, and the response is basically instant. The 4K resolution on a 32-inch panel also makes for razor-sharp detail. It's pretty much the definitive modern PC gaming experience.OKay, the 165 Hz refresh is a touch pedestrian these days, but this isn't an esports model and it's definitely a compromise built out of chasing affordability. And even with an RTX 5090, you're not going to be playing many modern games at 4K at 200fps-plus, in reality.It's pretty much the definitive modern PC gaming experience.The arguable exception to all that is full-screen brightness, which is just a touch disappointing. A lot of the time you won't notice it. On the Windows desktop if you enable dark mode and you haven't got a very bright browser or app window open, this monitor looks really punchy and vibrant.The same goes for most game scenes with HDR enabled. They look absolutely stellar, with both bright and dark image elements precisely controlled in the same image. That's OLED per-pixel lighting for you, there's nothing quite like it. As ever, of course, the sizzle of small HDR highlights like light sources, sparks and explosions are a sight to behold.(Image credit: Future)Where this RGB-stripe 32 incher isn't quite so impressive is brighter outdoor game scenes. Here, it can look just a bit dull, with that 250 nit full-screen capability holding it back. To an extent, the 39-inch 5K2K model has the same problem. But it's that little bit brighter. We're talking fine margins, but where the 39 incher mostly seems to be just punchy enough, this 32-inch sibling just falls short of being enjoyably vibrant that little bit more often. That said, Alienware has included a range of HDR modes, including standard HDR 400 and HDR 1000 models, plus an HDR 1000 Bright mode. The latter is supposed to offer the best of the other two modes in a single setting and from a subjective experience perspective, it largely does just that, offering the best this panel can achieve in terms of both full-screen brightness and peak HDR performance for small, super-bright highlights.I'm pretty confident you can consider vignette dimming a solved problem.So, what about that niggle I mentioned up front? With the 39-inch Alienware AW3926QW, I was disappointed to confirm that community reports of so-called "vignette dimming" were accurate. Long story short, Alienware had implemented an OLED protection feature known as CPC or Convex Power Control that slightly dims the edge of the panel when gameplay is detected.The idea is to prevent static game interface elements like mini maps or health bars from causing burn-in. The problem was that Alienware didn't provide a toggle for CPC. It was always enabled. And all of that is also true for the new 32-inch Alienware AW3226Q. It's a tough call between this Alienware and slightly cheaper QD-OLED alternatives.FutureAt least it was. On November 5th, Alienware released a new firmware update for the 39-inch Alienware AW3926QW which includes a toggle for CPC, though it's called "Edge-Dimming" in the OSD. I haven't tested it myself, but it's reported to remove the vignette dimming when disabled. Hurrah.Just a day later, Alienware released a similar update for this 32 incher. Unfortunately, we just missed the update before our review sample had to be returned. But I'm pretty confident you can consider vignette dimming a solved problem.(Image credit: Future)And in case you are wondering, while the updated OSD menu does warn you that edge-dimming "is a feature to improve OLED panel durability", Dell has not said that disabling it voids the three-year warranty, which could have been a worry.So, yeah, I like the Alienware AW3226Q. I like it a lot. Alienware has specced it cleverly to hit a surprisingly appealing price point. It's not a budget option, obviously. But for an RGB-stripe 4K 32-inch OLED, it's got to be a bit of a bargain. The really tough question is whether I'd go for this or one of the OG 32-inch 4K models based on Samsung's first stab at a QD-OLED panel in that format. You can often grab such monitors, such as the MSI MAG 321UP for even less money. That's a very tough call.