When I reviewed the new LG UltraGear 32GS95UE last week, there was just one thing I didn't like about it. The price. Actually, there were two, but it would be a lot easier to overlook the second thing were the LG UltraGear 32GS95UE a lot cheaper.
Well, huzzah and hoorah, because it already is. At the original $1,400, this stunning 4K 32-inch OLED panel was just so very, very expensive. But it's now had a major haircut.
LG is now listing the monitor for $1,199, fully $200 off. However, if you add a promo code "OMSC7PK2OM8038" for Ultragear kit, you can get another $100 off, taking the price down to $1,099 on LG's website.
That immediately makes this 4K WOLED a very easy choice over almost every other 32-inch 4K OLED monitor out there. The one possible exception is the MSI MPG 321URX or more specifically its MSI MAG 321UPX sibling. The latter is identical to the former save for its USB-C interface being downgraded from 90 W power delivery to 15 W.
That's a pity, but it does mean the price falls to $900, which is as low as this class of monitor goes. That said, if you can stretch to the extra $200 for this LG, we'd say go for it. It's simply the better monitor.
It has all the same 32-inch 4K OLED upsides, including pin-sharp pixel density and crazy fast response times. To that it adds perhaps the brightest OLED tech we've yet seen in LG's latest-gen WOLED panel.
It also doesn't suffer from the overly warm color balance of the Samsung QD-OLED panels used in other 32-inch 4K competitors. Likewise, you don't get the problem where the panel looks grey in strong ambient light, which is another QD-OLED niggle.
But you do also get LG's Dual Mode functionality thrown in that offers a 1080p 480 Hz mode. It's meant to be a sort of alternative native mode that uses pixel doubling to achieve the lower resolution and combines that with 480 Hz refresh. You'd never actually mistake the slightly blurry image quality for native when enabled. But it's probably better than traditional interpolation and the 480 Hz makes for even lower latency.
As for downsides, well, the matte panel coating was a surprise. We have tended to much prefer glossy coatings on OLED monitors. Glossy really lets OLED technology sing and unlocks the full contrast potential of the per-pixel lighting. But, somehow, LG has made matte work with this monitor. It looks fantastic.
The other snag is the omission of a USB-C port. In a gaming context, it's arguably not a huge oversight. But at this kind of price point, and even with the discount, we'd like to have seen USB-C connectivity thrown in. You never know how you might want to use this monitor in future.
That aside, this is simply the best 32-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor we've yet seen. And that means it's pretty much the best gaming monitor we've seen. It's something seriously special.
