Having never used a curved monitor before, I was excited to try out the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor. I must admit it was an unexpected experience, but certainly one I could get used to. ASRock is a Taiwanese company that has been specialising in motherboards since 2002. In 2022, ASRock introduced a new brand line called Phantom Gaming. Phantom Gaming is their new venture into more purpose-built equipment for gaming, and as such, MKAU has been given the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor for review, and I’m the lucky one to try it out.

Unpacking the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor was incredibly easy. Once the box was opened, the Styrofoam perfectly encapsulated the monitor and allowed it to slide straight out of the box without any risk of it falling free of its packaging. Apart from the 34-inch curved screen, the box also contained the monitor post, a tri-foot stand, a cable cover, a power cord, an HDMI cable, a DP cable, and Wi-Fi antenna cables, and assembling the monitor is just as fast as unpacking it. The post snaps to the screen with a clip and the tri-foot screws to the post with a single, easy-to-use, no tools required bolt.

Weighing in at a total of 8.8 kilograms, the monitor has enough weight to support and balance itself, lowering the risk of tipping over, and the rubber under each tri-foot further stabilises the monitor and helps prevent it from sliding around. Now, you may be asking, “Ash why so much focus on its stability? It’s a monitor it sits on the desk.” The ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor comes with a substantial range of movement, raising from its lowest point of 95 millimetres off the desk to a height of 200 millimetres, a downward pivot of -7 degrees to an upward pivot of 20 degrees, and a left and right pivot of 20 degrees in each direction. The ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor allows you optimise the perfect viewing angle and remains flexible for other users to adjust or move with the fluidity of a standing desk.

The ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor comes with a matte black finish that’s smooth to the touch. Not that there is a lot of area to touch as the massive 34-inch screen will dominate the desk space with its 1500R curvature. Having myself set up on a corner desk certainly helped with situating myself at the optimal distance to appreciate the entirety of the screen.

All of the provided cords are standard, and they can all be kept neat and tidy with the provided cable cover. The cable cover is made of a durable, but flexible wet suit material that can easily zip up and unzip for easy accessibility if required. It also comes with many features and some additional ones I did not expect. Behind the monitor you will find two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, a 3.5mm earphone jack, and built-in Wi-Fi antennas, while underneath, there are two 2W built-in speakers.

First, let’s talk about those speakers. Though nice and certainly allowing a more direct sound to the action, a lot of the sound is lost. With the speakers facing the desk instead of towards the user, ambient noise can wash out the monitor’s sound. Fortunately, with the 3.5mm earphone jack, you can still take full advantage of the feature, but just remember any cords will need to be long enough to reach you, and as mentioned earlier, this is a big screen with a 1500R curvature and a 178-degree viewing angle.

Speaking of the screen let’s, talk about it, after all, what is displayed is what we are all here for. With a 1.4 DisplayPort, you can take full advantage of the 165-hertz refresh rate and 1 ms response time. The VESA Display HDR 400 and a colour display of 16.7M means that you can really enjoy the depth and range of what the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor has to offer, and the AMD FreeSync™ Premium compatibility delivers a butter-smooth experience when paired with a supported AMD Radeon GPU.

With an aspect ratio of 21:9 and a resolution of 3440 x 1440, you can become very immersed in whatever game you are playing. The two 2.0 HDMI ports can also be used, but they are incomparable to that of the DisplayPort, and they would be better spent on connecting a second monitor or gaming consoles. To enhance the gaming experience even further, you can connect the Wi-Fi antenna cables from your PC, reducing the latency to practically zero. With flicker-free technology and an anti-glare screen, it allows for long periods of use without suffering eye strain. It is very evident the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor was purpose-built for gaming.

I mostly found myself using the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor for office work, watching streams, and gaming, while my partner used it for office work and photography. We both agreed that when first using the screen for office work, the words and images were not sharp and appeared distorted, but after about 30 seconds, we no longer noticed it and used the screen for an extended period rather comfortably. However, when using it during the day, we both noticed it still picked up significant glare, regardless of its anti-glare touting. Lastly, my partner was less than impressed when processing photos, as no number of adjustments could fix the distortion on portrait photos – Anything shot in landscape or close-up macro shots were fine, it was just the portraits that suffered.

It is very evident that ASRock has a goal in mind, and that is to provide an ultimate gaming experience through their equipment, and with an RRP of $599, it is on the lower end of the market against its competitors. The ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor, however, most certainly does not perform like a budget monitor. Though it may not be fully compatible with all uses, if you are looking for an affordable monitor with a focus on gaming, then certainly give the ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Curved Gaming Monitor a look.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove