by Lim, April 16, 2017 8:50 pm

HP Omen X 35 Review - 100Hz curved Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor. In general an awesome image quality but still with a bigger problem and some downsides

Introduction

The Omen x by HP, I really was happy when the HP Omen X35 arrived. The design is something really innovative and new within gaming monitors and displays in general and I really like it combined with the 35" Inch. Oh, and yes, you can see a difference between 34" and 35" Inch. There is only few information about the Omen, so I was also really curious how good the Omen X35 will pass my test. I've got my Omen directly at the German HP store, with some student discount :P. But even with a discount, the Omen costs me 1090€, which is still really a crazy price for a pc monitor. So, HP attacks the Asus PG348Q and Acer X34A with its Omen. With a VA panel, you will have overall very good blacks and a strong contrast ratio but you should note that a VA panel does not ensure you to have stable blacks within viewing angles in dark image content. The good, no clouding and backlight bleed, the bad, viewing angles are very poor at the Omen, even compared to other VA panels. In the HP Omen X35 is built in an AU-Optronics panel. A 100 Hz native refresh rate panel with 4ms response time, Nvidia G-Sync, ultra wide, ultra-design, 3440 x 1440 curved display, ambient lighting ... The review is a bit long, but I still hope that it helps you with your buying decision :).

HP Omen X35 vs the Asus PG348Q and other IPS Panels

I'm receiving a lot of question according to which gaming monitor to choose: The Omen X35 vs the Asus PG348Q or the Acer X34a. Since Dell Alienware (and soon the same Panel in an Acer and AOC model) has also released its 120Hz IPS panel we should rather compare these new native 100Hz IPS panels with overclocking up to 120Hz to the Omen X35. Overall I definitely would pick one of these new 120Hz IPS panels because of fewer IPS glow compared to the Asus PG348Q and the Acer X34A and no VA glow issues and better color stability in viewing angles. You may think "hey, I don't need good viewing angles when sitting directly in front of the panel" but you should note that you even have viewing angles in this case and this is why IPS panels, especially in monitors, gives an IPS panel this great overall image quality. Less motion blur, no smearing issues, the OSD brightness settings, but still the IPS glow, depending on the distance to the monitor. In a pitch black room, both, the Omen and an IPS panel is not perfect.

Updates and new information about the HP Omen X35 can be found at the bottom of the article or in the table of contents (if available). Also available within the forum (click here).

Specifications

Panel Type	VA (AU Optronics)
Backlight	EDGE LED / W-LED
Display size and Aaspect ratio	35 Inch/ 21:9
Max. resolution	3440x1440 (UWQHD)
Pixel density	116.55 ppi (pixel per inch)
Refresh rate	60 Hz nativ / Overclock 100 Hz
Native color depth and color space	real 8-bit / sRGB
Response time (GtG)	4 Ms
Brightness	300cd/m2
Integrated speakers	No
Video inputs	1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 1.4, 3x USB 3.0
Audio	3.5mm Kopfhörer Ausgang
USB Hub	Yes
Power consumption	65W (ohne Nutzung der USB Eingänge)
35" Panel dimensions WxHxD with foot stand	83,3 x 32,9 x 41,2 cm
35" Panel dimensions WxHxD without foot stand	83,3 x 11,1 x 38 cm
Frame width	7mm
Weight	12.04 Kg without foot stand / 9,47 Kg with foot stand
Warranty	2 Years
Ergonomics	Height, Swivel, Tilt
Adaptive Sync	G-Sync
G-Sync Range	30-100Hz
Contrast (Native)	2500:1
Vesa	Yes 100mm
Curved	Yes

Alternatives

Alternative ultrawide 100Hz UWQHD (3440x1440) IPS and VA monitors to the HP Omen X35:
(All other alternatives are listed in the Gaming-Monitor-List. Future releases can be found here)

Find the HP Omen X 35 here: Buy on Amazon

With G-Sync:

- VA Panel

AOC Agon AG352UCG Buy on Amazon

Acer Z35P Buy on Amazon

- IPS Panel

Asus PG348Q Review / Buy on Amazon
Acer Predator X34A Buy on Amazon
Dell Alienware AW3418DW soon.

With Freesync:

- VA Panel

HKC NB34C Buy on Amazon

Samsung C34H890 Buy on Amazon

Samsung CF791 Buy on Amazon

Asus MX34VQ Buy on Amazon

Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ not released yet

IPS Panel

No IPS Freesync Ultrawide QHD monitors released yet

YouTube Video Review

Measurements

Within the response time of 4 Ms and the overdrive function from the Omen, in general, I was positively surprised. However, the disadvantage is that while using overdrive you will become problems with lags/stutters. This means, that every 4 - 5 seconds the image has extreme motion blur for some several milliseconds. It's curious that these intervals, where this issue occurs, sometimes need around 15 seconds before it occurs. Well, the positive thing, within games this issue isn't really that noticeable and while playing I couldn't notice it at all. So let's hope that HP will be able to release a fix with some firmware updates.

Ufo-Test

Some more "issues" with the Omen X 35

VA Smearing

If you buy a VA panel, you probably will know that you will have more smearing compared to an IPS or a TN panel in darker image content. It's just something which all VA panels have and what we can not evaluate as a negative point for the monitor.

Contrast, Brightness, and Black Point:

Presets and Measurements:

Measurements with optimal settings (without calibration):

Measurements after calibration:

Review Updates

1. Refresh Rate

The HP Omen X35 uses a native 100 Hz refresh rate panel (and not a native 60 Hz panel with overclocking abilities) Model number: AUO (AU Optronics) with the serial number M350QVR01.1.

2. Frame Skipping

As the question came @ youtube if the omen uses a native 100 Hz panel. One user told us, that HP has made a mistake on their page. The support in Germany really couldn't help me. At this test, we have frame skipping of "only" 1 frame each every 1.11 seconds. The video is taken with 60 fps and a shutter speed of 1/100, so you won't see each frame but you easily can see the "afterglow". Frame skipping results in stuttering. I couldn't notice any stuttering with the Omen X35 in games, only some in CS GO.

Here you also can watch a short video where I made the frame skipping the test.
Here is a short explanation of frame skipping.

Comparison Charts

Maximum brightness in cd/m2

Asus Rog Swift PG348Q

367

HP Omen X35

353

Acer Predator X34P

337

Alienware AW3418DW

324

Maximum contrast x:1

HP Omen X35

2218

Asus Rog Swift PG348Q

1172

Alienware AW3418DW

1094

Acer Predator X34P

1082

Black point with optimal settings (120 cd/m2 , 6500K)

HP Omen X35

0,06

Asus Rog Swift PG348Q

0,11

Alienware AW3418DW

0,11

Acer Predator X34P

0,11

Conclusion

Well, overall the HP Omen X35 is a great ultrawide monitor with its own (mostly VA typical) cons. The VA glow on this model is something I really don't like and it is even hard to get used to. Currently, the VA glow is even the worst I've seen on current VA gaming monitors. The brighter your environment the less VA glow you will observe on the Omen, so I strongly would recommend using a small desk lamp to improve the overall image quality on the X35. Otherwise, great pop colors in darker image content but still washed out colors above the 16:9 area. If you are looking for a new 21:9 gaming monitor I would recommend you to watch my Alienware review, which also has its own cons and issues. Watching movies is not optimum still because the VA glow again will brighten your blacks. I watched two movies on the Omen and I personally really don't like it. To be fair: To find a (gaming) monitor which is good for movies (especially when comparing to TVs) is not really easy since all current monitors are far behind higher end TVs in terms of the overall image quality, but still best for high refresh rate gaming.

Pros & Cons

Pro:

- Intense and vibrant colors (consider viewing angles and more washed out colors on the left and right / above the 16:9 aspect ratio)
- G-Sync with a range from 30-100 Hz
- Max. brightness of 350 cd/m2 (300 cd/m2 stated)
- USB Hub with 3 x USB 3.0 ports
- Very good sharpness - "sweetspot"
- 100 Hz
- Very clean design and a solid processing
- Very nice blacks
- No clouding and backlight bleed
- Very good protected monitor in the box

Neutral:

- No contrast settings
- Actually buggy overdrive settings with lag (not really a problem in games)
- "slowest" panel technology with smearing in darker colors/objects
- Frame skipping (1 frame)

Contra:

- No gamma settings in the OSD
- Viewing angles, especially in darker image content (silver shine effect)
+ Issues with viewing angles on the HP Omen X35 are very obvious(!)

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