Alienware today announced a new set of PC peripherals, expanding the size of its peripheral line to meet a wider range of needs and budgets.
Known for its powerful gaming PCs and charming space-age styling, Alienware is no stranger to gaming peripherals. Its line of gaming monitors is considered by many gamers to be the best on the market, and it already has some gaming headsets, gaming keyboards, and gaming mice in its line.
Now, the high-end PC gaming brand has added two new high-resolution gaming headsets, a wireless mouse and the first wireless gaming keyboard to its growing line of PC gaming peripherals. All but three of these new products—the Alienware AW720H headset, AW620M gaming mouse, and AW920K keyboard—are wireless, allowing for top-tier performance gaming without the inconvenience of being tethered to a PC. However, the AW520H headphones stay true to tradition with their dual USB + 3.5mm connections, while also featuring the same 20Hz to 40,000Hz high-resolution audio as the AW720H.
In addition, Alienware also introduced “the world’s first 500Hz IPS gaming monitor”. The 24.5-inch 1080p Alienware 500Hz AW2524H offers a 500Hz refresh rate, 0.5ms GtG response time and Nvidia’s Reflex Latency Analyzer, allowing gamers to optimize their systems to minimize lag – not to mention sRGB 99% color coverage, AlienFX RGB Lighting and an integrated headphone hanger give you a great place to store and display your AW720H or AW520H.
staggered release dates
Although released today, these peripherals are being released on a staggered basis. The Alienware AW620M Gaming Mouse and AW720H Wireless Gaming Headset are available now for $99.99 and $159.99, respectively. Meanwhile, the AW2524H gaming monitor will launch on March 21 for $829.99.
The AW520H Wired Gaming Headset and AW920K Wireless Gaming Keyboard, priced at $99.99 and $289.99, respectively, will be available in the second quarter of this year — though Alienware hasn’t given us a firm release date yet. We’ll update this story as soon as we have UK and Australian pricing and availability.
Do you need 500Hz to play games?
We haven’t gotten our hands on the rest of these peripherals yet, but we’ve managed to thoroughly test the Alienware AW720H headset. Its high-resolution audio and expansive soundstage are unmatched. We found its detailed and immersive audio enhanced our gaming and movie watching experience, and it was also comfortable to wear for long periods of time, lasting up to 30 hours on a full charge.
If this headset is anything to go by, we can expect amazing performance from other products, especially gaming monitors. In general, the higher the refresh rate of a monitor, the more tax it puts on the system. However, Alienware has limited its resolution to 1080p, so that might be different. We can’t wait to see how it actually performs in the real world, and whether or not that eye-wateringly high refresh rate number is required.
Many gamers already consider 360Hz refresh rates — the upper limit of most gaming monitors to date — unnecessary, not least because they require more power from the CPU and GPU. So, it presents the same problem here, especially since you’re also sacrificing resolution. While 1080p monitors aren’t completely out of date, many gamers also appreciate the sheer amount of detail and clarity you get with 1440p and 4K monitors, especially when playing open-world and other visually stunning games.
Asus is trying to launch a similar 24-inch 1080p 500Hz gaming monitor in 2022, but we haven’t seen one on shelves yet, which makes us wonder if the manufacturer decided it didn’t need such a quick reveal at all. At least not yet.
However, it looks like Alienware is going full steam ahead with its own 500Hz entry, so we’ll have a chance to see it in the wild soon.
