32″ Dell S3222HG Review – Serious Value
The Dell S3222HG is a 32-inch gaming monitor that offers great colour accuracy, fast response times, 165Hz refresh rate, and adaptive sync, all in a value-focused proposition. Is it worth your money? Let's find out.
3-years (upgradable to 5 years with ProSupport Premium Panel with Advanced Exchange Service)
RM1,699
+ Great colour accuracy, especially after calibration
+ Sturdy build quality
+ Can adjust tilt and height
+ Excellent value for money
+ 165Hz refresh rate
+ Fast response times
- Lacking in ports
- Can't swivel
Unboxing the Dell S3222HG
32″ Dell S3222HG Review – Box
Kicking off the Dell S3222HG review with the unboxing, the curved gaming monitor comes in a rather large, white box that shares the same environmentally-friendly design as their more recent products. Inside the box, we found the following items:
32″ Dell S3222HG Review – Box content
- Stand
- Base plate
- Power cable
- Quick Start guide
- Safety and Regulatory Information booklet
- The Dell SG3222HG gaming monitor itself
Specifications
| Panel Size | 31.5″ |
| Panel Type | VA, 1800R curvature |
| True Resolution | 1920 x 1080 (FHD) |
| Display Viewing Area(HxV) | 698.4mm x 392.85mm |
| Display Surface | Anti-glare 3H hardness |
| Pixel Pitch | 0.36375 mm |
| Brightness | 350cd/m2 (max) |
| Contrast Ratio | 3000:1 |
| Viewing Angle (CR≧10) | 178°(H)/178°(V) |
| Response Time | 4 ms (GTG); 1 ms (MPRT) |
| Display Colors | 16.7 million |
| Color gamut | 99.9% sRGB |
| HDR (High Dynamic Range) Support | No |
| Maximum Refresh Rate | 165Hz |
| Low Blue Light | Yes |
| HDCP support | Yes |
| Viewing modes | Standard, ComfortView, Movie, Game, Color Temp., Color Space, Custom Color |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes, AMD FreeSync Premium |
| Signal Input | 1 x DisplayPort (DisplayPort 1.2 mode, HDCP) 2 x HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 2.2) 1 x Audio line-out |
| Earphone jack | Yes |
| Power Consumption | 40W (Max) 25W (Typical) 0.3W (Standby) 0.27W (Off) |
| Chassis Color | Black |
| Stand adjustments | Tilt: 5°~21° Height: 0~100 mm |
| VESA Wall Mounting | 100 x 100 mm |
| Weight | 6.85kg, 9.4kg with stand |
Performance
The brightness of the display when measured at 100% brightness in Standard mode was 298cd/m2, and it seems that the monitor was running at 80% brightness by default, which measures in at 273.4cd/m2. There is no HDR here in case you’re wondering, and we will be conducting the test in Standard Mode.
32″ Dell S3222HG Review – Screen uniformity test
We ran the screen uniformity test in a 3×3 grid format since it’s the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. 4 out of 9 areas here passed the recommended tolerance whereas the remaining passed the nominal tolerance with the exception of one in the bottom-right corner. The center area isn’t counted as that is the area used for reference. This shouldn’t alarm you as the difference isn’t big enough to be noticeable, and it will still look pretty good for gaming.
Colour Accuracy
| Standard | Standard mode, calibration with DisplayCAL | |
| Whitepoint | 7788K | 7813K |
| Average ΔE*00 | 0.54 | 0.24 |
| Maximum ΔE*00 | 2.03 | 0.68 |
By default, the Dell SG3222HG has good colour accuracy. After calibrating it using SpyderX and DisplayCAL, we saw significant improvements in Delta E figures, with the average going down slight but the maximum figure seeing a huge drop, making it more colour accurate than before overall. If you’re a gamer who does creative work on the side, this monitor would strike a good balance for that.
Gamut
| Gamut | Standard | Standard mode, calibration with DisplayCAL | |
| sRGB | Coverage | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Volume | 128.7% | 129.4% | |
| Adobe RGB | Coverage | 81% | 81.1% |
| Volume | 88.7% | 89.1% | |
| DCI-P3 | Coverage | 90.1% | 90.2% |
| Volume | 91.2% | 91.6% | |
For the gamut coverage and volume, it doesn’t seem to differ much before and after calibration. Overall with 99% sRGB, 81% Adobe RGB, and 90% DCI-P3, it does offer a relatively wide gamut coverage and should be suitable enough for most content creators out there unless you have a specific need for higher Adobe RGB or DCI-P3.
If you’d rather have something geared more towards productivity, check out our Dell UltraSharp U3821DW monitor review by clicking right here.
The Good
32″ Dell S3222HG Review
Apart from the colours and what not that the display is capable of that we talked about in the previous section, there are a good number of positive things we can say about the Dell S3222HG gaming monitor. The first is the build quality, which is surprisingly great given its price point. It’s built sturdy with a stand that exudes confidence as soon as you have it installed. Not to mention, the process of doing so is easy and quick. Since the power supply is internal, there is less cable mess to worry about.
Furthermore, the ability to adjust height and tilt gives more versatility in how you would like to use the monitor. Given that everyone is of different size and use a different setup, this will allow that added bit of tailoring for the best possible viewing experience while using it.
32″ Dell S3222HG Review – Navigation buttons
Then, we have 165Hz refresh rate, which is a blessing for those who play competitive, fast-paced games. Sure, there are monitors that can go 240Hz or higher but since this monitor appeals to a more value-focused crowd, it hits the right spot. Add together adaptive sync, AMD FreeSync Premium to be exact, and it becomes even more enticing. In case you’re wondering, you can use an NVIDIA card with it just fine, and it will work from 48 to 165Hz.
Lastly, the Dell S3222HG offers serious value for what you’re paying. Sure, there are cheaper 32-inch Full HD monitors out there but to find one that is as feature-packed as this one while still maintaining good colour accuracy and build quality is certainly tough. Not to mention, having a reputable brand like Dell certainly eases the mind, especially for aftersales support.
The Bad
32″ Dell S3222HG Review – Ports
Of course, there will always be drawbacks for any product, but there isn’t many. The first one for the Dell S3222HG is lack of ports. You only get two HDMI ports, a DisplayPort, and an audio-out. I can forgive the lack of upstream / downstream ports to cut costs but one would expect at least a USB-C port here for multipurpose use, such as charging and easily connecting to Thunderbolt-supported laptops. The use of HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 makes sense since this is a Full HD monitor with up to 165Hz refresh rate.
The second, and last one, is the lack of swivel. It’s great that this gaming monitor is tilt and height-adjustable but adding the ability to swivel would have further bolstered its value, giving more room to tailor to your usage without having to move the entire monitor. This is especially important since its an 1800R curved display, so it can make a big difference.
Dell S3222HG Verdict
32″ Dell S3222HG Review
The 32-inch Dell S3222HG gaming monitor offers some serious value and is certainly an attractive choice for those looking for the best bang for buck display around. Unless you specifically need higher refresh rate, higher resolution, or something that screams gamer in terms of aesthetics, this can definitely serve you well.
At the end of our Dell S3222HG review, I award this gaming monitor with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.
Big thanks to Dell Malaysia for sending us this gaming monitor for the purpose of this review.
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