A great gaming monitor that’s too flat for its size

There actually is a gaming monitor for everybody nowadays. There are choices for the budget-conscious, “sky’s the restrict” excessive decision, or “greater is healthier” gaming screens. The previous few years have seen the rise of widescreen and ultra-widescreen screens, providing a extra immersive gaming expertise for avid gamers.

Estimated studying time: 11 minutes

Our AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C 43-inch ultra-widescreen gaming monitor evaluation appears at a gaming monitor with a terrific design and show, however one main flaw. Read on for our full evaluation!

Specifications

The AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C gaming monitor we reviewed has the next options and specs:

What’s within the field

• 43″ DFHD monitor
• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI Cable
• Stand stem
• Stand base
• 4x base screws (1 additional)
• Remote management
• 2x AAA batteries
• VESA mount adapter
• 4x VESA mount adapter screws
• Power adapter
• User’s handbook
• Warranty card

Design

At first look, the design of the AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C 43″ ultra-widescreen gaming monitor is fairly candy. I really like the white body and stand on the monitor, and it has a pleasant clear look. In truth, even the included energy, HDMI, and DisplayPort cables are additionally white, ending off the clear look as soon as arrange in your desk.

The bodily bezels on the highest and sides are fairly skinny at lower than 1/8″ thick. The backside bezel is thicker, normally all the time the case, and is available in at 3/4″ thick. The Fire Legend brand and branding are printed in gray on the centre of the underside bezel. Just beneath the branding is the exterior management panel. A small white field with a translucent black face, it has 5 buttons on the underside edge. A blue LED is on the far proper to point energy standing. Also positioned beneath the entrance plate is an IR sensor for the included distant management.

The high and sides of the monitor are about 7/8″ thick, with the underside beginning at this thickness on the sides and fattening out to about 2 1/4″ within the center. The sides do have a small “v” notch about midway up, which aligns with the LED strip on the again of the monitor. However, it appears virtually like a defect when it from the facet and would probably have seemed cleaner had this not been added. The high and backside do have cutouts for air flow.

The again of the monitor can also be white in color and curves outward in the direction of the underside. The AOPEN brand is printed within the again left nook (when trying on the again). A skinny strip runs throughout the center of the again of the monitor and comprises an LED mild when turned on. The glow the LED throws off is superb and one of many nicest ones I’ve seen shortly. The two HDMI ports, DisplayPort, and three.5mm audio jack are positioned on the again close to the underside left of the monitor (once more, when trying on the again). The commonplace energy plug is on the correct. A big gloss black circle is centred within the center, the place the cylindrical monitor stand attaches to it. The stand itself is white, has a black cap, and a gap for cable pass-through to assist maintain your monitor cables tidy. The stable, giant ft angle outwards. The stand additionally gives tilt, swivel, and top changes.

The Fire Legend 43XV1C additionally features a small distant management as effectively. It’s fairly small and has eight buttons and a management wheel. The distant lets you simply energy the monitor on or off, change the supply, toggle HDR mode, toggle Game Mode, modify the amount, and navigate by means of the menu. While not widespread with screens, it’s good to have and is a wonderful addition.

My main subject with the design of the Fire Legend 43XV1C is that it’s flat. While it appears sharp, a flat 43″ monitor that’s solely about 13″ in top takes up a whole lot of area. The flat show doesn’t look as interesting as newer curved shows and likewise impacts the visuals, extra on that beneath our show part. Typically with two FHD screens, customers angle them within the center. Not solely does this scale back the area used in your desk, nevertheless it makes each screens simpler to see.

Size and flatness apart, this monitor’s curves and normal look and design are fairly candy. Unfortunately, because of the flat design, I’m docking a whole level right here.

Display

The AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C 43″ ultra-widescreen gaming monitor boasts a decision of 3840×1080, in different phrases, double FHD or DFHD. While this offers you loads of actual property for working, as talked about above, the flat panel design makes viewing the far left and proper of the monitor a bit unnatural feeling. I don’t have the best eyesight and put on glasses. However, recently, I can see higher when utilizing a monitor with out my glasses based mostly on my workstation setup. With the 43XV1C’s flat panel, nonetheless, any home windows or textual content on the far left or far proper of the monitor ended up being blurry as a result of it’s farther from my eyes than the centre.

That being stated, whereas gaming, the monitor was fairly respectable as you’re normally trying on the centre of the motion. Even when glancing on the far left and proper, you possibly can nonetheless see what was happening as crispness isn’t obligatory for many video games, particularly first-person shooters.

The panel itself is an IPS TFT Colour LCD. With a local brightness of 350nits and HDR400 assist for 400 nits with HDR enabled, it was brilliant sufficient for my setup — which is within the basement with a small window. With all of the lights on, the monitor brightness was nonetheless fairly respectable, however I’d suspect in setups with extra pure, and typically brighter mild, extra brightness on this panel could be appreciated. With 93% DCI-P3 protection and 100m:1 ACM dynamic distinction, the colors and blacks on this monitor had been nice. Gaming with HDR turned on in video games like Forza Horizon 5 was a deal with with the visuals being good and wealthy, positively suiting that sport.

As far as customization is anxious, you’ll be able to modify fairly a number of display-related choices within the OSD fairly simply. This contains all the things from commonplace brightness, distinction, black increase, gamma, color temperature, color area, grayscale mode, HDR, ACM, and blue mild settings.

Again, I’m docking one other complete level for show due to the non-curved show on this ultra-widescreen gaming monitor. Even an 1800R curve would have made this monitor extra engaging to make use of.

Assembly

Like most screens, the AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C 43″ widescreen gaming monitor requires a little bit of meeting. Fortunately, it’s fairly simple. The monitor base attaches to the stand arm with three screws, after which the stand arm attaches to the monitor by means of a quick-release notch on the again of the monitor. If you wish to VESA mount it, you’ll be able to skip this step, mount the included VESA Adapter Mounting Kit with the 4 screws, and mount it to your VESA arm or wall.

Ease of Use

Once assembled and turned on, this monitor is fairly simple to make use of when you get used to the menu buttons. On the far left, the primary button triggers Mode management or exits the present menu. The second button opens the brightness management or goes to the subsequent degree within the present menu. To toggle enter sources, press the center button. This can also be used to pick or return to the earlier menu when the OSD menu is enabled. The fourth button is used to view the OSD menu or choose or go to the subsequent menu. Finally, the button on the far proper turns the monitor on or off.

The OSD menu permits you to modify loads of completely different options, together with show choices (as talked about above), quantity, over drive, FreeSync Premium, toggling the refresh charge quantity, enabling an intention level for FPS video games, altering the recent key project, organising PIP/PBP, and extra.

As talked about above, this widescreen gaming monitor additionally features a distant management to make it simpler to entry the menus and capabilities of the monitor. I didn’t use it a lot as I’m used to utilizing the buttons instantly on the monitor, however it’s helpful, and I can see how some would discover it useful.

Performance

Even although the Fire Legend 43XV1C is an ultra-widescreen monitor, it does sit at an FHD decision, albeit double FHD. As such, you’ll be capable of get higher framerates when in comparison with a DQHD ultra-widescreen monitor of the identical measurement.

Of course, it relies on your system specs. I used to be in a position to take a look at it with a number of completely different techniques and acquired acceptable outcomes throughout the board. While I’ve listed the graphics card used on every system, they did fluctuate in chipset and RAM, nevertheless it ought to provide you with a good sufficient thought of what common framerates to count on, relying in your graphic card. NOTE: the system with the RTX 2080 was working Windows 11; the RTX 3060 and RTX 3050 techniques had been on Windows 10. All video games examined had been working at greater high quality settings as a substitute of upper efficiency settings.

As talked about in a few of my different ultra-widescreen monitor evaluations, not all video games play good with the decision. Heroes of the Storm, for instance, has to have the decision set utilizing the GeForce Experience app. Even then, I couldn’t pressure it to 3840x1080p however as a substitute had to make use of 5431×1527 on the RTX 2080 and RTX 3050, which then downscaled. As a end result, the framerate is probably going a bit decrease than you would possibly get with a “native” double FHD decision. As for the RTX 3060, I couldn’t get it to pressure 3840x1080p both and needed to run it in windowed mode.

I additionally used the monitor with my Xbox One X, and the FreeSync labored nice with it, providing smoother gaming. It was additionally nice to have the Xbox on one half of the display screen and my pc on the opposite half on the similar time for numerous functions.

Sound Quality

Yes, this monitor has audio system. As with most screens that embrace audio system, they aren’t that nice. When gaming, you want clear, full sound to get pleasure from your sport or to pinpoint the placement of your enemies in first-person shooters. In the case of the AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C gaming monitor, the onboard audio system aren’t overly loud, sound tinny, and lack any quantity of bass. You’re higher off along with your laptop computer audio system or a headset as a substitute of utilizing the audio system on the monitor itself.

Price/Value

With an MSRP of US$749.99, the AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C looks like a stable deal given the options, show high quality, and specs. If you may get over the truth that it’s not curved and are o.ok. with that, this ultra-widescreen gaming monitor provides fairly good worth for the worth.

Photo Gallery

Wrap-up

This was one of many hardest gaming monitor evaluations I’ve needed to write this 12 months. While I really like the final design and look of the monitor, in addition to the display screen high quality, it’s onerous to suggest the AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C just because it lacks curvature of any kind. At this measurement, it’s wanted for the explanations I outlined above.

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Last Updated on November 21, 2021.

AOPEN Fire Legend 43XV1C

US$749.99

Nailed it

• Love the white design and small bezels
• Great, crisp FHD show
• Solid cylindrical stand with fundamental cable administration, tilt, swivel, and top adjustment
• PIP and PBP assist
• HDR400 assist
• Great LED backlight glow
• FreeSync Premium
• Includes distant
• Two HDMI, one DP port
• Reasonably priced

Needs work

• No curvature, making it more durable to see the sides, particularly throughout productiveness work
• Speakers are subpar, as is normally the case with screens
• Could be brighter