Corsair Xeneon Flex 45" Review: A Unique Bendable OLED Experience
The Corsair Xeneon Flex stands out in the monitor market with its unique adjustable curvature feature, a rarity among current offerings. This innovation marks a significant departure from the usual similarities seen in monitors, offering users a distinctive experience.
Key Features of the Corsair Xeneon Flex
Display Specifications
The monitor boasts a 45-inch 3440 x 1440 WOLED ultrawide panel, combined with a 240Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR with a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits and adaptive sync compatibility with both AMD and Nvidia. Additionally, it offers rapid 0.03ms response times.
Unique Flexible OLED Panel
The standout feature of the Xeneon Flex is its flexible OLED panel, which can be adjusted from a flat to an 800R curvature. This adjustment is made using handles on either side of the display, allowing for a smooth transition to the desired curve. The design ensures the panel stays in place once adjusted and is protected against over-bending.
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Design and Build
Physical Design
The Xeneon Flex, with its 45-inch display, is significantly larger than standard 34-inch ultrawides, offering about 75% more screen area. Its width is comparable to a 48-inch 16:9 monitor, but with a shorter height due to its 21:9 aspect ratio. This size requires considerable space in a setup and may necessitate sitting further back for optimal viewing.
Display Performance Analysis
Motion Performance
The Flex demonstrates elite speeds at 240Hz, typical of OLED displays, ensuring excellent motion clarity. Tests showed an average 0.2ms grey to grey response with minimal overshoot, a performance unmatched by other display technologies.
Color Performance
In terms of color gamut, the Xeneon Flex aligns with standard WOLED experiences. It covers about 95% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 71% of the Rec. 2020 coverage, comparable to other similar displays. While not groundbreaking, these figures are consistent with current gaming monitors, which typically range between 71-74% in Rec. 2020 coverage.
Default Color Performance
The out-of-the-box calibration of the Xeneon Flex is average. The white balance is satisfactory, but the gamma curve's lower end was too dark, affecting deltaE values. The monitor also lacks a default gamut clamp, leading to slight oversaturation in SDR mode as Rec.709 content expands to fill the P3 gamut. While this oversaturation is on the milder side, it results in moderate deltaE performance.
Conclusion: A Breakthrough in Monitor Technology
The Corsair Xeneon Flex 45" represents a significant innovation in monitor technology with its adjustable curvature feature. Its large size, superior motion and color performance, and unique flexibility make it a standout choice for users seeking a distinctive and high-performing display solution. While certain aspects like default color calibration require attention, the overall package offered by the Xeneon Flex marks a notable advancement in the world of monitors.
