Bezel Core 34 34MD845 34″ Curved Ultrawide 165hz UQWHD Monitor Review

Monitors are quickly becoming cheaper and cheaper including those with more obscure resolutions. In the past, ultrawide 1440p are rare but nowadays, even budget brands are coming with more competitive designs. We’ve looked at multiple curved ultrawides before and today we’ll have our first panel of 2024 from Bezel.

The Bezel Core 34 (34MD845) is a 34″ curved ultrawide monitor featuring a 165hz refresh rate on its 3440×1440 resolution. Featuring a curved VA panel, this is an updated version of the older 34″ which featured a 2560×1080 resolution.

In this review, we’ll take a closer look at my experience and how I feel about the monitor and share  with you some performance details about the Bezel Core 34 34MD845. Read on to find out more!

Specifications

Official flagship store product page – Bezel 34MD845

Closer Look

Our review sample is packaged in a brown cardboard box but it uses the older version labels so I’m not including it to avoid confusion. Inside the box is the monitor and accessories placed in-between spaces on the styrofoam  inserts that protect the Bezel Core 34 display during shipping.

The monitor comes detached from its adjustable stand. The package includes a base, the neck, a DisplayPort cable and a DC power adaptor.

The main display itself is obviously the biggest part of the packge and its curve should make it easy to handle this if you’re a bit strong but for those who may feel the screen is too fragile should find someone to help them out when moving the display. Its best to lay the display flat on a cloth just to avoid scratches. My shooting table is very wide and don’t have other people moving around it so I’m fine leaving it as is during assembly.

Speaking of assembly, you’ll need to setup the stand to get and running. If you have an articulated arm that supports the weight and width of the Bezel Core 34, you can use the built-in 100×100 VESA mounting holes to prop this monitor up. Otherwise, the included stand has a simple locking mechanism that clicks in place. Just line the notches on the stand to the grooves on the back and press it to lock. You’ll hear a click to confirm the stand is in place. To detach, firmly press on the locking tab on the back to release the stand.

Finally, the base is screwed to the neck stand. Its tool-less with a thumbscrew for locking it down in place. Securely tighten this using your hands or a screwdriver so it sits in place.

And here we have the Bezel Core 34 upright from the back. I like the simple detailing they did with the lines going down the sides at an angle.

OSD controls comprise of buttons on the lower right side. The buttons appear to be molded to the case and interact with a PCB with tacticle SMD buttons on the board. The buttons do feel a bit mushy but this could be a mixed bag as the far button actually feels  firm. I advise just gently breaking the buttons in until they even out.

The Bezel Core 34 supports up to 4 displays: two HDMI and two DisplayPorts input. To maximize screen performance, its best to use the DisplayPort inputs first for PC use.

Before we move on to some performance, the new Bezel Core 34 features RGB lighting on the rear plate that connects the stand to the monitor.

Screen Quality and Performance

Ok, let’s manage expectations. This is a PHP13,499 monitor, I’m not expecting mind-blowing color accuracy but at least I want to see some decent screen performance.  So to start, let’s see how bright the monitor is on 100% brightness and pick-up from there:

Using NVIDIA’s LDAT, we check the average brightness rating on this monitor. We get a reading of 245.9 nits. The specs does list it at 300 nits but I assume this is for the max spot rating in HDR mode but with I highly discourage HDR on this display as its just awful whether for games or movies.

While 96% sRGB looks good on paper, out of box colors puts a slight tint on the screen. We can confirm this on the accuracy below where there’s a huge amount of blue showing.

Depending on how sensitive you are on certain colors, the out-of-box settings may look a little bluish. It doesn’t come off that harsh in actual use but certain scenarios on screen from games and movies will highlight this saturation.

Heres a comparison shot of  skin tones on the Bezel Core 34 versus the AMOLED screen on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. You can see the skin tone difference due so if that’s your primary usage its best to not to expect super detailed photos for those looking to do some professional photo or video work.

And now we see how fast the screen is. First we have our LDAT again to measure the display response at 165hz at native reso and we see 3.5ms which is very respectable. We did further testing with OSLTT:

The value we’re looking for is the on-display lag average results. With the LDAT reading of 3.5ms at 165hz, we can see this matches the result in our OSLTT reading and going from 60hz to 165hz does show a significantly big jump in responsiveness. Fast paced games play well and I haven’t experienced any sort of flickering on any of the faster refresh rates. All in all, its good for games that can take advantage of that fast refresh rate so any FPS but take note that not all FPS, especially competitive ones, support 3440×1440.

Quick note: the screen consumers ~48W on 100% brightness with a pure white screen on display.

User Experience and Conclusion

There’s a certain allure to ultrawide screens. They just give off a sophisticated vibe so having one for the price that Bezel is asking for the their Core 34 34MD845, its an easy entry to ahve that vibe but your experience will ultiamtely depend on the type of usage you use it and what expectations you have.

For any gamer that can drive the 3440×1440 native resolution, reaching 165hz is going to be a buttery experience and this is going to need a very capable GPU. That said, anyone upgrading their monitors first before they start working on their system can definitely take advantage of the Bezel Core 34 as a foundational ultrawide monitor that’s strictly for gaming and entertainment but anything color-depending is best done on IPS panels.

So the ultimate question, as always is, is it worth it? And actually that’s a really loaded question as you’re dealing with a value-oriented product. That said, at PHp13,499 its a steal for at 3440×1440 165hz but its still somewhat premium for someone whose budget is maybe around Php8,000 only.

In that regard, if you play primarily esports games AND YOU ARE on a budget, this monitor might be too much. If you’re into racing games, single-player adventures, or cinematic games THEN the Bezel Core 34 is definitely worth considering especially if you have a machine that can definitely bring that reso and refresh rate to actual use. Lastly, if you don’t play games you love watchi movies especially ones in letterbox 21:9 or wider, then this screen can definitely be a great viewing expereience as well.

Taking all that into consideration, the Bezel Core 34 is certainly not for everyone. Its definitely situational product and ultimately will boil down on how long of a cycle you plan to own it. I own a variant of the Bezel Core 34 Ultrawide but that’s the 144hz version that I had since 2019 and its still 100% working.That said, longevity would be your biggest consideration here especially if you plan to keep the monitor for a long time. Given the the price of competing models would easily be 2x of the Bezel Core 34, the 6-month warranty should be an indicator of how long you should plan ahead.

Update: Bezel has informed us the warranty length for this monitor is now a 1-year warranty.

That said as part of this review and a long-term update, I’ve installed the monitor in my brother’s gaming setup. My brother is terminally online and like most Filipino kids his age, has a room that sits at around ~32*C. Its been a week or so since I’ve put it there and I’ll definitely update this review on how it behaves. We’ll set a milestone for 6 months and talk about the status in a separate article which, if all goes well should have another update after a year.

Anyway, if you’re planning to use this monitor as a transitional upgrade until it dies then it should suffice for gaming use. Its got just the right curve, fast response and while color is not the best, its certainly not bad. Overall, if you’re really creaming to get the screen real estate for coding tasks or gaming while you browse, then the Bezel Core 34 34MD845 is budget option that’s worth considering if it fits your budget. Otherwise there are plenty of budget standard displays that would save you more.

The Bezel Core 34 34MD845 is available now at Bezel’s Official online store for Php13,499.

Bezel Core 34 34MD845 34″ Curved Ultrawide 165hz UQWHD Monitor Review

Final Thoughts

A budget widescreen that will definitely scratch that itch if you need the 3440x1440 screen real-estate and 165hz refresh rate but that looming feeling that comes at a cost will always be at the back of your head so it pays what you're getting into with the Bezel Core 34 34MD845.

Screen Quality

8

Build Quality

8.2

Functionality

8.8

Value

8.9

Pros

Very low price

Fast refresh rate

Adjustable height stand

UWQHD resolution

Cons

Washed out skintones

Very light materials

8.5

Rating