The PC display market continues to shake up, with brands trying out significant technological changes. Corsair has teamed up with LG Display to offer the first of a new kind: an Oled screen that can be curved or not as required.
Pros
- Oled HDR screen
- Colour calibration
- Connectivity
- Notebook charging via USB-C
- 240 Hz, minimal latency
- Flat or curved as desired
Cons
- No VESA support
- No height adjustment
The Corsair Xeneon Flex was impressive from the start, and we were able to test it in detail for several days. The PC monitor market has been in flux for the past few years. The trend is towards much better quality screens: ultra-wide, better definition, more colours, HDR and OLED panels are at heart.
The Corsair Xeneon Flex integrates all these changes and offers a new one: the possibility to bend the screen or flatten it if necessary.
Technical Data
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Model
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Corsair Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240
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Technology
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OLED
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Curved screen
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Yes
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Aspect Ratio
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21:9
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Connectivity Technology
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HDMI, DisplayPort, USB Type C, USB Type A
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Display Resolution
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3440 x 1440 pixels
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Display frequency
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240 Hz
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Features
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Nvidia GSync, AMD FreeSync
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Dimensions
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30.46 cm x 1.07 metres x 57.49 cm
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DESIGN
With a diagonal of 45 inches in 21:9 format, the Xeneon Flex is a very imposing screen on a desk. Fortunately, it has relatively thin borders and a robust design. Installation is fairly straightforward, although getting it out of the box takes two people.
The design of the Xeneon Flex is attractive. The brand has chosen a construction where the stand catches the panel with arms at the back. This allows the user to bend the screen. On the sides, the manufacturer proposes two retractable handles to facilitate handling. A third handle is placed under the screen to manage the tilt.
For the rest, everything is based on the stand, where the brand integrates both video connectivity and a complete USB hub.
CURVE OR FLATTEN
The particularity of this “Flex” screen is that it can be curved according to the user’s wishes. To do this, you take hold of the two retractable handles on the sides of the screen and pull the screen towards you to bend it. The effect is impressive, as it feels like bending metal.
It is also frightening at first sight because you are not used to being able to fold such a screen, and when you have in mind the price of the screen, you can only be afraid of making a mistake.
Fortunately, this impression disappears quickly when you adjust to changing the screen position. Changing the mode triggers a fairly audible ‘click’ to ensure you can’t bend or flatten the screen further. The action is done with a little physical effort, though, which is reassuring as to the strength of the arms holding the slab.
This is the most common question when discovering this monitor: what is the point of being able to bend it or not? The answer is quite simple but it may not convince everyone. When a screen is curved, the lines displayed are necessarily distorted, which makes it unsuitable for professional use such as video editing or image retouching. On the other hand, the curvature can enhance the immersion of a video game.
Rather than choosing between two screen types, Corsair offers this screen to settle the issue once and for all, letting you tailor the display to your needs.
CONNECTIVITY
Corsair has made the right choices when it comes to connectivity. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4 for video only. In addition to this connectivity, the brand offers a USB Type-C port that integrates data transfer (for the hub’s USB ports), video (via the DisplayPort protocol) and even power. Indeed, it will be able to charge your laptop.
The display also incorporates a more traditional USB-C port to handle the USB hub if your PC is already using one of the video ports, such as HDMI.
SUPPORT
This is both a quality and a flaw of this monitor. The Corsair Xeneon Flex has a built-in stand with all the connectivity and therefore does not offer VESA compatibility. You can’t replace the stand with an arm or alternative system.
The stand supplied by Corsair is straightforward to mount: you push the screen onto the stand and turn a small screw by hand.
In use, we are disappointed that the stand does not offer a height adjustment for the screen. So you’ll have to raise the stand if the screen is not high enough. No portrait mode either, but that’s not surprising for such a large screen.
DISPLAY PANEL
Corsair went to LG Display for the Oled panel of this monitor. It ticks all the boxes for a high-end 2023 PC panel: 3440 x 1440 pixel resolution, HDR1000 certification, infinite contrast and a 240Hz refresh rate with Freesync Premium and G-Sync. The icing on the cake is that the screen surface is not subject to reflections.
We tested the monitor extensively with our colour probe to put it to the test. On HDR, we reached a peak of 700 cd/m² for an area occupying 1% of the screen. The peak brightness drops to 600 cd/m² when the white area displayed is larger.
Not surprisingly, LG Display has done an excellent job with this OLED panel. The factory calibration is outstanding, with an average DeltaE of 2.62 and 98% DCI-P3 coverage.
Its 240Hz refresh rate and FreeSync Premium and G-Sync certification make it a great gaming screen. We measured an input lag of just 2.5ms in 240Hz mode, which is simply excellent. So there’s little or no latency between your in-game action and the screen’s reaction.
PIXEL DENSITY
The only downside to the Xeneon Flex is its lower pixel density. Usually, the definition of 3440 x 1440 pixels is rather used on diagonals of 34 inches. Here Corsair chooses a 45-inch diagonal, which limits the density, with the same definition. The pixels become more readily apparent with a view only a few centimetres from the screen.
This is all the more pronounced as the panel uses a WRGB sub-pixel matrix instead of the usual RGB on PCs. This white sub-pixel added to every third sub-pixel will also affect the readability of the text. This is not entirely the manufacturer’s fault: Microsoft has not updated Windows 11 to handle better the new generations of screens that use different matrices. We encountered the same problem during our test of the Alienware QD-Oled screen.
INTERFACE
The screen offers two interfaces for its settings. Firstly, there is the OSD, i.e. the interface that can be manipulated using the physical buttons on the screen and which appears as an overlay on the image sent by your device. There are the classic image quality settings, the choice of sources and a Picture in Picture mode, allowing you to display two sources simultaneously on the screen. The options are manageable, and the menus are quite clear.
The buttons on the front of the monitor are fairly easy to access and clear. There is a power button and a source switch button. The menu button hides a joystick system allowing you to move around and confirm your choices.
Corsair also offers a screen management interface from its iCue software that allows you to adjust the image calibration with the comfort of a Windows or macOS interface.
CONCLUSION
The Xeneon Flex is a tremendous technological showcase for Corsair and LG Display. We have here an Oled panel that can meet all the needs of content creators and gamers. The colour calibration is perfectly tuned out of the box, HDR is on point and dazzles us in video games and the competitive scene, while the 240Hz frequency and minimal latency make it a great display. We also appreciate the modern construction, especially with that USB-C port capable of connecting video from a laptop and charging it.
With such a high price tag, we are uncompromising on specific points. For example, the lack of VESA support forces the user to keep the stand supplied by Corsair, which could be better. It is impossible to adjust the height of the display. Finally, the full-screen brightness leaves something to be desired, and the definition seems too low for such a large diagonal.
Ultimately, this is a screen we can recommend to anyone who wants one of the best monitors on the market. Alienware offers its QD-Oled for half the price but provides a lower frequency and a smaller diagonal. Most importantly, you can’t change the curvature of the screen. This is one of the advantages of the Corsair Xeneon Flex if you need it.
