HP Omen 34c G2

On paper, the HP Omen 34c G2 looks like a solid ultrawide gaming upgrade: a 34-inch 21:9 panel, a sharper-than-QHD native resolution (3,440 by 1,440 pixels), and a boosted 180Hz refresh rate. In person, though, it looks sedate, with little to suggest it’s a g…

On paper, the HP Omen 34c G2 looks like a solid ultrawide gaming upgrade: a 34-inch 21:9 panel, a sharper-than-QHD native resolution (3,440 by 1,440 pixels), and a boosted 180Hz refresh rate. In person, though, it looks sedate, with little to suggest it's a gaming panel at all by the cabinet. (You won't find any cutting-edge display inputs or USB ports on it, either.) HP’s update bumps up the refresh ceiling but little else from the original, leaving the G2 with a bare-bones feature set that’s ho-hum at its $529 list price.

Catch it at a deep discount, though, and the value equation changes quickly; we've seen it as low as $349.99 directly from HP. But if you’re paying full freight, you’re better off saving up for the Corsair Xeneon 34WQHD240-C QD-OLED, the LG 45 UltraGear OLED Curved, or the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, our three Editors' Choice winners at various sizes for ultrawide gaming monitors. The Omen 34c G2 sports a sizable 34-inch screen with a slight 1,500mm-radius curve.

(The tighter the curve, the more the wraparound of the screen fills your field of vision.) We typically see tighter curves for large ultrawide monitors, such as on the LG 45 UltraGear, while smaller ultrawide screens tend to have shallower curves. HP’s offering should be subtle enough if you're hesitant to go all in on a deeply curved panel. We didn't review the first-generation HP Omen 34c, but the new Omen is nearly identical in appearance.

Bold black bezels frame the monitor, and a sturdy black stand holds it securely in place. It's certainly not as eye-catching as the now-discontinued Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 QD OLED's white design, but I do prefer the Omen's sturdy square stand over the Evnia's tripod. The Omen measures 14.4 by 31.8 by 4.2 inches (HWD) and weighs 23.7 pounds, including the stand. The panel is height-adjustable and tilts.

It's surprisingly bare in other ways, however. Given that it's a gaming panel under the Omen brand, it lacks RGB lighting and doesn't include a headset hanger or other gamer-friendly features. In fact, aside from the Omen branding on the back, there’s not much else to suggest this is a gaming-focused display at all. I do like the control scheme, though. You’ll find a four-way rocker-style button on the back to manipulate the on-screen display (OSD).

The directional button is clicky and easy to use. I prefer this to the button-less joystick-style control on many competing gaming monitors. In the downward-facing port cluster on the back of the cabinet, you’ll find two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4 input, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The monitor has no USBs of any kind (Type-A or Type-C), a glaring omission. We don't fault the Omen 34c G2's lack of cutting-edge HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.1 support, however, because the relatively low refresh rate ceiling of 180Hz means these high-bandwidth ports would be overkill.

As it stands, you'll need to connect using DisplayPort to access the monitor's highest refresh rate and resolution together. HP says the 3,440-by-1,440-pixel/180Hz setting works only on that port. Turning to the screen itself, this ultrawide monitor has a 21:9 aspect ratio, compared with the conventional widescreen 16:9 ratio. HP uses a VA panel in the Omen 34C G2, which typically resolves higher contrast ratios and deeper blacks than IPS displays like the one in the Dell Pro 34 Plus USB-C Hub Monitor (P3425WE).

VA monitors are often cheaper, too; the IPS-based P3425WE is $749.99. VA and IPS panels are fine for most gaming scenarios, but they don't compare to OLED screens like the one on the Odyssey OLED G9. OLED monitors are known for their far higher contrast. However, they can be costly, so what you're losing in color vibrancy with the Omen 34c, you're making up for in the money you save. Additional screen features on the Omen include support for VESA Certified Adaptive Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium, as well as VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification.

We put the Omen 34c through a series of benchmark tests using our standard gear: Portrait Displays' Calman calibration software and a Klein K-10A colorimeter. We also subjected it to a gauntlet of games to measure input lag and assess its real-world performance. In our first test, we benchmarked brightness using the Omen 34c G2's default gaming profile with an SDR signal. In that setting, we measured a maximum brightness of 329 nits, slightly lower than the rated 400 nits maximum.

Peak HDR brightness resolved similarly, increasing to 353 nits at a 2% window size. We tested the monitor under default, out-of-the-box settings, as we do with all monitors we test, so there’s potentially room to achieve a higher brightness through additional calibration or experimenting under another preset. Moving on to contrast: The monitor has a rated contrast ratio of 4,000:1. (Contrast ratio indicates the difference in luminance between the brightest white and the darkest black.) While its contrast ratio is nowhere near as high as the near-infinite contrast ratios of OLEDs (because OLEDs can display true black), the Omen 34c G2 still delivers a decent viewing experience, especially when playing games.

On our color gamut tests, we found that the Omen 34c G2 spans 84.4% of the Adobe RGB color gamut, 96.8% of the sRGB gamut (see the chart above), and 79% of the DCI-P3 gamut (see the chart below). That’s fine for casual gaming, movie watching, and general internet browsing, but don’t expect to rely on this panel for pro work that demands pinpoint color accuracy. For that, consider a large-screen monitor specifically designed for content creation, such as the BenQ PD3225U.

During testing, we observed a slightly washed-out picture with the brightness set to maximum. The color range is nowhere near as excellent as, say, that of the Odyssey OLED G9. But that's to be expected given where the pricing lands. While input lag isn't a factor in general computing, it's a big one in how we enjoy both casual and hard-core games. This is especially true in competitive play; a few milliseconds of additional lag can spell digital life or death.

The Omen 34c G2 isn't designed for esports, but its 180Hz screen is certainly capable of casual and competitive first-person shooters. When it comes to esports-level play, high-refresh monitors like the 480Hz LG 27 UltraGear OLED (27GX790A) are better suited for the task, thanks to their much higher refresh rate and lower input lag, ideal for fast-paced shooters like Marvel Rivals. To that end, we deployed the Leo Bodnar 4K Input Lag Tester to measure performance across various refresh-rate and resolution combinations.

Starting at full HD (1,920 by 1,080), we recorded 8.6ms of input lag at 60Hz, and at 1080p/120Hz, we recorded 6.3ms. Moving to QHD (2,560 by 1,440), we recorded 6.2ms of input lag at 60Hz and 9.2ms at 120Hz. The Bodnar can’t test at the monitor's 180Hz maximum, but in general, input lag should trend downward as the refresh rate increases. An esports monitor this is not; the tested input lag is easily low enough for solo play and casual multiplayer games.

We typically consider input lag of 16ms at 60Hz to be playable, and for esports monitors running at 240Hz and above, you can expect input lag close to zero. Does it all matter? Lower input lag is always better, but at a certain point, you’re dealing with fractions of seconds that are imperceptible to most gamers. It comes down to the game genres you play, and just how serious you are in competition.

(Pros should look further upscale.) As for the panel itself, its 21:9 aspect ratio lends itself particularly well to strategy, simulation, racing, and first-person shooters, which also benefit from higher refresh rates. A few first-person shooters I tried, such as Doom: The Dark Ages and Cyberpunk 2077, looked especially good with HDR enabled. One additional note: If you’re new to ultrawide gaming, I always suggest double-checking which games natively support ultrawide resolutions before you make a purchase.

Even in 2026, ultrawide-resolution support isn't a guarantee, though it is far more common than it was a few years ago. The HP Omen 34c G2 is a competent ultrawide gaming monitor that plays it safe on features and design, making it a tough sell at full price—but a smart buy if you catch it at a deep discount.

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