Man of Many's Staff Favourites—31 May 2025
By Dean Blake - News
Published: 31 May 2025 |Last Updated: 30 May 2025
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Readtime: 5 min
Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here.
Here at Man of Many, we're often given the opportunity to try out products ahead of time for review, but sometimes our favourite things are just the things we already own, or have purchased ourselves. So, each week, we strive to show off a few of our own, personal favourite products or experiences in the hopes that we can help people make better buying decisions.
Also, sometimes it's just fun to write about things you like. Here's our Staff Favourites for this week – enjoy!
Skullcandy's Method 360 ANC | Image: Skullcandy
Skullcandy's Method 360 ANC
Dean Blake – Entertainment and Technology Journalist
I've been testing a few earphones recently, and I've got something cool to share. Audio brand Skullcandy have delivered a really, really good pair of earphones—the Skullcandy Method 360 ANC—which have some of the best audio quality in an in-ear format I've yet used. That partially comes from the fact these earphones are made in collaboration with Bose, one of the best audio makers in the biz.
Now, the Method 360 ANC look very (and sound) similar to Bose' Quiet Comfort earbuds, but they're about $100 cheaper, which is always a nice thing, and they have some fantastic active noise cancelling for when you're moving about the noisy city. Plus, when you sync them up with the Skull-iQ app on your phone you can customise how the earbuds act when you tap them, play with the ANC, and set more specific EQ levels if you're after a particular sound.
That's all great, but they also come in a frankly massive charging case that delivers an additional 20+ hours of battery life, charges with USB-C, and can be clipped onto your bag or something if you want to be able to access them at a moments notice. They're great, and if you're in the market for some new earbuds, these ones are only AUD$189.99.
Favourite Article of the Week: Best Glamping Spots Near Melbourne for a Relaxing Weekend Getaway
Forget Calendly – Enter Google Calendar Appointments
Scott Purcell – Co-founder
You know that graveyard of unused productivity apps sitting on your phone or in the bookmarks toolbar of your browser? The ones that guzzle up subscription fees before you're none the wiser? Well, one of those for me was the 'Calendly' app.
Brilliant product, absolutely, but it probably gathered more dust than bookings on my calendar. It just wasn't something I really used, yet it was costing me lots of money. Enter the Google Calendar Appointment Schedule, which essentially achieves the exact same thing at the amazing price of $0.
I love that you can carve out time for the gym each day or mark an entire Friday as 'Do Not Disturb'. Your colleagues or clients only see the slots you want them to book, and the meeting is locked in with no extra email back and forth or a request to send you a calendar invite.
To get it set up, go to Google Calendar > hit Create > then Appointment Schedule > add any details you need and voila, your booking calendar is now complete. The link provides live updates and automatically hides times that clash with your other events. You can also add in a handy buffer between meetings if you need and don't wish for back-to-backs. The paid Google Workspace plans come with some added benefits, like being able to charge for your time. Give it a go and let me know what you think!
Favourite Article of the Week: Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge Smartphone Defines Innovation for Innovation's Sake
Izy.Aki Omakase
John Guanzon – Head of Creative & Production
I'm the kind of guy who'll study dining menus like an HSC Advanced English text before booking a place to eat, but sitting down for an Omakase where you surrender all control and expectations to the chef and the restaurant team was such a surprising breath of fresh air.
The 18-seat kappo-style restaurant is the brain-child of Darren Templeman (formerly Restaurant Atelier), but he runs it with head chef Bonnie Yu and sommelier Aurelien Jeffredo. There's no printed menu, only a 10-course omakase shaped by the day's produce and the team's instincts. Just vibes, really.
Inside, it's just one long, narrow counter with 18 seats lined up with a full view of the kitchen. While it always feels busy, there's this weird sense of calm. The three-person team moves like they've done this a hundred times. Smooth, in sync, no fuss.
The highlight, though, is the food. I couldn't tell you exactly what we ate (there was no menu to snap a photo of), but I remember the flavour sensations having a party in my mouth. A few dishes are still burned into memory, though: the warm hen's egg filled with onion purée and topped with trout roe, and a buttery lobster tail grilled over charcoal. Yum!
Favourite Article of the Week: Razer's Vertical Gaming Mouse Feels Like It Was Made Specifically for Me
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Man of Many
15 hours ago
- Man of Many
The Nintendo Switch 2 is Out Today: Here's What You Need to Know
By Dean Blake - News Published: 5 June 2025 Share Copy Link Readtime: 8 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. The day we've been waiting for is finally here: The Nintendo Switch 2 launches today. After literal years of leaks, months of waiting since the reveal event hosted in April, and a deluge of information being released by the Japanese company what feels like every day, people will today be able to get their hands on the next-gen handheld-hybrid console. I got the chance to test the console out a few months ago, which you can read about here, but if you haven't been able to try out the device at any of the local showings, it honestly looks and feels great. That's not a review, though: those are likely to start dropping in the next few days and weeks. Nintendo has made the very-Nintendo decision to send out review consoles this week, rather than ahead of time, due to the fact the console will need a firmware update to operate. Does this mean the console won't work at all without being able to connect to the internet at least once? We honestly don't know yet. We'll be getting a console and a few games care of Nintendo this week, and getting you some honest thoughts and feedback on the console will be my personal highest priority. For now though, let's review (ha) what the console is delivering in terms of upgrades over the original system, the games you can grab on day one, as well as where you can even buy this thing. 'Mario Kart World' on Nintendo Switch 2 | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many How Powerful is the Nintendo Switch 2? While the Switch 2's reveal event was pretty light on technical details, we've since gotten quite a bit more clarity on exactly what is powering Nintendo's next-gen efforts. Here's what we know, care of the wonderful people over at Digital Foundry for the meaty tech specs. Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Switch 1 (OLED Model) Price AUD$699 (console only) AUD$769 (w/ Mario Kart World) AUD$539 Screen 7.9' 1080p LCD screen 279 pixels-per-inch Up to 120hz refresh rate HDR capable 10-point multi touch 7' 720p OLED screen 210 pixels-per-inch Up to 60hz refresh rate 10-point multi touch GPU Nvidia custom Ampere 1007MHz (docked), 561MHz (mobile), Max 1.4GHz Nvidia custom Tegra X1 768MHz (docked), 460MHz (mobile), Max 921MHz CPU 8x ARM Cortex A78C 998MHz (docked), 1101MHz mobile, Max 1.7GHz 1536 CUDA Cores 4x ARM Cortex A57 1020 MHz (docked and mobile), Max 1.785GHz 256 CUDA cores Memory 12GB LPDDR5 RAM 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Battery 5220mAh Approximately 2-6 hours playtime Approximately 3 hours to charge to full 4310mAh Approximately 4.5-9 hours playtime Approximately 3 hours to charge to full Built-in Storage 256GB 64GB Ports Game Card Slot 2 USB-C ports 4-pole stereo 3.5mm audio jack microSD Express card slot Game Card Slot 1 USB-C port 4-pole stereo 3.5mm audio jack microSD card slot Dimensions 166mm x 272mm x 13.9mm Approximately 401 grams 102mm x 242mm x 13.9mm Approximately 320 grams What's included – Switch 2 Console – Joy-Con 2 controllers (L+R) – Joy-Con 2 Grip – Joy-Con 2 Straps – Nintendo Switch 2 Dock – Ultra High-Speed HDMI Cable – Nintendo Switch 2 AC Adapter – USB-C Charging Cable – Mario Kart World Download Code (in bundle) – Switch OLED Console – Joy-Con controllers (L+R) – Joy-Con Grip – Joy-Con Straps – Nintendo Switch Dock – HDMI Cable – Nintendo Switch AC Adapter – USB-C Charging Cable – Pack-in Game (in bundles) Scroll horizontally to view full table What does any of that mean? Well, it means many of the rumours, some of which go back to 2021, were spot on, and also that the Switch 2 is going to outclass the original Switch by a country mile. In terms of power, the Switch 2 is already showing off some big power gains on even comparable and competitive hardware, such as Valve's Steam Deck, though I doubt it'll outclass some of the higher-end (and far more expensive) PC handhelds, such as the Lenovo Legion Go or the AyaNeo Kun, in terms of raw power. It is a much smaller, more portable device than any of those, though, and has the benefit of the Nintendo brand to pull it to success. Yes, the Steam Deck is a very popular console that has sold an estimated 4 million units since its launch in 2022, but compare that to the Switch 1's meteoric 150 million units sold since 2017 and you'll start to see how wide the sales gulf is. We're already seeing lines around the block for the Switch 2's launch, so it's fair to expect the Switch 2 to do well. What's particularly impressive about the new system is the screen: it's a pretty sizeable bump up in multiple ways. Obviously, it's bigger, but it's also denser: the Switch 2 features 279 pixels-per-inch, which will go a long way in making that larger 7.9' screen pop, especially with the increase in resolution from 720p on the OG Switch to 1080p. Plus, it's capable of hitting 120Hz, which is nothing to sneeze at. The Switch OLED plays host to a 60Hz screen, the Steam Deck OLED 90Hz, while the ROG Ally X also sits at 120Hz. Only the Lenovo Legion Go beats the pack with a 144Hz screen, but that console is about twice as thick, heavy, and expensive as the Nintendo Switch 2. Well all know Nintendo consoles tend to sell off the back of solid software, though, so let's take a look at what's coming to the Switch 2. Confirmed Switch 2 Games When it comes to exciting launch line-ups, Nintendo really hit it out of the park with the original Switch, which launched with an upgraded version of the now legendary Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This time around, for the Switch 2, Nintendo is giving us a brand new Mario Kart game in Mario Kart World. While the game may not tickle the fancy of the most hardcore gamers, it's worth remembering that Mario Kart 8, which launched across the WiiU and the Switch with a Deluxe port, are considered the fourth best selling game of all time. If that's not to your taste, though, there's plenty of other options there for you. Beyond being able to play compatible Switch 1 games and the addition of a few Gamecube games to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, here's a full list of everything confirmed to be coming to the Switch 2 this year. Title Release Date Mario Kart World 5 June, 2025 Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition 5 June, 2025 Fortnite 5 June, 2025 Street Fighter 6 5 June, 2025 Split Fiction 5 June, 2025 Yakuza 0: Director's Cut 5 June, 2025 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 5 June, 2025 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 5 June, 2025 Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer 5 June, 2025 Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster 5 June, 2025 Civilisation VII 5 June, 2025 Deltarune 5 June, 2025 Fantasy Lift i: The Girl Who Steals Time – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 5 June, 2025 Fast Fusion 5 June, 2025 Hitman: World of Assassination – Signature Edition 5 June, 2025 Hogwarts Legacy 5 June, 2025 Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess 5 June, 2025 Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour 5 June, 2025 Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition 5 June, 2025 Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S 5 June, 2025 Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 5 June, 2025 Shine Post: Be Your Idol! 5 June, 2025 Sonic X Shadow Generations 5 June, 2025 Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars 5 June, 2025 Survival Kids 5 June, 2025 Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army 19 June, 2025 Tamagotchi Plaza – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 27 June, 2025 Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4 11 July, 2025 Donkey Kong Bananza 17 July, 2025 Shadow Labyrinth – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 18 July, 2025 Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV 24 July, 2025 No Sleep for Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files 25 July, 2025 Wild Hearts S 25 July, 2025 Ys X: Proud Nordics 31 July, 2025 Madden NFL 26 14 August, 2025 Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road 21 August, 2025 Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – Nintendo Switch 2 Editions 27 August, 2025 Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World 28 August, 2025 Star Wars Outlaws 4 September, 2025 Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 5 September, 2025 Borderlands 4 12 September, 2025 Pokemon Legends: Z-A -Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 16 October, 2025 Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake 30 October, 2025 AFL 26 2025 Drag x Drive 2025 Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition 2025 FUR Squadron Phoenix 2025 Goodnight Universe 2025 Hades II 2025 Hollow Knight: Silksong 2025 Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment 2025 Kirby Air RIders 2025 Marvel Cosmic Invasion 2025 Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition 2025 Mouse Work 2025 Obakeidoro 2: Chase & Seek 2025 Professor Layton and the New World of Steam 2025 Reanimal 2025 Two Point Museum 2025 Witchbrook 2025 Yooka-Replaylee 2025 Scroll horizontally to view full table That is quite a bit, and there's already more in the works for 2026—such as From Software's The Duskbloods, a PvPvE souls-style game somehow echoing Bloodborne, Sekiro, Nioh, and The Surge all at once. There'll definitely be more games announced as the weeks and months roll on, so if your favourite Nintendo series isn't represented just yet, there's still hope. New Fire Emblem or Legend of Zelda game, please? Donkey Kong Bonanza | Image: Nintendo Where can you buy the Nintendo Switch 2 In all honesty, it's not clear yet which retailers will have stock left over after pre-orders have been filled. There have been reports across social media of people's pre-orders being cancelled by retailers, which tends to mean they took more pre-orders than Nintendo sent consoles, and could mean we're looking at a lower stock volume at retailers than anticipated and a 'sold out' situation. However, if you want to try your luck, you can try purchase the Switch 2 from any major electronics or games store and hope they restock quickly. God speed.
Man of Many
a day ago
- Man of Many
How Dyson's ‘Problem-First' Mindset Keeps it Ahead of the Game
By Dean Blake - News Published: 4 June 2025 |Last Updated: 3 June 2025 Share Copy Link Readtime: 8 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. When you think of innovative companies—I mean truly innovative companies—there are really only a few that spring to mind. Apple, with its reinvention of the consumer electronics space during the Steve Jobs era, and Amazon's shift from redefining how we sell books online to how we sell everything online being two massive examples of what it takes to be considered an innovator in today's markets: and yet, I would say that when it comes to hardware innovation, few brands can stand toe-to-toe with Dyson. Between re-imagining the vacuum cleaner into a new industry standard of bagless, cyclonic devices that run smoother and are easier to operate—with the recent announcement of the PencilVac taking that concept to its natural conclusion: a broom with a vacuum in the brush head—the English-born business has also taken aim at other analogous industries ripe for new ideas: hair dryers and straighteners, air purifiers, and even headphones. What is it that ties all these efforts together? Simply put: it's a focus on problem-solving embedded deep in the DNA of the company. Dyson founder Sir James Dyson working in his studio | Image: Dyson Problems first, solutions second When Sir James Dyson initially invented the business' foundational cyclonic vacuum technology back in 1991, it wasn't out of some great brainwave or realisation that this was the future of consumer vacuums. Rather, it was due to his own personal frustration with the then-industry standard. See, the likes of vacuum technology almost 30 years ago were far less user-friendly. At the time, each vacuum needed a plastic, single-use bag to be attached, which would be filled up with dust and debris as you cleaned and then thrown away—destined for landfill. As an engineer, Dyson had grown frustrated by the need to constantly buy and refit vacuum bags while cleaning his workstation, and realised the need for something better. Remembering his time at a saw mill, and the large cyclonic cleaner used to clean the space as people worked, Dyson set about finding a way to take something absolutely massive (literally industrial in scale) and scale it down for consumer use. 5,126 failed prototypes later, the company and product we know and love today was born. Necessity, they say, is the mother of all invention, and to say this invention revolutionised the vacuum space is an understatement: try and find a vacuum cleaner that requires a bag these days and you'll find it impossible, and it comes down to one thing. Dyson saw a problem, solved it, and sold the solution—and this is still how the company operates today. Sir James Dyson with the Dyson PencilVac, showcasing the motor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many ' exactly the same,' Sir James Dyson tells us. 'We're engineers and we want to develop technology and make better products using that technology, and that's exactly what we do today.' It is, in fact, the business' mission statement: a focus on solving the problems that others have ignored with technology and ingenuity. Part of that focus comes from the fact the business has never gone public. Rather than answer to a board of shareholders, Dyson (the company) really only answers to Dyson (the man) and its customers. 'We don't have a CEO that comes in to run the company and then leaves, and then a new CEO comes in and does things differently. It's the same old me with the same philosophy: not to get big or make money, but to make interesting products,' he says. The other key to Dyson's success is in having the space to create a culture of innovation within the company: fundamentally, it's a company-wide mindset that sets the business apart from its competition, Dyson's head of home Tom Moody explains. 'We have lots of creative and inventive people looking for new problems to solve, or creative ways they can apply themselves. I think that's what pushes us forward,' Moody says. ' has to solve a problem. In some places there might be a more clear 'here is what we want, go ahead and engineer it', but that's not the Dyson way. For us, it's more about 'here's what we discovered in our customers' homes', some frustrations they're facing, and giving our engineers the space to explore that. 'That gives them the latitude and license to create.' Dyson PencilVac | Image: Supplied Merging form and function You'd be forgiven for hearing all that and then thinking: well then why aren't Dyson's products over-engineered? In fact, Dyson's products often strike a near-perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality—delivering the performance and features you want from a vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, straightener, or air purification system, but in a package you're happy to showcase to friends and family. This largely comes from the company's focus on keeping all product staff involved in the product design process from the beginning. Moody notes that even at conceptual stages, engineers are often in contact with the brand's innovation department, as well as its design team, in order to ensure the company hits a balance between solving a problem and creating new ones. 'That ensures that we don't get to a stage later in a product's process where we say 'we've engineered a solution, but it's big, bulky, and it'd never be accepted by a customer',' he explains. 'We try to bake it in at an early stage during the design process.' And while it's rare, there are instances of the business putting the cart before the horse a little, and actively dictating the form of a product before the engineers have even had time to conceptualise a solution: case in point, the PencilVac. While Dyson made its name in miniaturising an industrial cyclonic cleaner into something customers could drag around their homes, its next bet is on cramming the concept of a vacuum into a simple tool: a broom. It's something Sir James Dyson has wanted to create for a while, but hadn't been able to crack the size-to-performance barrier: until now. Dyson PencilVac | Image: Supplied How did they do it? By throwing out their vacuum technology almost entirely, and leaning instead on the smaller motors used in the creation of their SuperSonic Hair Dryer products. While it's an upgraded and reinvented version of the V9 motor (now known as the Dyson Hyperdymium motor), it's fundamentally the same bit of tech used in the SuperSonic R, down to the size of the broom handle mimicking the size of the hair dryer exactly to ensure the motor functions as expected: 38 millimetres. No more, no less. 'James had long desired to create something that was in a very, very slim format and the size, 38 millimetres, is obviously very linked specifically to the enabling technology that we have,' Moody explains. 'We spent many years designing the V9 motor to try to get something to fit within that package, and so it's really an extension of that logic. It's something that's ergonomic and comfortable for our customers to use.' Dyson himself prefers it when engineering can dictate the solution, but admits it's sometimes preferable to have a more defined box to invent within. Necessity, again, is the mother of invention. 'Sometimes it's quite a good idea to have the form drive the function, rather than the other way around,' he says. 'With the PencilVac, the shape drove everything else because I wanted it to be like a broom. I wanted it to be very simple and easy to use. You can just grab it and there's no special grip or anything – it's just a completely natural tool. And that shape drove the technology.' Dyson PencilVac | Image: Supplied Keeping The Faith The PencilVac is, in a lot of ways, the final frontier for cleaning tech. It's hard to imagine a smaller vacuum still striking the right balance between usability and capability, but Sir Dyson already has eyes on smaller models: he just needs the tech to catch up. All of that doesn't mean anything if no one buys the products, though. While Dyson has entered a number of new categories, and intends to launch into more, it never bets on products being a huge success out of the gate. 'When you launch a new product you never know that you're going to sell it—I don't know that the PencilVac will sell well,' Dyson explains. 'It's all a risk, but if you stick to the principle that what you're trying to do is solve problems and make something easier to use, even if it's in a new category, you can make headway because you believe what you've done is a genuine improvement. 'You just have to have faith and hope it works.' Disclaimer: The author of this article, Dean Blake, was invited to test the Dyson PencilVac and talk to Sir James Dyson and Tom Moody at a Dyson event in Tokyo, Japan.
Man of Many
3 days ago
- Man of Many
Lenovo's 34' Legion Pro Monitor is an Ultrawide OLED Powerhouse
By Dean Blake - Review Published: 2 June 2025 Share Copy Link Readtime: 8 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. The Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 is a fantastic ultrawide monitor for gaming It boasts a natural 3440×1440 resolution and 240hz refresh rate, alongside a ton of ports It's effectiveness in gaming is somewhat hampered by most games' lack of ultrawide support, though Lenovo's gaming-focused Legion lineup has always been a solid bet for anyone wanting to dive into their favourite form of interactive entertainment: whether it be through one of its Pro laptops, the surprisingly powerful Legion Go handheld, or, as I've done for the past few weeks, using its impressive Legion range of monitors. In particular I've been toying around with the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10, a 34' ultrawide monitor that can hit an esport-level refresh rate of 240Hz on a beautiful, curved OLED screen. We'll dive into just how beautiful that screen is below, but suffice to say it made everything I threw at it look far better than my usual fare. That ultrawide size is really the star of the show here. If you're in the market for an ultrawide gaming monitor, this is among the best I've tested, and the 34' size profile keeps it from completely dominating my desk space as other, bigger monitors have. Remember kids, bigger doesn't always mean better. The price is a lot of swallow, I won't lie: AUD$1,899 itself could be the price of your entire rig, but this is 100 per cent an enthusiast display. If you don't already own a PC (or console) capable of pushing this thing to its limit, you're probably better off upgrading a different bit of your kit ahead of your monitor. For everyone else, read on. Tech Specs Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 Philips Envia 34M2C8600 QD Price AUD$1,899 AUD$1,799 Display Size 34' 34' Panel Type OLED OLED Resolution 3440 x 1440 (WQHD, 21:9 aspect ratio) 3440 x 1440 (WQHD, 21:9 aspect ratio) Refresh Rate 240Hz 175Hz Response Time 0.03ms GtG 0.03ms GtG Ports 1x HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.1 (with eARC) 1x USB-C (with DP Alt Mode) 1x Display Port 1.4 1x Ethernet 3x USB-A 3.2 2x USB-C 3.2 1x USB-B 3.2 (Upstream) 1x USB-C 3.2 (Upstream) 2x HDMI 2.0 1x USB-C (with DP Alt Mode) 1x Display Port 1.4 1x USB-A 3.2 4x USB-A 1x USB-B Upstream Scroll horizontally to view full table Why Trust Us Here at Man of Many, we use a wide variety of technology. We're not fans of any one brand, like to get our hands on the latest-and-greatest tech before we call it the next-best-thing, and we've built up extensive experience in reviewing tech as a publication over the past 10 years. The author of this article, Dean Blake, is Man of Many's technology journalist, and has followed the industry for years. He's worked and gamed on many monitors throughout his career, and largely plays his games on PC. Acer sent a review unit to Man of Many, but no money exchanged hands, and all opinions expressed are those of the author and haven't been seen by Acer ahead of time. For more information on our independence, testing and review guidelines, you can read our full editorial policies here. Lenovo's Legion Pro 34WD-10 Monitor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many The Good Immersive Curved, OLED Screen Well, this is what you're here for, right? The bells-and-whistles are there, don't get me wrong (headphone hook, anyone?), but the selling point is how good the display makes your content look. And, yeah, the 34WD-10 made almost every game I threw at it look incredible—and those that didn't were down to poor optimisation on the side of the game, not the display. It's the delicious combination of top-tier OLED technology paired with an 800R curved ultrawide display that really sells this thing, and the icing on the cake is the 240Hz refresh rate: a limit I didn't come close to reaching. (Though, it's worth noting I was only able to calibrate the display to around 180Hz, for some reason. I'm chalking that up to user or driver error, as I haven't seen anyone else have this problem.) The extra real estate provided by the ultrawide resolution really does go a long way in making a game's environment feel more immersive, and the games that take advantage of such a wider display, while few and far between, benefit from it greatly. I tested out a few games on the 34WD-10, but the standouts were Sons of the Forest (my current multiplayer obsession), as well as Death Stranding and Armored Core 6 – all of which are capable of running at an ultrawide resolution out of the box. Lenovo's Legion Pro 34WD-10 Monitor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many Lenovo's Legion Pro 34WD-10 Monitor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many As I've noted in prior monitor reviews, OLED display technology really benefits games that deal in darkness, with the various caves dotted around the map in SOTF completely blacking out my display, save for the small area illuminated by my character's flashlight, or small LED lighter. That game is stressful enough, with all the weird and wacky shit hiding below the ground, but doing in it true darkness ramps up the tension in a way few horror-focused titles can replicate. Likewise, when you emerge from the underground you're granted a beautiful look at the forest itself: a view that looks incredible with the 34WD-10's colour range: with a 99% sRGB colour gamut, and high-dynamic range compliance. Simply put, everything's going to look better on this display. Now, this being part of Lenovo's Legion lineup, it's fair to focus on what this monitor brings to the gaming experience, but it's 34' ultrawide configuration is actually a fantastic productivity improvement for work: giving you more room to use multiple windows or programs, or to keep a cheeky YouTube video up while doing something a bit less mentally taxing. Lenovo's Legion Pro 34WD-10 Monitor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many Port selection is fantastic Now, if you've read a few of our other monitor reviews, you'll know that port selection is often pretty average. Not here: the 34WD-10 has more ports than I know what to do with, in all honesty. We're largely comparing the 34WD-10 to the similarly sized and priced Philips Envia 34M2C8600 QD—a great monitor, in its own right, but one that falls behind in a few key areas. The biggest gulfs between the two monitors are, of course, the refresh rate and the port selection. Here, you're getting HDMI 2.1 ports, as well as more, faster USB-C and A ports. It's maybe a bit of a boring positive to bring up, but honestly, the last thing you need is to want another port for a keyboard, mouse, microphone, a pair of headphones, or whatever else you want to plug in, and be short a port. The more the merrier, and there's definitely plenty here. Lenovo's Legion Pro 34WD-10 Monitor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many The 'Bad' Gaming Still Hasn't Embraced Widescreen Now, a monitor this impressive is doesn't really have any major issues to speak of: except one. As common as ultrawide monitors are becoming, there are still plenty of games that simply don't work out of the box in an aspect ratio wider than 16:9. That's not the fault of the monitor, but it's something worth noting before you go out and buy one. For example, one of my favourite games of the past few years, Elden Ring, simply refused to play ball: when running through the Legion Pro, it wouldn't acknowledge my efforts to change its resolution, and only took up a portion of my screen, leaving the rest to display Steam running below. It was a shit show, and that's not an uncommon occurrence. The very recently released Elden Ring: Nightreign also doesn't have access to ultrawide resolutions, so you can't be sure even brand new games are going to take advantage of your hardware. Additionally, most games made in the past five-to-ten years are poorly optimised even for high-end rigs, let alone when pushing the game to a wider-than-usual resolution. I had fun diving into caves and soaring through the skies with my friends in Sons of the Forest, but playing that game at 3440×1440 was netting me a frame-rate jumping between the 30s and 50s. It also didn't get better by lowering the resolution or graphical options — again, this isn't the fault of the monitor, but it's worth mentioning that unoptimised games are pretty common. If you're willing to put time into finding out what games work well in the ultrawide format and then focus on them—Death Stranding, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Armored Core 6 are stand outs, to be sure—or are willing to put in a bit of work installing ultrawide mods onto games you want to play, you can definitely make it work. Just know that you're not necessarily going to get a plug-and-play experience, so if that's what you're after I'd still advise sticking to a display with a more traditional 16:9 ratio. Lenovo's Legion Pro 34WD-10 Monitor | Image: Dean Blake/Man of Many Man of Many's Verdict In all, the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 is one hell of a monitor in the right contexts but, like all ultrawide displays, it's effectiveness is dependant on what you're feeding into it. If the games you love are capable of bringing out the best in it, the Legion Pro is a sight to behold.
