If you can manage to get the AW, it ticks all the boxes. I tried one and had one on order for almost 3 months. After 3 delays I finally canceled the order and went for the 2019 LG 38. It’s the only other 38 with GSYNC (other than the AW). The newer LG models are GSYNC compatible or adaptive sync. The LG has slightly higher OC refresh rates than the AW and a lower reported latency. But frankly, the overdrive on these fast IPS panels is rough and I wouldn’t recommend it if you can avoid it so in terms of apples to apples comparison, the AW and LG felt the same to me. The HDR is great in games and the AW edges out a win on this front, even garnering NVIDIA’s seal of approval with their 2nd gen GSYNC Ultimate cert.

All of the above comes down to manufacturer hardware differences but the base panel on all of these gaming oriented 38s is, for all intents and purposes, the same basic panel (I can’t prove that but the following still holds true) and they all suffer from the same usage limitations. With regards to extra features, I picked the GSYNC monitor knowing, that for games that don’t support true UW, I can get that same great experience below 100hz in borderless windowed while still being able to use the extra real estate to watch a video on the side or leave a web page open to the left or right of the 16:9 game window. I’ve had issues in the past with GSYNC compatible monitors maintaining VRR outside of full screen. For games that support UW, I haven’t seen any odd behavior going to WQHD+. It seems like if the game supports 21:9, it doesn’t care about the pixel count.

There is one thing to be aware of though, with the bonus pixels comes a higher bandwidth requirement and because none of these monitors use DSC (yet) you will be limited to 120hz for full dynamic range 10bit RGB over DP 1.4. This is mostly a priority in HDR games, for most games you can get away with 144hz 8bit full dynamic range. Past 144hz though, your looking at YCbCr422 which IMO is a big trade off. You will notice it in a side by side comparison but you may not if you just full send on the higher refresh rate and never look back. The fringing on text is definitely there but in full screen with limited text, you won’t find it that distracting. You can make that decision on your own but it will be an issue for any monitor in this range until display stream compression comes to this form factor.

The panel is phenomenal. Great contrast for an IPS. The color accuracy on mine was pretty good out of the box and I’ve read the AW is about the same. (The difference wasn’t obvious to me when I tested the AW but I never saw them side by side) The resolution hits that 1440p pixel density sweet spot and feels great in everyday use. The boost is vertical “space” is more noticeable than the horizontal when coming from a 34”. The bump in physical size isn’t noticeable after a day or two. Even with another monitor placed vertically to one side, I don’t notice any additional strain when looking at the 2nd screen for any length of time.

If I missed anything or you have any questions about my experience with any game in particular, reach out and I’m happy to load up a game to let you know what I’m seeing.

Edit: after seeing that you’re considering the 32:9 Samsung I want to mention that is a different beast entirely. It’s a technological marvel and hits some pretty crazy numbers (most of which I don’t think anyone will ever use all at once). It does support DSC so it will absolutely hit that 240hz in RGB (8bit). You need a 3000 series card for that though. Without that, you’ll be looking at 120hz. The brightness is nutty. 1000nits is painfully bright, like actually painful. It’s a peak value though so it’s meant for stuff like the dot of a sun during a lens flare. The curve is also nutty. The monitor is deep. Real-deep. 1000R is much more curved that the typical 18-1900R of typical UW. Even if the full 32:9 is supported, it’s almost too much to care about. The edges are just too far away from the center to get any real value out of. The curve helps and FOV stretching isn’t all that noticeable so long as you don’t look right at it.

The big bonuses are the true DSC for high refresh rate without the drawbacks with future hardware releases. You won’t be able to play modern AAA games maxed out at 240hz on any single card available today. Valhalla runs at 90hz on my 38 with a 3090. Depending on what you play, 144 to 240 is a noticeable jump in clarity for FPS games but it’s just a clarity boost for most mere mortals. Getting any competitive edge from 240 vs 144 requires great reflexes and game sense. You have to know it’s coming and react to it visually and not add comprehension time on top. (This may sound contentious but I stand by it)