Ultra-wide monitors are popular for a reason.
They instantly increase the size of your digital workspace,
aiding productivity and improving workflow.
It's especially great for those currently studying
or those who need the extra screen real estate
for video editing or productivity work,
for example, a student that needs a Word document
and a couple of PDFs open at the same time.
This is also the first time I've used a curved monitor,
and I don't think I'll ever go back.
My cat and I have been testing the Dell P3421W
for a few weeks now.
And we've found that for those of you
with laptops, especially,
it has a couple of really cool features,
including USB-C connectivity,
meaning you can connect your laptop with just a single cable
to both charge and connect to the display at the same time.
Also the P3421W, which is a horrible name by the way,
but I digress, has a feature that allows you
to use two different computers on the same screen
at once in split view,
and even control them with the same keyboard and mouse,
but more on that later.
So let's get into this review
and check out this really cool monitor
in a little more detail.
Now, before we get into this video,
I just wanted to let you know
that I did purchase this monitor with my own money.
So this particular review,
like all the other reviews on my channel,
are entirely unbiased,
and that is thanks in part to sponsors
like Bellroy for sponsoring videos like this,
but more on that later.
So starting with design,
overall, the design is quite minimal and modern.
There's nothing super flashy,
but it will blend in with most setups easily.
It's great to see small bezels,
even on a monitor this large,
and even the back of the monitor looks good.
There's a nice, neutral gray color scheme
with a simple Dell logo.
And while we're back here,
yes, you can mount this monitor to an arm
using a VESA attachment.
You can see in one of my setup videos,
I used an inexpensive ergonomic monitor arm from Amazon
with this monitor.
I'll link that video up in the top right-hand corner,
and the ergonomic arm down in the description of this video.
Now, one thing I love about this monitor
and something that I think should be included
on all monitors these days is the joystick on the back
that you use to navigate the menu.
This is much better than buttons, in my opinion,
especially touch-sensitive buttons,
because it allows you to very easily navigate
through the menus and change settings.
You also get shortcuts that allow you
to instantly change brightness
or a shortcut to switch to the Jewel display mode,
which I'll touch on in a second.
Now, the base of the monitor is very solid
and very, very sturdy,
actually weighs a ton more than probably
pretty much any other monitors I've used in the past.
But that being said, the monitor itself
is just so large and so heavy
that you still might see some wobble every now and then
even with a sturdy base.
Now, one slight drawback of a monitor at this size
is the adjustability of it is generally less
than smaller 24 or 27-inch versions.
Swivel range is a little bit decreased,
but height adjustment is still quite decent.
Now, one quick thing to mention, as well.
If you are planning on mounting this monitor
to an adjustable arm, again, it's quite heavy.
So make sure you check the weight rating
of whatever monitor arm you intend to use.
Moving on to connectivity,
this is where this monitor really shines.
The Dell P3421W fully supports USB-C connectivity
and has 65 watts of power delivery.
Now, if you do have a laptop that supports the USB-C,
particularly Thunderbolt devices, like the MacBooks,
you can just plug your MacBook into this monitor
using a single cable.
You'll get external display, output charging,
and access to any USB devices
you have plugged into your monitor.
Yes, you do get all of these cables in the box, as well.
Now this is especially great for wired devices,
such as a wired keyboard or mouse
that you want to have connected to your monitor
and not necessarily your laptop just for ease of use.
Although I wouldn't recommend connecting a fast hard drive
or fast SSD, for example, to the monitor,
I would recommend connecting them
to your laptop or computer directly
just because you'll typically see better speeds.
Now, here's a quick picture
of the connectivity options you get.
As you can see, you also get the option of HDMI
or display port and a couple of USB ports
to connect accessories.
Bear in mind, though, that only two of these USB ports
are the newer and faster USB 3.2.
The other ports use the slower USB 2.0 standards.
But again, probably not a massive deal,
'cause like I said previously,
you're probably not going to be connecting
any kind of fast SSDs through the monitor directly.
Now, one awesome feature that you almost never see
in other monitors is the built-in KVM
or Keyboard, Video, and Mouse feature.
If you pair this with the picture-by-picture mode,
you can unlock some seriously powerful multitasking.
Now, I'll touch on the KVM feature
in a little bit more detail later on.
But essentially, all it means
is you can connect two computers to your monitor
and control those different computers
with the same keyboard and mouse,
as long as the keyboard and mouse are plugged
into the monitor, of course.
Now, this is really great for those of you
that run a Mac and also a Windows computer
that you want to be able to use at the same time.
Or even if you have a work and a personal computer,
that again, you like to use at the same time,
maybe for a little bit of gaming on the side
while you're still watching a Zoom call at work.
Now, before we move on to the next section,
a quick word from our sponsor Bellroy.
Bellroy is an Australian-based company
focused on creating functional, sustainable,
and quality products.
They create and sell a bunch of cool things
such as laptop sleeves, tech organization kits,
wallets, bags, and more.
Check out some of our favorites,
a tech kit that helps you organize your tech accessories,
a high-quality, water-resistant MacBook or iPad sleeve
with microfiber lining, and a desk pouch
to keep all your frequently-used accessories
in one convenient place.
Bellroy is a certified B-Corp
with a big focus on the environment,
using sustainable materials and supporting charities.
Use the link in the description down below
to get 10% off your next purchase.
Now, moving on to the screen,
I'm not going to bore you with all the technical jargon,
but for those of you interested in the tech specs,
here they are.
The screen panel is 34 inches wide
with a 21 x 9 aspect ratio.
It features a WQHD or 1440P resolution
at 60 Hertz refresh rate.
The response time is eight milliseconds,
which is actually not too bad for a monitor such as this,
but still probably not great for gaming.
So I definitely wouldn't recommend this monitor
if you're going to be doing a lot of hardcore gaming.
But for casual players, by all means,
it definitely still works pretty well.
Now the panel type is IPS,
which is actually pretty common these days,
and it gives you great viewing angles,
which is important because this screen
is, of course, curved.
And yes, this panel does have anti-glare coating
which, again, is almost essential because of the curve.
Now, the benefits and importance of a curved screen
probably deserves its own separate video.
But in a nutshell, for me personally,
I found the experience a lot more immersive
because you can just fit more on the screen in front of you
and you can actually use up the entire real estate
of the screen because everything on the edges
appears closer to your vision.
It's not blurry, it's not too far out
that you're moving your head too much.
So the experience was quite enjoyable for me personally.
Now, this monitor supports 99% sRGB color gamut,
which in layman's terms means
you'll see fairly accurate colors.
And in my opinion, 99% sRGB is good enough
for almost everyone
unless you're a video or photo professional
who needs absolute color accuracy.
Now, if you happen to own an Apple Silicon Mac
and you really do need color accuracy,
you might run into some issues with sRGB,
but more on that later.
So moving on to actually using the screen,
my experience with this particular monitor
has been quite positive.
Whether I'm using Windows or Mac OS,
including either a Mac mini or a MacBook,
the colors are bright, they're accurate.
And the ability to see everything at 1440P resolution
means that you can barely see any individual pixels.
I also haven't had any issues with blurry font
or hard-to-read text that other people have reported
with some MacBooks and some external monitors.
This is clearly a productivity-oriented monitor,
and being 34 inches wide,
it's essentially the same as having
two 20-inch monitors side by side,
but with the advantage of being able to use programs
in full-screen mode,
for example, Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve
without that horrific bezel gap in the middle
synonymous with Jewel monitors.
And this is where widescreen monitors just really shine.
Being able to open up multiple pages or programs
side by side for college or schoolwork
or being able to use video editing programs
and having your entire timeline spread out
over 34 inches of screen real estate.
The curve is also something I've come to appreciate.
I used a non-curved LG monitor prior to this monitor,
and I found myself really straining
to see the edges and the corner of the display.
And over long periods of time,
I found myself moving my head back and forth
to actually see the edges.
And for spending hours at a computer every day,
that really isn't great.
Now, moving on to negatives.
Yes, there are always negatives,
but thankfully, I really couldn't find much
for this particular monitor.
Firstly, the USB-C charging is limited to 65 watts,
and this is totally fine for laptops
like the new M1 MacBooks,
including both Air and Pro,
the Pro being the more power hungry of the two,
requiring 61 watts to charge at full speed.
Now, you might run into issues with other computers
that need more juice,
and potentially some future model of MacBooks,
depending on what the power requirements are
when they are released in the future.
Now, secondly, the price is a little bit steep, guys.
We're kind of getting into semi-premium monitor territory
at this price range of around $850 U.S.
before any kind of sales or discounts.
Now, there are cheaper options from companies like LG
that'll give you a comparable experience,
but don't forget that you'll more than likely be staring
at this screen for eight plus hours a day, every day,
which ends up being almost 90 days in total every year,
assuming you work or study from nine to five.
One thing I will mention is, of course,
this does have USB-C charging.
So if you're looking at picking up maybe a second charger
for your desk or office or wherever,
it's already going to save you about 50 bucks
just on the charger being built in alone.
Now, lastly, I found that some M1 MacBooks
can run into some sRGB color issues
on this particular monitor.
If you set the color setting to sRGB,
some of the colors look quite washed out,
and the display just looks kind of weird.
So instead, you have to use YPbPr mode,
which is less color accurate than RGB.
But I found it still worked totally fine
for productivity tasks
and even some video and photo editing here and there.
But if you use an Apple Silicon Mac
and absolutely need very accurate colors,
this might be a monitor to avoid.
Now, during my testing,
I found that Intel-based Macs worked totally fine.
So hopefully this is something
that either Dell or Apple can fix up in the future
with either a software or firmware update.
So all in all, I was pretty happy
with this particular monitor.
Yes, it's a bit pricey.
Yes, it's a bit big and a bit heavy.
It takes up a lot of the screen real estate
that's possible on most desks,
but I found that for the features you get
and just the sheer size and productivity,
it unlocks the potential for productivity, I should say.
It's been a worthwhile investment for me,
and hopefully it will for you
if you end up picking up one of these things.
(upbeat music)