What does this monitor
and a bowl of porridge have in common?
Well, just like the story
of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears",
it's not exceptional in any one area
but it's just right in pretty much everything.
And if you've been watching this channel for a while,
you'd know the predecessor to this monitor
is one of my all-time favorites.
It's the U2720Q from Dell, a 27-inch 4K USB-C monitor
that's been super popular over the last few years
and sure, it's not the cheapest monitor out there,
but for those of you using a Mac,
it was a hell of a lot cheaper than the Studio Display.
And you didn't even need to sell a kidney either.
And it worked particularly well for those with laptops
due to its one-cable USB-C functionality
for charging, outputting to a screen
and accessing anything plugged into the monitor itself.
That being said, I did have a few issues with that monitor.
So when Dell released their updated version, the U2723QE
with a couple of new features and improvements,
yes, that is an ethernet port on a monitor,
I just had to buy it and check it out.
And yes, that means all of the monitors you see
in this video were bought with my own money.
Neither Dell or Apple has any input here
but big thanks to Ekster and their premium wallets
for sponsoring this video
so I can afford to buy all of these monitors
but more on that later.
Firstly, I want to talk about the ports and connectivity
because this is basically a two-in-one device,
a monitor and also a pretty decent hub.
So if you're someone who's maybe looking to buy a monitor
and a USB hub or dock, for example,
this monitor could actually save you a fair bit of cash.
Like the previous version, you get a USB-C port
that connects your laptop to the monitor
and provides up to 90 watts of charging,
outputs a 4K image to the screen
and also lets you access any devices connected
to the monitor.
And you can access a pretty significant amount of devices.
Now if you're not using a USB-C connection to your computer,
there are HDMI and DisplayPort ports
as well as daisy chaining additional 4K monitors.
There's an audio line out
as this monitor doesn't have any built-in speakers,
an additional USB-C port, four USB-A ports
and an additional USB-C and USB-A port
on the underside of the monitor.
And also, that QuickAccess USB-C port offers up to 15 watts
of power charging which is perfect for charging an iPhone
or Apple Watch, for example, while at your desk.
In addition, all of the ports I just mentioned
are SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 gigabit ports.
So not Thunderbolt speeds
but they're more than enough for almost all everyday devices
with the exception of super-fast SSD drives
that are better off being attached directly to your computer
even if you change the USB-C prioritization
to high data speed
instead of high resolution in the monitor settings.
Not to mention, there's a built-in auto KVM switch
which means if you connect a mouse and keyboard
to the monitor,
you can use them to control two different computers.
And this happens automatically
when you change the display input.
There's no need to connect the peripherals
to a different monitor every time you switch.
And this is incredibly helpful
if you're like me and have a PC and MacBook
or maybe a work computer and a personal computer
but you want to use the same setup easily.
Note that in this setup,
I have the MacBook connected via USB-C,
my PC connected via DisplayPort
and a USB-C to USB-A cable to connect the built-in hub
of the monitor to my PC.
And all of these cables come in the packaging.
Personally, my mouse of choice
is a Logitech G Pro X Superlight.
I plug the USB dongle receiver into the monitor,
and it works perfectly fine
between my RTX 3090 gaming PC and my MacBook Pro.
There's also an ethernet port,
and this isn't something that you see in most monitors.
And the attractiveness of this port depends heavily on
if you have access to a wired ethernet connection or not.
Most people probably use a wifi network these days,
but I always recommend using wired ethernet if possible
to get the best speed and stability.
If you are interested in this topic,
I made a DIY video where I installed a direct connection
from my router in the garage upstairs to my office
and was able to improve my internet speeds massively.
I'll link that video in the description.
Speaking of speed, imagine being able to access all
of your cards with the click of a button.
Well, you can with a wallet from Ekster.
Ekster have designed the world's slimmest
and smartest wallet with built-in RFID protection.
They can hold up to 15 cards plus some cash
and you can access all of your cards
at the click of a button
with their signature quick card access.
You can easily track your wallet's location
with either a built-in AirTag holder
or Ekster's solar-powered tracking device.
And each Ekster wallet is made from environmentally friendly
and high-quality materials like Italian leather,
space-grade aluminum and carbon fiber.
It's basically the James Bond of wallets
so make sure you check out the link in the description below
and use code CREATEDTECH for up to 40% off.
Okay, back to the monitor.
Moving on to build quality,
like all the other monitors in the UltraSharp lineup,
it's pretty good.
It's entirely plastic but doesn't squeak or flex too much
when I'm moving it around.
However, the entire panel wobbles quite a bit
if you bump your desk
or try to adjust the angle of the screen.
This is worse than other similar monitors.
The previous U2720Q version
had a much better and sturdier stand.
Luckily, it has a standard VESA mount on the back,
so you can mount it
to pretty much any monitor arm out there.
And with a minimal light gray and silver color scheme,
even on a monitor arm,
it should fit in with pretty much any type of setup style.
Not to mention the tiny bezels
and lack of branding on the front of the monitor.
I have to say, it is refreshing when a company does this
instead of plastering an ugly corporate logo right
on the front, but then they had to go and ruin it
by putting it on the stand instead.
That being said, you do get a seriously impressive amount
of adjustability; up and down, side to side,
swivel, pivot, and also portrait mode.
So no complaints there.
Just bear in mind,
the cable management hole is placed way too low
so cables will be easily visible.
One massive change from the previous version
is the complete overhaul of the menu buttons.
Gone are those awful mushy buttons
on the underside of the monitor
that made it difficult to navigate the menu system.
Dell has finally gone with a control joystick.
And with the built-in shortcut menu system,
changing settings and inputs
is a much more enjoyable experience.
The menu system itself is okay.
I mean, you get a bit of customization,
allowing you to quickly choose
from a customizable shortcut menu
and you'll also be able to go through a setup process
for the KVM feature
but it didn't really blow me out of the water.
The screen, on the other hand, did.
Now it's a 27-inch IPS 4K panel,
and it has some seriously impressive color accuracy.
And you can switch between each mode within the menu system.
Now I was particularly impressed
with it covering 98% of the DCI-P3 gamut,
and it even comes with a calibration card in the box,
proving the accuracy.
For reference, the $1,600 Apple Studio Display
doesn't even officially cover the P3 color gamut,
although when testing, I found it was the same
as this much cheaper Dell monitor at 98%.
Additionally, you'll get some really deep blacks
with what Dell calls their IPS Black technology.
It's just a fancy marketing term
for an increased contrast ratio of 2000:1
instead of the more common 1000:1.
It sounds like the black should be twice as black
but in reality, it's only about 20 to 30% darker
which is still quite noticeable on any dark scenes.
This monitor does also have HDR,
but it's not true HDR, just VESA DisplayHDR 400.
It works totally fine
if you're watching HDR movies, for example,
but if you're trying to produce any HDR content,
for example, when editing a HDR video,
you're going to want to go with a different monitor
with full proper HDR support.
Viewing angles are good.
I didn't notice any major backlight bleed
and brightness is fairly good at 400 nits.
And this is only going to be an issue
if you have a really bright light source shining directly
onto your monitor, like the sun, for example.
Now the 4K resolution at 27 inches means you'll get a PPI
or pixels per inch of 163.
This is also the only difference
between the 27-inch and 32-inch version
besides the price, of course.
Due to the largest screen size of the 32-inch version,
the PPI is correspondingly less
so individual pixels will still be more noticeable.
Also, if you have a Mac,
be aware you won't get perfect scaling
with the 4K resolution of this monitor
due to the way macOS scales.
So the UI elements on screen
might appear very slightly blurry.
This is really up to personal preference, though.
Personally, I don't notice it at all
and let's be honest, you've only got two options here
if you want perfect macOS scaling,
buy a 1440p resolution monitor for slightly better scaling,
but lower overall resolution
which means the image won't be anywhere near as crisp as 4K
or go for the Apple Studio Display with 5K resolution
that will scale perfectly
but you'll also pay 1,600 US dollars for the privilege.
Now you can also use software like BetterDisplay
to improve the 4K scaling if you really want to, though.
It does improve it a little bit,
but again, it's not quite as good as that perfect 5K
on the native Apple monitors.
I also want to talk about gaming for a second.
Now, you're not going to be winning any eSports championships
on this monitor, but for casual stuff,
yeah, I mean, it's not bad.
For example, you can use the built-in hub
to have your laptop and a gaming system
like a gaming console or gaming PC also attached.
And you can use the same keyboard and mouse
without having to unplug and change cables every time.
Sure, it's not a proper gaming monitor
with only a maximum of five millisecond response time
after you go into the settings
and change from the default eight milliseconds.
And it only has a refresh rate of 60 hertz.
So this isn't the monitor
for you hardcore Counter-Strike or Valorant players,
but for those with a mainly productivity-based workflow
and then some casual gaming on the side,
it works pretty well.
So what about value?
How much is this thing
and how does it stack up to competitors?
The U2723QE retails for 780 US dollars
but you'll almost always be able to find some kind of sale
on either the official Dell website
or Amazon for just over 500 bucks.
Is it expensive compared to more budget monitors? Sure.
If you just want a standard 4K monitor
with no bells or whistles,
you can get that and get it for much cheaper,
but it won't have USB-C functionality, great color accuracy
or the KVM feature to switch between systems, for example.
And if you're a Mac user
and you compare the U2723QE to the Studio Display,
of course, the Studio Display is better
in many areas like build quality, built-in webcam
and speakers and that native 5K resolution
but that's pretty much it.
The Dell, which is over three times cheaper,
comes extremely close everywhere else
and also works perfectly with Windows systems,
which just isn't possible with a Studio Display.
If you're on a slightly tighter budget, though,
for about a hundred bucks less, there's the LG 27UP850-W.
It has very similar features to the Dell.
I think the Dell is slightly better
in pretty much every area, particularly the hub on the back
and the KVM and the color accuracy,
but is that worth an extra hundred bucks?
So how is actually using this monitor on a day-to-day basis?
It's pretty good.
I mean, I think its biggest strength
is that it's an all-rounder.
Great but not perfect color accuracy
and actually useful USB hub built into it
that I can actually take advantage of.
And the support for using multiple systems
at the same time is really clutch.
I find that a lot of monitors I've used over the years
have one or two things that I just really dislike,
and this one just seems to do everything I need it
to do well.
I don't really have any complaints.
The stand is average
and it would've been great to have it slightly higher,
75-hertz refresh rate, for example
but it's just cherry-picking at this point.
There's no such thing as the perfect monitor
so just make sure you choose a decent one
with the features you need.