At one time, having a 4K monitor felt like a luxury. Now, thanks to the power of modern computers and the dramatic price drop, 4K monitors are no longer unattainable upgrades. They’re becoming the standard.
The Dell 27 Plus 4K is the best example of this trend I’ve seen so far. It might not have all the bells and whistles of a Dell UltraSharp monitor, nor the mind-blowing image quality of the Dell 32 Plus OLED. But for my money, this is the best monitor the average person working from home should buy—especially when it’s on discount. I’ve seen it dip as low as $254, and that’s a steal for what you get.
The Dell Difference
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Dell monitors have always been pretty, and the Dell 27 Plus 4K is no different. The bezels are thin, and the base and stand aren’t overly large. The “Ash White” color looks clean on my already-white desk. It might not look as professional as a silver or black model, but for home use, I prefer the white. The design is worth noting, too, since at this price, some monitors tend to look really cheap. Despite the plastic exterior on the Dell 27 Plus 4K, the stand and base have metal inside, so they feel sturdy.
Setting up this monitor is simple, with no tools required. Compared to most monitors, it does have an extra backplate that must be tightened into the stand (with a thumb screw), but it only takes a minute or so to pull the various pieces out of the box and have it ready to go.
The back of the monitor has a standard VESA mount, making it perfect for connecting to a monitor arm if that’s your jam. The stand gives you a full range of adjustments, including 5 inches of height, tilt, rotation, and swivel. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go high enough to rotate it completely into a vertical monitor, which is a shame. (You can still use it vertically with a monitor arm.)
Photograph: Luke Larsen
The one truly old-school thing about the Dell 27 Plus 4K is the port selection. All you’ve got is two HDMI 2.1 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4 port. That’s it. No USB-C for single-cable connections. No headphone jack. No upstream USB ports. The lack of USB-C is annoying, as so many laptops these days ship without HDMI. If you have a MacBook Air, Dell XPS 13, Surface Laptop, or countless other laptops with limited ports, you’ll be stuck using a USB hub or docking station to get them connected to this monitor. That’s not the end of the world, but it’s one of the missing features that keeps this specific model from perfection.
The lack of USB means you’ll need to plug things like extra storage, your mouse, keyboard, or other accessories directly into your laptop or into a dock. Clearly, this is an area in which Dell compromised to get the price down. Fortunately, Dell sells the same monitor with an integrated USB-C hub, the S2725QC model, for just $50 more. That’s well worth the money. If you’d rather have those ports over the resolution, Dell even sells a QHD (2K) model (2,560 x 1,440) for $245 with a built-in USB-C hub. This model’s refresh rate is only 75 Hz instead of 120 Hz, though.
A lot of people, especially on a desktop PC, may not need those extra ports anyway, so I like that Dell offers the option and doesn’t charge outrageous prices to upgrade. You’ll pay more than $100 for it, but it’s one area where the Samsung 27″ ViewFinity S8 has an advantage, with USB-C connectivity and more. It even comes with a KVM switch to sweeten the deal. I haven’t tested that monitor myself yet, but it’s on my list for that reason alone.
Sharp, Accurate, and Fast
Photograph: Luke Larsen
The Dell 27 Plus has a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution, otherwise known as 4K or UHD. This is a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is standard, and at this size, the resolution is incredibly sharp. You definitely can’t pick out pixels. It’s an IPS (in-plane switching) panel, which is also standard for a work monitor of this type.
IPS won’t have the deep blacks and HDR capability of OLED (or Mini-LED), or even the improved contrast in newer IPS Black panels, like the Dell UltraSharp 32 4K U3225Q. However, the monitor goes up to 355 nits and has a contrast of 1,270:1, according to my own measurements. The colors surprised me as well. It covers 100 percent of the sRGB color space and 79 percent of AdobeRGB. With quite good color accuracy as well (an average color accuracy of 1.16), it’s even a decent option for content creators looking for an affordable display to match with a MacBook Pro.
The Dell 27 Plus 4K does have a matte coating, which I don’t prefer. It’s still fairly unusual to find glossy panels, outside of OLED monitors or the Apple Studio Display (9/10, WIRED Recommends), which is 40 percent brighter than this monitor. I’ll always take the crystal-clear look of a glossy display, even if it means having to deal with glare from time to time. The matte finish isn’t too noticeable, but it does make the display feel slightly dimmer and less vibrant. The good news is that it does a good job of resisting reflections and glare.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Thanks to the 120-Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync Premium, the Dell 27 Plus 4K is even a decent little gaming monitor when you need it to be. No, it’s not going to compete with a dedicated gaming monitor, especially one that is QHD with a 240-Hz refresh rate, for example. But if you need 4K for work, the Dell 27 Plus 4K functions well as a hybrid gaming-and-work monitor. I happily tried a few different games, including Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel Rivals, and Star Wars Outlaws. The high resolution is better-suited for slower, single-player experiences, but you can pull it down to lower resolutions and enjoy some faster-paced games with the 120-Hz refresh rate.
That higher refresh rate isn’t just for gaming, though. Dell has been among the first to introduce 120-Hz refresh rates across the board in its mainstream consumer monitors. It makes for a much smoother experience in nearly everything you do, from scrolling a webpage to even just moving the cursor. Trust me, once you go to 120 Hz, you won’t want to go back to 60 Hz. It goes a long way toward making even this affordable monitor feel premium.
I let the pair of integrated 5-watt speakers ring out, and again, I found myself surprised. For internal monitor speakers, I found myself enjoying the experience. There’s some bass that can be heard, and overall, I’ve heard far worse. The speakers really do elevate the gaming experience, and I even found myself listening to music casually with them. (You should probably still snag some computer speakers.)
Just Buy It
Photograph: Luke Larsen
There are areas where the Dell 27 Plus 4K feels bare-bones, especially the ports. And there are other areas where it goes above and beyond, such as in the refresh rate and speakers. But this all has to be considered within the context of this monitor’s price. There aren’t many other name-brand 27-inch 4K monitors out there for less than $300. The closest thing Lenovo and HP have is at least hundreds of dollars more. LG and Samsung come close with their options, but their 4K 27-inch monitors only have a 60-Hz refresh rate.
If the port situation is a problem for you, which I can fully understand, I’d recommend checking out the S2725QC model. But if you’ve been working from home on a crusty old 1080p monitor for too long, the Dell 27 Plus 4K is the 4K upgrade you’ve been waiting for.
