Dell U4025QW review: A big, sharp ultrawide with a heaping helping of ports

Price When Reviewed

$2,399.99

The Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW is yet one more instance of how the Ultrasharp line has remodeled over the previous 5 years. Once identified largely for its picture high quality, Dell has in recent times positioned almost equal give attention to connectivity and now, with the latest Ultrasharp displays, refresh price. The result’s a giant, sharp, and very costly monitor that performs superbly in most conditions.

What are the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s specs and options?

The U4025QW’s specs are uncommon. It has a 40-inch IPS Black show with a decision of 5,120 x 2,160 and a refresh price of 120Hz. This is a singular mixture of specs that no different show can presently match.

• Display dimension: 40-inch ultrawide
• Native decision: 5120×2160
• Panel sort: In-Plane Switching (IPS) Black
• Refresh price: Up to 120Hz
• Adaptive sync: Yes, VRR
• HDR: Yes, HDR10, VESA DisplayHDR 600 licensed
• Ports: Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C with as much as 140 watts energy supply, 3x USB-C downstream, 5x USB-A downstream, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1 (helps as much as 5K2K at 120Hz FRL, VRR as laid out in HDMI 2.1), 2.5G Ethernet
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Speakers: Yes
• Price: $2,399.99 MSRP

But, wow, do you pay for it. The Dell U4025QW is priced at a sky-high $2,399.99. I count on that value will come down considerably inside a couple of months, and maybe even at launch (Dell tends to set costs excessive, then mark them down). But since I don’t but know the place the worth will settle, I can’t give Dell credit score for what would possibly occur.

Further studying: Best ultrawide monitors

How is the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s design?

The Ultrasharp U4025QW has a really clear goal; firms and rich residence workplace employees in search of 40 superb inches of extremely purposeful show actual property. Dell’s design is laser-focused on this demographic. It’s easy and silver, engaging but inoffensive, trendy however basic.

It’s not thrilling. But it really works. That’s thanks not solely to the silver matte end, which seems good-looking in all kinds of desks and rooms, but in addition the high-quality plastic supplies. There’s not loads of flex right here and, in actual fact, the monitor is probably a bit too heavy. Remember, raise along with your legs!

Matt Smith

The monitor additionally has a slight curve, although it’s so refined that I count on some customers wouldn’t instantly discover it. I’m a card-carrying member of the flat ultrawide monitor membership (there are dozens of us!), however that is shut sufficient to flat that I by no means discovered the curve distracting.

Yet the U4025QW has one unlucky downside. The stand isn’t nice. I count on it’s the identical because the stand shipped with different giant Ultrasharp displays (it actually seems an identical), however it appears overtasked when paired with an enormous 40-inch ultrawide monitor.

I observed the show tends to wobble. This occurred not provided that I bumped my desk, which is regular, but in addition after I used the monitor’s joystick, and even brushed the show. This additionally makes the monitor harder to regulate, as a result of it tends to barely give for a second earlier than elevating or reducing. Dell ought to look into this and take into account an improve.

Alternatively, a 100x100mm VESA mount is accessible for attaching the monitor to a third-party monitor stand or arm.

How is the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s connectivity and menu?

Matt Smith

Each new Dell Ultrasharp monitor appears to up the ante on connectivity, and the U4025QW does it once more. It has an enormous vary of connectivity that spans the whole lot from Thunderbolt to wired Ethernet.

Let’s begin with video connectivity. The monitor has two Thunderbolt ports, every of which help DisplayPort 2.0 and can be utilized with a USB-C port that has DisplayPort Alternate Mode. One of those additionally delivers 140 watts of Power Delivery.

The Thunderbolt ports present entry to an array of downstream connectivity that features 5 USB-A ports and three USB-C ports. Two of those USB-C ports, and one USB-A port, are positioned in a pop-out hub that’s discovered on the show’s lower-left lip. The hub makes it simple to rapidly join a peripheral you would possibly solely join briefly, like a USB storage drive.

A 2.5G Ethernet port and 3.5mm audio jack spherical out the choices. The Ethernet port is very helpful, since it may be used to offer a USB-C laptop computer or pill with wired web connectivity.

On the entire, the U4025QW’s connectivity is tough to match and certain one of the best purpose to purchase the monitor. If you wish to, or must, work with a number of computer systems, need to simply dock and undock from a number of linked peripherals, or want so as to add wired Ethernet to a tool that doesn’t have it, the U4025QW can resolve your issues.

Matt Smith

Dell’s menu system additionally deserves reward. A responsive joystick on the monitor’s lower-right flank is used to flip by way of well-labeled menus. The obtainable choices are in depth and embrace: automated brightness, a number of coloration modes (sRGB, BT.709, DCI-P3, and Display P3), a customized coloration mode (with adjustment for acquire, offset, hue, and saturation), and a number of HDR modes. There’s additionally a KVM change and a number of picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture modes. Color temperature management is accessible, as nicely, and exactly targets particular numerical values (reminiscent of 6500Okay).

Speakers are included, too. They’re not wonderful however present respectable worth and sound advantageous for much less advanced content material, like podcasts or most YouTube movies. Music and flicks will push the audio system to their limits, although, so headphones or exterior audio system are really useful for leisure.

How is the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s SDR picture high quality?

Image high quality isn’t essentially the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s prime precedence. A monitor like that is as a lot a hub and command middle as it’s a show, and it’s probably as many individuals will use it for spreadsheets or knowledge analytics as video enhancing. Still, a monitor with a price ticket this excessive must ship visuals which are a minimum of higher than common, and the U4025QW succeeds.

Matt Smith

We begin off with brightness, the place the U4025QW delivers as much as 408 nits. That’s a really aggressive determine, because the graph reveals, and it means the monitor will stay helpful in lots of conditions. Want to make use of it in a flowery nook workplace with a ground to ceiling window? It ought to be advantageous. And it’s after all greater than sufficient for any residence workplace.

Also, as a reminder, the U4025QW has a helpful automated brightness characteristic that can modify brightness robotically relying on ambient gentle. This characteristic contains three “brightness range” settings that may assist you tune the automated brightness adjustment to your choice. I like to recommend utilizing it, as a result of in my expertise most individuals don’t need to hassle with twiddling with brightness all through the day.

Matt Smith

The Dell U4025QW hits a decent most distinction ratio of 2050:1 with show brightness set to 50 p.c. That’s a very good consequence and roughly doubles the distinction ratio of most IPS displays that do not need an IPS Black panel. Photos, films, and video games are displayed with an affordable sense of immersion and depth.

On the opposite hand, the U4025QW is costlier than many Mini-LED and OLED displays. Examples embrace the Corsair Xeneon Flex and Samsung Odyssey G9. These gaming-focused alternate options lack the U4025QW’s connectivity, although, so that you’ll need to determine which is extra vital to you.

Matt Smith

Next up is coloration gamut, and right here the U4025QW posts wonderful outcomes. It has a coloration gamut that spans 100 p.c of sRGB, 96 p.c of DCI-P3, and 95 p.c of AdobeRGB. A handful of displays rating higher, however this stays a robust consequence that’s close to the highest of what’s obtainable from displays in 2024.

Matt Smith

Color accuracy can be sturdy, if not class-leading. The U4025QW’s coloration accuracy is on par with many different displays and may look correct to most viewers. It additionally has a variety of coloration changes, so it’s attainable to calibrate the colour to both enhance accuracy or suit your preferences.

Color temperature and gamma proceed the U4025QW’s streak of fine outcomes. It hit a default coloration temperature of 6600Okay, which is only a shade off the goal of 6500Okay, and offered an on-target gamma curve of two.2. This means the default picture wasn’t too cool or heat and that content material seems about as luminous because it ought to. The monitor gives coloration temperature adjustment to tweak that setting to your choice or wants, however gamma can’t be configured within the monitor’s menus.

Sharpness additionally cuts within the U4025QW’s favor. The monitor’s 5120×2160 decision isn’t exceptional (I reviewed a 5K ultrawide from LG all the way back in 2018), however it stays the utmost decision obtainable in an ultrawide (21:9 side ratio) show. It achieves a pixel density of 138 pixels per inch (ppi). That’s a bit lower than a 27-inch 4K monitor, which hits 163 ppi, however it’s excessive sufficient to make particular person pixels nearly indistinguishable at a typical viewing distance of two-and-half to a few toes.

How is the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s HDR picture high quality?

The Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW helps HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR 600 licensed. That’s good on paper, however HDR efficiency is mediocre.

Brightness isn’t the difficulty. The monitor hits a most HDR brightness of 635 nits, and its brightness stays steady even when the complete show is lit. That separates it from OLED displays, which scale back the brightness of their OLED panel when giant, vivid objects should be proven.

However, the U4025SW lacks the distinction to make HDR work nicely. It doesn’t have a dynamic backlight, so rising the brightness of any portion of the show additionally will increase the brightness of the complete display screen. That’s an issue when viewing a starry evening sky or a neon sign up a cyberpunk alley. Areas of a scene that ought to be inky black will as an alternative be a hazy grey.

So, whereas HDR is supported and works okay, it’s removed from best. I don’t suggest the U4025QW if HDR is excessive in your checklist of priorities.

How is the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW’s movement efficiency?

Surprisingly, the U4025QW’s movement efficiency is noteworthy. It gives a refresh price of as much as 120Hz. That’s not a file, after all, however keep in mind: The monitor has a decision of 5120×2160. Delivering 120Hz at that decision is spectacular.

The monitor additionally helps Adaptive Sync although, like different latest Dell Ultrasharp displays, the main points are a bit odd. It formally lists “support for VRR as specified in HDMI 2.1,” which would appear to recommend it solely features over HDMI. That’s not the case. AMD FreeSync functioned with out subject alongside my Radeon RX 7800 video card, even when linked over DisplayPort.

Motion readability is nice, however not nice. Fast-moving objects present good element with solely minor movement blur and pleasing fluidity. But some advantageous particulars, like small textual content or a refined texture sample, will probably be illegible or obscured. The movement readability on provide right here can’t maintain as much as one of the best displays for movement, like a 240Hz or 360Hz OLED monitor, however it’s ok for many 3D video games and gives a refined enhance to perceived fluidity on the Windows desktop.

Is the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW price it?

The Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW is a superb monitor for individuals who desire a massive show that may function the centerpiece in a fancy setup that more than likely contains a number of computer systems. It has an unimaginable array of ports that spans Thunderbolt, USB-C, as much as 140 watts of Power Delivery, and a pair of.5G Ethernet. That comes alongside nice picture high quality and affordable movement readability.

The U4025QW isn’t a good selection for HDR content material, nevertheless, and it suffers a stand that appears overmatched by the show’s dimension and weight. Pricing can be a priority. The retail MSRP of $2,399.99 is way larger than rivals just like the LG 40WP95C-W, which regularly retails beneath $1,400. Dell has a number of benefits over LG, however that’s a giant value hole.

Even so, the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW has a goal. It’s an apparent decide for individuals keen to pay for a flagship workplace and productiveness monitor with all of the bells and whistles and future-proof connectivity.