The Dell U2723QE is a 27-inch, 4k office monitor. It features an IPS Black panel that Dell claims delivers deeper blacks than regular IPS panels, and it has several extra features to improve your workflow. The USB hub has good connectivity with multiple USB-A and USB-C ports, allowing you to connect and control your devices with the same keyboard and mouse through the monitor's KVM switch. It supports DisplayPort Alt Mode with 90W of power delivery, and you can use it to daisy chain secondary monitors either over USB-C or DisplayPort.
Our Verdict
The Dell U2723QE is good for mixed usage. It's great for office use, as its 4k resolution and 27-inch screen provide superb text clarity. It also has a USB hub and KVM switch, making it easy to quickly connect a laptop and use the same keyboard and mouse with multiple computers. It's excellent for content creation, with a very accurate sRGB mode for editing content and wide viewing angles that make it easy to share your screen with someone else. However, it struggles to overcome bright glare because of its disappointing reflection handling. Additionally, it's alright for gaming, with a slow response time that makes fast motion look blurry and a maximum 60Hz refresh rate. It's only adequate for HDR, as highlights don't pop, and deep blacks appear gray in a dark room, though a much darker shade of gray than usual for an IPS display.
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Sharp text clarity and large screen.
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USB hub offers great connectivity.
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Good SDR brightness.
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Incredible ergonomics.
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Disappointing reflection handling.
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Noticeable motion blur behind fast-moving objects.
The Dell U2723QE is a great monitor for office use. Its large 27-inch screen and high 4k resolution provide superb text clarity and make it easy to multitask with multiple windows open. The USB hub is great if you want to connect your devices easily, and you can control them with the same keyboard and mouse via the monitor's KVM switch. It also has incredible ergonomics and wide viewing angles, ensuring the image remains consistent from the sides if you're sharing with someone else. However, while it has good SDR brightness, it has disappointing reflection handling and has difficulty overcoming glare from bright light sources.
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Sharp text clarity and large screen.
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USB hub offers great connectivity.
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Good SDR brightness.
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Incredible ergonomics.
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Disappointing reflection handling.
The Dell U2723QE is alright for gaming. Its slow response time makes fast motion look blurry, and its 60Hz maximum refresh rate means motion isn't as smooth as a monitor with a faster refresh rate. It also has no VRR support and mediocre support for consoles. However, it does have low input lag for a responsive feel. While the IPS Black feature results in contrast that is significantly better than most IPS displays, deep blacks still look gray in a dark room, albeit a much darker shade of gray than usual.
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Low input lag.
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Lack of HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and VRR support.
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Blacks look dark gray in darker rooms.
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Noticeable motion blur behind fast-moving objects.
The Dell U2723QE is good for media consumption. It displays high-resolution content in great detail with its 4k screen. Images look life-like and vibrant thanks to the excellent pre-calibration SDR color accuracy and superb SDR gamut and volume. It also has wide viewing angles ideal for sharing your screen with others, as the image remains consistent from the sides. It has decent contrast, and deep blacks still look gray in a dark room, albeit a much darker shade of gray than usual for an IPS monitor. Even though it has a local dimming feature, it doesn't perform well and fails to improve the contrast. Additionally, while it has good SDR brightness, it has disappointing reflection handling and difficulty overcoming glare from bright light sources.
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Sharp text clarity and large screen.
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Incredible ergonomics.
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Blacks look dark gray in darker rooms.
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Awful local dimming.
The Dell U2723QE is excellent for content creators. It has an excellent sRGB mode, so you don't need to calibrate it for accurate colors. The 4k resolution delivers sharp text and images, and the 27-inch screen is large enough to open two windows side by side. It has wide viewing angles and incredible ergonomics, so the image remains consistent from the sides, and you can adjust it to your preferred position. While it has decent contrast, it is significantly better than most IPS displays, with deep blacks appearing a darker shade of gray than usual in darker environments.
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Sharp text clarity and large screen.
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USB hub offers great connectivity.
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Incredible ergonomics.
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Excellent accuracy before calibration.
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Disappointing reflection handling.
The Dell U2723QE is adequate for HDR. It has a fantastic HDR color gamut and good HDR color volume, so colors look vivid and realistic. However, its adequate HDR brightness means highlights don't pop. It has decent contrast, and deep blacks still look gray in a dark room, albeit a much darker shade of gray than usual for an IPS monitor. The local dimming doesn't improve the contrast.
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Displays wide range of colors in HDR.
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Blacks look dark gray in darker rooms.
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Awful local dimming.
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Highlights don't pop in HDR.
- 7.6 Mixed Usage
- 8.4 Office
- 6.7 Gaming
- 7.7 Media Consumption
- 8.6 Media Creation
- 6.9 HDR
- Updated Jan 19, 2024: Updated text to reflect changes with Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Dec 05, 2023: Added that the ASUS ProArt Display PA279CRV has better Reflection handling.
- Updated Apr 18, 2023: Confirmed that 1440p @ 60Hz works on this monitor with the PS5.
- Updated Feb 27, 2023: Retested the Local Dimming, HDR Brightness, HDR Color Gamut, and HDR Color Volume with firmware update M2T102 released in Aug. 2022. The update only significantly affects the Color Volume.
- Updated Aug 10, 2022: Fixed a mistake that said a USB-B cable comes in the box, but it's a USB-C to USB-A cable.
- Updated May 26, 2022: Review published.
- Updated May 19, 2022: Early access published.
- Updated May 05, 2022: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated May 03, 2022: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Apr 12, 2022: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27-inch Dell U2723QE, part of Dell's UltraSharp lineup that includes other models like the U2724DE. Though both monitors have a 27-inch display, the U2723QE has a 4k resolution, while the U2724DE has a 1440p resolution. The results in this review are only valid for the model we tested.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Aspect Ratio | Panel Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U2723QE | 27" | 3840x2160 | 16:9 | IPS Black |
| U2724DE | 27" | 2560x1440 | 16:9 | IPS Black |
Our Dell U2723QE unit was manufactured in March 2022; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
-The Dell U2723QE is a 27-inch, mid-range 4k office monitor with several extra productivity features, including a KVM switch, DisplayPort Alt Mode, an ethernet port, and daisy-chaining support. It's a great choice for work-from-home or hot-desking setups. However, if you want something with a 4k resolution and won't use these extra features, you can look at a cheaper monitor like the Dell S2722QC, which has similar picture quality.
See our recommendations for the best office monitors, the best 27-inch monitors, and the best 4k monitors.
The Dell S2722QC and the Dell U2723QE are both good overall 4k monitors. Picture quality is similar between both, except the U2723QE has much better out-of-the-box accuracy and displays a wider range of colors in HDR. The U2723QE also has more inputs like a DisplayPort output that you can use for daisy chaining and multiple USB-C ports. However, the S2722QC has much better reflection handling, making it a better choice for well-lit rooms, and it's slightly more versatile for gaming because it supports VRR.
The Dell U2723QE and the Apple Studio Display are both great office monitors, but they have a few differences. The Apple has a 5k display with better text clarity than the 4k display on the Dell. The Dell has a better selection of inputs with DisplayPort, HDMI, and USB inputs and has much better ergonomics. The Dell supports HDR, which the Apple monitor doesn't, and performs better in dark rooms. However, the Apple is better for bright rooms because it gets brighter and has much better reflection handling. It's also a better choice to use with macOS devices because you get much better out-of-the-box accuracy and can use all of the display's features.
The Dell U2723QE and the ASUS ProArt Display PA279CRV are both 4k, 27-inch monitors aimed at content creators. They have many of the same features and similar performance, but they also have a few differences. The Dell uses a panel with IPS Black technology, resulting in a higher contrast than the ASUS, making it the better choice to edit content in a dark environment. The ASUS is better for well-lit rooms because it has much better reflection handling. The ASUS is also better for editing content in HDR as it has better color volume, and even in SDR, it has slightly better accuracy before calibration. On the other hand, the Dell has extra features, like a bigger USB hub and a KVM switch that makes it easy to multitask.
The Dell U2723QE is essentially a smaller version of the Dell U3223QE, but there are a few differences. The U2723QE has a wider swivel range, making it easier to share your screen with someone. The U2723QE also looks better in HDR as it doesn't undersaturate colors like the U3223QE. Both have disappointing reflection handling, but reflections on the U3223QE result in a pink tint that the U2723QE doesn't have. Also, the U3223QE has better out-of-the-box accuracy because the white balance is better.
The Dell U2723QE is a newer version of the Dell UltraSharp U2720Q with a few more features. The U2723QE has a bigger USB hub with a KVM switch, allowing you to control two devices with the same keyboard and mouse. It also has Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes, which the U2720Q doesn't support, and it has daisy-chaining support, which you can't do with the U2720Q. The U2723QE also displays deeper blacks than the U2720Q, thanks to its IPS Black panel, but the contrast is still low.
The Dell U2723QE and the Dell S2721QS are both 4k office monitors, but the U2723QE has a few more features. It has a massive USB hub that the S2721QS lacks, and it has a KVM switch so you can control two sources with the same keyboard and mouse. The U2723QE also displays a wider range of colors in SDR and HDR with better accuracy, and it has an improved contrast ratio. Both get bright in SDR, but the S2721QS is better in bright rooms because it has improved reflection handling.
The Gigabyte M28U and the Dell U2723QE are different types of 4k monitors. The Gigabyte is more focused on gaming as it has a higher refresh rate and a faster response time, resulting in better motion handling. The Gigabyte also has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth to take full advantage of gaming consoles and modern graphics cards. However, the Dell is the better choice if you need something specifically for office work or photo editing as it has more features, like a bigger USB hub to which you can connect your devices. The Dell also displays a wider range of colors in HDR, which is great for HDR video editing. Lastly, the Dell has much better ergonomics, making it easier to place in an ideal position.
The Samsung Smart Monitor M8 S32BM80 and the Dell U2723QE are different types of 4k displays. The Samsung has a built-in smart interface that makes it easy to stream your favorite content without a PC. It also performs better in dark rooms thanks to its higher contrast. However, the Dell is an office monitor with many more inputs, including USB-A ports, making it easy to connect multiple devices and your mouse and keyboard. It also has much better accuracy before calibration, and it displays a wider range of colors, making it a better choice for content creators.
Test Results
The monitor is stylish with an office-oriented design. It has a silver body with black bezels.
The build quality is great. The monitor is well-made, and the stand holds the screen in place when you adjust it. However, the back panel flexes a bit, and the screen wobbles slightly before recovery when you shake the desk or the screen.
The Dell U2723QE has incredible ergonomics. It has fantastic tilt and height adjustment, making adjusting to your preferred position easy. It also has great swivel and tilt ranges, making sharing the screen with someone next to you easy. The stand features a clip for cable management.
The stand only takes up a little space, and because the base is flat, you can still put items on top of it. You can also put your keyboard flush against it due to the straight edge at the front.
There's a single joystick to navigate the on-screen menu and a power button to turn the monitor on and off.
- DisplayPort cable
- USB-C to USB-A cable
- USB-C to USB-C cable
- Power cable
- User guides and manuals
The contrast ratio is satisfactory and better than most IPS panel monitors. Dell uses IPS Black technology in this monitor, which delivers deeper blacks than traditional IPS panels. While this provides significantly better contrast, deep blacks still look gray in a dark room, albeit a much darker shade of gray than usual. While this monitor has local dimming, it doesn't improve contrast and only activates when in an HDR mode.
The edge-lit local dimming feature on the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE is awful. It automatically turns on in any of the Smart HDR modes, and it doesn't do much to improve the picture quality in dark scenes because all four zones are on with the most content. It displays deeper blacks if there's ever a zone that turns off, but the large majority of content forces all the zones on, defeating the purpose of local dimming. The video has Smart HDR set to 'DisplayHDR 400'.
We re-tested the local dimming performance after installing the M2T102 firmware, and the contrast doesn't substantially improve in most dark scenes.
The SDR brightness is good. While it gets bright enough to fight glare in rooms with a few lamps around, it struggles in rooms with strong light sources as a result of its disappointing reflection handling. These results are from after calibration in the 'Custom Color' Preset Mode with the Brightness at its max.
The HDR brightness is alright. While it consistently maintains its brightness across different content, it doesn't get bright enough for highlights to pop. After the M2T102 update, it struggles with EOTF tracking, as there's an early roll-off, so highlights don't get the brightest they could. These results are from the 'DisplayHDR 400' Smart HDR mode, with the firmware update M2T102 released in Aug. 2022. Before this firmware update, the peak brightness was slightly higher, and the EOTF didn't have an early roll-off.
The Dell Ultrasharp U2723QE has a great horizontal viewing angle. It's a great choice if you often need to share your screen with someone next to you, as the image remains consistent from the sides.
The vertical viewing angle is decent. It's satisfactory if you're looking down at it while standing up, but it appears slightly washed out and dimmer.
The monitor has good gray uniformity. There's some vignetting towards the corners and edges; otherwise, the screen is uniform, and you won't have issues displaying full-screen documents or web pages.
The Dell Ultrasharp U2723QE has disappointing black uniformity. When you're watching dark scenes in a dark room, the backlight bleed along the bottom edge is noticeable. Unfortunately, the uniformity is worse with local dimming because there's blooming around bright objects. The local dimming measurements are taken in HDR because the local dimming feature only turns on in HDR.
The Dell U2723QE has excellent accuracy before calibration in the sRGB mode. However, the white balance is a bit off, particularly with brighter shades of gray, and the color temperature is colder than the 6500K target, giving the image a blue tint.
Unfortunately, using the 'sRGB' Color Space setting locks the 'Red', 'Green', and 'Blue' settings in Custom Color. So, if you want to use those settings, you need to change Color Space to something else, which results in oversaturated colors and worse color temperature, as you can see here.
The accuracy after calibration is fantastic. It removes any issues with the white balance and color temperature, and you can use any settings locked out in the sRGB mode.
The SDR color gamut is superb. It covers the entire sRGB color space without any issues and has great coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used in photo editing. However, reds are oversaturated, and it doesn't display saturated greens properly, which isn't ideal if you need to edit photos with these colors.
This Dell UltraSharp U2723QE has an exceptional SDR color volume. It displays most bright colors well, and while it does a good job with darker colors, it only partially displays dark colors. However, it performs better than most IPS displays due to the monitor's IPS Black technology.
The HDR color gamut on the Dell Ultrasharp U2723QE is fantastic. It has near-perfect coverage of the commonly-used DCI-P3 color space, and colors look vivid. Most colors other than white are tone-mapped well. However, it has more limited Rec. 2020 color space coverage. Firmware update M2T102 doesn't cause a significant difference in the HDR color gamut.
The HDR color volume is good. Unfortunately, the firmware update M2T102 released in Aug. 2022 significantly impacts the HDR color volume, as it was much better before the update. It doesn't display bright colors as well as before, and its incomplete color gamut limits its performance.
The Dell U2723QE's reflection handling is disappointing. It struggles in rooms with strong light sources, like placing it opposite a window, but it gets bright enough to fight glare in rooms with a few lamps around. If you want better reflection handling, look into the ASUS ProArt Display PA279CRV.
The monitor has fantastic text clarity thanks to the high pixel density. Enabling ClearType (top photo) makes the letters bolder and easier to read. These photos are in Windows 10.
The gradient handling is incredible, and you won't notice any banding with shades of similar colors.
The max refresh rate with 10-bit, chroma 4:4:4 signals over HDMI is lower due to the bandwidth limitations of HDMI 2.0. You can use 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 chroma subsampling if you want to keep the 60Hz refresh rate with a 4k resolution and 10-bit color depth, but that also reduces the text clarity.
The Dell U2723QE doesn't support variable refresh rate technology.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at the max refresh rate of 60Hz is poor. There's noticeable blur behind fast-moving objects, which isn't ideal if you're editing a video with a lot of movement or scrolling through long documents.
The recommended Response Time of 'Normal' produces the best results. You can change the Response Time setting to 'Fast', but it causes significant inverse ghosting.
This monitor doesn't support a 120Hz signal.
The Dell UltraSharp U2723QE has no optional backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur.
The backlight remains flicker-free at all brightness levels, which helps reduce eye strain if you're sensitive to flicker.
The monitor has low input lag for a responsive feel.
The monitor has mediocre compatibility with the PS5. While it can display a 4k signal from the console, which results in a more detailed image than native 1440p, it can't do so at 120Hz.
The monitor has middling compatibility with the Xbox Series X|S. While it can display a 4k signal from the console, which results in a more detailed image than native 1440p, it can't do so at 120Hz.
You can use the DisplayPort Out port to daisy chain a second monitor. It sends 4k @ 60Hz signals with 10-bit color depth without any problems to a second display if your graphics card supports Display Stream Compression (DSC). It also has an RJ45 Ethernet port, allowing you to connect directly to the monitor if your laptop doesn't have an Ethernet port; it works without issues.
The USB-C port in the middle of the back inputs supports DisplayPort Alt Mode, allowing you to display an image from a compatible device and charge it simultaneously. It supports 90W of power delivery, while the other USB-C port in the back is an upstream port you need for the KVM switch to work. The USB-C input underneath the left side is a downstream port with 15W of power delivery, so if you want to charge a power-hungry device like a work laptop, connect it to the USB-C port with DisplayPort Alt Mode.
If you want to daisy chain using the USB-C ports, make sure to set USB-C Prioritization to 'High Resolution' so that you can get two monitors at 4k @ 60Hz with 8-bit color depth. The daisy chain capability stops functioning when you set the color depth to 10-bit. Additionally, if you set USB-C Prioritization to 'High Data', both displays have a 30Hz refresh rate.
The Dell U2723QE monitor works well with macOS. The USB hub and KVM switch work without issue, even when closing the lid on the laptop. Additionally, the Ethernet port works as intended. When using a MacBook, windows return to their original position when you reopen the lid or wake the laptop up from sleep. However, if you try to daisy chain a second display with a MacBook, it will just mirror the first one.
This Dell U2723QE has a few extra features, including:
- ComfortView Plus: Removes blue light to help reduce eye strain.
- KVM Switch: Allows you to connect a keyboard and mouse to the monitor and control two sources with them.
- Multi-Monitor Sync: Synchronizes settings for multiple monitors when daisy chaining via DisplayPort.
- Multi-Stream Transport: Allows you to daisy chain via DisplayPort or USB-C.
- Power Sync: Automatically turns the display on and off when connected to a Dell PC via USB-C.
- USB-C Prioritization: Allows you to change the setting between 'High Data Speed' for DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidth and USB 3.2 Gen 2 speed or 'High Resolution' for DisplayPort 1.4 bandwidth and USB 2.0 speed. Both settings work with 4k @ 60Hz signals if you have one monitor connected, but you need to set it to 'High Resolution' for daisy chaining if you want both to have a 4k @ 60Hz signal.
