Our Verdict
The Dell U2718Q is a good monitor for most uses. It has wide viewing angles and excellent ergonomics, great for use as an office monitor. It's a good basic gaming monitor, but it probably won't please most serious gamers. The high-resolution screen is also great for media creation or watching videos.
- Wide viewing angles.
- Easy to adjust stand with great ergonomics.
- Outstanding gradient handling.
- Poor HDR performance.
- Mediocre black uniformity and visible backlight bleed.
This is a great office monitor. The Dell U2718Q has wide viewing angles, excellent ergonomics, and a great amount of screen real estate. Text is exceptionally clear, and it has excellent uniformity. Although it can get bright enough for most viewing environments, it has mediocre reflection handling, so glare might be an issue in a bright room.
Overall, the Dell U2718Q is a good gaming monitor, but it likely won't please serious gamers. It has low input lag and good response time, resulting in little blur behind fast-moving objects. Unfortunately, it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and it doesn't support any advanced gaming features.
The Dell U2718Q is a good monitor for multimedia. The high-resolution screen is great for watching the latest movies in 4k, and the wide viewing angles are great for watching the latest videos with a group of friends. Unfortunately, it has mediocre reflection handling, so glare might be an issue in a bright room.
The Dell U2718Q is a great monitor for media creation. The high-resolution screen allows you to see more of your work at once, and it has outstanding ergonomics and wide viewing angles. It also has excellent uniformity, decent accuracy out of the box, and outstanding gradient handling. Unfortunately, it has mediocre reflection handling, so glare might be an issue in a bright room.
Overall, the Dell U2718Q is a decent monitor for HDR gaming, thanks to the low input lag and good response time. Although this monitor technically supports HDR, there's little benefit to it, as it can't get very bright in HDR, can't display a wide color gamut, and it has a low contrast ratio.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 25, 2020: Fixed an error with the weight.
- Updated Jun 11, 2020: We corrected a minor mistake in the Refresh Rate scoring.
- Updated Feb 17, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Aug 08, 2018: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We've tested the 27" U2718Q, which is the only size available.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Dell U2718Q doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
The U2718Q we reviewed was manufactured in May 2018 (Revision A03).
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Dell U2718Q is a very good IPS monitor, and one of the best work monitors we've tested, but there are better alternatives out there, especially if you want decent HDR performance. See our recommendations for the best monitors, the best monitors for dual setup, and the best 4k gaming monitors. See also our recommendations for the best mice and the best keyboards.
The Dell U2720Q is a 2020 refresh of the Dell U2718Q. Aside from some slight differences in their outer design and the added USB-C ports on the U2720Q, both monitors offer identical features. Performance is largely the same as well, although the U2720Q has a higher peak brightness, better SDR and HDR color gamuts, and it also has better reflection handling. However, the U2718Q has a faster response time and lower input lag.
The Dell U2718Q is better than the Dell U2715H. The Dell U2718Q supports HDR and performs decently in that mode. It also has a 4k resolution so you can display more details of your work on the screen. Finally, the Dell U2718Q has a better black uniformity, which is great in dark scenes, and perfect gradient performance with no visible banding.
The Dell U2718Q is better than the Dell U2719D. The U2718Q supports HDR, although this doesn't add much, and it has better vertical viewing angles. The U2718Q also has better black uniformity and has a higher resolution screen. On the other hand, the Dell U2719D has a flicker-free backlight.
The Dell U2718Q is better than the LG 27UD68P-B. The Dell U2718Q has better black uniformity and doesn't suffer from temporary image retention. The U2718Q also supports HDR, although this doesn't add much due to the poor color volume and insufficient peak brightness. The LG 27UD68P-B is flicker-free and has better motion handling overall thanks to AMD FreeSync support.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, all of which we purchase ourselves, without cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized, custom tools to measure various aspects and deliver objective, data-driven results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance compared to the competition, and whether it's easy to find.
Test Results
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