To kick off 2021, Dell just announced what it claims is the world’s first 40-inch curved 5K2K display, and judging by its specs, it might be the ideal high-end display for working from home (maybe make your office pay for it though).
Starting at $US2,100 ($2,718), the new Dell UltraSharp U4021QW ain’t cheap, but when compared to more expensive monitor’s like $US5,000 ($6,471) Apple’s Pro Display XDR, Dell’s 40-inch curved display seems to offer a great balance between size, resolution, and features.
With a resolution of 5,120 x 2160, the U4021QW’s 21:9 aspect ratio leaves plenty of room for side-by-side multitasking, while its 2500R curve helps ensure anything on screen is easily within view without excess distortion. And with a colour gamut that covers 100% of the sRGB spectrum and 98% of DCI-P3 spectrum, while it might not be quite as colourful as an Apple Pro Display XDR, it’s not that far off.
That said, with a rated typical brightness of just 300 nits, the U4021QW’s brightness is just OK. That level of brightness shouldn’t be a big issue for anyone doing general productivity work, but it is less than ideal for any digital artists or people looking for HDR support.
However, what the U4021QW lacks in luminance, it makes up for in connectivity and features with the monitor including support for Thunderbolt 3 docking (up to 10Gbps of data and 90 watts of power), the ability to connect the display to multiple PCs thanks to a built-in KVM feature, and handy bonuses like an onboard Ethernet jack and dual 9-watt speakers. And to make sure your work (or play) doesn’t impact your sleeping habits, the U4021QW also comes with ComfortView Plus to help prevent blue light from disturbing your circadian rhythms.
Port selection on the U4021QW is also quite good with Dell including a huge array of options including one DisplayPort 1.4 port, two HDMI 2.0 ports, one USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3, one USB Type-B upstream port, one USB 3.2 Type-C port, four USB 3.2 Type-A ports that support 15-watt charging, another USB 3.2 Type-A port, a headphone jack, and the aforementioned RJ45 jack. And as you’d expect from a monitor like this, the U4021QW is height adjustable and can be tilted and swiveled, just not all the way into full portrait mode.
Elsewhere, for those looking for a more portable work from home option, Dell has also announced its revamped line of commercial Latitude 9000-series laptops, whose most notable new feature is a “SafeShutter” webcam with a shutter that automatically opens and closes when it detects you are using a video conferencing app. The idea is that by automatically blocking the webcam when you’re not on a video call, you don’t have to worry about constantly opening and closing the manual shutters found on some other laptops. And to make sure your audio only gets sent out when you want it, the new Latitude 9000 laptops also have “secure” mic and mute keys.
The Latitude 9000 laptops are available in two sizes, the 14-inch Latitude 9420 and the larger 15-inch Latitude 9520, which will come in both standard clamshell and 2-in-1 configurations.
The new UltraSharp U4021QW monitor is slated to go on sale on January 28 in the U.S. for $US2,100 ($2,718), while the new Latitude 9000 laptops becoming available sometime later this spring starting at $US1,950 ($2,523) for the smaller Latitude 9420.
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for local Australian pricing and availability.