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One of Dell's new Thunderbolt monitors is aimed right at Apple's Studio Display

Dell Ultrasharp U42025QW (left) and U3425WE (right)

Just before the CES festivities kick off, Dell has rolled out a pair of large-format curved displays, with one running at 5K and 120Hz off a single Thunderbolt cable.

Dell's first monitor, released Thursday, was the 40-inch 5K U4025QW display. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, with a 5120x2160 resolution on a curved screen, and a built-in ambient light sensor adjusts screen brightness. Dell also says it reduces blue light exposure with a more advanced LED backlight than the previous 5K display discontinued long ago.

While similar to the Studio Display, it has a lower pixel density versus the 27-inch 5K panel in Apple's offering.

Dell says the monitor has a 2000:1 contrast and a 178-degree viewing angle. It has DisplayHDR 600, which covers 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 100% of the sRGB gamut.

Thunderbolt connectivity gives the monitor a few extra features. The monitor is also effectively a Thunderbolt 4 hub, with multiple ports.

  • 2.5 Gigabit ethernet jack on the back
  • Four 5 gigabit USB-A ports on the back
  • Two USB-C ports on the back
  • One USB-C port and one USB-A port on a pop-out port extender facing the user
  • 140W power delivery to a connected computer

There is also a DisplayPort 1.4 port and a HDMI 2.1 port. Dell isn't clear if these are on the Thunderbolt hub aspect of the port, but given that the technical specs mention picture-in-picture, these are likely alternative inputs.

The U3225WE is smaller at 34 inches. It also has a much lower pixel density than Apple's Studio Display, running at 3440x1440 resolution. It, too, connects with Thunderbolt but lacks front-facing ports.

DisplayHDR is missing on the U3225WE but has 100% sRGB and 98% of DCI-P3 gamuts. It also has a 2000:1 contrast ratio with a 178-degree viewing angle.

Port connectivity is similar to its larger cousin, but power delivery is limited somewhat to 90 watts to a host device. This is still enough to power a 16-inch MacBook Pro under heavy load, but the battery won't charge very quickly.

The larger U4025QW retails for $2399. The smaller U3425WE sells for $1019. For comparison, the Apple Studio Display retails for $1599 with standard glass and $1899 with textured glass.

Both models will be available on February 27.

AppleInsider will be covering the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in person from January 9 until January 12, where we're expected to see HomeKit devices, Apple accessories, 8K monitors, massive televisions, and more. Keep up with the event's coverage via the AppleInsider app, our YouTube channel, Facebook, and X @AppleInsider accounts for the latest news. Head on over to our official Instagram account for exclusive photos and videos throughout the event.



12 Comments

tenthousandthings 17 Years · 1060 comments

Interesting, basically a hybrid 5K/4K -- 5K horizontal and 4K vertical. Extended 4K or Truncated 5K. Take your pick! 

Good to see movement, finally, in the desktop display space. Started last year with the Dell 6K competitor and the Samsung 5K copycat. After years of 4K being mostly good enough.

Your tease about "8K monitors" expected at CES has me interested...

Respite 1 Year · 111 comments

2.5Gb ethernet is an unusual offering on a monitor.  Nice though!

22july2013 11 Years · 3736 comments

According to one review website, Dell hasn't said whether this device supports charging capabilities, nor whether the device supports KVM/USB upstream/downstream capabilities. These features are important to me.

tht 23 Years · 5654 comments

Interesting, basically a hybrid 5K/4K -- 5K horizontal and 4K vertical. Extended 4K or Truncated 5K. Take your pick! 

Good to see movement, finally, in the desktop display space. Started last year with the Dell 6K competitor and the Samsung 5K copycat. After years of 4K being mostly good enough.

Your tease about "8K monitors" expected at CES has me interested...

There's no movement here. If it is a Thunderbolt 4 monitor, it's bandwidth limited to 32 Gbit/s bandwidth, whatever combination of pixels and refresh rate gets you there. These new Dell 34 and 40 inch monitors are 136 PPI displays or so, using typical resolutions we've seen for a long time now.

Contrary to the article title, these Dell monitors are not aimed at the Studio Display. Time and again, Mac users want 220 to 250 PPI external displays to match their laptop displays, or the native pixel density that macOS is designed for. Since they are 136 PPI, it's the same story since Thunderbolt 3 came out, almost 8 years.

The 40" 5K2K isn't even that original. The LG 5K2K 34" has been around for what, 6 years?

cia 21 Years · 269 comments

Interesting, basically a hybrid 5K/4K -- 5K horizontal and 4K vertical. Extended 4K or Truncated 5K. Take your pick! 

5k2k monitors have been around for ages.