Dell UltraSharp U2723QE Review: One Cable, No Compromises

Quick verdict: the U2723QE is the practical answer if you want a single cable from laptop to monitor carrying video, power and peripherals. It is a 60Hz productivity panel with excellent contrast for its type, and it is the wrong monitor if you game.

What it solves: a desk with too many cables, and a laptop that needs charging from a monitor that also has to look good in a dim room.

How we reviewed this

Documentation-based review from Dell’s published specifications. We have not measured the panel with a colorimeter, and we publish no star rating. Where we describe contrast or colour behaviour we are describing the panel technology’s documented characteristics and Dell’s stated coverage figures.

What is documented

Where it is genuinely excellent

One cable genuinely replaces four. Video, laptop charging at up to 90W, USB peripherals and Ethernet where supported all travel over the single USB-C connection. Arriving at a desk and plugging in one cable rather than four is a small daily convenience that compounds.

IPS Black contrast is the right call for an office. The 2000:1 figure is roughly double a standard IPS panel, which shows up as less washed-out dark content in a dim room. It is not OLED contrast, and Dell does not claim it is, but it is a meaningful improvement over the panel type it replaces.

Colour coverage is enough for real work. At 98% DCI-P3 this is a monitor you can edit photographs on without second-guessing the display. That is unusual in a monitor bought mainly for office work, and it means the one screen serves both jobs.

The stand does everything. Height, tilt, swivel and pivot adjustment without an add-on arm. Reviews rarely emphasise this, but a monitor you cannot raise to eye level is a monitor you will spend three years looking down at.

The KVM switch is the hidden feature. Sharing one keyboard and mouse between two connected machines — a work laptop and a personal one, typically — removes a genuinely irritating daily task. It is the sort of feature the specification sheet does not lead with and that owners use constantly.

Where it makes real compromises

90W is not enough for a large laptop under load. A thin ultrabook charges fine. A 16-inch workstation with a dedicated GPU can draw more than 90W, so its battery will still drain slowly during heavy sustained work. Check your laptop’s supplied power adapter rating before assuming otherwise.

60Hz is a limitation if you game. For documents, code, spreadsheets and video calls it is entirely sufficient. For anything motion-dependent, buy a different monitor — this is a productivity panel with a productivity panel’s refresh rate.

A 27-inch 4K panel requires scaling. Running it at native resolution with no scaling makes text small for most people. At the scaling most users choose, you get something closer to 1440p of usable workspace, which is comfortable but worth understanding before buying.

The USB-C cable in the box matters. Confirm the bundled cable supports the full resolution and power delivery. A lesser cable caps the monitor at exactly the moment you set it up.

Who should buy it

• Home-office workers with a thin laptop, who want one cable and a clean desk
• Photographers and video editors, who need colour coverage without a second monitor
• People running two computers at one desk, who will use the KVM switch
• Anyone in a dim room, where the higher contrast is a genuine improvement

Who should skip it

• Gamers, for whom 60Hz is a hard limitation
• Users of 16-inch workstations under sustained heavy load, who need more than 90W
• Buyers on a tight budget, who can drop USB-C and keep most of the panel quality for less

Alternatives worth considering

• A cheaper 4K IPS panel plus a separate dock — similar function, less convenient, less money
• A 1440p high-refresh monitor — better for gaming and motion, less sharp for text
• An ultrawide — more horizontal workspace, and it needs a desk wide enough to sit back from

Monitors & Displays

Dell UltraSharp U2723QE

One cable, full ergonomic adjustment, accurate colour and better-than-typical contrast. Sixty hertz, and honest about it.

The bottom line

The U2723QE is a well-designed productivity monitor whose value is concentrated in things the specification sheet does not lead with: the single-cable setup, the KVM switch, the stand, and the contrast improvement that only shows up in a dim room. Its 60Hz refresh rate and 90W power delivery are the two specifications to accept or reject before buying.

For an office desk with a thin laptop, it is difficult to argue with. For a gaming setup, it is simply the wrong product.