PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

AcerB 8 B 248 Y

DellUltraSharp 25 USB-C

There’smuchtolike

aboutthisversatile

businessmonitor

It’sexpensive,butthis

compact25inmonitoris

packedwithpixelsandclass

PRICE£218(£261incVAT)

fromtechinn.com

PRICE£288(£346incVAT)fromdell.co.uk

supportforWindowsHellotoo,and

witha 1080presolution it ticksthe

sameboxesasmanystandalone

webcams.Sadly,itcan’tmatchthe

goodonesforquality,withwashed-

outcoloursandtoomuchnoise,but

let’snotbetoocritical– it’slikelyto

beanimprovementoveryourlaptop’s

webcam. We onlywishwecouldsay

thesameaboutthetinnyspeakers.

Norisittheverybestforpanel

quality,gainingmid-table

respectability instead.Itsbiggest

DCI-P3gamutcompared to 95%of

sRGB,whichareamong thebest

figureshere.Astrongcontrastratioof

around1,140:1addstothepanel’s

punch,andthere’sDisplayHDR 400

certificationforgoodmeasure.

Although,inday-to-dayscenarios,

you’remorelikelytoappreciatethe

peakbrightnessof366cd/m^2.

Themonitor hasnumerous

attractivefeatures,includinga USB-C

connectionthatdelivers up to 90Wof

power– morethanenoughformost

laptops– andtheabilitytodaisychain

a secondmonitorviaa DisplayPort

rengthisuniformity,generally

ttingbetween 5 % and10%atthe

es,anditcovereda highly

spectable90%of thesRGBcolour

ceoutofa 91%volume. Itcame

closeto thetarget 6 500Kcolour

mperaturetoo, with6581Kinour

sts.Butit isn’tthebestforcolour

uracy,withanaverageof1.46

sguisingitsmaximumof 10 .99(for

blues).Don’texpecta wide

ofcoloursoutsideofsRGB

ther,withitsMovie mode covering

oftheDCI-P3space.

TheB248Y’sdesign is business-like

r than glamorous,withslim

s aroundthetop,leftandright,

thestand’sbaseisgreedyfora

screen:itmeasuresexactlyone

otwideand,stickingtoimperial,

around10indeep.It’ssolidand

flexible,though,witha fine 90°

swivel,allthetiltyoucouldwishfor

andsupportforpivoting.

Welikethismonitor andsuspect

thatbusinessescouldbulkorderitfor

substantiallylessthanthe£218exc

VATpriceiftheynegotiate.The price

isa blockerrightnow, however,as

27in 1440 p screenssuchastheIiyama

XUB2792QSN-B1aretempting,evenif

theylackfrillssuchas thewebcam

andRJ- 45 connectivity.

out.Withitsskinnybezels,anda dual

monitorstandsuch as theIiyama

DS1002C(seep 97 ) or Dell’smore

expensiveMDA20for£311, thiswould

makea fantasticdual-monitorsetup.

DellalsoprovidesDisplayPortand

HDMIinputs,buttheonlywaytotake

advantage of thethreeUSB-Aportsis

toconnectoverUSB-Cas there’sno

USB-Bconnector.Twoofthose USB-A

portssitattherear, butone

conveniently liesontheleftalong

witha handyUSB-Cport.

WhereDellfallsbehindsome

rivalsisits datedapproachto the

OSD,whichreliesonfourawkward

andsmallbuttonsontheundersideof

thebottombezel.Norisittheeasiest

tonavigate.Thebaseandstandare

moreuptodate,consumingminimal

deskspace andofferingallthe

flexibilitymostpeopleneed.Fromits

supportforpivot modetothe90°of

swivel,Dell’sengineeringis top-notch,

withsmooth movementthroughout.

Butwhatreallyliftsthis panel

abovemostof its 24inoppositionis

notonlyitsextra inch of diagonalbut

alsoitshigherresolution. A jumpto

2,560x 1,440from 1,980x 1,080fully

justifiesDell’s UltraSharpmoniker,

whichlendsthis panelextraclassand

helpsto justify itshighprice.

A

cermay notbethefirstbrand

youthinkofwhenitcomesto

businessmonitors,butthis

compactofferingcanmatchthelikes

ofDell, HP andNEC punch forpunch.

Fora start,consider itsconnectivity.

Mostdocking monitorsarecontentto

supplya USB-Cconnector,butAcer

backs that up withanRJ-45Ethernet

port.Youcandaisychainasecond

monitorviatheDisplayPortoutport,

whiletherearefourUSB-A 3 ports

(twohandilylocatedontheleft).

Acerfollows thecurrenttrendof

integratinga webcam,whichsitsat

thetop.It’sfixedinplace,buta

rotating designmeansyoucanpoint

ittowardsyouorevenhideitaway

completelyforprivacy.There’s

T

heDellUltraSharp 25 makesa

superbfirstimpression.With

slimbezelsoneverysideanda

smartblack-and-greycolourscheme,

it’sa fine choicefora frontdesk.

Itcontinuesthatimpressionwhen

youswitchiton,withcleanwhites

thankstoitsfinelytunedelectronics.

Unusually fora businessmonitor,

eachunitcomeswithitsowncolour

calibrationfactoryreportthatdetails

itsDeltaE across 3 2 tests.Oursample

showed a figureof less than onein

eachtest,andwe sawalmostidentical

results in ourowntests:anaverageof

0.51andmaximum of1.19issuperb.

BothDell’s test andourswerein

thesRGBcolourspace,butswitching

toDCI-P3producedequallyaccurate

ABOVETheB248Y’s

designisbusiness-like

ratherthanglamorous

ABOVE

makethisidealfora

dualmonitorsetup

SCORE

SCORE

USB-Aports,orUSBType-A,arewhatmostpeoplethinkofwhentalkingaboutUSBports.USB-Bisanupstreamport,forconnectingyourcomputertothe

monitorsoyoucanaccesstheUSB-Aports.USB-CisthesmallestUSBportandisoftenusedforhigh-speeddatatransfersandpowerdelivery.

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2
4

• 2
  5
  IN

M
O
N
IT
O
R
S
1 , 920 x
1 , 080
23. 8 in^90 %
sRGB

73 %

DCI-P 3

2 , 560 x

1 , 440 25 in

95 %

sRGB

89 %

DCI-P 3

JARGONBUSTER