Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ review: a monitor for the executive in your life

The Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ wants nothing to do with the cheap or frivolous. It's for serious people having serious meetings with other serious people while working on some serious multitasking projects, and all these people presumably have serious paychecks too, because to make the U3223QZ yours, you'll have to fork out a cool £1,000, at least. 

Yes, it's already one of the best Dell monitors, and for good reason as it's big, sharp and packed with features like a full HD webcam, a 4K IPS panel, a KVM switch (so you can easily switch between two computers plugged into the monitor), multitasking features like split-screen and dedicated video-conferencing buttons. But how does it fare when used in a real-life setting? Will it prove its worth over other, cheaper monitors? To find out, I got to use one for over a month, trying it out for both work and play. 

Design

Like most premium Dell products, the Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ carries an air of distinction right out of the box. It's heavier than most monitors I've used over the last few months, a lot heavier, in fact, at almost 12kg when fully assembled. 

Thankfully the base is both stable and sturdy, and clicks onto the back of the monitor with ease. Once set up, you can adjust the height, swivel and tilt of the monitor, with the 150mm heigh adjustment especially generous. 

The monitor looks premium too, with a soft-touch cloth covering the thick top bezel, which has a full-size Dell HD webcam built into it (we reviewed a near-identical standalone model of this Dell Webcam recently). It lends the whole construction a can't-be-ignored look, a monitor made to stand out rather than simply fold into the environment. The bezels are chunky, the corner are sharp and the top decoration adds height on top of an already-largeish screen.

It's certainly a look that will divide opinion, and one that will suit a corporate setting more than a small domestic home office for sure, but I kinda like the audacity of the design. Although, I do wonder what will happen if the cloth snags or tears...

Features

The Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ is purpose-built for video-conferencing and productivity, with dedicated buttons in the bottom-left corner for launching Microsoft Teams, starting and ending calls and turning the camera and mic on and off. The buttons are not programmable, so if you're not a Teams user, that one will be pretty much redundant to you. 

The screen itself is an IPS Black panel, with HDR400 technology, which is a nice feature, but won't compete too hard with much stronger HDR panels, many of which are much cheaper too. 

There's a healthy number of ports on the back, for excellent connectivity, including a fast-charging port (to charge your laptop or phone, for example), several USB 3.2 ports and both HDMI and DP slots as well. There's also a Kensington lock for security, a KVM switch and a privacy shutter on the webcam. 

Speaking of the webcam, that's one of the headline features here. It's an HD webcam, and the image produced is both sharp and bright. I can also tilt the webcam, which is convenient as the screen is so tall.

Performance

With 1.07 billion colours and 100% Rec 709, 100% sRGB, and 98% DCI-P3, the Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ has all the ingredients of a good photo- and image-processing screen, and it certainly is, with great detail to Photoshop and other image-processing I worked on during my time with it.

However, with only 60Hz framerate and HDR maxing out at 400 nits, it's not the greatest screen for video work or game development, for example, as you can get screens that do that much better, and the aforementioned image processing equally well, for a fraction of the price this monitor commands. 

Video-conferencing is the real strength here, with the 3840x2160 resolution big enough to fit lots of floating heads on your screen as well as multitask and present while keeping everything visible at all times. The webcam performs really well, with facial tracking so the ultrawide lens follows you around obediently and without fuss. It's also Windows Hello-enabled, so unlocking your computer happens automatically when you sit down in front of it. 

But again, this can all be done on screens much cheaper, and just as big, as the U3223QZ. So why get this one? The answer is simple, and perhaps disappointing to some: to look good while doing it. It's an imposing screen, a brand flagship as much as a productivity champion, made to look good and impress the mortals as it sits on an executive's large desk. 

Price

The Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ retails at £1,202 / $1,599 at the time of writing, but discounts are often available on Dell's site (and other retailers that stock the screen), so by shopping around, you can save up to £200 / $400 on the RRP. That said, it's still going to be an expensive monitor, and one that I suspect will mostly be sold to companies for managers and executives.

Should I buy the Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ?

If you're my boss's boss, then yeah, you should consider the Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ. It's a good productivity and multitasking monitor, with a sharp IPS panel (albeit an underwhelming HDR) and a webcam that will help you look good during video calls. A dedicated button row underlines the monitor's video-conferencing focus, and the premium design touches and exorbitant price tag underline its appeal to high-level corporate users above anyone else. For others, such as designer, photographers and filmmakers, there are cheaper options aplenty out there that will meet your needs just as well or better than this unit.