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Afraid of purchasing the new Dell S2725QC

Are you satisfied with your S2725QC?

  • Yes, and I would heartily recommend it to others.

    Votes: 4 100.0%

  • No, I think there are better alternatives, I will comment them.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • It gets the job done.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I'm not satisfied.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    4
ilovemym1mba

ilovemym1mba

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 2, 2022
53
23
So, Dell recently launched what appears to be a successor of for their previous quite popular(?) model S2722QC. It is called S2725QC, a 99% sRGB, 65W USB C, 4K@120Hz, 1500:1 static contrast ratio 4K monitor. Pretty good on paper if you ask me.

As someone with M1 Air, and after weeks and weeks of delibration and lots of reading I thought this would be a perfect monitor for me.

Well, except, the flickering. As of couple of days ago I have been exploring the rather painful world of M silicon and external monitors flickering issues. ( https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-pro-m1-external-screen-flickering.2325279/page-9 )

Dell one was particularly affected by it.

However, this 2025 version of that model, might have fixed it? I don't know. What are your thoughts about it?

Dell 27 Plus 4K USB-C Monitor - S2725QC | Dell India

Shop the Dell 27 inch 4K USB-C Monitor with AMD FreeSync Premium, 120Hz refresh rate, dual 5W speakers, and 4-star eye comfort.
www.dell.com

I did contaact Dell about this and what they told me is that "It is not a macos compatible monitor so even if you experience flickering, you won't be able to return it"
 
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I plan on getting a S2725qc within the first week of April. I’ve read DELL fixed it but I haven’t found anything that proves it. I’ve also read there has been a few improvements or “fixes” for the s2722qc. I’m assuming the 22 and 25 are relatively similar so I’ll try those methods in case it does end up flickering. The biggest one which seems to work for most people is “still color”. I own a m2 air, will try to see.

 
MBAM2 said:
I plan on getting a S2725qc within the first week of April. I’ve read DELL fixed it but I haven’t found anything that proves it. I’ve also read there has been a few improvements or “fixes” for the s2722qc. I’m assuming the 22 and 25 are relatively similar so I’ll try those methods in case it does end up flickering. The biggest one which seems to work for most people is “still color”. I own a m2 air, will try to see.

Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I tried my hardest to find where Dell said they've fixed it but couldn't find anything. Apparantly, someone from reddit was saying the same too. Can you please post a source or something?

Also this makes me wonder, is there any 4K monitor at all in 350USD range that works with M Series Macs?
 
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assoc said:
I’ll recommend the Viewsonic VX2776-4K-MHDU, my family has 3 of them and are quite happy with them.

​

Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation. On my country's Amazon, I can see VA2709U-4K. However there are little no reviews of it available so I don't know if it'll work or not. Worse, if it doesn't I'll have to deal with the Service Center rather than Amazon just accepting my return because that's how Amazon functions these days.
 
ilove...

There was a LONG thread in the forums about folks having trouble with Dell (and other) displays that started "flickering".

I don't think any "one size fits all" solution was ever found.

I'm going to GUESS that the flickering has something to do with a mis-match in the synch of refresh rates. Also seems to have something to do with the issue that the Mac is trying to feed a "yCbCr" (or something like that) color signal into the display rather than RGB.
Could also be a "combination" of the above 2 issues.

Sometimes changing the connection from HDMI to USBc corrects it. Sometimes not.
There are also ways to FORCE the Mac to deliver an RGB signal.

I'm using a Dell 27" 4k ultrasharp with an m4 Mini. Works fine.
 
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Fishrrman said:
ilove...

There was a LONG thread in the forums about folks having trouble with Dell (and other) displays that started "flickering".

I don't think any "one size fits all" solution was ever found.

I'm going to GUESS that the flickering has something to do with a mis-match in the synch of refresh rates. Also seems to have something to do with the issue that the Mac is trying to feed a "yCbCr" (or something like that) color signal into the display rather than RGB.
Could also be a "combination" of the above 2 issues.

Sometimes changing the connection from HDMI to USBc corrects it. Sometimes not.
There are also ways to FORCE the Mac to deliver an RGB signal.

I'm using a Dell 27" 4k ultrasharp with an m4 Mini. Works fine.
Click to expand...
Glad to know it works for you. I doubt M4 has any trouble anywhere.

Yes. I've read that thread, all 34 pages of it. And I know when there are 34 pages long threads it is not just a "vocal minority" but a real issue affecting real people.

From my understanding, there are couple of factors involved in the issue
1. Like you mentioned the non RGB output from mac
2. People using docks and adapters get different results
3. VRR troubles

I don't know whether it'll affect me or not. Normally, I would've just went ahead and ordered it but seeing how guarded everyone has recently become in India about returns, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with the faulty flickering monitor if they refuse.

I had tried LG 27UP850 earlier and found it very soothing and calming on my eyes. Despite text not looking as "sharp" and despite the quite visible backlight bleed on both lower corners. I had to return it because Amazon gave me an open box package with wrong serial number. Are these monitors at the end of their life though? Seems like such since they keep getting out of stock everywhere and LG's official website has also stopped selling them directly. The one I had received was made in Nov. 2024
 
I can’t really recall where I read it but I’ll try to find it. I also have mine coming in this week… hopefully it works
 
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MBAM2 said:
I can’t really recall where I read it but I’ll try to find it. I also have mine coming in this week… hopefully it works
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've also tried my hardest but wasn't able to find it. By the way mine is on the way too! ridiculous delivery time though, 4 more weeks. Looking forward to how it goes for you. Keep us updated!
 
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ilovemym1mba said:
Yeah, I've also tried my hardest but wasn't able to find it. By the way mine is on the way too! ridiculous delivery time though, 4 more weeks. Looking forward to how it goes for you. Keep us updated!
Click to expand...
Where is it being delivered that it's 4w out? I ordered Sunday with an ETA of tomorrow.
 
Ishimura said:
Can you offer a mini review, what do you think?
Click to expand...
I've been running it for a few hours on my 15" MBA M2 and must say it is a beautiful display. 120hz really is a gamechanger IMO as I am coming from a Dell P2715Q 4K 60hz. Window operations are silly smooth and the resolution of 2560x1440 that I use really does look crisp for text. I like the fact I can dump the dock by using the USB-C cable for power to the laptop, hook a USB-A wireless Logitech mouse to the monitor, and hook up the keyboard to the drop down USB-C/A forward facing ports. Not sure about that as I might plugin a hub on the back to support keyboard and mouse to USB-A for both. But overall I've been using it with a Dell laptop, MBA M2 and now a Mac Mini M4 for about 5 hours. I must say it gets a thumbs up from me for the price I paid. I am looking forward to years of use like the P2715Q has lasted me. FWIW, I haven't seen any flicker at all on my x2 Macs so don't know what all that is about. They're both doing 120hz superbly.

BTW, the built in speakers have very deep bass but the volume is set to 50% by default. Even at 2% from my Mac these are LOUD. 50% might deafen you so buyer beware.
 
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Corefile said:
I've been running it for a few hours on my 15" MBA M2 and must say it is a beautiful display. 120hz really is a gamechanger IMO as I am coming from a Dell P2715Q 4K 60hz. Window operations are silly smooth and the resolution of 2560x1440 that I use really does look crisp for text. I like the fact I can dump the dock by using the USB-C cable for power to the laptop, hook a USB-A wireless Logitech mouse to the monitor, and hook up the keyboard to the drop down USB-C/A forward facing ports. Not sure about that as I might plugin a hub on the back to support keyboard and mouse to USB-A for both. But overall I've been using it with a Dell laptop, MBA M2 and now a Mac Mini M4 for about 5 hours. I must say it gets a thumbs up from me for the price I paid. I am looking forward to years of use like the P2715Q has lasted me. FWIW, I haven't seen any flicker at all on my x2 Macs so don't know what all that is about. They're both doing 120hz superbly.

BTW, the built in speakers have very deep bass but the volume is set to 50% by default. Even at 2% from my Mac these are LOUD. 50% might deafen you so buyer beware.
Click to expand...

Thanks. How’s the image quality? How about IPS glow, backlight bleed and stuff like that?

Is it bright? Does the screen handle bright light or daylight well, how’s the reflection handling?

Searching for a good 4K/120hz monitor for a M4 Mac Mini has been driving me up the wall.
 
Corefile said:
I've been running it for a few hours on my 15" MBA M2 and must say it is a beautiful display. 120hz really is a gamechanger IMO as I am coming from a Dell P2715Q 4K 60hz. Window operations are silly smooth and the resolution of 2560x1440 that I use really does look crisp for text. I like the fact I can dump the dock by using the USB-C cable for power to the laptop, hook a USB-A wireless Logitech mouse to the monitor, and hook up the keyboard to the drop down USB-C/A forward facing ports. Not sure about that as I might plugin a hub on the back to support keyboard and mouse to USB-A for both. But overall I've been using it with a Dell laptop, MBA M2 and now a Mac Mini M4 for about 5 hours. I must say it gets a thumbs up from me for the price I paid. I am looking forward to years of use like the P2715Q has lasted me. FWIW, I haven't seen any flicker at all on my x2 Macs so don't know what all that is about. They're both doing 120hz superbly.

BTW, the built in speakers have very deep bass but the volume is set to 50% by default. Even at 2% from my Mac these are LOUD. 50% might deafen you so buyer beware.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! and double thanks for writing what might be the first ever genuine authentic review of this product on the whole wide world web.

The flicker on the older S2722QC model happened whenever there were "shades of grey" (I know) on the display, I am not aware of any standard test but users usually reported them on some YouTube videos, macOS Dark Mode and such.

Oh and also, how are you using it with 120hz on macOS? Cable setup please?
 
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Ishimura said:
Thanks. How’s the image quality? How about IPS glow, backlight bleed and stuff like that?

Is it bright? Does the screen handle bright light or daylight well, how’s the reflection handling?

Searching for a good 4K/120hz monitor for a M4 Mac Mini has been driving me up the wall.
Click to expand...
I was in a similar boat and I was leaning heavily towards LG 27UP850N-W before I came across this monitor and 4k@120hz sealed the deal for me. I've heard LG monitor works pretty well with M Macs and has no such flickering issues that many users of S2722QC faced.
 
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Corefile said:
120hz really is a gamechanger IMO as I am coming from a Dell P2715Q 4K 60hz. Window operations are silly smooth and the resolution of 2560x1440 that I use really does look crisp for text.
Click to expand...
Nice to hear a first hand account. This issue, whether 120 vs. 60-Hz makes a both noticeable and substantial/pleasing difference to a given user, is one of the things I wish more retail locations like Best Buy offered opportunities to examine for yourself in person.

I'm building a list of such things, where user reports vary widely and it's just not possible to 'know' the answer for yourself because evidently it's so subjective. My list:

1.) 60 vs. 120-Hz refresh rates.

2.) 4K vs. 5K 27" displays on a Mac (and make sure we get to compare how small fonts look).

3.) Various keyboards, particularly mechanical keyboards with various switches - for example, with a Nuphy Air 75 v. 2 (what our kid has), it'd be nice to directly experience and compare Gateron 'clicky,' tactile (what she has on her's) and linear, Cowberry and other switches. For that matter, even with membrane keyboards, right now I'm comparing my old Magic Keyboard Mini with a Logitech MX Mini keyboard I got on 'open box' sale from Woot! Definitely a different feel, both the typing and the keyboards themselves. A for mechanical wise, to compare a Lowfree Flow and Nuphy like my kid's.

There are things one can't learn by reading and YouTube videos.
 
OP, I’m from India too and I also purchased the same. Eagerly waiting for it to arrive. Longest 4 weeks for sure.
 
Ishimura said:
Thanks. How’s the image quality? How about IPS glow, backlight bleed and stuff like that?

Is it bright? Does the screen handle bright light or daylight well, how’s the reflection handling?

Searching for a good 4K/120hz monitor for a M4 Mac Mini has been driving me up the wall.
Click to expand...
Is it very bright for my eyes. My use case is to not have the sun shining on the monitor display so can't say how that will impact you. I can only really say it looks good to my eyes but I'm sure there are imperfections at this price point. I don't know anything about "IPS glow" or "backlight bleed" as I don't have tools or techniques to look for them. Not that I'm really that concerned/interested as I am keeping the monitor. So I don't know if that helps :)
 
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ilovemym1mba said:
The flicker on the older S2722QC model happened whenever there were "shades of grey" (I know) on the display, I am not aware of any standard test but users usually reported them on some YouTube videos, macOS Dark Mode and such.

Oh and also, how are you using it with 120hz on macOS? Cable setup please?
Click to expand...
I don't use dark mode myself as it doesn't suit my eyes. I'm using the supplied USB-C cable in monitor box to directly connect to the 65W USB-C port on the monitor. One cable for everything!
 
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Corefile said:
Is it very bright for my eyes. My use case is to not have the sun shining on the monitor display so can't say how that will impact you. I can only really say it looks good to my eyes but I'm sure there are imperfections at this price point. I don't know anything about "IPS glow" or "backlight bleed" as I don't have tools or techniques to look for them. Not that I'm really that concerned/interested as I am keeping the monitor. So I don't know if that helps :)
Click to expand...
Is it "very bright" in a bad way? I had a monitor like that whose brightness was bluish and it just straight up hurt my eyes. Even on its lowest brightness and contrast settings, Night Light and other yellowing solutions would work but it was too bright still then, it was a FHD IPS monitor. This was some 10 years ago I'm sure displayed would've improved since then.

IPS Glow is noticeable when the image is dark/black, monitor's area around corners appear more "glowy" than the rest of it. It is not just contained to that dark image though, that light is still there ever present, and may distort colours slightly. It is just more noticeable when everything is black and your room is dark.

Backlight bleed is said to have similar effect but along the edges of the display. Mostly though people use these terms interchangeably.
 
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