Dell P2719HC review: Attractive but inaccurate

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If your working life is anything like ours, you probably spend about 90% of it staring at a monitor (not to mention a fair amount of your off hours, too), so it’s important to pick a monitor that’s going to be not just functional, but pleasant to look at too.

This is the niche Dell is hoping to fill with the P2719HC, a 27in 1080p monitor that aims to deliver business-focused features wrapped up in a polished and sleek chassis.

Dell P2719HC review: Design

The P2719HC isn’t likely to stand out in a crowd; there’s no flashy accents or eye-catching design flourishes. Instead, all you get is a utilitarian black plastic frame, but for all its sparse design, it’s elegant in its simplicity. This is helped by the thin 5mm bezels surrounding the screen, and the fact that the frame itself is also comparatively slim.

We tested the screen as part of a bundle with Dell’s OptiPlex 7070 Ultra, but the default stand that the P2719HC ships with is similarly minimalist. It offers a clean, squared-off look finished with a gunmetal effect not unlike that used on Dell’s XPS laptops. Adjustability is also a strong suit, including 130mm of height adjustment, 90 degrees of swivel, 180-degree rotation and tilt angles of -5 to 21 degrees.

The plastic frame doesn’t feel quite as high-quality as the likes of the Iiyama ProLite XUB2792QSU-B1, but it’s the epitome of understated business aesthetics. It also supports VESA mounting, in addition to Dell’s proprietary quick-release system.

Dell P2719HC review: Image quality

All of this is merely trappings, however; what really counts is how well the actual panel performs. Sadly, the screen was somewhat disappointing in this regard. While the 1080p resolution is crisp enough for general purpose business tasks and the IPS panel means that viewing angles and black levels are perfectly strong, it was let down somewhat by an 85% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut, which is less than would be ideal and makes it ill-suited to any colour-sensitive design work.

This is further compounded by the average Delta E rating of 2.95, which demonstrates a relative lack of colour accuracy. Yellows and oranges in particular were somewhat oversaturated, while greens and reds tended to be undersaturated. None of this is enough to be problematic in day-to-day use, but it’s disappointing considering the price. In fact, cheaper rivals outclass the Dell here, such as the Philips 243B9, with a 94% sRGB coverage and a Delta E of 1.34.

Happily, it’s a slightly better showing for brightness, with a measured maximum rating of 286cd/m2. That’s lower than the 300cd/m2 quoted by Dell, but it’s perfectly sufficient for use in any workplace or home office environment, particularly when paired with a capable contrast ratio of 1062:1. Panel uniformity is also strong, with the highest variance being less than 10%. Finally, it features a 60Hz refresh rate to keep everything looking buttery-smooth.

Dell P2719HC review: Ports and features

This is a business monitor at heart, so it’s fitting that there’s a robust selection of ports to choose from. A USB-C port takes centre stage, with data connection capacity and 65W of power throughput for charging any connected devices. There’s also one HDMI and DisplayPort input apiece, as well as a DisplayPort 1.2 output for daisy-chaining a second 1080p monitor.

Elsewhere, there’s a pair of USB 3.0 ports at the side of the device, and a pair of USB 2.0 ports at the rear, but since there’s no USB Type-B connectivity, these will only be usable if you’re connected to your PC via USB-C. It’s also lacking any speakers or headphone jack, although the screen does have a matte coating to minimise glare and screen reflections.

If you feel like tweaking the colour profile, the straightforward and easy-to-use OSD - which is navigated with a set of physical buttons below the screen - contains a number of preset options, including modes for reducing the amount of blue light the screen gives off.

Dell P2719HC review: Verdict

It’s hard to deny that this monitor looks the part of an elegantly functional business display, but sadly Dell’s P2719HC can’t back this up with its performance or features. Its colour accuracy leaves a lot to be desired from a business-focused screen, and while it boasts a capable enough selection of ports, it’s a little lacking in added extras.

Most damningly, it’s competing against rivals like the Iiyama ProLite XUB2792QSU-B1 and Philips 243B9, both of which offer higher quality for a lower price. If all you want is a good-looking business monitor with USB-C support for less than £250, you could certainly do worse - but shop around and you’re likely to find a higher-quality option.

Dell P2719HC specifications