you get what you pay for… | Dell 32 Plus Monitor (S3225QS) | 4K 120Hz | VA Panel transcript

My last video, I bought a $1,000 monitor and compared it to a $300 monitor, but I never actually bought a $300 monitor. Today's video, I bought said $300 monitor. As quickly as I bought it, I returned it. Some of the things wrong were dead pixels, strong, foul, chemical odors that my pregnant wife wouldn't appreciate, and a disorienting brightness shift due to its size and being a VA panel. We don't have an in-depth review or a colorimeter or a brightness calibrator device.

What we do have is one man with a microphone who's been doing desk setups for a while telling you about why he really dislikes this new Dell screen. He's not just talking about spec numbers or stats that you can look up on a website or in another YouTube video. He's talking about tangible, digestible, realworld things about the display, including quality control, eye sensitivity, brightness shifting, text clarity, and his thoughts on how this would be for long-term use.

In the last video, I talked about the high barrier of entry on the $1,000 screen. To its credit, this Dell 32-in 4K VA panel doesn't have that problem and is a more affordable option at $350. I combined it with an Amex offer of 13% back at Dell, so ended up paying around $300 for this display. Having 4K at 120 Hz is great. The contrast and black levels are fantastic. My first honest thought about the screen had me questioning spending a grand on an expensive IPS black screen when this one had black levels this good.

The stand is not as premium as the other screen, but still is nice. Has nice adjustability, height, and rotation. To be thorough, the stand did not go as high as the premium screen. This screen has ports on the back for HDMI, two of them, and a display port. No USB hubs or Thunderbolt. It has speakers. I did not test them since I won't use them. The packaging is where the cons began. As soon as I opened the box, I was greeted with a strong foul chemical odor seemingly emanating from the white soft foam wrap the monitor comes wrapped in.

I had to ask my wife to move to the other side of the house because she's 4 months pregnant and it was so bad that I didn't want my wife and baby breathing chemical odors from China. I immediately brought the box and packaging outside and for the sake of the video left the monitor which didn't smell as bad in the office. Before switching topics, while on the topic of smell, I eventually ended up still smelling it slowly seeping out of the monitor while using it.

And that was one of the reasons I returned this almost immediately. My lungs felt funny all of that evening. That's the topic of smell. When I plugged it in, I immediately noticed a few dark spots in the top left corner, which I later figured out are dead pixels. Okay, this needs better QA. When sitting in front of the screen, because it's 32 in in size and the panel is a VA panel or a panel that displays things differently than the premium screen, there's a noticeable brightness shift, like a vertical haloing when you shift your body left and right when looking at the screen.

I did my best to capture it on video, but I don't think my iPhone filmed it well. It was a haloing effect, so tilted left and looking at the right, the left looked brighter and shifting right made the left look brighter. Also, the panel didn't feel as good on my eyes. I don't know if this uses pulsewidth modulation, which is quickly flickering to actually simulate the brightness, but I thought I detected a hint of flickering when staring closely at the screen.

The premium display doesn't flicker at all to display its image. Even though the panels were both 4K, this one looked noticeably worse, even when running at the same resolution as the premium screen. The premium screen had no problem running at 3K or 3008x692, but this screen looked hazy and blurry with the same setting. I don't know what sorcery Dell does to achieve this. I just know my eyes can tell a difference. Overall, this is a short video because I filmed it for such a short while due to the smell.

If you have an office full of workers you absolutely hate and want to give them all kinds of headaches and cancer in 10 years and eye problems, then this screen is perfect for you. Otherwise, due to the smell, dead pixels, brightness shifts, I cannot recommend this monitor for anyone looking to purchase a screen for long-term eye care or long-term health. Buy something better with better quality control for your eyes and for your health.

From now on, I'm going to save up and not skimp on tools that I need to use every day and whose cost savings would be ruined by the eyeglasses I would need to use from using cheaper panels eventually. Anyway, thanks for watching. [Music]