Review: Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor (S3425DW) — a jack of all trades monitor

I spend a lot of time in front of my monitor and thus I am always on the lookout for a better monitor.  My current monitor is a 38-inch Alienware monitor because I have not found one better that fits into my price range.

As such, whenever I get offered a monitor to review, time permitting, I jump at the chance.  Dell sent me their affordable Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor – S3425DW to check out, and at RRP $649, it is one of the more affordable USB-C monitors of this size on the market.

Specs and pricing

The Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor offers a decent 1440P (QHD) resolution on an IPS LCD panel.  The curved 34-inch monitor features a 300 cd/m² brightness, a 1ms GTG response time, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a native contrast ratio of 3,000:1. The curvature is not the most immersive display I have used, but it still curves nicely to allow for a more focused experience.

	Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor – S3425DW
Dimensions	With Stand: 807.32mm x 116.89mm x 517.18mm Without Stand:  807.32mm x 116.89mm x 355.77mm
Resolution	3440 x 1440
Curvature	1800R
Refresh rate	120Hz
Contrast Ratio	3,000:1
Stand Adjustments	Height, Slant, Tilt
Speakers	2 x 5W

As you can see, the specs on the S3425DW USB-C monitor are good, but they are not great.  They are not gaming quality specs, nor are they high-end creative monitor specs but they are specs that are ideal for a general office/home monitor.

The  Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor – S3425DW is priced at just $649 which is a crazy price for something that is a large, curved, ultrawide monitor that supports USB-C DisplayPort. For me the S3425DW offers great value for money.

Design and setup

Setting up the monitor is super simple, as most monitors are these days.  The stand locks directly into the back of the monitor with a simple click.  The stand is solid and relatively compact but I do have a gripe with it – it’s too short.

I often use my laptop or a portable monitor underneath my main monitor but the stand on the S3425DW USB-C monitor does not go high enough to allow this to be done.  Not only did I have to put the stand onto of a block to make the monitor higher but using the monitor by itself without another monitor was not ergonomically sound.

When the stand sits on the desk and my chair is at a comfortable height based on the height of the desk/table, the stand/monitor sits far too low for it to be ergonomically ideal.  The solution here is to sit the stand on something to ‘prop’ it up or to mount the monitor so you can then make it whatever height you prefer.

The stand tilts but does not swivel meaning it is only good if you are sitting directly infront of it – you can’t turn it to show someone else the screen but personally this is not something I do a lot so it’s not an issue for me.

The ports are located in three different places – yep three.  There is a HDMI port and a USB-C port underneath the rear section of the monitor and a HDMI and USB-A port on the side of the rear of that section.  

The final two ports are located in a popout attachment underneath the display on the left side.  Push the segment and a section pops out that houses a USB-C port and a USB-A port.  This USB-C port supports Power Delivery up to 15W.

For the most part I used an LG laptop as the source for the Dell monitor, connecting it through the USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port on the laptop to the USB-C port on the rear section underneath.  This port supports DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 65W, so I was able to simultaneously extend the display of the laptop to the Dell monitor, and power/charge the laptop at the same time.

Connectivity

• 2 HDMI ports (HDCP 1.4 and 2.2) (Supports up to WQHD 3440 x1440, 120 Hz, 10 bit, FRL, HDR, VRR as per specified in HDMI 2.1)
• 1 USB-C 5Gbps upstream port (DisplayPort 1.4 Alternate Mode, Power Delivery up to 65 W) (Supports up to 3440 x1440, 120 Hz, HDR, AdaptiveSync)
• 1 USB 5Gbps Type-A downstream port
• 1 USB 5Gbps Type-A downstream port with Battery Charging 1.2
• 1 USB-C 5Gbps downstream port (Power Delivery up to 15 W)

Image quality

After running the Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor through various tests it was surprisingly good in some areas but not as much in others.  

The areas where the 34 Plus USB-C Monitor aced the tests were in colour accuracy, brightness, and colour uniformity.  It struggled with Colour Gamut, which was surprising considering how well it performed in the other tests.

As a general rule though, this colour gamut issue was not something that stood out while using the monitor.  Just by itself, to the eye, it looks excellent and is certainly something you could get away with using as a workhorse of a monitor – a jack of all trades.

Final thoughts

The Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor – S3425DW is a jack of all trades, and unfortunately, master of none. It is passable for novice, basic gaming, decent enough for creative image and video editing, but excellent for productivity work which is as basic use as you can get. In saying that, it is a great all around workhorse.

I would definitely recommend you mount this monitor if you purchase it as the stand, while decent, does not go anywhere high enough for decent ergonomic posture. I’m not sure why Dell has done this but they have.

I do recommend the monitor though, if you lift the monitor up higher either by mounting it or putting it on a block as I did, then the monitor is great if you want a general workhorse monitor that you can use for pretty much anything and it will perform passably at all tasks. At just $649 it is good value and should defnitely be a monitor you look at before purchasing a new productivity monitor for home or work (or both).