The Dell S2722DGM is a good 27 inch, 1440p monitor with a VA panel. It's a good monitor with very good contrast, excellent gray uniformity, and a superb SDR color gamut. It has just decent reflection handling but great peak brightness, so glare shouldn't be an issue for most users. It's one of the best monitors for gaming with a VA panel that we've tested so far, with fantastic low input lag, an excellent response time at the max refresh rate, and support for AMD's FreeSync Premium variable refresh rate technology. The VA panel has some downsides, though, as there's noticeable black smearing in dark scenes, and the image degrades when viewed at an angle. Overall, though, it's a good monitor that should please most people.
Our Verdict
The Dell S2722DGM is a decent monitor overall. The 27 inch, 1440p screen has a great amount of screen real estate for office use or media creation. It's great for gaming, with a fast response time, low input lag, and a handful of extra gaming features, including FreeSync variable refresh rate technology. It's decent for watching videos or media creation, but a bit limited, as the image degrades at an angle. Unfortunately, it doesn't support HDR.
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Deep blacks.
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Great peak brightness.
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Fantastic low input lag.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Doesn't support HDR.
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Stand can't swivel or rotate to a portrait orientation.
The Dell S2722DGM is a good office monitor. The 27 inch, 1440p screen delivers a great amount of screen real estate, and it has good text clarity. It also has excellent gray uniformity, good gradient handling, and a superb SDR color gamut, great if your work requires accurate colors. It has just decent reflection handling but great peak brightness, so glare shouldn't be an issue for most people. The stand has limited ergonomics, though, as it can't swivel or rotate to portrait orientation, and the image degrades when viewed at an angle.
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Excellent gray uniformity.
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Great peak brightness.
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Superb SDR color gamut.
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Fantastic low input lag.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Stand can't swivel or rotate to a portrait orientation.
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Mediocre black uniformity.
The Dell S2722DGM is a good gaming monitor. It has an okay response time at the max refresh rate, fantastic low input lag, and supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) technology for a nearly tear-free gaming experience. There's an optional black frame insertion feature that can clear up motion blur, but you can't use it at the same time as VRR. Unfortunately, like most monitors with VA panels, there's noticeable motion smearing in dark scenes.
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Okay response time at the max refresh rate.
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Fantastic low input lag.
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Fast refresh rate.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Mediocre black uniformity.
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Black smearing in dark scenes.
The Dell S2722DGM is a decent monitor for watching videos. The 27 inch, 1440p screen delivers a sharp image when watching videos. It has fantastic input lag, excellent gray uniformity, and very good contrast. It only has decent reflection handling but great peak brightness, so glare shouldn't be an issue for most people. Unfortunately, the image degrades at an angle, so it's not a good choice for sharing the screen with someone else, and the stand can't swivel, so you can't really turn it to show them, either.
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Excellent gray uniformity.
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Deep blacks.
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Fantastic low input lag.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Doesn't support HDR.
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Mediocre black uniformity.
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Black smearing in dark scenes.
The Dell S2722DGM is a decent monitor for media creation. The 27 inch, 1440p screen delivers great screen real estate, meaning you can see more of your project at once, and it has good text clarity. It has a superb SDR color gamut, but coverage of the Adobe RGB color space might be too low for professional use. It has excellent gray uniformity, good gradient handling, and very good contrast. Unfortunately, the image degrades at an angle, and the stand can't swivel or rotate to portrait orientation.
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Excellent gray uniformity.
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Deep blacks.
-
Great peak brightness.
-
Superb SDR color gamut.
-
Image degrades at an angle.
-
Stand can't swivel or rotate to a portrait orientation.
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Mediocre black uniformity.
The Dell S2722DGM doesn't support HDR.
- 7.0 Mixed Usage
- 7.5 Office
- 7.6 Gaming
- 7.0 Media Consumption
- 7.1 Media Creation
- 3.4 HDR
- Updated Nov 30, 2023: Added that the Gigabyte GS27QC has a faster Response Time at its max refresh rate.
- Updated Oct 28, 2022: Added text to the macOS and Response Time boxes as part of Test Bench 1.2, and updated the text for accuracy throughout.
- Updated Oct 27, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.2, resulting in changes to the results and scores with the Response Time and Input Lag. Added tests for Console Compatibility and macOS compatibility and made minor changes to other tests, which you can see in our Changelog.
- Updated Jul 29, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jul 27, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Jul 22, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jul 21, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 14, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27 inch Dell S2722DGM, which is part of Dell's S Series of gaming monitors. It's also available in a 32 inch size, but the larger size has a slightly different panel with a different curve, so our review here isn't valid for that size.
| Model | Size | Native Resolution | Max Refresh rate | Panel Type | Curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S2522HG | 24.5" | 1920 x 1080 | 240Hz | IPS | No |
| S2722DGM | 27" | 2560 x 1440 | 165Hz | VA | 1500R |
| S3222DGM | 32" | 2560 x 1440 | 165Hz | VA | 1800R |
| S3422DWG | 34" | 3440 x 1440 | 144Hz | VA | 1800R |
If you come across a different type of panel or your Dell S2722DGM doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit was manufactured in April 2021; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The Dell S2722DGM is a good monitor overall, and it's one of the best VA gaming monitors we've tested so far. Unfortunately, it's still plagued by the usual issues that affect VA gaming monitors, like black smear behind fast-moving objects in dark scenes. If you don't care about dark room performance, though, most IPS monitors deliver a superior gaming experience overall.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best 27 inch monitors, the best gaming monitors, and the best 1440p monitors.
The Dell S2721DGF and the Dell S2722DGM use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The S2721DGF uses an IPS panel, and it has better ergonomics, better viewing angles, better reflection handling, and better gradient handling. The S2721DGF supports HDR, but this doesn't add that much, as it can't deliver an impactful HDR experience. The S2722DGM uses a VA panel, and it has much better contrast and better black uniformity, so it's a better choice for a dim or dark room.
The Samsung Odyssey G5/G55C S27CG55 and the Dell S2722DGM are entry-level 1440p gaming monitors with a few differences. While they each have a curved screen, the curve on the Samsung is more aggressive, which isn't ideal if you aren't used to using a curved screen. The Dell also has a more ergonomic stand, making placing it in an ideal position easier. Lastly, the Dell gets brighter, so it's the better choice if you need to use it in a well-lit room. However, the Samsung is the better choice for HDR gaming, as the Dell doesn't support HDR.
The Gigabyte G27QC is slightly better overall than the Dell S2722DGM, but the Dell is slightly better for gaming. The Dell has a faster response time and better black uniformity, and it's brighter. The Gigabyte supports HDR, it has better gradient handling, and it has a better contrast ratio.
The Dell S2722DGM is much better than the MSI Optix G27CQ4. The Dell has better ergonomics, a faster response time, better viewing angles, and better black uniformity. The Dell is also significantly brighter and can better overcome glare. On the other hand, the MSI has better gradient handling and can accept a 10-bit signal.
The Dell S2722DGM and the Gigabyte GS27QC are both entry-level gaming monitors with similar specs. Each has a 1440p resolution, 165Hz native refresh rate, and 1500R curve. However, there are a few differences in performance, as the Dell is the better choice for work use thanks to its higher peak brightness and better ergonomics. On the other hand, the Gigabyte has an advantage for gaming because it has a faster response time at any refresh rate and an overclock feature to boost the refresh rate up to 170Hz.
The HP X27q is a bit better than the Dell S2722DGM. The HP has much better ergonomics, so it's easier to place it in an ideal viewing position. The HP also supports a wider range of features, including HDR, and it has much better gradient handling, so you'll see less banding in areas of similar color.
The Dell S2722DGM is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5/G55A S27AG55. The Dell has a much faster response time, so motion in games looks much clearer. The Dell also gets a lot brighter, so it can handle more glare and a brighter viewing environment. The Dell also has a slightly better viewing angle, so the image doesn't degrade as much if you're sitting slightly to the side.
The Dell S2722DGM and the Samsung Odyssey G5/G51C S27CG51 are both good gaming monitors, with a few differences. The Dell has a curved screen compared to the flat screen on the Samsung, and the Dell doesn't support HDR either. The Dell is better to use in a well-lit room as it gets brighter, while the Samsung is better for console gaming as it downscales 4k signals, which the Dell doesn't do.
Test Results
The Dell S2722DGM has a simple design that blends in anywhere. Dell has added an ambient downlight feature on the bottom bezel, but there's no bias lighting on the back.
The Dell S2722DGM seems to have good overall build quality. It's all plastic, but there's very little flex in most of the panels. The front bottom bezel has a bit of flex, which is pretty common and shouldn't cause any issues. When the stand adjusts to the maximum height, there's a bit of wobble, but it's not too bad.
The Dell S2722DGM has an okay height adjustment range and a great tilt range, so it should be easy to place it in an ideal viewing position. Unfortunately, it can't rotate to portrait orientation, and it can't swivel, so it's a bit less versatile than most Dell monitors we've tested.
The back of the monitor looks very similar to the Dell S2721DGF, but there's no bias-lighting feature. There's a cutout in the stand for very basic cable management.
The stand looks very similar to the one included with the Dell S2721DGF, but it's slightly smaller. It supports the monitor well, but when the stand adjusts to the maximum height extension, there's some wobble.
The main OSD can be navigated using the joystick control on the back of the monitor. There are also four quick access buttons that can be assigned to different options. The power button is located on the bottom bezel of the display.
The Dell S2722DGM has a very good contrast ratio, as expected for a monitor with a VA panel. Blacks look good in a dark room. Unfortunately, there's no local dimming feature to improve black levels. Contrast can vary between units, but these results are very close to the 3000:1 contrast ratio advertised by Dell for this model.
The Dell S2722DGM doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video is for reference only, so you can see how the backlight on this display performs and compare it to a similar product with local dimming.
The Dell S2722DGM has great peak brightness in SDR. There's no variation in brightness with different content, and it's a bit brighter than the advertised 350 cd/m² peak brightness.
These measurements were taken after calibration, in the 'Custom Color' Picture Mode, with the backlight at max. The peak brightness can change depending on which mode you're using.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
As expected for a monitor with a VA panel, the Dell S2722DGM has an okay horizontal viewing angle. Although better than many of the VA monitors we've tested, the image degrades at moderate angles, as the gamma shifts considerably at a very small angle, causing the image to appear washed out. Colors remain accurate at any angle, though, which is great.
Unfortunately, the Dell S2722DGM has mediocre vertical viewing angles. Gamma shifts and black levels rise at a very small angle, causing the image to darken and appear washed out. This can be noticeable even if you're sitting too close, as the top and bottom of the monitor can appear non-uniform.
The Dell S2722DGM has excellent gray uniformity. There's almost no dirty screen effect in the center, but the sides of the screen are a bit darker. Near-black scenes are even better, with no noticeable issues. Gray uniformity can vary between units, but it's rarely an issue on current monitors.
Unfortunately, the unit we bought has mediocre black uniformity, and there's no local dimming feature to improve it. There's very little clouding throughout the screen, which is nice, but there's noticeable backlight bleed along the top and bottom edges of the screen. Note that black uniformity can vary between units.
This monitor has okay accuracy out of the box. Gamma is flat, close to 2.2, and doesn't follow the sRGB curve, so most dark scenes are darker than they should be, and some brighter scenes are a bit too bright. White balance is good, with no significant issues, and most colors are displayed accurately. The color temperature is very close to the target 6500K. Unfortunately, there's no sRGB clamp, so saturated colors are oversaturated a bit.
After calibration, the Dell S2722DGM has outstanding accuracy. Gamma is much closer to the sRGB target curve, with just a few very minor deviations. White balance and color accuracy are nearly perfect, and the color temperature didn't really change, as it was already close to perfect.
The Dell S2722DGM has a superb SDR color gamut. It can display the entire sRGB color space used by most current desktop and web content. Coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space is very good but might be too limited for professional media creators.
This monitor has fantastic SDR color volume. In the more common sRGB color space it has nearly perfect coverage, but can't display saturated colors at low luminance levels despite the very good contrast ratio.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
The Dell S2722DGM has decent reflection handling. It has great peak brightness though, so glare shouldn't cause any issues for most people.
The Dell S2722DGM has good text clarity. We recommend running the Window ClearType wizard if you're on a PC; otherwise, there are some text clarity issues with diagonal lines, as shown in the bottom photo.
The Dell S2722DGM has good gradient handling. There's some banding in all shades, and as it can only accept an 8-bit signal, there's 8-bit banding in our 10-bit test image.
The Dell S2722DGM has a very fast refresh rate, great for gaming. It's certified to support FreeSync Premium variable refresh rate technology, which works over HDMI and DisplayPort, but over HDMI the maximum refresh rate is 144Hz. Although not officially supported, G-SYNC Compatible also worked for us, but only over DisplayPort.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Dell S2722DGM has an okay response time at the max refresh rate. We recommend the 'Super Fast' Response Time setting, as it delivers the best results overall, but there's some noticeable overshoot. If this bothers you, the 'Fast' setting has no overshoot, but it's a bit slower, so there's a longer blur trail behind fast-moving objects. The 'Extreme' setting has a slightly faster rise/fall time, but there's considerably more overshoot, so we don't recommend it. If you want something with better motion handling, look into the Gigabyte GS27QC.
The response time performs differently with the VRR enabled or not. The above results are with the VRR enabled, but you can also see it with VRR disabled below. Disabling VRR causes more overshoot with the 'Super Fast' and 'Extreme' response time settings.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 120Hz is once again okay, and the recommended overdrive setting is also 'Super Fast'. 'Fast' is slower while 'Extreme' has too much overshoot. The results above are with VRR enabled, but you can also see the results with VRR disabled here:
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Dell S2722DGM has an acceptable response time at 60Hz. The three Response Time settings behave very similarly to the max refresh rate, and we still recommend the 'Super Fast' setting, as it delivers the best overall performance. This is great, as you don't have to worry about changing settings if you change your refresh rate to 60Hz. There's more overshoot at 60Hz, and a longer blur trail behind fast-moving objects, but it looks great overall. You can see the results with VRR disabled below:
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Super Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Extreme | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Dell S2722DGM has an optional black frame insertion (BFI) feature that can reduce the appearance of motion blur by inserting flicker. This feature can be enabled by setting the Response Time to 'MPRT'. Note that with this feature enabled, you can't adjust the overdrive settings. The BFI timing seems very good, with no noticeable crosstalk, but there's still a long blur trail behind fast-moving objects.
| BFI Flicker | Motion Blur Photo |
| 165Hz | Photo |
| 120Hz | Photo |
The backlight is completely flicker-free, which is great as it can reduce eye strain.
The Dell S2722DGM has fantastic input lag, resulting in a very responsive gaming experience. The 60Hz input lag is a bit higher than at the max refresh rate but still excellent. Enabling the variable refresh rate feature increases input lag a bit, but it's not really noticeable.
The 27 inch, 1440p screen delivers a great amount of screen real estate to work with, and doesn't require as much computing power as a 4k display.
The Dell S2722DGM works fine with recent M1 MacBooks. VRR works in games, but there's flicker on the desktop, so it's best to disable VRR when browsing the web. Windows return to their original position when waking up from sleep, but not when you close the laptop's lid, which is a common issue among monitors.
The Dell S2722DGM has a few additional features, including:
- Timer: Displays a timer on-screen.
- FPS Counter: Displays the current number of frames per second received from the source.
- Dark Stabilizer: Adjusts gamma to make it easier to spot other players/enemies in shadows.
- Display Alignment: Displays gridlines on the screen to help align multiple displays.
- Downlight: Instead of a more traditional bias-lighting feature on the back, Dell has added an ambient downlight on the bottom bezel. It's a fixed blue light that can't be changed, it can only be turned on or off.
