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This is (Probably) The World’s Cheapest 5K Monitor
The Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS is currently the cheapest 5K monitor you can buy – but is it any good? Let’s find out…
If you want, nay, demand, the highest possible resolution on your monitor but, like many, you’re limited by budget constraints, you’re probably wondering what the cheapest 5K monitor is on the market right now?
The good news is that, yes, you can get a 5K monitor for a lot less than you’d pay from brands like Dell, LG, and Philips. But the bad news is that you’ll have to buy it from a brand that literally no one has ever heard of.
Who is that brand? Iiyama is the company behind what is often described as the world’s cheapest 5K monitor. Iiyama makes a range of affordable monitors – ranging from 1080p all the way up to 4K and 5K – but it is its Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS monitor that we’re talking about today. It is the cheapest 5K monitor you can currently buy.
The Cheapest 5K Monitor In The World
5K monitors, most of the time, are very expensive, ranging in price from $1399 to over $5000. But the Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS retails for just a fraction of these prices – you can pick one up for $954.99, a price point pretty much unheard of for a 5K monitor. And for your money, you’ll get a 27in IPS panel with a 60Hz refresh rate. Not bad, right?
But is this a good deal, or are you better off lowering the resolution to 4K and going with something like Samsung’s outstanding 4K M8 Smart Display – our favorite monitor of 2022 so far – which packs in a ton of features, excellent color reproduction, and masses of additional smart features?
Sadly, it is the latter scenario: you’re going to be much better off going with the cheaper and infinitely better Samsung 4K M8. Yes, you’ll miss out on 5K resolution but what it lacks in this department it more than makes up for elsewhere – the color accuracy is better, it has a larger display (32in), and it is packed with smart features thanks to its Tizen OS operating system.
Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS Reviews – Is It Any Good?
The Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS might be cheaper than most other 5K monitors on the market but this, as noted by Expert Reviews, is for a very good reason. And no, sadly, it is not a positive good reason, either…
The panel does have one weakness, and that’s color accuracy. With an average Delta E of 3.34 and a maximum of 6.22, this isn’t a monitor you can rely on for color-critical photo or video workflows. Here, its rivals are leagues ahead: Philips achieved a much better average Delta E of 1.03. To be clear, though, this shouldn’t be a concern if you chiefly intend on watching movies or playing games.
The design of the Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS is also pretty, well… there’s no nice way of saying this: cheap looking. But this is to be expected when you’re undercutting the ENTIRE market with your pricing.
Like the Michael Scott Paper Company, corners had to be cut to make this monitor cost as little as it does – and, sadly, the corners that were cut were important ones.
If you can live without razor-sharp color accuracy, meaning, you don’t do any photo or video editing, and just want a 5K display that looks nice for working on in your home office, the Liyama ProLite XB2779QQS might be worth a look.
For the price, there is literally nothing else quite like it on the market. But it does come with some caveats that more professional users need to be aware of – the color accuracy, for one, is way off.
And color accuracy (and pixel density and resolutions) are all important factors.
My advice? If you DO need a 5K display – either for work or for gaming – do yourself a favor and get something more capable. You will be considerably more money but with monitors, as with most things in life, you really do get what you pay for. And if you plan on running your monitor for multiple years, it is definitely worth paying a little more and getting exactly what you want.
Personally, I’d advocate going with a higher-spec 4K monitor over the Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS, something like Samsung’s newly launched M8 4K or the PHILIPS BRILLIANCE 328P6VUBREB. Both are superb and well priced, so long as you don’t mind using your savings and/or credit card.
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