Best Business Monitors and Displays
A cramped 24-inch laptop-adjacent monitor is one of the cheapest productivity taxes a small business pays without noticing — constant window-juggling, squinting at spreadsheets, cables everywhere because the monitor can’t charge the laptop it’s plugged into. We compared three monitors built for office and hybrid work rather than gaming: the Dell UltraSharp U2724DE, the LG 34WP65C ultrawide and the BenQ PD2705U. Each solves the single-cable, single-screen productivity problem in a different way and at a different price point.
Key Takeaways
- Best single-cable business setup The Dell UltraSharp U2724DE’s Thunderbolt 4 hub charges a laptop, drives the display and connects peripherals over one cable, at £439.20 official UK pricing.
- Best for spreadsheet and multi-window work The LG 34WP65C’s 34-inch ultrawide curve replaces a two-monitor setup with one screen, at around £212.83 from UK price trackers.
- Best for colour-sensitive work The BenQ PD2705U targets designers and anyone doing colour-accurate work, factory-calibrated, at around £329.99 from UK price trackers.
- USB-C/Thunderbolt hub monitors reduce desk clutter A monitor that charges your laptop over the same cable that carries video removes a power brick and a separate charging cable from the desk entirely.
- Resolution and screen real estate aren't the same thing A 4K 27-inch screen and a QHD 34-inch ultrawide both look impressive on a spec sheet but suit genuinely different workflows.
Our Top Picks at a Glance
Best Overall: Dell UltraSharp U2724DE
Dell's UltraSharp line has been the default recommendation for business displays for years, and the U2724DE's main selling point isn't the screen itself, it's the Thunderbolt 4 hub built into the back — one cable to your laptop handles video, charges it up to 90W, and gives you a pass-through for a keyboard, mouse and Ethernet without a separate dock.
Official UK pricing is £439.20 including VAT, confirmed directly on Dell's own UK site, for a 27-inch QHD (2560×1440) IPS panel — sharper than Full HD but a step below full 4K, which keeps text more comfortably readable at 27 inches without needing OS scaling tweaks.
The real case for paying more than the LG or BenQ here is the daily friction it removes: plugging in one cable when you sit down and unplugging it when you leave, rather than juggling a power brick, an HDMI cable and a USB hub separately. For a hybrid worker moving between a home desk and an office desk, that's worth more in practice than a spec-sheet comparison suggests.
Best Value: LG 34WP65C
The 34WP65C takes a different approach to the same problem — instead of packing connectivity into one premium screen, it just gives you enough screen that you stop needing two monitors in the first place. The 21:9 curved ultrawide format fits a spreadsheet and a browser window side by side without either feeling cramped, which is the single most common reason office workers ask for a second monitor.
UK pricing tracked by PriceSpy UK sits at around £212.83, meaningfully below the Dell — treat this as a live-tracked market price rather than a fixed RRP, since ultrawide pricing moves with retailer promotions more than premium business monitors do. It's a QHD panel (3440×1440) rather than 4K, and the connectivity is DisplayPort and HDMI only — no USB-C charging hub, so you'll still need your laptop's own charger.
What you're trading for that lower price is the hub convenience, not the screen quality — 3440×1440 across 34 inches gives you genuinely useful extra horizontal space for side-by-side documents, which is the whole point of an ultrawide for office work rather than gaming.
Best for Creatives: BenQ PD2705U
BenQ's Designer/DesignVue line exists specifically for people whose work depends on colour being right — not just looking fine, but matching what a printer or a client's screen will show. The PD2705U ships factory-calibrated for accurate colour out of the box, with hardware calibration support if you need to maintain that accuracy over time with a colorimeter.
UK pricing tracked by idealo.co.uk puts it at around £329.99, sitting between the LG and the Dell — again, treat this as a tracked market price rather than a fixed RRP and check the live figure on BenQ's own site or a retailer before buying, since BenQ's own UK pages load pricing dynamically rather than displaying a static figure.
The audience here is narrower than the other two picks — if your team isn't doing photo editing, video grading or print design work, the colour accuracy this monitor is built around won't be something you notice day to day. For anyone who is doing that kind of work, though, a monitor that's actually calibrated correctly out of the box saves a genuinely annoying setup step most general-purpose business monitors skip entirely.
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Best overall
Dell UltraSharp U2724DE
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Best value
LG 34WP65C
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Best for creatives
BenQ PD2705U
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|---|---|---|---|
| UK price | £439.20 (official) | ~£212.83 (tracked) | ~£329.99 (tracked) |
| Screen size / resolution | 27" QHD | 34" curved QHD ultrawide | 27" 4K UHD |
| USB-C / Thunderbolt laptop charging | – | No | No |
| Factory colour calibration | No | No | Yes |
| Best fit | Hybrid workers, single-cable setup | Multitasking on a budget | Design and colour-accurate work |
| Check Price | Check Price | Check Price |
How to Choose a Business Monitor
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an ultrawide monitor better than two separate monitors?
It depends on your workflow — an ultrawide avoids the bezel gap between two screens and is tidier on a desk, but two separate monitors let you angle each one independently and are usually cheaper for the same total screen area.
Do I need 4K for office work?
Not usually. QHD (2560×1440 or higher) is sharp enough for text and spreadsheets at typical viewing distances on a 27-34 inch screen — 4K matters more for photo/video editing or when you want extra scaling headroom.
What does a USB-C hub monitor actually save me?
It replaces a laptop charger, a separate USB hub or dock, and often an Ethernet adapter with a single cable to the monitor — genuinely useful if you move a laptop between locations regularly.
Is factory calibration worth paying extra for?
Only if your work depends on accurate colour — design, photography, video grading or print work. For general office use, the difference is not something most people will notice.
How long do business monitors typically last?
Most well-reviewed business monitors are rated for tens of thousands of hours of panel life and commonly come with 3-year warranties, so 5+ years of daily office use is a reasonable expectation for any of the three monitors here.
Final Verdict
- Hybrid worker, want single-cable convenience: Dell UltraSharp U2724DE
- Want more screen space on a budget: LG 34WP65C
- Doing design or colour-accurate work: BenQ PD2705U
The Dell UltraSharp U2724DE is the strongest all-round pick for a hybrid worker who wants one cable to handle charging, video and peripherals. The LG 34WP65C is the better buy if your main goal is simply more screen space for multitasking at a lower price. The BenQ PD2705U is worth the step up specifically for design or colour-sensitive work, and not much beyond that.
