Pros & Cons
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- Expansive 6K screen with IPS Black
- Upstream Thunderbolt 4 port with 140-watt power delivery
- Dual HDMI and DisplayPort connectors
- Plentiful USB ports
- Excellent sRGB and DCI-P3 color coverage
- 120Hz refresh rate
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- Pricey
- Enormous and heavy
- Both brightness and contrast were below their rated values in our testing
Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor (U5226KW) Specs
| Adaptive Sync | Variable Refresh Rate |
| Aspect Ratio | 21:9 |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 28.3 by 48.2 by 10 inches |
| Height-Adjustable Stand? | |
| Native Resolution | 6144 by 2560 |
| Panel Size (Corner-to-Corner) | 51.5 |
| Pixel Refresh Rate | 120 |
| Rated Contrast Ratio | 2000:1 |
| Rated Screen Luminance | 400 |
| Screen Technology | IPS Black |
| Swiveling Stand? | |
| Tilting Stand? | |
| USB Ports (Excluding Upstream) | 7 |
| VESA DisplayHDR Level | NA |
| Video Inputs | DisplayPort (2) |
| Video Inputs | HDMI (2) |
| Video Inputs | Thunderbolt 4 |
| Video Inputs | USB-C (3) |
| Warranty (Parts/Labor) | 3 |
| Weight | 40.2 |
"Ginormous! Humongous! Awesome! Audacious! Radi-cool!" are among the superlatives the Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor (U5226KW) elicited from my colleagues while it occupied a sizable chunk of PC Labs as I tested it. Dell cites financial traders, executives, engineers, and data professionals as among those who can benefit from this massive, full-featured, yet pricey behemoth, which costs $2,899.99. It can accept input from up to four different sources and utilize several screen partitioning modes. But much as I could relate to the staffers who wished for a U5226KW to anchor their own home setup, drawing on my own experience, I had to paraphrase the classic line from Jaws: You're gonna need a bigger desk! Otherwise, you're better off with a slightly smaller and much less expensive super-ultrawide like the Editors' Choice-winning HP E45c. Still, one can dream.
Design: Living Ultra-Large and Ultrawide
Not only does the Dell U5226KW tap the outer limits of monitor width seen in productivity displays we've reviewed, but it provides the extra vertical screen room that the widest monitors often lack. With a 21:9 aspect ratio, the U5226KW is a standard ultrawide monitor, as opposed to the uber-wide but not-as-tall panels with 31:9 aspect ratios that are often deemed super-ultrawide displays. These include the HP E45c G5 DQHD Curved Monitor, our Editors' Choice pick for ultrawide productivity displays, and the Philips Brilliance 499P9H, our favorite giant-screen super-ultrawide for general use.
The Dell U5226KW measures 28.3 by 48.2 by 10 inches (HWD) with its stand extended to its full height, and weighs 48.2 pounds including the stand. Ergonomic adjustments are extensive. The stand supports up to 3.5 inches in height adjustment, and you can tilt the top of the monitor up to 5 degrees toward you and 10 degrees away from you. It also supports 20 degrees of swivel in either direction and 2 degrees of slant adjustment. (Tilt one end of the monitor up, and the other goes down.) It lacks pivot adjustment, but so do nearly all ultrawide monitors, by their nature. The U5226KW, which includes VESA mounting holes in 100mm-by-100mm, 200mm-by-100mm, and 200mm-by-200mm configurations, can be bought for $2,799.99 without the stand.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)The U5226KW's 51.5-inch (measured diagonally) IPS Black screen has a 6K (6,144-by-2,560-pixel) resolution and a rated 2,000:1 contrast ratio. The maximum refresh rate is 120Hz. Its pixel density of 129ppi makes it suitable for working with photos and illustrations.
IPS Black panels, such as the one used in the U5226KW, offer the same wide viewing angles as standard IPS screens: up to 178 degrees for both vertical and horizontal. This enables you to look at the screen nearly edge-on from the side or above without notable degradation in image quality. A 120Hz pixel refresh rate helps smooth the U5226KW's image and reduce artifacts and screen tearing, making it a good choice for game designers.
Connectivity: Inputs Galore, Plus a Massive USB Hub
As you might expect from a monitor with "Thunderbolt Hub" in its name, the U5226KW features a vast array of ports. Its upstream 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 port supports DisplayPort Alt Mode and up to 140 watts of power delivery. It has two HDMI 2.1 ports and a pair of DisplayPort 1.4 inputs. In addition to three USB-C upstream ports, the U5226KW features five USB-A and two USB-C downstream ports.
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The two downstream USB-C ports and one of the USB-A ports are located on the front, in a retractable bay underneath the cabinet that can be raised or lowered with a touch, providing power delivery for small peripherals. This monitor also features an Ethernet jack, allowing you to connect to a LAN in areas where Wi-Fi is spotty or unavailable. Last, the U5226KW has a pair of built-in 9-watt speakers that produce loud audio of decent quality.
Users have their choice of several modes for partitioning the U5226KW's spacious screen and accepting multiple inputs. Picture-by-Picture (PbP) supports up to four input sources, while Picture-in-Picture (PiP) supports up to two screen partitions. Additionally, PbP with Screen Partition mode allows you to display content from multiple sources and further partition the screen for seamless multitasking. The monitor also features an integrated USB KVM switch with Ethernet switch mode control, supporting up to four input sources, allowing you to control multiple systems through the monitor using a single set of input peripherals.
Performance Testing: Great Color Coverage
I tested the U5226KW's brightness, contrast ratio, and color-gamut coverage using our standard test gear: a Klein K-10A colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays' Calman for Business calibration software.
Dell rates the monitor's luminance at 400 nits (candelas per square meter), but it fell a bit below that in testing, tallying 333 nits. That's still bright enough for most business use, including photo and video editing, provided that you don't have too much ambient light. I measured its contrast ratio at 1,594:1, well under its rated 2,000:1 contrast ratio but still much higher than a standard IPS panel. (See how we test monitors.)
(Credit: Portrait Displays)Dell rates the U5226KW's color coverage at 100% for sRGB and 99% DCI-P3. It effectively met these, with full sRGB coverage, 130% by area (see the chromaticity chart above), and 98.9% of DCI-P3 (see below). Although Dell doesn't cite a coverage figure for it, it also covered 94.9% of Adobe RGB.
(Credit: Portrait Displays)In addition to our formal, quantitative testing, I also did our usual ad-hoc testing, viewing photos from our test suite as well as selected video clips. The images appeared bright, with rich, well-saturated colors. Detail was well rendered in both light and dark areas. And video was smooth, with vibrant colors and no unusual artifacts.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor (U5226KW)
If you have the room and the cash for it, the Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor (U5226KW) is a godsend for multitaskers needing to tap into multiple feeds and display content from several sources at once on one gigantic screen.