This LG 27UP850 review is for the reader who wants almost everything the Dell U2723QE offers — a sharp 27-inch 4K panel, a single USB-C cable that also charges the laptop, and proper height-adjustable ergonomics — but does not want to pay £550 for it. The LG 27UP850-W is the budget-conscious answer to that brief, and at around £350–£400 in the UK it undercuts the obvious premium picks by a meaningful margin.
We ran ours for two months as our main display, plugged into a 14-inch MacBook Pro most days and a Windows laptop the rest. This review covers what the panel is actually like to look at, whether the USB-C power delivery does what you need, how good the stand is, and the one big question every reader asks us: should you buy this or stretch to the Dell U2723QE?
LG 27UP850-W at a glance
| Spec | LG 27UP850-W |
| Panel size | 27-inch |
| Panel type | IPS |
| Resolution | 3840 × 2160 (4K UHD), ~163 PPI |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz |
| Brightness | 400 nits (VESA DisplayHDR 400) |
| Colour | 98% DCI-P3, factory calibrated |
| USB-C | Yes — 96W power delivery, data + video |
| Other ports | 2× HDMI 2.0, 1× DisplayPort 1.4, USB hub, headphone out |
| Stand | Height, tilt and pivot; VESA 100×100 |
| UK price | around £350–£400 |
Image quality: a genuinely good IPS panel
The reason to buy any 27-inch 4K monitor is pixel density, and the 27UP850-W delivers it: at roughly 163 pixels per inch, text is crisp, spreadsheets stay legible at small zoom, and there is none of the fuzziness you get on a 27-inch 1440p screen. For day-to-day work — documents, code, browser tabs, video calls — it looks excellent.
What lifts it above a basic office panel is the colour. LG covers 98% of the DCI-P3 wide gamut and ships each unit factory-calibrated, so photos and video look accurate out of the box without you touching the menu. That makes the 27UP850-W a credible choice for photo editing and light video work, not just spreadsheets — a step up from cheaper sRGB-only 4K monitors.
It carries VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification with 400 nits of brightness. Be realistic about HDR at this level: 400 nits and edge-lit backlighting mean HDR content looks marginally punchier rather than transformative. Treat HDR as a small bonus, not a reason to buy. As a bright, accurate SDR monitor for a home office, though, it is hard to fault for the money.
USB-C and connectivity: one cable that does the lot
This is the feature that makes the 27UP850-W worth its price over a plain 4K monitor. The USB-C port carries video, data and 96W of power delivery down a single cable. Plug in a MacBook Pro or a USB-C Windows laptop and you get the picture on screen, the laptop charging, and the monitor’s USB hub all at once — one cable to connect in the morning, one to pull out when you leave.
96W is enough to charge a 14-inch MacBook Pro at full tilt and to keep a 16-inch model topped up under normal load (a heavy export might draw slightly more than it supplies, but the battery won’t drop in everyday use). The built-in USB hub means you can hang a keyboard, mouse or webcam off the monitor and have them all switch with the laptop.
Beyond USB-C you get two HDMI 2.0 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4, so a desktop PC or a games console can share the screen. The one thing it lacks versus pricier rivals is a KVM switch — there is no one-button way to swap a keyboard and mouse between two computers. If you run two machines daily, that omission matters; if you run one laptop, you will never miss it.
Stand and ergonomics
LG includes a proper adjustable stand here, which not every monitor at this price does. You get height adjustment, tilt and pivot (rotate to portrait), though no swivel left-to-right. That covers the important part: getting the top of the screen to eye level so your neck stays neutral. The stand is stable and assembles tool-free.
If you would rather mount it, the panel uses a standard 100×100 mm VESA pattern, so it drops straight onto an Ergotron LX or any arm from our monitor arm roundup. At around 6 kg with the panel alone, it is well within the LX’s range.
LG 27UP850-W vs Dell U2723QE: which should you buy?
This is the comparison that decides most purchases, so here it is plainly.
| LG 27UP850-W | Dell U2723QE | |
| Panel | IPS, 98% DCI-P3 | IPS Black, deeper contrast |
| Contrast | ~1000:1 | ~2000:1 (visibly better blacks) |
| USB-C power | 96W | 90W |
| KVM switch | No | Yes |
| USB-C ergonomics | Height/tilt/pivot | Height/tilt/pivot/swivel |
| UK price | ~£350–£400 | ~£500–£600 |
The Dell’s IPS Black panel has noticeably deeper blacks and better contrast, and it adds a KVM switch and full swivel. If you run two computers, or you care about contrast for photo and video work, the extra £150 or so is justified — and we cover that in our Dell U2723QE review.
But for the single-laptop home-office worker who wants 4K sharpness, accurate colour and one-cable charging, the LG does 90% of what the Dell does for two-thirds of the price. The contrast difference is real but only obvious side by side; the missing KVM is irrelevant if you only have one machine.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Sharp 4K IPS with accurate, factory-calibrated colour | No KVM switch for two-computer setups |
| 96W USB-C power delivery — charges a MacBook Pro | 1000:1 contrast trails the Dell’s IPS Black |
| Proper height-adjustable stand included | HDR 400 is a minor bonus, not a highlight |
| Undercuts premium rivals by ~£150 | No swivel adjustment on the stand |
Verdict: the value pick for a single-laptop home office
The LG 27UP850-W is the 4K USB-C monitor we recommend to anyone who wants the modern one-cable home-office experience without paying flagship money. You get a sharp, colour-accurate 27-inch panel, enough power delivery to run a MacBook Pro off a single cable, and a stand that actually adjusts — for around £350–£400.
Stretch to the Dell U2723QE only if you run two computers and want the KVM, or if you specifically need the deeper IPS Black contrast for creative work. For everyone else — the great majority of UK home-office buyers on a single laptop — the LG is the smarter buy and the better value. Pair it with an Ergotron LX arm and you have a setup that looks and feels far more expensive than it is.
