During Black Friday I cruised around BestBuy's website for monitors to see if there were any deals that may be worth picking up. After browsing for a bit, I stumbled upon the LG 29" Ultrawide IPS Monitor (Model: 29WK500). A quick cursory review search seen this monitor was fairly decent and owners appear to be happy with it. I placed an order and awaited its arrival.
This new monitor would be replacing a 23" BenQ monitor that I've had for over 8 years. My old monitor had an issue in that pure white screens appeared to have a gradient like effect (bottom half was dimmer than the upper half). However, it functioned well, and I gave it too a good friend of mine.
Upon arrival of my new monitor I took it home and hooked it up. This monitor definitely is wide, which is perfect for website development with a resolution of 2560x1080. No longer do I have to have overlapping windows; I can simply have the browser console open next to the website, and not go into responsive mode!
A nice touch of the monitor is that while there are bezels, I appreciate that they blend into the screen quite well.
The brightness of the monitor is so-so. While it is bright enough for myself, if you are looking for a sun blinding screen, this isn't it. However, since it is a IPS screen, it has a great field of view and the matte screen is more non-reflective than my old monitor making glare even less of an issue.
The monitor has two HDMI ports which some may need more connections for. However, for my needs, it is more than enough.
One issue I've noticed, and this may be more macOS issue than the monitor, is that when initially turning on after about 10 seconds it flickers once for a second or two and then goes about its way. One other minor gripe is that the monitor wobbles as I type, however, I plan to mount this on a Vesa monitor arm in the coming months.
Before purchasing this monitor I would definitely go view it in store however. This is mainly because while it is 29" wide (on the diagnal), it is not the height of a 27" which makes it seem rather short, but strangely wide. This was fine for myself since I was upgrading from a 23" which was the equivalent height.
Overview
Pros
- Ultrawide, great for website development
- Reasonably priced for an IPS display
- Looks nice, bezels blend well into screen
- Compatible with Vesa mounts
Cons
- Random flicker after initially turning on, however, this may be macOS
- Stand is wobbly
- Brightness is so-so
Overall this monitor was a great purchase and I am happy to no longer have a monitor which shows a gradient instead of a white screen. A big thank you to my girlfriend who inevitably gifted this to me early for Christmas. A great present indeed!
LG 29" Ultrawide IPS Monitor - Bestbuy (Black Friday had this 130$ off)