Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2021
The first thing I have to get out of the way is that on mine, the stem of the stand was slightly rotated away from me, to my right. Unlike most stands, there isn't actually a way to swivel the monitor arm clockwise or counterclockwise, so the base was always at a funny angle. The photos will show what I mean. It's a minor thing, but at $1,300, I think we can hope for a correct monitor stand. I found that this was not an uncommon issue either, so check for this when you get yours.
Now, assuming that yours comes perfectly, the monitor is really great, albeit expensive.
1: Picture quality
I'm used to using very good displays (many color-calibrated 4K IPS panels over the years), so I think my standards are reasonably calibrated to tell the difference. Next to my trusty P2715Qs, an old staple of "pro" monitors, the monitor looks very good. The colors are vibrant, the brightness is excellent, and it is, of course, super sharp. But I will say that I struggled to appreciate the difference in sharpness between my 4K 27s and this 5K 27. Side by side, if I consciously looked for it, I could see it, but in isolation, I think the resolution difference would not be noticeable; at least for me.
The only big negative to the picture quality is a pretty extreme IPS glow. Mine was reasonably uniform, and judging from photos elsewhere, not defective, but you can definitely still see it if the image you're working on is dark enough; that is, it doesn't require artificially designed situations to demonstrate it. I think what makes it so visible is that it has a reddish hue to it.
2: Gloss
It's a glossy screen, which helps it match your Macbook Pro or iMac/iMac Pro that you're presumably using this with. Most of the time, the glossy screen wasn't an issue, but if there was a point of light behind me, I could appreciate it and it irritated me. In highly controlled environments like private offices, this isn't a big deal, but keep it in mind if you're working in a more open space.
3: Features
The features of this monitor are superb. I absolutely loved the ability to control the brightness and volume of the screen via my keyboard, and it was great having a built-in microphone and webcam. That said, while these are definitely appreciated, some are going to appreciate them more than others. Specifically, if you're pairing this with an iMac or Macbook, you already have these things in varying degrees; the people that are going to adore this are those with a Mac Mini or Mac Pro. That will expand your Mac's capability.
4: The look
Initially, I thought the monitor was hideous, but the design surprisingly grew on me. It's a lot more premium looking in person, in my opinion, with more of an industrial look than a cheap plastic one. It is very, very basic, and it definitely doesn't jive well with Apple products, which makes basically no sense since this is exclusively designed to work with Apple devices, but on its own, I think it looks pretty good. I especially like the flat, basic stand (despite its flaws and limitations) which becomes usable space, unlike my subtly curved Dell stands which makes it hard to put things on.
5: The sound
The speakers are OK, but this is a bigger improvement than you might think. In most office spaces, you're not going to be listening to glorious full-volume Zeppelin tracks. You might have a podcast on or music on at a low volume, or you might need the speakers for a Zoom call. These will work for those things. Pair it with a Homepod if it's a home office and you can output your music to that if you want some decent sound.
6: Thunderbolt
I loved the Thunderbolt compatibility. There was no issue charging either of my Macs (MBP 16 and MBP 13 M1) and the hub worked really well. I wish it had more ports, and because 5K takes up so much of the capacity of TB3, it's not an ideal TB hub in some ways, but for my purposes it worked great.
7: Cable management
This is objectively terrible; there's no loop to hide the cables behind the stand or anything like that. They drop down straight behind the monitor. I tied them up with a cable tie to reduce the clutter, but I also put it behind a HomePod to hide it. You can work around it, but why not put a little plastic clip on the back of the stand?
What I do love is that the ports face directly backwards. It's a really easy monitor to plug in. My P2715Qs are an enormous pain if I have to move them around and swap cables, which I do occasionally.
So all in all, I was happy with the monitor, except for the stand, and unfortunately, I'm sufficiently neurotic that it would have driven me crazy, so I returned it.
Do I recommend it? If you have the money and are looking for an ideal monitor (short, perhaps, of the $5,000 XDR) for your Mac, yes. It will be better appreciated by those with Mac Minis or Mac Pros, however, as some of its functionality is replicated in a Macbook or iMac already. Just inspect the stand when you get it.
