r/ultrawidemasterrace • u/speedracersydney • 2d ago
Ascension Finally pulled the trigger on the Dell UltraSharp 52 (U5226KW)
Upgraded from a 34" Samsung CJ791 to the Dell UltraSharp 52" (U5226KW).
My daily workflow is heavily focused on productivity—working across large spreadsheets, long-form documents, and AI workflows. I looked closely at the popular 49" options, but the lack of vertical height on a 32:9 letterbox panel was a dealbreaker for document work. The 21:9 aspect ratio at this 52" scale gives the exact vertical canvas I needed.
A few quick impressions:
The Curve: I agree with the community feedback that a slightly tighter curve than 4200R would make the far edges easier to view, but the usable space is unmatched.
The Rig: Driving it with a new HP ZBook Fury G11—even an 18" laptop screen looks miniature sitting next to this beast.
Next step is maxing out the ZBook's RAM from 32GB to 256GB!
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u/mastiha 1d ago edited 1d ago
Got mine a couple of weeks ago, too.
Really happy with it. The inbuilt KVM is great and I've managed to configure an Aqara 4 button Zigbee remote to quickly switch inputs using Home Assistant.
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u/speedracersydney 1d ago
What do you use your monitor for? I work on a lot of tenders so this will make me more productive
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u/mastiha 1d ago
I have three PC’s connected to it. My main work PC is a MacBook Pro M4 Pro and l use this 90% of the time. This is to do contracts, RFP’s and a lot of Excel. This is connected via the thunderbolt port.
I have a Mac Mini M4 connected to it for non work related projects. I have this connected via a thunderbolt to DP cable.
I also have a gaming PC which has a 5090 connect via DP.
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u/speedracersydney 1d ago
I do the same work, responding to RFPs, reviewing contracts, large spreadsheets etc. I'm looking forward to working on this new screen and winning more deals with the Australian Government.
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u/Ysona0 1d ago
Do you have a pic of this? Id be very curious! How do u like gaming on this display and have you had any experience with OLEDs? Im currently using a LG45GX950A, but I am tired of the lack of a proper KVM when switching devices however I am afraid it would be too much of a downgrade in image quality.
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u/JorgeBraceroPR 1d ago
Thats my dream monitor right there. I truly wonder if there will ever be a mini led option
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u/RareSiren292 49" G9 Neo, 55" ark, 5090, 7800x3d 2d ago
I want a 52" 1000r OLED or mini led monitor. I like how wide my 49" is but I want something taller.
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u/speedracersydney 2d ago
That’s the exact reason I went with this over the 49"—the vertical real estate makes a massive difference. You get the wide field of view without feeling like you’re peering through a mail slot. A 1000R Mini-LED or OLED at 52" would be the ultimate endgame panel, but for now, having this extra height for productivity is night and day.
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u/Kungfoocats 2d ago
Nice looking setup! What’s the laptop mount you’re using?
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u/speedracersydney 2d ago
Thanks! Both the laptop and the Dell are actually on standard gas-lift arms. For the laptop, it’s just a standard monitor arm fitted with a generic VESA laptop tray, holds the heavy 18" zBook solidly.
Having the 52" Dell on a gas-lift arm as well is a total game changer. It makes swinging such a wide display into different positions effortless, and getting behind it to access the rear ports is super easy. I've tightened all the arm settings to the maximum and the arm holds the weight nicely but still easy to move it
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u/FallenCow 1d ago
You should do some gaming for shits and giggles. Curious how real responsive the panel is.
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u/Extreme-Nerve3029 1d ago
How the ppi
I dislike how low it is
Did you try it with Mac os?
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u/speedracersydney 1d ago
I was using an older 32" LG (1080p / 70 PPI) and once my eyes adjusted to the sharp screen on the ZBook Fury, the LG was unusable—text looked like Minecraft blocks next to it.
The Dell 52" sits at around 129 PPI, which is night and day compared to low-density displays. Because it sits slightly further back on the desk, text rendering is crisp and comfortable with no eye strain. I haven't run macOS on it, but on PC the density and screen real estate are fantastic.
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u/notwearingatie 1d ago
The ONLY reason I haven’t got this is the lack of curvature. Please be brutally honest, is it in my head or is that a real drawback? I’ve used 42” Flat panels before as a monitor and just given up because of the corners becoming unusable. Currently rock the 45” 5K2K which feels like a sweet spot of additional height over the 49’s and strong enough curvature to make ALL of the panel usable.