HP E27d G4 Review
An office monitor with lots of connectivity options
Verdict
The HP E27d G4 is packed with features, including a versatile selection of ports and plenty of movement options. It’s expensive, though, and offers the quality for mainstream tasks but not creative work.
Pros
- Loads of USB connectivity
- Ample adjustment options
- Good everyday image quality
Cons
- Expensive
- Can’t handle creative work
- Mediocre build quality
Availability
- UKRRP: £450
- USARRP: $644
- EuropeRRP: €587
- CanadaRRP: CA$679
Key Features
- High-resolution display:The 2560 x 1440 resolution ensures a sharp picture
- Lots of ports:The inclusion of USB-C, HDMI and more means this monitor has lots of connectivity options
- Integrated webcamBuilt-in webcam is useful for Zoom calls, and allows for Windows Hello sign ins
Introduction
The HP E27d G4 is more expensive than the average 27-inch office display, but it isn’t a conventional corporate screen – it’s packed with more features than most monitors ever include.
The bevy of ports and superb connectivity could make the E27d one of the best monitor options for your office or study.
Still, I’ve seen plenty of monitors that provide lots of features but suffer poor image quality – and I’m worried that the HP might succumb to the same situation.
Price and availability
The HP E27d G4 costs £450 in the UK, and its US and European prices line up at $644 and €587.
Undoubtedly, there’s a lot of hardware on offer for that price, but it’s still a hefty sum to shell out for a 1440p display. If you’re willing to drop many of this panel’s connectivity features, then you can buy a 27in panel with the same resolution and level of quality for literally half the price.
If you’re happy to spend this amount of money, and can live without all the extra connectivity options on offer here, then you could have a 4K display panel and get a lot more on-screen real estate.
Design and features
- Fantastic connectivity, including dual USB-C ports
- Plenty of movement options and a good-looking chassis
- A reasonable mainstream display specification with no surprises
The HP’s best features can be see round the back of the unit, where I found more ports than most laptops manage to include.
This display has two USB-C ports: one upstream and one downstream. The upstream port can connect to your PC or laptop, and it can handle data transfer, DisplayPort signals and 100W of power delivery.
The downstream USB-C port provides 15W of its own power for charging phones and tablets. The four full-size USB 3.1 connections are divided between the rear and side of the display, and they all provide 7.5W of power.
Its huge versatility is completed with an HDMI 1.4 connection and two DisplayPort sockets. One of those is an output, so you can daisy-chain a second display from the HP.
The HP’s port selection includes an Ethernet socket as well, and an audio output. It’s a superb set of connectivity options, and it means that you can run your entire office through this display. Hook up a laptop using USB-C and it can charge that device, handle your wired internet, connect all of your peripherals, charge a smartphone and power an external hard disk.
There are plenty of welcome features elsewhere. Above the display is a pop-out webcam that supports Windows Hello, so you can use your face to login to your system and hide the camera if you prefer privacy. The camera offers only mediocre quality – it’s a little grainy compared to a proper external unit – but it’s absolutely fine for everyday use.
The HP also has a virtual KVM switch that means you can control two PC or laptop inputs with one set of peripherals. The only thing missing is a set of speakers.
A sleek chassis houses the broad set of features. The plastic base looks like metal, the stand is slim and sharp and has a cavity for cable-routing, and the panel has super-slim bezels. This monitor will happily be at home in the most stylish offices.
The HP offers excellent adjustability, too: a mammoth 150mm of height adjustment, tilt and swivel options, and the ability to swing into portrait mode alongside support for 100mm VESA mounting. Any alterations are consistently smooth, and it doesn’t take much force to get the panel moving. I found it easy to build, too: the stand snaps into the rear of the screen, and the base attaches with two tool-free screws.
There are a couple of minor downsides on the outside. Build quality is only mediocre: the base rattles a little, it’s too easy to flex the plastic around the edges of the display, and I didn’t need much pressure to move the plastic on the rear.
Also, bear in mind that the buttons used to control the on-screen display are too shallow and stiff. The menu itself is solid, with all the essential options and a responsive, sensible design. Plus, it has colour tweaking and a low blue light mode – but there’s no colour-specific presets such as sRGB. Handily, there’s a power saver mode that disables the USB ports and their power delivery.
On the inside, there are no surprises. The HP has a 2560 x 1440 IPS display with a 27in diagonal, which means a density level of 109ppi. That’s solid: crisp enough to handle everyday work tasks, and with enough space to use multiple windows or applications without them feeling cramped. It’s miles better than a 1080p resolution, which looks blocky and pixellated on a 27in panel.
You’ll only get a big increase in on-screen real estate if you opt for a widescreen or 4K display, and if you’re a creative professional or work in large applications or windows then that could be a better option.
The HP’s matte coating makes working easier, and the rest of the display specification includes a 5ms response time, a peak refresh rate of 60Hz, and 8-bit colour. That’s fine for everyday workloads, but it will handle only basic after-hours gaming, and that colour depth isn’t suitable for high-end creative tasks.
Image quality
- Solid mainstream image quality with great sRGB colours
- Can’t handle tougher gamuts such as AdobeRGB or DCI-P3
- Well suited for everyday work, but not good enough for creative tasks
The HP isn’t designed for tough colour-based tasks, so I wasn’t surprised by its set of benchmark results.
I used a colorimeter to record a brightness level of 281 nits, and that was paired with a black point of 0.28 nits. That brightness is good enough for everyday office tasks, with the black point helping to deliver a contrast ratio of 1003:1.
Again, this is fine for everyday use, and means that the HP delivers reasonable levels of vibrancy and nuance – although displays with better image quality will certainly have more depth, especially in darker areas.
The HP’s Delta E of 1.06 is tremendous, and its colour temperature of 6308K is great, too – both ensure accurate colours.
This display reaches a maximum brightness level of 353 nits, and its contrast and colour performance were maintained. At a brightness level of 150 nits, which is the kind of setting you’d deploy in everyday use, the HP performed similarly well, and even improved its colour figures. The E27d is consistent, too, with backlight deviations below 10% in most sectors.
I measured the HP’s sRGB coverage level at 99% with a volume of 107.4%, which is excellent – it means that this panel renders every shade required for everyday work, without those colours becoming oversaturated.
Those everyday tasks are the HP’s limit, though. This display only rendered 73% and 76% of the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 gamuts. This screen isn’t designed for the kinds of complex and precise tasks that required those broader colour gamuts, so creative professionals will want to look elsewhere.
Conclusion
HP’s display offers the image quality to handle everyday work tasks with aplomb, but it doesn’t go beyond that remit – and that’s fine.
Instead, the HP serves up a vast range of connectivity options. It’s possible to run your laptop, networking, peripherals and extra screens through the HP as long as you have the compatible USB-C ports – and that makes the E27d a top option for office versatility.
The HP certainly isn’t cheap, though, so if you’re not going to use all of its features, then I’d recommend saving some cash and opting for a different display. But if you want a feature-packed display with solid everyday image quality, the HP E27d G4 is worth the price. Creative professionals should look elsewhere, however.
You might like…
Best offers
Should you buy it?
You need lots of connectivity and ample adjustment for everyday workloads
The HP E27d G4 is a very versatile monitor, with the USB-C ports allowing for various connectivity options.
You’re a creative professional or you’re buying on a budget
This HP monitor is not cheap, despite lacking the colour range to appease professional workers. This is best viewed as a fancy office monitor rather than something ideal for creators.
Verdict
The HP E27d G4 comes with fantastic connectivity options, which means you can run your entire setup through the screen. It’s adjustable, good-looking, and offers the quality to handle everyday workloads. That’s great, but it’s expensive – and those with more demanding creative workloads should look elsewhere.
FAQs
The HP is protected by a three-year warranty.
Yes – HP sells its Care Pack, which upgrades the screen’s protection to include five years of next-business-day, on-site support.
The HP arrives with DisplayPort and HDMI cables alongside a power cord and a USB-C cable.
Specs full
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
