Asus ProArt 5K Display teeny-tiny mini review

Hardware
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For reasons around which swirl rumours of scandal and worse but are actually to do with a change in employment, I’ve had to move myself from the west side of Canada all the way to the east coast. For now this is a hybrid job, so I will be maintaining my home office in BC, where my beloved Studio Display will remain. This situation left me with the need for something comparable in my new place.

Under different circumstances I might have closed my eyes (so as to not see the price) and ordered a new Studio Display, but in the past few months Asus has released a 27” 5K display of their own (ProArt Display PA27JCV), so I decided to give that a try. It’s not available anywhere in Canada that I can find but I was able to order it from the US Amazon store and have it shipped. Even with currency conversion and import duties the Asus display cost is less than half of that of a new Studio Display with a height adjustable stand.

Overall, I could not be happier with the thing. I work mainly with lots of text (composition, communication, and code) so text clarity is my number one concern, and this display delivers that beautifully.

From my perspective the main drawbacks are:

No camera (I can get an external, but my MBP has a camera that’s just fine for Zoom/Teams calls).

Truly wretched speakers (I don’t care about that, but others might)

It doesn’t look like an Apple product (It’s fine, but it’s not beautiful by any means)

None of those things are worth the extra expense of a Studio Display for me, so this has been a great purchase. If you’re looking for a 27” display for a Mac, and clarity is your main concern, I’d give this a consideration.

Added bonus: When I ship my PC out, it can use this monitor as well, as it has gasp multiple inputs.

3 Likes
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Offtopic, but how far East? :slightly_smiling_face:

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Not quite as far east as you :grin: I’m with UPEI now

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Thanks for sharing!

Are there any LG 27MD5KL-B 5K Ultrafine 27″ or Samsung ViewFinity S9 users that can share their experiences?

(I’m in the market for a 5K monitor and curious about all options)

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I have not used those two monitors but did consider them. The reasons that I didn’t go with them are:

Samsung: Price. It’s nearly as expensive as a Studio Display, at least in Canada, it seems.

LG: Inputs (and price). The LG has only a single Thunderbolt input, and I want to use this monitor with my PC as well, once I get it shipped over here.

Those things may not be as important to you, or you may get those monitors at a significantly lower price than I can, but those are the reasons one of them is not currently sitting next to my MBP

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My LG has been running solid for five years, but the Asus would be my replacement choice, assuming comparing sticker prices. The LG webcam is bad so no advantage there. I plug my peripherals into the other 5k, an Apple.

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Oh, I got confused about LG / BenQ; I am actually also curious about this monitor:

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This feature is particularly interesting:

I don’t like how different colors are when looking at my current monitor and my Mac.

How is this with the other (5K) monitors?

Also curious what that’s like for the Apple Studio Display, as my iPad and iPhone already show the same wallpaper in different colors… :cry:

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That looks like a very interesting monitor! I’m so happy to see more choices in the 27" 5K area. Now if we could only get some (or some more) 24" 4K monitors…