Dell S2421HS Productivity Monitor Review

Best Features

• IPS Panel
• Thin Bezels
• Dell EasyArrange
• AMD FreeSync
• Full Adjustable Stand

The Dell S2421HS is best suited for productivity, but its IPS panel should also get the job done for most purposes. It offers decent gaming performance due to its low input lag and FreeSync support.

It is not that great for entertainment since it does not support HDR, and the color coverage is narrow to meet the standards required for high-quality media creation.

Productivity

Gaming

Entertainment

Media Creation

Front

Monitor Type – Flat
Width – 53.78 cm
Height – 34.68 cm

The front of the Dell S2421HS looks elegant, and it suits productivity spaces and offices. The panel has a black finish, and you get Dell branding on the middle of the bottom bezel.

The stand has a silver finish, so it looks well with the black finish of the panel, and it gives it a premium look. The buttons for OSD are on the front, and there is an LED light that indicates whether the display has video signals from the source or not.

Moreover, there are vents between the display and frame to dissipate heat for efficient working of the monitor.

Back

Depth – 15.97 cm
VESA Mount – 100x100mm
Ports Position – Down-Facing

The Dell S2421HS is finished in textured white at the back. It looks premium and suits environments where the monitor’s back is exposed, like office receptions. The back has Dell branding on the top, and it is center aligned.

The stand is fixed in the center, and when you detach the stand, you will notice the VESA mount holes for mounting this monitor on the wall or custom monitor arm. The connectivity ports are down-facing, making it easy to route cables.

Bezels 10/10

Thinness – 0.5 cm

The bezels are relatively thinner on the Dell S2421HS than our recently reviewed IPS monitors (ASUS PA27AQ & Alienware AW2521HF).

Hence, the bezels on the Dell S2421HS are thinner than most monitors, the difference is noticeable, but it makes a difference when you make a multiple monitor setup.

Build Quality 7/10

Weight – 7.05 lbs

The build quality is acceptable for the price. It looks premium, but it is plastic, which makes this monitor flex at some parts. The stand is also plastic, and it does not have a premium mechanism making the monitor wobble at times.

Dell is known for its reliability and robust build, which is missing on the S2421HS. Their premium monitors have better build compared to this.

Stand 6/10

Removable Stand – Yes
Cable Management – Yes

The stand is of Dell S2421HS is finished in silver, as mentioned earlier. It is not too deep so that you will have a decent amount of space left on the desk.

However, the stand’s footprint is broad and takes a good amount of space on the desk. Still, it does not hold the monitor well, resulting in a noticeable wobble, which should concern the professionals with an adjustable desk.

It has a cable management hole to route cables, but not enough for a wires-free setup.

Ergonomics 8/10

Tilt – 21° Backward, 5° Forward
Swivel – 30° Left, 30° Right
Height – 10 cm
Pivot – Both Ways

The Dell S2421HS offers a full range of ergonomics. It tilts, swivel goes up-down, and portraits for vertical orientation. However, it has a very narrow height range, and the swivel range is acceptable, not as wide as most ergonomics monitors.

Panel

Panel Type – IPS
Panel Size – 23.8″
Aspect Ratio – 16:9

The Dell S2421HS boasts an IPS panel on the front, and it is ideal for productivity and casual gaming. The panel offers rich colors and wide viewing angles, which is common with IPS panels.

The colors do not fade when viewing from the sides and top bottom, making it ideal for mounting this monitor at height on the wall.

The panel has a low input lag, making it a very responsive monitor for causal gaming.

Screen Clarity 7/10

Resolution – FHD | 1920x1080p
PPI – 92 PPI

The panel has 1920x1080p resolution, which results in 92 PPI on the 24″ screen. It has decent clarity of visuals, and texts appear crisp making it great for reading and office tasks.

However, the screen space is not the best for professionals who do multi-tasking. If the budget is not an issue, a 1440p or 4K monitor will be a great choice.

Brightness 6/10

Peak Brightness – 250-nits

The peak brightness of the Dell S2421HS is 250-nits. It is basic and not well suited for well-lit rooms. Placing this monitor in front of a window or light should cause some amount of glare due to its low peak brightness.

However, an anti-glare coating on display fights the glares and reflections, resulting in a clear view of visuals to a great extent.

Contrast 5/10

Contrast Ratio – 1000:1

The contrast ratio is average on the Dell S2421HS, resulting in mediocre dark-room performance. It is not the best fit if you are a creative professional, and color accuracy matters a lot for your work because the blacks appear gray in the dark.

It has excellent gray uniformity across the screen, but the black uniformity is not that great, and there is some visible cloud effect due to backlight bleeding.

Viewing Angles 10/10

Viewing Angles (H/V) – 178°/178°

The viewing angles of Dell S2421HS are wide, and the colors do not shift, resulting in the original form of colors when viewing from the sides.

Unlike TN and VA monitors, the Dell S2421HS has consistent colors across most viewing approaches, and that makes it an excellent fit for sharing work with a client or a colleague sitting beside.

Color Coverage 6/10

NTSC – 72%
sRGB – 95%

The Dell S2421HS covers 72% NTSC, meaning it covers basic color coverage needed for viewing web content and everyday visuals. It has decent color accuracy out of the box, but it lacks wide color gamut coverage.

Response Time 6/10

Average Response Time – 8ms
Minimum Response Time – 4ms

The Dell S2421HS has 4ms minimum response time at 60Hz refresh rate resulting in acceptable motion handling performance for gaming. A casual gamer would not even notice the blur, but there is a noticeable overshoot in fast motions.

This should not concern most because it is a productivity monitor, not intended for gaming purposes. However, it can do causal gaming.

Refresh Rate 7/10

Refresh Rate – 48Hz to 75Hz

This monitor has max 75Hz refresh rate. If you are not used to a high refresh rate monitor, this will do the job. However, consider some other monitor if you need smoothness because this is not the smoothest.

It is suitable for gaming on low-powered CPUs because this monitor performs great at 60Hz refresh rate

BFI n/A

Black Frame Insertion – N/A

The Dell S2421HS does not have strobing backlight technology for reducing motion blur. It is a productivity monitor, so this monitor does not have it. The black frame insertion is usually found in high-end gaming monitors.

HDR n/A

HDR Compliant – N/A

The Dell S2421HS does not have HDR compatibility and certification.

Variable Refresh Rate

AMD FreeSync – Yes
Nvidia G-Sync – N/A

The Dell S2421HS has AMD FreeSync that helps deliver a clear and stutter-free gaming experience to its users. It syncs frame rates coming from GPU with the monitor’s refresh rate so that you get a consistent image quality.

Low Blue Light Mode

This monitor has a built-in low blue light mode for reading in dark environments. It minimizes harmful light to save your eyes from straining, enabling you to work on the monitor for a long time.

Built-in Speakers

Speakers – N/A

The Dell S2421HS does not have built-in speakers. Even cheaper monitors have speakers built-in. If you are looking for monitors with speakers, check out our guide.

OSD Menu

The OSD menu is easy to use, but the features are not plenty. You get buttons to control the OSD menu, but a joystick would have been better.

Video Inputs

1x HDMI 1.4
1x DisplayPort 1.2

The Dell S2421HS has dual video ports. It houses a single HDMI 1.4 and a single DisplayPort 1.2. These ports are sufficient and should get the job done for most setups.

USB & Other Ports

1x 3.5mm Audio Out

The Dell S2421HS has a single audio out port for headphones. It misses out on USB ports which is disappointing because it adds flexibility for professionals.