Pros
- Wide canvas to work with
- High refresh rate of 144 Hz
- Spacious ports for connectivity
- USB-C charges portable devices
- Fair price
- Solid hardware design and quality build
cons
- Bad speakers
- Menu buttons require practice
Specifications:
| Display | 40-inch, 3440 x 1440 pixels, IPS LCD |
|---|---|
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz |
| Aspect ratio | 21:9 |
| Contrast ratio | 1200:1 |
| Brightness | 500 nits |
| Ports | DP 1.4, USB-C (90W), HDMI 2.0 (2), 3.5mm audio |
| Weight | 12.65kg (27.9lbs) |
A few months ago, the Innocn 27C1U 4K computer monitor replaced my standard Dell 24-inch monitor and the colors, brightness and performance remained impressive. Last month, the Innocn 40C1R ultra-wide monitor arrived to test. It’s impressive for gaming, multi-input usage, and productivity with multiple apps and tabs.
My primary ZDNet writing computer is an older Surface Book, while my everyday tech computer is a Surface Pro 6. To connect these computers to the monitor, I just switch the connection to my Microsoft Surface hub. With these Surface products, I liked having two full-size apps side by side to get work done.
Here’s an example of working with two browsers open on the wide screen Matthew Miller/ZDNet
With USB-C support and my focus on mobile devices, I connected the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to Samsung DeX with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for a full PC experience. I also tested my iPad Pro 12.9 with iOS 16.0 public beta which significantly improves external monitor support.
Hardware
The store package is very long, so you may want to have two people present for unpacking and set up. The box contains the monitor, a power cable, USB-C to USB-C cable, DP cable, color calibration report for the specific monitor in the box, four hexagonal irons for mounting, stand arm, stand and an instruction guide. The two-piece stand consists of a vertical piece that screws securely into the base platform and then snaps into the back of the monitor, providing a very sturdy platform to place the monitor on your desk. You can also mount the monitor on a wall and those specific instructions can be found in the box. Installation was quick and easy, so I had everything up and running in minutes.
Connection ports are located on the bottom rear of the monitor and include a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, DP1.4 port, USB-C PD 90W port, 3.5mm audio jack and DC power port. With this assortment of ports, I connected my Surface dock to the DP1.4 port, Samsung devices and the iPad to the USB-C port, and my Nintendo Switch to the HDMI port. It was quick and easy to switch between ports and have the cables I needed available at the base.
The 27-inch model on the left looks small next to the 40-inch ultra-wide monitor on the right Matthew Miller/ZDNet
The monitor is height adjustable with a range of 120mm to meet the desired height. You can rotate the monitor 30 degrees left and right, tilt forward 5 degrees or tilt back 15 degrees.
Also: Samsung DeX 101: Turn a Galaxy Phone or Tablet into Your Primary Computer
Check Controls and Settings
Press any button in the lower right corner of the screen to access the on-screen controls. There are five buttons and working from left to right we find the menu button, down button, up button, exit/shortcut and on/off button. The menu button is used to make selections. The up and down buttons move through menu options in a menu, and if no menu is displayed on the screen, they can be used to quickly increase or decrease brightness levels. The exit/hot key goes back to the menu system and also lets you quickly switch between port settings without a menu on the display.
On-screen menu options (OSD) are plentiful on the Innocn 40C1R with settings for game, professional, photo, PIP/PBP, OSD settings and other settings. Game settings include RTS/RPB mode toggle, FPS arena mode toggle, adaptive sync, refresh rate, and game crosshair options. The monitor is clearly optimized for the gamer and that experience is better than the work experience with the resolution offered.
A plethora of options are available to optimize the monitor for your gaming or work needs Matthew Miller/ZDNet
Professional settings include standard mode, sRGB mode, Adobe mode, uniformity mode, gamma, CT settings, sharpness, shadow balance, low blue light, hue, saturation, and dynamic brightness. Image settings include brightness, contrast, DCR, contextual model, HDR and aspect ratio.
While you can use PIP with a secondary input device, I preferred using PBP for Samsung DeX on half the screen. There are six available settings for PIP/PBP, so explore them if you want to use this feature.
The OSD settings allow you to customize three of the hotkeys to suit your preferences, allowing you to set them up for the most common functions that allow you to operate the monitor without having to dive into the full OSD menu. Hotkey options include brightness, contrast, volume, mute, shadow balance, pin reticle, refresh rate, PIP/PBP mode, input signal, dynamic brightness, and HDR.
Other settings include input signal, volume, mute, auto power on, eye shield reminder, reset, and information. As you can see, you can fully customize the monitor to your specific needs. The monitor is also intelligent and everything I plugged into it worked perfectly without having to dive into the settings. I did change some settings to make sure everything was optimized, but the automatic settings were close to perfect.
Also: Innocn PU15-Pre 4K OLED review: A portable monitor to boost your productivity
Daily usage experiences and conclusion
The Innocn 40C1R ultra-wide monitor is optimized for gaming, and after connecting my Surface computers for the first time, I wasn’t impressed with the resolution, especially when I had the Innocn 27C1U 4K as a secondary monitor. The speakers are also pretty awful so make sure to use another source for audio or plug speakers into the 3.5mm audio port as good sound is important to the gaming experience. Playing games at a high refresh rate with FreeSync support (requires an AMD GPU or APU) is probably the better experience with this wide monitor.
After a week, my eyes adjusted to the monitor for technical tasks, creating documents, and more, as I ran just about everything in a split-screen setup with two apps splitting the screen. However, I still prefer the smaller 27C1U for work. The monitor base is quite large and fitting the wider monitor on my standing desk was perfectly acceptable. I actually moved the Innocn 40C1R to another standing desk that doubles as a game station where the monitor is best used.
Setup was quick and easy, the monitor is well constructed, performed flawlessly, and it’s reasonably priced at $499.99. I’ve also seen an $80 coupon for the monitor pop up, making it an even more affordable gaming platform.
Alternatives to consider
The Innocn 40C1R is a solid widescreen monitor, but you might be looking for something different, so here are some alternatives to consider.
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