In this video I finally did what I said I’d do in my last monitor comparison: I actually bought the “$300 monitor” to see what you get when you don’t spend a grand. This is the Dell 32 Plus (S3225QS) — 32-inch, 4K, 120Hz, VA panel — and on paper it sounds like a steal. The contrast and black levels genuinely impressed me at first, to the point where I briefly questioned why anyone would pay $1,000 for an IPS Black screen. The stand is decent with height and rotation, and you get HDMI and DisplayPort (no USB hub or Thunderbolt). But as quickly as I bought it, I returned it. The problems weren’t “spec sheet” problems — they were real-world, day-to-day issues: a strong chemical odor from the packaging (and even the monitor itself), dead pixels right out of the box, and a disorienting brightness shift/haloing as you move left and right in front of a big VA panel. On top of that, it just didn’t feel good on my eyes, and I even thought I detected flicker. Even at the same resolution settings I use on my premium Dell, this one looked hazy and blurry. My takeaway: for something you stare at every day, don’t skimp — your eyes (and long-term health) matter more than saving a few hundred bucks.