I’ve been a staunch defender of havingmultiple monitorsfor almost 15 years now. Once you’ve worked on one screen and had 24/7 Subway Surfers clips on the other to help you concentrate, it’s really hard to go back.
And yet, the Innocn 5K2K might well be the monitor to convince me to make the switch. Though it does have a few pain points, it’s a behemoth of an OLED monitor that gives you enough screen real estate and a few cool features thrown in for good measure.
A Big Boy
The Innocn 5K2K is a 49” behemoth of a 1440p ultrawide OLED monitor, with a maximum resolution of 5120 x 1440. On first glance, this thing is an absolute monster, dwarfing my desk and even my previous, multi-monitor setup which already included a 21:9 ultrawide. It’s an experience anyone who’s made thejump to ultrawidescan attest to, but it’s almost comical how big this thing really is.
While I opted for using a desk mount, the included stand has a few cool features too, like a built-in headphone hook.
Despite the size, setup was nice and easy. Standard VESA mounts made putting it on my existing stand a breeze. The biggest problem are the inputs, which stick directly out the back of the monitor instead of on a recessed edge or at the bottom. This won’t sit flush against the wall without some third party 90-degree adapters.
Speaking of inputs, the 5K2K offers two HDMI 2.1 and a DisplayPort, which can all be used together to offer picture-in-picture from multiple inputs. There’s also a USB hub with USB-C and USB 3 inputs, an ethernet port, and a 5mm sound jack. I wouldn’t recommend using the built-in speakers, though, as they are incredibly tinny and pale in comparison to even an entry-level soundbar or pair of headphones.
The 1800R curve feels very slight, which can be tricky to adjust to. Monitors usually sit less than a metre away from your face, and with a screen this big, I became acutely aware of how far away the corners are. It’s not a big deal once you’ve got used to it, but it does add a bit of friction to those first few days of using it.
While I’m not usually a fan of anything RGB or ‘Gamer-y’, the addition of LED mood lighting on the back of the display is a nice touch. It’s subtle, offering some ambient lighting behind what would otherwise be a monolithic black hole of screen. It can be configured through the OSD if you don’t want it, but it’s the sole piece of RGB lighting I’ve allowed within a mile of my desk for how tastefully it brings the kit together.
Looking Good
In the screen itself is an OLED panel with a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. It can be tempting to look at a screen this big and think a 4K display would be better, but the 5K2K balances it well by having great pixel density at a resolution that’s the perfect trade-off between visual acuity and performance.
The OLED display looks gorgeous, with black blacks and a great contrast ratio adding pop to your games. Playing Counter-Strike 2 in a dark room, the gunfire flashed like it was a real AK going off. The flashbang was painful, but that’s more my own fault for looking directly at it in such a dark room.
While the default contrast is great, the monitor’s HDR offerings are one of its biggest pitfalls at just an HDR400 rating. The blacks are certainly blacker, but everything else looks washed out and muddy. It’s pointless to use it, as turning HDR off may have slightly less deep blacks, but a far better overall colour.
Thankfully, the response time is lightning-fast at 0.03ms. Especially with G-Sync and Freesync included (as is standard these days), I’ve noticed next to no input delay. Of course, I’m pushing the geriatric age of 31 and my days as a potential Quake 3 pro are long behind me, but even with my decrepit reaction times gaming on this felt snappy, responsive, and smooth as anything.
I Couldn’t Go Back To A Regular-Sized Display
Though going to a 32:9 aspect ratio is a huge jump, and with it comes endless tinkering with game config files and third party tools to get all my windows in order, I’ve not once considered going back to a multi-monitor setup. Gaming is more immersive than ever, and having all this room to spread out on one screen has made work much more efficient. Even if it does give me more opportunity to cram even more tabs into one browser window.
The Innocn 5K2K has its problems. If you’re already on a 32:9 monitor, you’ll likely not get a whole lot out of switching over to this one. HDR and the sound quality are naff, and the inputs sticking out the back might make it tough to fit into some configurations.
But if you’re someone wanting to make the leap up, this is a great piece of kit. Playing games on it is like playing on a Jumbotron, and the novelty of having such an absurdly big display never quite wears off. The 5K2K offers smooth response times, impressive pixel density for a 1440p Display, plenty of inputs, the sole use of RGB LEDs that I approve of, and beautifully vibrant contrast. And that’s more than enough for me to not be looking elsewhere for a good long while yet.
