A few months ago, I noticed something peculiar. I was testing various new phone review samples, all of which had screens boasting smooth movement due to high refresh rates, deep blacks and excellent contrast, thanks to OLED technology, and very high brightness. This, however, is no longer noteworthy—it’s the standard for flagship and mid range phones in 2024. So, why is it that on the screen I interact with the most—my monitor—I tolerate the absence of these features?

I write about technology on a daily basis, and my trusty 27″ LG Ergo monitor is fine — as are most monitors on most desks — but it has a woefully outdated screen compared to the phones I’d been using. And so I wondered: for someone who primarily works in a browser window, would upgrading to a better-quality gaming monitor be a meaningful improvement?

The monitor I turned to was the Lenovo Legion Y34wz-30; a 34”, ultrawide, 3440 x 1440, ultra-bright, HDR, Mini-LED panel, which retails at $1,200. While it’s not as large as some top high-refresh OLED monitors, it also doesn’t share their more than $1,500 price tag, and by not using OLED, it eliminates concerns about burn-in. 

While burn-in isn’t a problem on phones, OLED TVs and monitors can experience issues where static elements, like the Windows icon or desktop wallpaper, become permanently imprinted on the display. While there’s software to reduce it, it’s often just a temporary fix, and for most users, a screen brighter or more colorful than this mini-panel is unnecessary. I kept it at 70 percent brightness for the majority of my use.

It’s a beautiful display — with color-accurate video watching and photo editing— and though the smoothness of a high refresh rate isn’t as striking as on a phone or laptop screen, it’s still noticeable. Compared to my existing 60Hz monitor, where the browser window slightly shudders as you drag it across the screen, the Lenovo moved effortlessly, leaving no visual artifacts.

This won’t make you type faster or research better, but in my case, it made me feel like I was working more efficiently, reducing the latency between my search intentions and what I saw on the display. Additionally, the monitor includes an in-built USB hub and can connect to and charge a laptop with a single USB-C cable.

The most significant productivity boost came from the monitor’s ultrawide size, allowing for numerous windows and documents to sit side by side without constant switching. Though I loved the brightness, higher fidelity, and smoothness, it was the wideness that I missed when returning to my humdrum LG monitor.

The only downside to the Lenovo monitor was its default stand, which occupies a lot of desk space but has limited adjustability, particularly compared to the adjustable ‘ergo’ monitor arm for my LG. I also wished for more options to control the RGB lights — looking for a subtle glow, rather than a gamer rainbow wave — so ultimately turned them off. 

When I received this review unit, I expected a monitor of this kind to be a luxury upgrade for a standard desk setup. However, having used it, I am now fully convinced. For those working from home, a high-refresh-rate, widescreen monitor proves to be a significant upgrade, surpassing the benefits of using two monitors. This is so much so that I’m strongly considering purchasing this very monitor for myself, and pairing it with an ergonomic Herman Miller Flo monitor arm. 

The only reason I haven’t done so already is that Lenovo recently reduced the price of the monitor to 50 percent less, a sale that is no longer active, but I would wait for it to return. At the current price, it’s a great monitor, but at $600, it would be a steal.