More and more laptops are equipped with a USB-C port that is not only suitable for USB equipment, but also for video output and charging the laptop. This makes USB-C the ideal basis for a modern docking station with which you can charge your laptop and connect it to peripherals such as a screen. Samsung has integrated such a USB-c docking station into a monitor. You can read how that works in this Samsung S27A600UUU review.
S27A600UUU
Price € 399,-
Panel 27 inch ips panel (2560 x 1440)
Brightness 300cd/m²
Contrast ratio 1000:1
Viewing angle 178° (hor.) / 178° (ver.)
Refresh rate 45 – 75 Hz
Picture connections USB-c (DisplayPort 1.2, 90 watts charge, network and USB), HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, DisplayPort 1.2 output
Other connections Gigabit network adapter, 3x USB 3.0, 3.5mm headphone jack
Height adjustable foot Yes, 12 cm
Swivel, Tilt and Swivel Yes Yes Yes
Dimensions with foot 615.5 x 551.9 x 196.4mm
Included cables usb-c cable, hdmi cable
Website www.samsung.com
9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Multifunctional USB-C connection
- Docking station with network and charging
- Height adjustable foot
- Good image quality
- Negatives
- No webcam
- No speakers
Almost all new laptops are equipped with a multifunctional USB-C port, so you can connect all your peripherals with just one cable and also charge your laptop. To make this possible, there are various USB-C docking stations for sale. But you can of course also build in a docking station in a screen and that is exactly what Samsung does with the S27A600UUU (aka 27″ QHD Professional Monitor S60A USB-C).
With one USB-C cable you can connect both the screen and a built-in charger and USB hub with network adapter.
You do not necessarily have to use this screen in combination with a USB-C laptop, because both a DisplayPort and an HDMI connection are also provided. The screen itself is a 27 inch IPS panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. Samsung also markets this screen in a 24- and 32-inch variant. These both have the same resolution as the tested 27-inch model.
Pleasant to use
The screen is designed for the business market and is therefore equipped with a height-adjustable foot that you can adjust in height in 12 centimeters. Of course you can also tilt and swivel the screen. Adjusting requires little force, so you can quickly adjust the screen to your liking. In addition, you can also rotate the orientation of the screen from a horizontal to a vertical position. Please note that the height adjustment must be in the highest position for this.
The adjustable foot is particularly sturdy and stands on a stable metal plate. The foot is easy to assemble during installation, after which you click the screen on the stand. A rubber strap is provided that allows you to tie cables to the base to keep your desk tidy. Unfortunately, there is only a strap at the bottom of the foot, a second strap a little higher would have made the concealment of the cables even neater.
For operation, the screen is equipped with five buttons that are placed at the bottom and provide access to a clear menu that is unfortunately not available in Dutch. In addition to the full menu, you also have quick access to the volume control of the headphone jack and the selection menu for the image input.
Image quality
Samsung has equipped the S27A600UUU with a 27-inch panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The screen uses IPS technology and offers good image quality. You will have to calibrate the screen for serious image editing, for average office use it is sufficient out of the box. It is obviously not a 4K screen.
The screen supports AMD FreeSync which allows you to play games smoothly if your graphics card can’t keep up with the normal refresh rate of the screen. However, it only concerns a limited FreeSync range of 48 to 75 Hz, so you should at most consider this as an extra. Support for FreeSync is disabled by default and you can enable it via the on-screen menu via the system settings.
Built-in docking station
The distinguishing feature of this screen is of course the USB-C connection. A one meter long USB-C cable is included so that you can comfortably place your laptop on your desk. The screen is equipped with an integrated laptop charger with a maximum power of 90 watts, so that you can charge almost any laptop that supports charging via USB-C.
In terms of docking options, Samsung has provided a USB hub with three USB3.0 ports, a 3.5mm sound connection and a gigabit network connection. The faster USB Gen2 speed of 10 Gbit/s is not supported. In practice, this is especially a problem if you want to use very fast external SSDs.
The network controller is based on a chipset from Realtek that is recognized without problems by both Windows and macOS, so you don’t have to take any extra steps to get the thing going. Our usb-c laptops were neatly charged while using the screen. Something that we miss are built-in speakers, although that is of course not always desirable in the office.
A small drawback is that all connections are on the back, making the USB ports especially suitable for equipment that is always connected to your workplace, such as your keyboard and mouse. The USB ports are awkwardly placed for removable storage that you occasionally use, so it’s better to connect those kinds of devices directly to your laptop.
In addition to image inputs, a DisplayPort output is also provided. You can connect a second screen to this, so that you can connect two screens to your laptop with one USB-C cable. Whether this functionality actually works depends on your laptop. There must be support for Multi-Stream Transport (MST).
Docking Station Test Results
The built-in docking station is an important part of this display. We have tested the performance of the built-in options in combination with laptops with a USB-C connection. The network adapter is connected to the system via a USB3.0 hub and achieves a speed of 947 Mbit/s under Windows in a speed test, or a decent gigabit speed.
In macOS, the network speed is about 670 Mbit/s, which is because the Realtek drivers under macOS perform less well anyway. It also works under both operating systems without installing anything, which is very nice if you have several laptops.
The screen also has three USB ports on the back with which you can connect peripherals to your laptop via the docking station. You can connect your keyboard and mouse to this, for example, but also other USB devices such as an external drive. We tested the performance of the USB ports on the back in combination with an external SSD and then achieved a decent speed of 458 MB/s.
When we connect the same SSD directly to the system, we get 549 MB/s. You lose some speed via the built-in USB hub, but you get a lot of convenience in return. For many peripherals such as a keyboard or mouse, this somewhat lower speed does not matter.
Conclusion
With Samsung’s S27A600UUU, Samsung is launching a screen that is ideal for offices, but also very useful in a home office. In terms of image technology, with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, it is not a very startling screen, but the size and resolution are sufficient for almost all (office) tasks. It’s the built-in docking station and excellent stand that make the S60UA truly an ideal display.
With just one cable you can connect a modern laptop after which your laptop is charged, you can connect your peripherals and be connected to the network. Handy for effortlessly using your own PC, your own laptop and your work laptop at home. Logically, you pay a bit for that convenience, because a screen that is comparable in image quality without a docking station is available on your desk for about 260 euros.
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