This great 27-inch Studio Display alternative is cheaper than ever

Apple’s Studio Display has its shortcomings, especially when you consider its lofty $1,599 price tag. But what if I told you that a more affordable 5K monitor that nearly matches its specs is less than a third of its price for Black Friday?

The 27-inch KTC H27P3 5K monitor is selling for $534.99 ($135 off) at Amazon, and even less at $509.99 ($160 off) directly from KTC when you click the on-page coupon while it’s still available. The H27P3 has an IPS display with 5120 x 2880 resolution, 60Hz refresh, HDR support, 65W USB-C PD charging (for a single-cable connection to a laptop), with DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 ports. Its 217 pixels per inch is just one pixel shy from matching the Studio Display’s 218 PPI count. Regardless, everything from text and images will look super sharp with no visible artifacts on a screen that’s so dense with pixels.

It’s very thin and fairly color-accurate, and is overall a much more appealing value than the Studio Display if you want a quality monitor for productivity and for some color-sensitive work. The KTC even has a unique feature that Apple can’t match: a dual mode for 120Hz refresh at 2560 x 1440 resolution if you prefer smoother performance over 5K clarity.

Our own Cameron Faulkner has been testing the KTC, so be sure to keep an eye out for that full review. In the meantime, based on initial use and the astronomical price of its competition, we feel comfortable recommending this 5K display for just a bit over five-hundo.