If you're a photographer or videographer who wants to make sure that the colors on your display are correct, investing in a hardware monitor calibrator like the Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra ($299.99) can give you some reassurance. You won't find many such devices on the market to choose from, and some competitors are much more expensive than the Spyder X2 Ultra, which makes it a cost-effective way to fine-tune your monitor's color accuracy.

What It Does and What It Costs

Datacolor makes three different colorimeters. The entry-level model is the Spyder X Pro, which lists for $149 and targets nonprofessionals. PCMag uses the midgrade Spyder X2 Elite ($269.99) to test screens in laptop reviews. The $299.99 Spyder X2 Ultra is the only model that supports HDR monitors; it works with displays capable of up to 2,000 nits of brightness.

For comparison, the Calibrite Display Plus HL supports monitors up to 10,000 nits but costs $339, while X-Rite's full-professional-level i1 Basic Pro 3 and iPublish Pro 3 Plus list for $1,840 and $3,870, respectively. As you can see, Datacolor's devices are the preferred choices for consumers.

Both Windows and macOS include built-in monitor calibration software tools that let you adjust the colors produced by your display. But a hardware colorimeter like the X2 Ultra can give you an extra dose of confidence that your colors are correct. (Color science is a deep and intricate field, so we won't delve too far into color spaces, trichromatism, and such matters here.)

The X2 Ultra doesn't only do a one-time adjustment of your monitor's colors. It also senses ambient lighting and can automatically switch among color profiles optimized for different lighting scenarios such as midafternoon and early morning.

You can even use the X2 Ultra as we use the Elite with laptops, analyzing the brightness, color gamut coverage, and several other parameters of your screen without performing any calibration. This is a nice-to-have extra but not one that's necessary for most users, so we'll stick to the device's calibration features in this review.

Testing the Spyder X2 Ultra: Capable Calibration

I tested the Spyder X2 Ultra on a 4K HDR Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 monitor. Since that monitor's max brightness is 400 nits, the Ultra is overkill, as it's designed for true HDR displays with up to 2,000 nits.

When you first open the box, a cardboard notice on top tells you to download the Datacolor software—that's good, since the device can't do anything without it. The download page includes quick setup instructions and tips for successfully using the colorimeter. After installing the software, you'll see a new S icon in the system tray. The tips suggest resetting the monitor to factory defaults and turning off auto-brightness or HDR/High Brightness settings. 

The Spyder connects to your computer with a USB-C cable (the package includes a USB Type-A adapter if your PC has no USB-C port). I plugged it into my Dell XPS 8950 desktop with an Intel Core i7-12700K CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti running Windows 11, which is connected to the Lenovo monitor with a DisplayPort 1.4b cable. Nothing happened at first.

I launched the Spyder software utility from the system tray icon, and a message box popped up telling me to make sure the device was plugged in. Next, I had to enter a serial number or license code for the software. The serial number is printed inside the box under the device, which took me a while to figure out. Datacolor requires you to activate your license, either over the internet or manually (if you're offline), by entering your name and email address. Once that's done, you get an opportunity to print your license code for later use and then check for software updates.

Finally, the calibration process begins. The instructions say that your monitor needs to be on for at least half an hour before testing, that no intense light should be falling on the display, and that you should reset the monitor to its default settings. It's then time to plug in the Spyder (again).

The first page of the software interface gives you a choice between calibrating your display and soft-proofing. The latter can show you how photos will look when printed using specific printer models, which several programs, such as Adobe Lightroom, can already do. I chose Calibrate, which leads to three distinct options: basic calibration, matching displays for a studio, or analyzing your display quality as mentioned above.

Next, you choose what type of display you're testing—a desktop monitor, an all-in-one PC, or a projector.

Wide LED (the default) will be the appropriate choice for most desktop displays. The final task on this page is to tell the software which controls your monitor has, which could require consulting its on-screen menu or simply playing with the controls.

Finally, it's time for calibration settings. I left all these at their defaults, except for turning on Room Light. You can change the gamma value from the standard 2.2, but for compatibility's sake, it's probably best to leave it alone. There are also a couple of preset gamma curves, such as Cineon, to which you can calibrate.

The Automatic Room Light Switching option alluded to earlier creates multiple profiles that switch automatically depending on the ambient light in your office or studio. That requires having the Spyder always connected to your PC, however. It was also a bit jarring to have the monitor recalibrate colors every 10 minutes (the default).

If you've selected Room Light On, the Spyder measures the ambient light, reporting in my case that the room light was low and suitable for photo editing. Yay! On the same page, you can apply a recommended brightness setting based on this measurement or keep your current settings.

For the actual measurement process, you must hold the device against the screen over a target for a couple of minutes—the X2 Ultra has no clip to hang it from the top of the monitor like some calibration devices (including Calibrite's) have. Another ergonomic win for the Calibrite is that its lens cap is part of the device that you rotate to expose the lens. The X2 Ultra's lens cap is separate and dangles while you're using the device.

For my monitor, the target image over which to hold the device was considerably larger than the colorimeter's footprint. You adjust the display's brightness to a determined range in a green bar on the screen; the software then flashes through colors as you hold the Spyder over the target.

When it's done, you get a color profile that you can rename and save. I was pleased that the software then implements the profile automatically so you needn't go into your monitor's settings and set it up. (I checked in Windows Settings' System/Display and the new profile was indeed installed.) You can also set a schedule for periodic recalibration; the default is monthly.

The software presents a grid of sample images to show the calibration results, each available in a full-screen view. Tapping the space bar shows how the images look before and after the calibration. On my monitor, I noticed more detail in the calibrated versions, particularly in shaded parts of a photo. The calibrated colors had a more realistic look, too, compared with the juiced-up hues of the original view. You can also use your own photos for comparison.

If you need to match multiple monitors, you can offset white point, gamma, and brightness with the SpyderTune settings, but you can avoid messing with these if you have just one monitor.

The final screen of the calibration wizard shows how your monitor's color output compares with that of standards and other monitors. My display closely resembled the P3 color space, with a larger gamut than sRGB/Rec.709 but smaller than a few others, such as Rec.2020. Since my monitor has a Rec.2020 setting, I decided to redo the calibration with that turned on. After calibrating to that setting, the Datacolor utility reported that my display was delivering 98% of the P3 color space, as well as 97% of the Adobe RGB space suitable for work with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom if you're sending images to a professional printer.

For on-screen work, you can set your display to sRGB, a smaller color space that's standard on most screens and websites. For video work, it’s a good idea to set it to Rec.709 (the most common) or Rec.2020 (a wider color space for 4K TVs).

Windows 11 users should note that, after creating a color profile with the Spyder X2 Ultra, you shouldn't turn on Windows' Use HDR setting. When I did this, the screen turned black, though after some flickering the images returned with the setting turned off.

Verdict: An Easy Way to Get Colors Right

If you need to ensure that your monitor's colors are accurate, the Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra is a worthy option, especially if your budget is less than $300. We're not awarding an Editors' Choice in the category until we've had the chance to compare the Spyder with competing devices.

Meanwhile, if you'd rather experiment with calibration before investing in additional hardware, you can check out our guide to the built-in Windows 11 calibration tool. And if you're a creative pro in the market for a new monitor, you may want to consider a model with a built-in colorimeter, such as the Dell UltraSharp 27 4K PremierColor (UP2720Q).