I had a problem with a cheap thunderbolt-to-HDMI adapter that only did 4K@30Hz. MacOS scaling options were very limited (full 4k, HiDPI 1080p or scaled 1080p) and nothing looked great.
I tried the 27" 4k monitor at work with a thunderbolt to display port cable and all scaling options were then available to me. I'm running 1440p equivalent which seems to be about right for 27".
I chose a 4k for resolution flexibility and sharper text for code. I can fit more code on a 27" 1440p vs a 24" 1080p and text is sharper.
The only productivity I've lost has been appreciating how good everything looks. Well, that and trying to read about why I was missing the scaling options.
Hopefully someone in your situation will find this and learn the cable matters.
Because that's what everyone here is talking about.