[alfredopacino]

Hello all!
I’m looking for a monitor for work, around 150-200£ with an adjustable stand.
Priority on the viewing angle and color accuracy, I don’t play games, so crazy high refresh rate and low input lag are less important.
That is not my main monitor, that’s why the budget is low.
Any recommendation or at least models to avoid?

[PCM2]

For the ‘extreme’ budget end (for a ‘4K’ UHD model) I’ve found AOC and Philips models to offer a solid performance for their price over the years. I haven’t tested any particularly recently, but the (now largely discontinued) Philips 288E2E / 288E2UAE / 288E2A impressed me when I looked at it. Similar IPS models would be worth looking at from those manufacturers, such as the Philips 27E1N1800AE.

[alfredopacino]

Thanks! Philips 27E1N1800AE was indeed my first option, or maybe Dell S2721QSA (sold at £228). I’m wondering if it is worth the price difference?

[PCM2]

Unless you much prefer it aesthetically I don’t think it’s worth paying the extra.

[alfredopacino]

Quick update:
I’ve bought the Philips 27E1N1800AE. The first impression is: quite decent viewing angle for the price, nice design with minimal frame, bad speakers (i didn’t know there were speakers and I don’t need that). Overall good, if it wasn’t for just one big issue. The refresh rate at first looked so unbearably slow that almost looked like someone on Teams/Zoom was doing a screenshare with me. Turned out my cable (+ my usb hub) actually are hdmi 1.4 and do not support 4k 60hz.
I switched cable and connected directly to the machine with usb hub, things are clearly better.
Still, I’m afraid that for a confortable usage for many hours a day you probably need a 120hz.
So I’ve made a little test on the response time with the Ezio monitor test (https://www.eizo.be/monitor-test/) comparing Philips 27E1N1800AE and Dell P2317h (ignore the ultra warm color of the Philips, I’ve put it that way).
2 video, on one the Philips is working at 30hz, on the other at 60hz. Here is the quiz part: which is which? 🙂

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bucbRibJBfivw0XZ3QPIXq5kf1UORlj7/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16SuYAqvN0LovNH38TvztMSEk4jAiJRIX/view?usp=sharing

[PCM2]

Thanks for sharing your impressions – glad you’re enjoying it overall.

I’m personally spoilt by high refresh rates and really enjoy using 240Hz+ models myself, though I much prefer 120Hz+ over 60Hz. This does come at a significant premium when considering the ‘4K’ UHD models, however.

[alfredopacino]

I’m wondering if I lower the resolution requirement I could get a 120hz? 27″ 2k 120hz? I now realise that I probably would prefer a 2k anyway.
If I’m not wrong, a 4k with a 150% scaling (you really can’t use a 27″ 4k at 100% scaling..) is basically the equivalent of a 2560×1440 at 100%.
Any recommendation on that? A good 27″ with 2k resolution at 60hz or, better, 120hz?

[PCM2]

Common mistake but one I always correct (so nothing personal 😉 ). Avoid using the term ‘2K’ as it’s wildly inaccurate.

In terms of the size of text and various elements you’re correct it will appear similar like ‘4K’ UHD 150% scaled, but you still benefit from a tighter pixel density when it comes to text clarity and image clarity as pointed out our article on the topic (and relevant reviews). But the QHD resolution on a 27″ monitor is still decent in that respect anyway and you might find it just fine. My recommendations are clear in that segment – they’re mainly oriented towards gaming because that is where the market is at for the mid to high refresh offerings which are priced competitively. But they’re certainly good for other uses and the main recommendation there offers USB-C capability for example which is clearly geared towards that. On the more affordable end and for productivity heavy usage (i.e. LCDs) the MSI MAG 274QRF QD E2 is my main recommendation.

[alfredopacino]

silly quesiton: do gaming monitors have on avg worse viewing angle to favor the speed?

[PCM2]

It’s not a silly question, but no they don’t.

[Author]

Posts