AOC 24B2XH review: A simple, smart and cheap 24in monitor

The AOC 24BXH2 is as simple as monitors get but it delivers on the basics. It has a good quality panel that produces a calibre of image that’s more than acceptable for such a low price. If you want or need a bigger screen then you’ll inevitably have to pay more money but I’ve not seen much better at this price. Put simply, this is an excellent budget monitor.

Key specifications and price:

• 24in, 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display
• 75Hz refresh rate
• HDMI and VGA video inputs
• Headphone output
• Blue-light reduction mode

What do you get for the money?

Not much, truth be told. The AOC 24BXH2 is a basic 24in monitor, no more, no less. It comes with a stand that only allows a small amount of tilt forwards and backwards and it’s made of lightweight, flimsy feeling plastic that wobbles a little when you knock the desk or prod at the screen.

It’s easy enough to set up. As with most cheap monitors the base of the stand needs to be attached to the monitor with a small thumbscrew but that’s an easy job to do. And once you’ve cleared a space for it on your desk it looks quite nice, too. There’s nothing fancy like a curved screen here but the barely-there bezels along the left, right and top edges make for an elegant-looking design.

It’s very slim, too, and AOC includes both HDMI and VGA cables in the box so you’re ready to go straight away. And if you do want height adjustment (or you want to wall-mount the display) there’s a four-point 100mm VESA mounting on the rear so you can buy your own.

The one black mark against the 24BXH2 is that the power supply isn’t built into the display. Instead, you’ve got to find room on or around your desk for one of those dangling external adapters, which is a bit of a pain.

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What type of connections does it have?

The AOC 242B2XH isn’t exactly chock full of inputs. You get an HDMI and a VGA port, both situated in the centre of the rear panel next to a 3.5mm headphone output.

This might not seem like much but it does cover most PCs and laptops, even those that are restricted to USB-C – although you would need to buy an adapter or HDMI to USB-C converter cable if this applied to you.

How good is the image quality?

In a word, fantastic. In fact, for around £100, I’m not sure it’s possible to get much better image quality than the AOC 24B2XH delivers.

The main reason image quality is so good is that this monitor has an IPS panel. It isn’t the highest resolution at 1,920 x 1,080 but it’s sharp enough that you don’t notice jaggies from normal viewing distances. Unlike a TN panel, you get good, wide viewing angles with no colour shifting or dimming as you look at the screen from an angle, whether that be vertical or horizontal.

And in all our tests, the monitor performed brilliantly. Peak brightness reaches 272cd/m², which is about the same as most monitors in this price bracket and perfectly bright enough for most offices or studies.

The contrast ratio is solid rather than exceptional at 1,122:1, ensuring bold, vibrant images but it’s the colour accuracy in the monitor’s sRGB mode that really catches the eye. It’s simply brilliant, delivering an average delta E of 1.26 (a lower score is better here, with a score of 0 being perfect), a result much better than we’re used to seeing from a monitor so cheap.

Couple that with a max refresh rate of 75Hz, which brings smoother frame rates into play when gaming, and a blue light mode (aimed at reducing eye strain for those who have a habit of working late into the night) and you have a superb all-round package. It’s significantly better even than the Acer ET241Y I reviewed recently and that’s a very good value option, too.

Should I buy the AOC 24B2XH?

Prices and availability are jumping around a lot due to the coronavirus crisis but if you can lay your hands on one of these screens for the list price on Amazon you’ll be scoring yourself a massive bargain.

The AOC 24B2H may not be equipped with luxuries like USB-C connectivity or a height-adjustable stand but it’s got it where it counts. It makes a brilliant choice as a second monitor for your study or home office.