A top-notch budget monitor.
AOC’s I2360PHU 23 in budget monitor may be unassuming because of its plain black appearance, but it has a lot going for it. For starters, it’s far more adjustable than other similarly priced displays. You can tilt it, rotate it to work on portrait photos and documents and even adjust its height. The stand is sturdy too.
It is a little chunkier than other 23 in monitors, but it’s not too noticeable.
The I2360PHU has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. Although it uses IPS technology, image quality was lacklustre straight out of the box, with faded colours and mediocre brightness. However, we improved the image quality by boosting the brightness and contrast settings in the onscreen menus and by enabling a feature called Dynamic Colour Boost.
The I2360PHU has a four-port USB hub, although it’s a shame it’s USB2 and not USB3. You shouldn’t need any adapters when connecting any PC made in the past few years because there are HDMI, DVI and VGA connectors. The I2360PHU has built-in speakers, but they sound dire. Usefully there’s a headphone socket, which is handy if your PC is under your desk and its headphone socket is hard to reach. If you’re concerned about theft, there’s a Kensington security slot so you can use a security cable to tether it to a heavy object such as your desk, which should deter burglars.
AOC’s I2360PHU is a cracking budget monitor and, once you’ve tweaked its settings, has great looking colours and contrast. It wins our Buy It! award.