Iiyama ProLite XUB2493HSU-B1
Not the perfect 24in monitor, but image quality is astounding for the price
SCORE
PRICE £108 (£130 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk
If you’re on a tight budget, we can cut to the quick: the Iiyama ProLite XUB2493HSU-B1 offers unmatched value without making any obvious sacrifices. Indeed, you could place this 24in monitor next to the twice-asexpensive Eizo and wonder why they aren’t the same price.
Cosmetically, there’s little between them. Both employ slim bezels to give an edge-to-edge appearance, with the only blemish on the Iiyama being an ugly sticker that proclaims all of its features. Luckily, it’s easy to strip this off. And, in Iiyama’s defence, there’s quite a feature list: you can flip it into portrait mode, it provides VGA, DisplayPort and HDMI inputs, plus there are two side-mounted USB 3 ports for easy access.
The Iiyama also uses the same IPS panel technology as the Eizo, and there isn’t a huge gulf between the two when it comes to image quality. The ProLite even covers more of the sRGB gamut (93.6% versus 88%) with an outstanding average Delta E of
0.81, while its measured contrast ratio of 1,192:1 is great too. All of those results came in the monitor’s preset sRGB mode, which bizarrely locks you into 100% brightness – and it’s bright at 278cd/m2 .
We assume that Iiyama was aiming for a 6500K colour temperature with this setting, but it actually measured at 6367K – which isn’t a disaster, but if you’re sensitive to such things then you’ll need to create your own profile using the OSD. This is where the Eizo proved light years ahead, with context-sensitive controls that show you what each button does before you press it, while the Iiyama relies on the time-honoured and highly annoying system of rear-mounted buttons – but with no onscreen cues explaining what each does, it’s far from intuitive. It’s also too easy to accidentally switch off the panel by pressing the bottom-most button, which is the power switch.
So there are signs of cost cutting here, but the Iiyama ProLite XUB2493HSU-B1 pulls the win out of the bag with a flexible stand – it even offers 130mm of height adjustment – and a price that none of its equally reputable rivals can match.