Designed for the small office and home users with limited budgets, the Sceptre E205W-16003R is a very affordable 20-inch monitor that uses active matrix technology to deliver accurate colors – but not the best – and good grayscale performance without drawing lots of power. It has a basic selection of I/O ports, including two USB ports, and it’s equipped with a pair of built-in speakers that can deliver acceptable sound quality.
Although its overall color accuracy isn’t as good as we saw on the midsize 21-inch Acer SB220Q bi, and it lacks the Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution of that Editors’ Choice-winning budget monitor, the E205W-16003R is well considering as a value general-purpose display.
- Related: Best Laptops under $500
Design & Features
As with the BenQ GW2480, another top pick, the Sceptre E205W sports a bezel-free cabinet, making it a good candidate for a side-by-side, multi-monitor setup. The black cabinet is supported by a black-and-silver stand that only offers up to 20 degrees of tilt (15 degrees backward, 5 degrees forward). However, you can remove the stand and use the four VESA mounting holes to prop the monitor on a wall using an optional mounting kit.
The 1600 x 900 resolution panel has a non-reflective coating, a peak brightness of 250cd/m2, a 1,000:1 native contrast ration, a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a 5-second millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response. All of its I/O ports are located at the rear of the cabinet, facing outwards. They include a pair of HDMI inputs, a VGA port and a headphone jack. You get a pair of speakers, which is a bonus considering most budget monitors come without built-in speakers.
Setup
Setting up the Sceptre E205W-16003R is quite straight-forward. Being a plug and play monitor, you don’t get any advanced features, just connect the HDMI or VGA to your source machine, connect the power adapter to the mains and you’re done. Once powered, Windows will install the required drivers, and everything is done.
On Windows 10, the display will appear on your Graphics control panel and will be listed as an extended display. Once again, it only includes basic adjustment settings for Brightness, Contrast, and Blue Light, in addition to the usual analog settings.
Performance
Right out of the box, the Sceptre E205W-16003R delivers accurate colors. On a chromaticity chart, red, green and blue colors are rendered to the ideal CIE coordinates. Of course, its clarity doesn’t match that of high-end IPS panels, but it compensates with acceptable viewing angles, and it doesn’t suffer from loss of luminance from top, bottom, or side angles. When watching BBC’s Planet Earth II, all scenes are displayed in great detail, although you lack the vibrancy of a 4K panel, especially in the darker scenes on the “Islands” episode.
While not intended for gaming, the E205W still lets you play a few games at acceptable detail, granted you won’t complain of a few instances of screen tearing and artefacts during gameplay. If you’re a casual gamer who needs something for gameplay in the after-hours, it’ll get the job done.
The panel’s 13.7-millisecond input lag (the amount of time it takes for the monitor to react to a controller command), is relatively short, but not as short as the 9.5 milliseconds from the BenQ SW2700PT.
The Sceptre E205W-16003R is an excellent choice if you’re a casual user seeking a good-size display that boasts solid performance at a very reasonable price. Its bezel-free design is perhaps the main selling point, as it provides a seamless viewing area when two or more monitors are placed side by side.
Moreover, it delivers fairly accurate colors and good grayscale performance, but it’s limited to a low 1600 x 900 resolution. A Full HD resolution would’ve easily earned the E205W-16003R our Editors’ Choice award. The 21-inch Acer SB220Q bi remains our top pick for midsize budget monitors.
Is there a better alternative?
The 21.5-inch Acer SB220Q bi is equally affordable, sports a bezel-free design too, but adds a few more features over the Sceptre E205W. For instance, it gets a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution panel with AMD Radeon Sync technology and a shorter 4ms response time. Its ultra-thin design makes for a premium looking monitor that looks more expensive that it actually costs.
It lacks VESA mount support, but that’s not a deal-breaker, for anyone looking for good color performance at a great price over anything else. For all these reasons, it remains our Top Pick for midsize budget monitors.
Should you buy it?
No. Unless VESA support is what you’re looking for at this price. Otherwise, Acer’s SB220Q bi is a great overall budget monitor for most of your casual home needs and small office use, backed by a great design, a FHD IPS screen and very reasonable price.
Acer SB220Q bi 21.5" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Ultra-Thin Zero Frame Monitor (HDMI & VGA port)
12 used from $82.71
