What monitor can I get for £150

Vulkan HeStan · March 31, 2020

How much monitor can I get for £150 (~$180 USD). I've been searching but the amount of options and my lack of knowledge of panel types, response times etc. have made it overwhelming.

Must haves:

Smaller than 24"

Refresh rate above 60Hz

Nice to haves:

Freesync

Good colour reproduction

I use my pc mostly for work and games (notably racing and strategy like hoi4, f1, forza, etc.) so a good looking picture is more important than super high refresh rate.

WelshDdraig · March 31, 2020

I personally use a spectrum of monitors in that price point.
I have a 60hz TN panel (Do not recommend), a 75hz PLS Panel (Samsung's version of IPS - This monitor is no longer made ) and an 144Hz VA Panel (In between IPS and TN, good color reproduction - not exceptional, but workable, and a good response time).

For your price point, you are going to be looking at 1080p, 75-144hz range of monitors.
You have to be careful going through them as a lot will be TN still, and since you said you would like "Good colour reproduction", then TN is out of the question (although they have gotten a lot better in recent years).

To save you some of the headache - here is the monitor I use for gaming and video editing (if I need more precise colours, then I'll move over to my samsung monitor, but this one will do almost all of it fine.) It also has freesync and works with Nividia's G-Sync (My brother has the same one and uses it on his Nvidia GPU)
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/pc-monitors/pc-monitors/msi-optix-mag241c-full-hd-23-6-curved-led-gaming-monitor-black-10187614-pdt.html
Its just over your £150 target, but if you look around, you may be able to get one cheaper on the second hand market (I did - got mine for £99, just has a little tiny scratch on the panel - only noticeable on pure white backgrounds).

Spoiler

Here is another "Cheap" 144Hz monitor that uses a VA Panel (£141 free P&P): https://www.cclonline.com/product/viewsonic-vx2458-c-mhd-24-inch-curved-gaming-monitor-1920-x-1080-280-cd-m2-16-9-3000-1-1ms-black-vx2458-c-mhd-276008/

Spoiler

Here is an ASUS IPS Monitor - however, this one is only clocked at 75Hz (£99.99 not including P&P): https://www.ebuyer.com/966013-asus-va24ehe-23-8-eye-care-full-hd-monitor-va24ehe

Spoiler

All of those monitors are 24" or less, >60Hz Refresh Rate, Support FreeSync, Not TN.

There's not much in the price bracket you offered I'm afraid. Monitors are still quite expensive in the UK unfortunately

You will also be giving up some of the comforts, such as height adjustable stands, rotatable screens etc).
Best of luck with what ever you end up picking (Be it one that I provided or a different one you decide to get

Vulkan HeStan · March 31, 2020

@WelshDdraig thanks for the suggestions . I saw the viewsonic and Asus while searching pc part picker and just wanted to check if others would recommend them.