Dell P P2217H 21.5" Black 2016

The Dell P2217H is an office workhorse with a killer ergonomic stand and slim bezels, but the display itself is dated. Performance lands in the 9th percentile and color in the 17th, so it's strictly for productivity. If you can grab one under USD 100, it's a great budget pick for a multi-monitor office setup.

The P2217H runs at 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz with a 6ms response time, which lands it in the 9th percentile for performance in our database. That's not a typo. This thing is slow by modern standards, and the 250-nit brightness means it'll struggle in a bright room. The IPS panel gives you decent viewing angles and the 4,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio sounds impressive on paper, but real-world contrast is nothing special. Color coverage sits at 16.7 million colors with 8-bit depth, which puts it in the 17th percentile for color. Fine for documents, not for photo editing. The one bright spot is connectivity: HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, VGA, and four USB ports (two 3.0, two 2.0) give you plenty of ways to plug things in.

Stacked against the competition, the P2217H is in a weird spot. The Acer Nitro XV272U W2bmiiprx and LG UltraGear 27GS75Q-B are both 27-inch gaming monitors with much higher refresh rates and better color, but they cost more and lack the P2217H's ergonomic stand. The ASUS TUF Gaming VG27VQMY is a curved VA panel that'll give you better contrast but worse viewing angles. The SANSUI 27 inch is a budget 27-inch option that's bigger but has a flimsier stand. And the Uperfect Portable Monitor M160C01W is a completely different beast, a portable 16-inch panel for travel. The P2217H's real advantage is its 91st percentile ergonomics and 85th percentile compact size. It's the monitor you buy when you want a tidy, adjustable office setup, not the one you buy for performance.

Pricing is all over the place depending on where you look. In the US, we're seeing listings from USD 59 to USD 195 across 10 vendors, with the best deal on Amazon.com for a renewed unit. In Canada, the spread is even wider at CAD 250 to CAD 608. At the low end, this is a steal for a fully adjustable IPS monitor. At the high end, you're paying way too much for 2017-era specs. If you can snag one for under USD 100 or CAD 300, it's a solid budget office monitor. Anything more than that and you should look at newer options.

The Dell P2217H is a 21.5-inch 1080p IPS monitor aimed squarely at office workers and anyone who spends long hours staring at spreadsheets. It's not flashy, it's not fast, and it's not trying to be. What it does well is ergonomics and multi-monitor setups, with a fully adjustable stand that lets you pivot, swivel, tilt, and adjust height to your heart's content. The slim bezels make it a solid pick if you're planning to run two or three of these side by side.

But let's be real about what this is. The display itself is pretty dated by modern standards. 250 nits of brightness, 6ms response time, and a 60Hz refresh rate put it near the bottom of our database for performance and color. If you're buying this for gaming or any kind of color-critical work, you're going to be disappointed. If you're buying it as a second monitor for email and documents, it's perfectly fine.

Gamers should skip this entirely. A 60Hz refresh rate and 6ms response time put it in the 9th percentile for performance, and the 250-nit brightness will feel dim next to any modern gaming monitor. Photo editors and designers should also look elsewhere, since the color performance is mediocre at best. And if you need touch screen support or USB media playback, this monitor doesn't have either. If you're expecting a modern display with HDR or high refresh rates, you'll be disappointed.

The Dell P2217H is a purpose-built office monitor and it nails that job. The fully adjustable stand, slim bezels, and VESA compatibility make it a fantastic choice for multi-monitor productivity setups. The 4.3-star rating from 739 reviews backs that up. But the display itself is showing its age. If you need a monitor for gaming, photo editing, or anything that requires speed or color accuracy, this isn't it. If you need a reliable second or third screen for documents, email, and web browsing, and you can find it at a good price, it's a solid buy.