BenQ BL2490 23.8" Black

The BenQ BL2490 is a 23.8-inch 1080p IPS office monitor with a 100Hz refresh rate, which makes everyday use feel smoother than typical budget panels. It's listed from USD 85 to USD 120, and at the low end that's a steal. Brightness is only 250 nits and there's no height adjustment, so it's not for bright rooms or ergonomic perfectionists. If you need a dependable daily driver for office work and can find it under USD 100, this is a solid buy.

The headline number is 100Hz, and for office work that's a real quality-of-life upgrade. Moving your cursor, scrolling through long PDFs, and switching between virtual desktops all feel smoother than on a 60Hz panel. It's not going to blow anyone's mind the way a 144Hz or 240Hz gaming monitor would, but for productivity it's a nice step up. The 5ms response time is fine for this class. You might see a little ghosting in fast-moving content, but nobody's buying this for competitive shooters.

Brightness sits at 250 nits, which is about average for budget office monitors. In a dim or moderately lit room, that's perfectly usable. In a sun-drenched corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows, you'll probably wish for more. The contrast ratio is listed at 1300:1, which is actually a touch better than the typical 1000:1 you see on many IPS panels in this range. That means blacks look a little deeper and text has a bit more pop. Color coverage is 99% sRGB with 8-bit depth, so colors will look accurate enough for everyday work, though this isn't a panel for serious photo or video editing.

The competitors in our database tell an interesting story. The ASUS ROG Strix XG27JCG, Acer Nitro XV272U W2bmiiprx, HP OMEN 27qs G2, and LG UltraGear 27GS75Q-B are all 27-inch gaming monitors with higher refresh rates and better color performance. They also cost significantly more. The Gigabyte GS G34WQC2 is a 34-inch ultrawide, which is a completely different beast. None of these are direct competitors in the traditional sense, which actually tells you something about the BL2490's position. It's not trying to compete with gaming monitors. It's competing with other budget office panels, and in that space it holds its own.

If you're cross-shopping, the real question is whether you need 100Hz or would be fine with a cheaper 75Hz office monitor. The BL2490's refresh rate is its main differentiator against other budget business displays. If you don't care about smooth scrolling, you can probably find a 60Hz or 75Hz IPS panel for less. But if you've ever been annoyed by choppy cursor movement or jittery scrolling, the extra hertz here is worth the small premium.

Here's where things get interesting. The BL2490 is listed between USD 85 and USD 120 across four US listings, and CAD 100 to CAD 139 across three Canadian listings. That's a meaningful spread. If you can snag it near the bottom of that range, you're getting a brand-name IPS monitor with a 100Hz refresh rate for less than the cost of a decent dinner for two. Best Buy has the lowest US price at USD 85, so that's the first place to check if you're in the States.

At the top of the range, around USD 120 or CAD 139, the value proposition gets shakier. You're creeping toward the price of 1440p panels or higher-refresh 1080p gaming monitors when they go on sale. The BL2490 is a solid monitor, but it's not a USD 120 monitor. If you can't find it under USD 100 or CAD 120, you might want to wait for a sale or look elsewhere.

The BenQ BL2490 is a 23.8-inch IPS monitor aimed squarely at office desks, not gaming battlestations. It runs 1920 x 1080 at 100Hz, which is a bit of an odd duck. Most budget office panels sit at 60Hz or 75Hz, so that extra refresh headroom makes scrolling and window dragging feel noticeably smoother. BenQ also leans hard into their eye comfort story here, with an anti-glare coating and a brightness level that won't sear your retinas during an eight-hour spreadsheet session.

Who is this for? Someone who wants a dependable daily driver for email, documents, web browsing, and the occasional video call. Maybe a home office setup where you don't need 4K or HDR, but you do want something that feels a little more responsive than the dusty 60Hz panel you've been using since 2016. It's also a decent pick for a second monitor in a multi-display setup, especially since it has both HDMI and DisplayPort.

The interesting bit is the price. We're seeing this thing listed anywhere from USD 85 to USD 120 across US retailers, and CAD 100 to CAD 139 up north. At the low end, that's genuinely cheap for a brand-name IPS panel with a 100Hz refresh rate. At the high end, you're getting into territory where better options start to appear. So the deal you get matters a lot here.

If you work in a bright room with lots of natural light, the 250-nit brightness is going to be a problem. You'll find yourself cranking the brightness to max and still squinting. Look for something with 350 nits or more instead. Photographers, video editors, and designers should also skip this one. The 99% sRGB coverage is fine for office work, but there's no wide gamut support, no hardware calibration, and the 8-bit panel won't give you the color precision you need for professional creative work.

Gamers should look elsewhere too. The 100Hz refresh rate is a nice bonus for productivity, but the 5ms response time and lack of adaptive sync make this a poor choice for anything faster than Minesweeper. If you want a budget gaming monitor, there are 144Hz and 165Hz 1080p panels available for not much more money, especially during sales. And if you're someone who needs USB-C connectivity for a modern laptop, the BL2490's HDMI and DisplayPort only setup means you'll need dongles or adapters.

For a home office or general productivity setup, the BenQ BL2490 is an easy recommendation at the right price. The 100Hz refresh rate is the star of the show, making everyday tasks feel more responsive than you'd expect from a budget monitor. The IPS panel delivers good color and contrast for the class, and the dual HDMI plus DisplayPort setup means you can hook up a laptop and a desktop without swapping cables. If you find it for USD 85 to USD 95, just buy it.

For anyone doing color-critical work, gaming, or working in a bright room, this isn't the monitor for you. The 250-nit brightness and 1080p resolution are limiting factors, and the lack of height adjustment means you might need a monitor stand or a stack of books to get the ergonomics right. But as a no-frills office workhorse, the BL2490 does exactly what it promises, and at the low end of its price range, it does it for very little money.