HP EliteDisplay E223 21.5" Silver 2021

The HP EliteDisplay E223 is a 21.5-inch 1080p IPS monitor with standout ergonomics and a micro-edge bezel that makes multi-monitor setups look clean. Refurbished units can be found for as low as $83, which is a bargain for the height adjustment, pivot rotation, and solid connectivity. It's not bright enough or fast enough for gaming or creative work, and some buyers report flickering and cosmetic flaws on renewed units. If you need a budget secondary monitor or a compact office display, this is a smart buy at the right price.

The E223's performance numbers are modest, and that's okay for what it's designed to do. The 60Hz refresh rate and 5ms response time put it at the 21st percentile in our performance rankings. If you're scrolling through spreadsheets, writing emails, or reading documentation, you won't notice any of this. Text looks crisp on the 21.5-inch 1080p panel, and the IPS technology means colors stay consistent even when you're viewing from an angle. That's genuinely useful if you're showing something to a coworker or tilting the screen for a better view.

The color story is a bit more mixed. 94% sRGB coverage sounds decent, but the 72% NTSC and 250 nits brightness land it at the 33rd percentile for color. In plain English: this monitor is fine for everyday office work, but don't expect it to render photos or videos with any real accuracy. The brightness is also on the lower end, so if you're in a room with lots of natural light or harsh overhead fluorescents, you might find yourself squinting. For a dimmer home office or a cubicle with controlled lighting, it's perfectly serviceable.

The E223's competitors in our database are mostly gaming monitors, which tells you something about where the market has gone. The ASUS ROG Strix XG27JCG, Acer Nitro XV272U W2bmiiprx, LG UltraGear 27GS75Q-B, and Samsung Odyssey LS27BG402ENXGO are all 27-inch high-refresh-rate panels aimed at gamers. They crush the E223 on performance and color, but they also cost significantly more and lack the business-focused ergonomics and multi-monitor bezel design. If you're buying a monitor for gaming, any of those will serve you better. The E223 isn't even in that conversation.

The SANSUI 27 inch is a closer competitor in spirit, a budget-friendly large display that undercuts premium options. But it's still a 27-inch panel, which means it's bigger and likely brighter than the E223. The trade-off is that the E223's compact size and pivot rotation make it uniquely suited as a secondary portrait monitor. If you want a side screen for Slack, email, or documentation while your main display handles the heavy lifting, the E223's small footprint and seamless bezels are genuinely hard to beat at this price point.

Here's where things get interesting. The E223's price varies wildly depending on where you look. In the US, we're seeing listings from $83 to $279 across 8 vendors. That's a $196 spread for what is essentially the same monitor, just in different conditions and from different sellers. The refurbished units on Newegg and Amazon are where the real deals are, with some listings dipping under $100. At that price, you're getting a monitor with better ergonomics than most $200 displays.

In Canada, the spread is even wider: CAD 198 to CAD 564 across just 2 listings. That's a CAD 366 difference, which is frankly absurd. If you're in Canada, you'll want to shop around carefully because paying over CAD 300 for this monitor makes a lot less sense. The value proposition here is entirely tied to getting a refurbished unit at the low end of that range. At $83, this is a steal. At $279, you're better off looking at newer 24-inch options with better brightness and color.

The HP EliteDisplay E223 is a 21.5-inch business monitor that's been around long enough to become a staple in corporate offices, and now it's showing up on the refurbished market at prices that make it genuinely tempting for home setups. It's an IPS panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a 5ms response time. Nothing flashy on paper, but the E223 has a trick up its sleeve: a 3-sided micro-edge bezel that makes multi-monitor arrays look almost seamless. If you've ever tried to line up three monitors and gotten annoyed by the chunky plastic frames between them, you'll get why this matters.

Who's this for? Office workers, spreadsheet wranglers, coders who want a second screen in portrait mode, and anyone building a multi-monitor setup on a budget. The ergonomics are the real story here. Height adjustment up to 150mm, tilt, swivel, and full pivot rotation. That's the kind of adjustability you usually pay a lot more for, and it's sitting at the 91st percentile in our database. For a monitor that can be had for under $100 refurbished, that's a big deal.

But let's be honest about what this isn't. It's not a gaming monitor. It's not a color-critical display for photo or video work. The 250 nits brightness and 72% NTSC coverage put it firmly in the "fine for documents and web browsing" category. The user sentiment score of 71/100 and a 4.1-star average from 46 reviews tell a story of a monitor that mostly delights people who know exactly what they're buying, with a few caveats we'll dig into below.

Gamers should absolutely skip this. The 60Hz refresh rate and 5ms response time will feel laggy in anything faster than a turn-based strategy game, and there's no adaptive sync to smooth things out. If you're spending money on a gaming monitor, put it toward something with at least 144Hz and a faster panel. The ASUS ROG Strix XG27JCG or LG UltraGear 27GS75Q-B are both far better options for that use case.

Content creators and photo editors should also look elsewhere. The 72% NTSC color coverage and 250 nits brightness mean you won't get accurate color reproduction or enough luminance for critical work. If you're editing photos or videos, you'll want a monitor with at least 95% sRGB and 300+ nits, ideally with factory calibration. And if you're someone who works in a bright, sunlit room all day, the E223's dim panel will be a constant annoyance. Look for something with 350 nits or more instead.

If you're building a multi-monitor office setup and want something that won't break the bank, the E223 is a solid pick, especially at the low end of the refurbished price range. The ergonomics are the standout feature. Being able to adjust height, swivel, and pivot without buying an aftermarket stand is a quality-of-life upgrade that you'll appreciate every single day. And the micro-edge bezels mean your dual or triple monitor array won't have those annoying thick black bars between screens.

But if you're a gamer, a content creator, or someone who works in a bright room, this monitor will frustrate you. The 60Hz refresh rate, 5ms response time, and 250 nits brightness are all below what you'd want for those use cases. And the user reviews, while mostly positive, do mention flickering issues and cosmetic blemishes on refurbished units. That's the risk you take with renewed products. For a secondary monitor or a budget office display, the E223 earns its keep. For anything more demanding, look elsewhere.