The BenQ GW2486TC is a 23.8-inch 1080p home-office monitor that lists for $199.99 and regularly drops closer to $170. It is aimed squarely at budget shoppers, remote workers, and students who want one screen that just handles everything. PCMag liked it enough to name it an Editors' Choice pick for a general-purpose budget monitor, beating out the old favorite, the HP 24mh. The pitch is simple. It crams in features you normally pay extra for, so the sticker price quietly hides a bunch of gear you would otherwise buy separately.
What You Get for $169
You get a 23.8-inch IPS panel, which is the screen type known for wide viewing angles and accurate color. Resolution is 1920 x 1080 (that is 1080p, or Full HD). Refresh rate is 100Hz, up from the boring 60Hz most office monitors ship with, so scrolling and cursor movement look noticeably smoother.
Color coverage is 99% sRGB, which is the standard color space for web and office work. Translation: colors look right for everyday tasks and light photo editing. The stand does tilt, swivel, pivot (rotate to vertical), and height adjustment. The whole thing comes in white, if you are tired of black plastic.
That is already a strong spec sheet for $169. The good part is the ports.
The USB-C Hub Is the Real Money-Saver
The headline feature is USB-C with 65W power delivery. In plain English: one cable carries video, data, and enough power to charge most 13- and 14-inch laptops while you work. That is the job a separate USB-C dock usually does, and a decent dock runs $40 to $60. The monitor folds that cost in for free.
There are also two USB-A ports for a mouse, keyboard, or webcam, plus HDMI and DisplayPort for plugging in a desktop. So your laptop closes the lid, charges, and runs your peripherals off a single connection. Fewer cables, fewer dongles, less desk clutter.
It also supports daisy chaining, which means you can run a second monitor off this one instead of wiring it back to your PC. Heads up: this works over DisplayPort or USB-C on Windows, but Mac users need Thunderbolt and usually a dock to pull it off, so Apple folks should not count on it.
Mic, Speakers, and a Stand That Adjusts
The GW2486TC has a built-in noise-cancellation microphone and speakers. The mic filters out background noise so you sound clear on calls. That is a $30 to $50 desk mic you can skip, and you do not need cheap external speakers for meetings either. One catch: the mic only works when you are connected over USB-C.
The fully adjustable stand is another quiet win. Tilt, swivel, pivot, and height are the features cheap monitors leave out, and a separate monitor arm with that range costs $30 to $100. Here you get it in the box.
Then there is the eye-care stuff, which is real and not just marketing. Brightness Intelligence auto-adjusts screen brightness to the light in your room. Flicker-Free and Low Blue Light Plus cut the strain that gives you headaches after an 8-hour shift, and both are certified by safety lab TÜV Rheinland, with an Eyesafe 2.0 rating on top. There is even an ePaper mode that mimics an e-reader for long reading sessions, plus a coding mode for dark themes.
Where BenQ Cut Corners
It is $169, so something had to give.
The big one is the screen. 1080p on a 24-inch panel is sharp enough at a normal desk distance, but it is not a lot of real estate, and if you want a crisper 1440p display you will need to look elsewhere. Brightness tops out around 250 nits, which is fine in a normal room but weak next to a sunny window.
There is no HDR, the contrast tech that makes bright and dark scenes pop, so this is not a movie-night showpiece. And there is no VRR (variable refresh rate, the FreeSync or G-Sync feature that stops screen tearing in games), so treat the 100Hz as a smoothness bonus for work, not a green light for serious gaming.
Should You Buy It?
If you work or study from home and want one tidy screen that charges your laptop, handles your calls, and is easy on your eyes, the GW2486TC is an easy recommendation at $199.99, and a steal when it dips to $170. Add up the dock, mic, speakers, and adjustable stand it replaces and you are looking at $100-plus in gear baked into the price.
Skip it if you need a big, high-resolution canvas for design work or a fast panel for gaming. For everyone else living in spreadsheets, docs, and video calls, this is a lot of monitor for the money. That Editors' Choice badge is well earned.
If that sounds like your desk, you can grab it through the link above, and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
