NEC MultiSync EA222WMe review

Gallery

Verdict:

Packed with features and excellent image quality, but it has only a 1,680x1,050 resolution. At this high price, it's relatively poor value

Review Date: 11 May 2010

Price when reviewed: £220

Buy it now for: £178
(see more store prices)

Supplier: http://www.kikatek.com

Reviewed By: Barry de la Rosa

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

The NEC MultiSync EA222WMe is a business monitor with a fully-adjustable stand, a four-port USB hub, a convenient carrying handle and a detailed power management system that records how much carbon you've saved in six currencies. It's also one of the few monitors we've seen with a DisplayPort input.

The EA222WMe's stand and case are made of a practical dark grey matt plastic. The stand allows rotation through 340°, which is ideal if you want to turn the screen around to show something to someone opposite you. Vertical rotation into portrait mode is also possible.

On the rear of the stand is a spacious route for cables with a removable cover. Small speakers are set at each corner of the bottom of the case, and pump out a surprisingly loud and decent sound. There's a minijack input for audio, plus a useful headphone socket set on the bottom edge of the case where it's easily accessible.

The USB hub is also incredibly useful, especially if your PC is tucked away under your desk. Two of the ports are on the rear of the case while another pair is located on the left-hand side of the case, where they are within easy reach.

The menu system is controlled by three small buttons and a tiny joystick, which is far easier to use than other monitors' unintuitive systems. As well as brightness and contrast, you can set Eco mode to one of three levels of power saving, and turn on Auto Brightness (which uses an ambient light sensor). We didn’t notice any dramatic changes in brightness during our tests, so it's fairly subtle. There are also image presets and colour settings, which include a user-configurable option.

Oddly for such an expensive 22in monitor, the EA222WMe has a 1,680x1,050 resolution, where we'd expect Full HD. Image quality was superb, though, with vibrant, yet realistic colours and great contrast. However, while in our side-by-side tests it was visibly better than other monitors here, the difference doesn't make it worth nearly twice the price of BenQ's G2222HDL, which has a 1,920x1,080 resolution and respectable image quality.

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