Sceptre E225W-19203R Monitor Review

The Sceptre E225W-19203R is a fantastic casual monitor for general desktop work like web browsing, watching movies, and some light gaming. It shines thanks to a simple but decent combination of features such as Full HD display, 5ms response time, 60Hz refresh rate for smooth gameplay, a respectable amount of ports and best of all an affordable price tag.

Pros

• Simple design
• 1920 x1080 display
• Spacious screen estate
• 2 HDMI ports
• Budget price
• Decent audio

Cons

• Tilt adjustment only

Sceptre has for a long time been in the business of heralding a new age of budget monitors. The Sceptre E225W-19203R is an excellent example of a stylish and desirable monitor that is affordable and can handle both business and pleasure. Despite not being as big a brand as others, when it comes to monitors, we’ve had plenty of nice things to say about Sceptre.

Like the Sceptre E205W-16003R 20” monitor we recently reviewed, the Sceptre E225W-19203R is a good entertainment monitor. The two monitors have similar features save for our unit’s larger 22-inch display, Full HD resolution, and as a result slightly higher price tag.

Sceptre E225W-19203R Specs

Screen size	22-inch (1920 x 1080) resolution
Panel type	TN
Refresh rate	60Hz
Response time	5ms (G-to-G)
Aspect Ratio	16:9
Brightness	250 cd/m2
Viewing angle	170 degree (Horizontal) 160 degree (vertical)
Dimensions	19.56 x 14.44 x 6.57 inches
Weight	4.84 pounds

Design and Features

Design-wise, the Sceptre E225W-19203R looks simple yet elegant. There’s no doubt that this monitor was made with work and productivity in mind, as there’s none of the garish design flourishes common in gaming monitors. Simply put, the Sceptre E225W-19203R is a functional design with no frills. You will easily get used to the matte-black color and soft-to-touch feel, and it should feel right at home on your office or work desk.

At 19.56 x 14.44 x 6.57 inches and 4.84 pounds, the Sceptre E225W-19203R is a relatively small monitor that’s easy to lug around. Thanks to its sleek nature and thin bezel, its actual footprint isn’t big so it won’t take up an inordinate amount of your desk. The adjustable stand is easy to put together as it attaches to the screen without much effort. All you need is to screw in two screwdrivers at the back which makes the set-up nice and sturdy.

We appreciate that Sceptre includes a screwdriver with the package so you don’t run around looking for one if you don’t own one already. Also included in the thought-out package are some four spacers to use on the 75mm x 75mm VESA ready holes. The spacers come in handy when you need to wall-mount the monitor.

Speaking of the stand, like its sister Sceptre E205W-16003R, our unit comes with a tilt-only stand (-5°/15°). This for us is the biggest caveat this monitor comes with. Fortunately, it’s not one that directly affects performance, therefore, isn’t a bad tradeoff and reason not to buy.

Display

As far as features go, the main selling point for the Sceptre E225W-19203R is its 22-inch size and Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution display. The display provides excellent image quality and a large real estate compared to its sister, the Sceptre E205W-16003R. You can open a few more windows and programs all at once which makes it really efficient to use.

The panel type is TN which means the viewing angles aren’t quite as great. However, being that it’s a single user monitor, and you won’t be viewing from the sides as much, that isn’t such a wrinkle. The monitor enjoys a 250 c/dm2 of brightness which is enough for an indoor monitor. The color accuracy is decent and images are bright and clear.

For the price it sells for, you don’t expect much to over the top. For the most part, everything just seems passable. Sceptre is pitching the Sceptre E225W for budget users looking for an affordable monitor that works perfectly. And it does its job.

Ports

The Sceptre E225W-19203R input port selection includes 2 HDMI ports, a single VGA port, audio output, and power input connector. The standout here is the 2 HDMI ports which make easier to connect to an HDTV, projector, DVD player to Blu-ray player. However, the most reasonable is a separate monitor to TV. There is no USB Type-C port here and you won’t really expect one at this price point.

For the most part, this is a monitor perfect for budget users who are looking for a monitor for daily productivity and multimedia. It’s definitely a no-frills monitor.

While still at the rear, all the control buttons are located on the bottom left. They are neatly placed one on top of the other in a vertical alignment making it convenient for your fingers to access them. The bottom-most button turns the display on or off while the remaining four maneuvers you through the menu selection. The physical controls might be simple to use, but they’re a downgrade from the joystick controller you get on premium monitors. Even so, for the price, it’s not a reason not to buy.

The buttons gives you the access to the menu option called the On Screen Display Control (OSD). Using the buttons, you can change settings such as Picture settings (FPS, RTS, Movie, ECO, Standard, User), Color adjust, Image, Signal source, OSD menu and miscellaneous. Each of the buttons has a specific function. One button activates the On-Screen Display (OSD).

The second cycle between PRESET modes and double up as the upward movement button. The third button is both the downward movement button and activates a permanent crosshair for first-person shooting games. Finally, the fourth and last button acts as the EXIT button. Also, the button switches between all the different inputs of the display.

Performance

In real-life use, the Sceptre E225W-19203R performs quite remarkably. Windows 10 scales impressively at Full HD, and the high resolution allows menus, texts and icons to be clear, visible and readable. With the 22-inch screen, it is very easy to work comfortably even a considerable number of programs and windows open.

You can have more a couple of web browsers open (full of tabs, naturally), which were able to show almost entire web pages without the need for scrolling, along with a word processor, image editor and more.

Image and video files also look great on the Sceptre E225W-19203R. The menu does allow you access to the picture settings where you can calibrate to your own liking. However, we feel the factory setting already configured is just right and it looks fantastic right out of the box. You can fiddle around with the brightness depending on how bright you want your picture to be.

If you’re buying this monitor for your home office, you will be pretty impressed. It’s a great way to watch movies, web browsing and looking at pictures. On the contrary, it’s not the ideal monitor for professionals on the extreme end of the sphere. Don’t count on it for intensive video or photo editing, or any professional applications. While it can handle some light gaming, it’s not the ideal monitor for gaming either.

With a 60Hz refresh rate, it won’t impress most avid gamers, but it should play some games. 60Hz is well enough for this monitor. It helps reduce the tearing and stuttering on most triple A games. That means it can handle less demanding games without much fuss. However, for more demanding games, this 60Hz monitor might not be enough.

You will need a gaming monitor with at least 120Hz or 144Hz to get those sharper visuals. That combined with a 5ms response time makes it a good monitor for instant reflexes on some less demanding titles.

On the whole, if you’re looking for an excellent Full-HD monitor with accurate color reproduction, a good display for less demanding games, the Sceptre E225W-19203R monitor is an affordable choice.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, the Sceptre E225W-19203R is an impressive budget monitor. It might not be forward-thinking like most gaming monitors but thanks to its combination of features perform well enough to be a productivity monitor. We loved the 22-inch Full HD display, 5ms response time, 60Hz refresh rate and under $70 price tag. We highly recommend it users looking for the right display to make the most of movies, games or work without breaking the bank.

Are there other alternatives?

The Sceptre E225W-19203R shines for having a rich assortment of features at an under $70 price budget. However, if you don’t mind adding another $20, you can get a better compact and highly portable monitor. The 21-inch Acer SB220Q monitor offers a Full HD display with an IPS panel, AMD Radeon free Sync technology, and a single HDMI and single VGA port.

Overall, because it packs features reserved for top-shelf components, that makes it an affordable gaming monitor worth going for.

Should you buy it?

Yes. Because it doesn’t sport over the top features, it’s not ideal for professionals. However, it makes a good companion for users who have no use for gamer features, and need a monitor for watching movies, playing light games. It’s also a sensible choice for hooking up to a smartphone, console or adding another PC monitor to your desk.