Buying a monitor for work can seem daunting, with so many specifications and features to consider. And with countless models on the market, even an experienced PC hardware veteran like myself sometimes struggles to find the perfect one.
When I was buying a secondary monitor for my home office, I identified a few key features worth paying attention to. These are the ones that can make a real difference in comfort, productivity, and overall enjoyment—and the good news is, you can often find them even in budget-friendly monitors.
Built-in speakers are helpful if you don’t have external audio
If you don’t have dedicated speakers connected to your PC, you should seriously consider getting a pair if you care about audio quality at all. However, if you don’t need or want to buy speakers because your workload rarely requires you to listen to audio, and you don’t want them taking up space, or if you mostly rely on your headphones for audio, then speakers built into your monitor are the next best thing.
Plus, they don’t take up any additional space, making them a convenient audio solution if desk space is a concern.
Admittedly, they rarely sound great or get very loud, but from my experience using cheap monitors with built-in speakers, they can still get the job done in a pinch. For instance, if you need to show a video to someone, it’s a more pleasant experience to use the monitor’s speakers instead of leaning into your headphones or sharing earbuds.
The best part is that you generally don’t have to pay “extra” for built-in speakers, but you should check the spec sheet closely if they’re an important feature for you.
A higher refresh rate makes everyday use feel smoother
A monitor’s refresh rate is the number of times per second the screen updates its image. For example, a 60Hz monitor refreshes 60 times per second. In general, the higher the refresh rate, the smoother the image appears, since more frames are being shown each second.
Gamers love high refresh rates because they make animations look smoother and the games feel more responsive, but these benefits carry over to regular computer use as well, like when scrolling or dragging windows.
60Hz has been the de facto standard for most screens for decades, but things have been changing for the better in the past few years. Nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to find a cheap monitor that can’t do at least 90Hz, which is already a 50% improvement over 60Hz.
Generally speaking, you want to get the highest refresh rate possible, but the benefits start to diminish drastically as you go up. The TÜV Rheinland’s Eye Comfort Certification recommends a refresh rate of at least 120Hz, as it results in less judder and perceived flicker, making the monitor less straining to use. I personally recommend going for something even higher if you can afford it, or if you find a good monitor for sale–perhaps even a gaming monitor.
- Screen Size
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24″
- Resolution
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FHD 1080p
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG249QE5A is the perfect 24-inch secondary monitor, as it offers a 1080p IPS panel with a refresh rate of 144Hz. If you’re on a budget, it could even serve as a primary gaming monitor, thanks t o its smooth refresh rate and 1ms response time.
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Ensure it has all the connectivity ports you need
The vast majority of monitors on the market today have at least one HDMI port and one DisplayPort—though it’s still worth double-checking the specifications sheet just to be sure. Having both ensures you always have a way to connect your devices to the monitor or even use it for multiple devices without swapping cables. If you ever need to connect the monitor to an older machine, having DVI and even VGA connectors can also be helpful.
Speaking of multiple devices, a built-in KVM switch is a must-have if you regularly swap between your laptop and PC and want to use a single monitor and set of peripherals.
USB-C with PD (Power Delivery) and/or Thunderbolt is another valuable feature if you plan to use the monitor with your laptop, as it allows you to both use the monitor and charge your laptop with a single cable.
Regular USB-A ports in the form of USB passthrough are yet another useful feature. Think of them as a mini USB hub—the USB ports on the monitor pass data and power directly from the monitor, meaning you can use them like any other USB port on your PC. They’re perfect for plugging in flash drives or other USB devices in a pinch.
Choose a larger screen, but match it with the right resolution
A larger screen can display a lot more data, which can boost your productivity, but only if you pair the size with a higher resolution than what you currently have. Increasing the screen size alone will make everything look bigger, but it will not necessarily fit more content until you also increase the resolution.
Upgrading both size and resolution is one of the best moves you can make for productivity. For example, if you are used to a 24-inch 1080p screen, consider stepping up to a 27-inch 1440p monitor. If you are already on 1440p, you could move to a 32-inch 4K display. There is a wide range of size and resolution combinations on the market, but these examples hit the sweet spot for most users.
Higher resolution also makes text and other elements appear sharper, thanks to the increased pixel density, making the monitor feel much more comfortable to use. Just be sure to consider your desk depth and viewing distance, as sitting too close to a large, high-resolution screen can increase eye strain and reduce productivity.
VESA compatibility is essential for monitor arms
VESA mount compatibility is one of the most overlooked features in computer monitors. VESA refers to the mounting standard on the back of the monitor. The two most common dimensions are 75×75 mm and 100×100 mm, but there are other VESA patterns as well, such as 200×100 mm found on some ultrawide monitors.
The most important thing is to make sure the monitor you’re buying actually lists VESA mount support. Surprisingly, many cheaper monitors and models with fancy stands skip VESA mounts altogether.
The reason VESA matters is that it gives you the option to upgrade to a different monitor stand or arm later. You could even mount the monitor to the wall. I have mounted my two monitors on monitor arms, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I gained a lot more desk real estate, and my setup looks much cleaner now.
A business monitor doesn’t have to be flashy or expensive to be good, but it has to check a few boxes. After all, you’re probably going to spend many hours in front of it, so make sure that it’s nice to look at and has all the extra features you might need.
- Screen Size
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25″
- Resolution
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1080p
The MSI PRO MP252 is a 24.5-inch business monitor with a 1920×1080 resolution and a 100Hz refresh rate. It supports adaptive sync, is VESA mountable, has built-in speakers, and includes several Eye Care features to help protect your eyesight.