Introduction
Are you an avid gamer? Do you want to invest in a gaming monitor that gives you an edge over your competitors? If yes, then you are at the right place. Today’s peripheral gaming market is flooded with the latest expensive gaming monitors, promising to offer outstanding gaming experience at affordable prices. For those who are looking for the best gaming monitor under $300 that offers greater flexibility of image setting, excellent response time and refresh rate, ViewSonic XG2402 can turn out to be a good option.
ViewSonic XG2402 is a decent value-oriented TN gaming monitor that includes all the essential specs a gaming monitor requires. It is an advanced version of XG2401 1080p monitor. Thanks to 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time which allows it to perform well while reducing ghosting to zero. If you are looking forward to buying this gaming monitor, then it can turn out to be the best decision. In this guide, we are going to give a detailed ViewSonic XG2402 review. Before we move ahead to detailed review, we want you to have a quick look at its pros and cons.
Pros
- AMD FreeSynch technology
- VESA-compatible
- Lots of connectivity ports
- Affordable Price
- Great gaming performance
- Color settings option is available
- Excellent response time and refresh rate with low motion blur
Cons
- Not good for usage in dark room
- Disappointing viewing angles
- Average built-in speakers
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Bottom Line
If you are seeking a TN panel with the best color and contrast capabilities and transition speed while gaming matter for you, then ViewSonic XG2402 should be your choice. However, if you want a monitor with good speakers and excellent viewing angles at the same price range, then you can find many better options than XG2402.
Contents
A Detailed ViewSonic XG2402 Specs Review
Design
ViewSonic XG2402 features a slick black color design with a red color strip on the stand and two chevrons on its back giving it a gaming flair and allows it to stand out of the crowd. It is made up of plastic but gives it a sturdy feel. There is a silver and red colored XG logo on the bottom right corner of its ergonomic stand. By default, the dual red chevrons pointing in the middle are unlit, but if you want to show off, you can turn on a backlight to give it a red glow as it is the first monitor that is stylized with RampageX lighting on the back.
Its uniform bezels around the sides and top measure 23mm and 17mm respectively which are thick as compared to other monitors available in the market such as AOC G2460PF, but they provide full protection to the panel and look awesome; there are six OSD control buttons at the bottom bezel. Though it is not the slimmest monitor in the market, it is slim along the edges. It has a small pinpoint power LED above the power button at the right corner which glows blue when the monitor is on and orange when it is in a low power state or losses signal to the PC. Unfortunately, there is nothing that offers proper cable management.
Display
It has a 24-inch, 1920*1080p full HD display which measures the display area of 531.36mm (H)*298.89mm (V). It is a perfect fit for good picture quality. It has a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Apart from high refresh rate and excellent response time, other specs which make it outstanding include 1000:1 contrast ratio and 350cd/m2 of brightness, a 6-bit +FRC color interface. Its image quality may not as good as IPS or VA panels. However, it is designed mainly focused on speed. Moreover, the display features a built-in adjustable blue light filter that allows you to reduce your eye strain when staring at the monitor continuously for several hours.
Connectivity ports
When it comes to connectivity ports review, the ViewSonic XG2402 offers a wide range of connectivity ports to connect various devices such as gaming consoles, external GPU, etc. There is a K-slot beneath one of the chevrons and integrated with 2 x 2W built-in speakers for basic sound output. Unfortunately, these speakers do not support HDR. There is AC power input port, 2*USB 3.0 ports, 2*HDMI 1.4 ports, DP 1.2a and a 3.5mm audio output.
Its DisplayPort and HDMI inputs provide you the freedom to connect your dedicated GPUs and gaming consoles. Its full HD display is supported by both Nvidia and AMD GPUs, but if you have an AMD GPU such as AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB, then you can get an advantage of reducing the screen tearing and stuttering as it supports AMD FreeSync technology. With this technology, the monitor can adjust its variable refresh rate to match the frame rate produced by the GPU. It supports a variable refresh rate of 48-144Hz. It means if the game is running between 48-144FPS, the monitor will adjust its refresh rate automatically. And when the frame rate rises above 144FPS, the monitor will stay at 144Hz, and the GPU will select the VSync on or VSync off according to the graphics driver.
Ergonomic stand
Giving the review of its ergonomic stand, there is a dark red colored vertical strip down the stand neck and a silver and red colored XG logo printed on its base. At the top of the stand neck, a headphone hook is provided to keep your gaming headphones in place. In order to have the perfect viewing angle for the outstanding gaming experience, it is equipped with a sturdy ergonomic stand. It allows you to make various adjustments including height, swivel, pivot and tilt as per your convenience. It has a small loop at the back of the stand to reduce the wire clutter, but this cable management can be better. It is VESA compatible which allows you to mount it on a wall. Its bezels are thick in size which can trouble during multi-monitors, but to solve this issue, you can use the display vertically.
Price
The ViewSonic XG2402 specs and features justify its price. It is one of the best monitors that are available under $300. Though it has poor dark room performance and disappointing viewing angles, its fantastic blur reduction suite and low latency make it a great gaming monitor for the users who rely on a lag-free display to beat their competitors. Its affordable price along with a wide range of specs makes it #1 choice of the gamers. If you are looking forward to buying this gaming monitor.
Performance
When it is inspected with a colorimeter, it shows decent results; the TN panel offers 98% of SRGB gamut coverage with reasonable accuracy. It is suggested to keep the manual calibration and gamma modes settings to either 2.4 or 2.6 to maximize the color output.
The ViewSonic XG2402 has native contrast ratio is 947:1 which disappoints you when it comes to using this monitor in a dark room and Blacks look gray. It has disappointing viewing angles, so it is not appropriate for side views; it is best only for direct front views. It is a TN type panel monitor which has much worse vertical viewing angles as compared to IPS type panel monitors like ASUS VG279Q. It has good peak brightness and reflection handling which make it a great monitor for office work as well.
Additional Features
The ViewSonic XG2402 features a wide range of presets and other image options that can be selected in the OSD. It includes:
- Rapid Response Rate: For any fast-paced gaming action, this monitor features 5-levels of rapid response rate that can deal with overshoot and motion blur during the gaming at the highest refresh rate. The 5-levels of response rate include standard, fast, faster, ultra-fast and fastest.
- 22-Level Black Stabilization: Its Black Stabilization feature allows you to control the visibility and brightness of the monitor during the dark themed video games. It makes it easier to spot the objects in dark scenes. Most monitors allow you to make this setting up to 4 levels, but ViewSonic XG2402 offers you 22 levels, depending upon the darkness of the gaming scene.
- Game Mode Hotkey: The Game Mode feature includes pre-calibrated picture preset that deliver the best blend of color and technology for a particular gaming session. A ColorX option offers the most favorable refresh rate, response time and color settings as per your game. Moreover, there are three customizable gamer settings that allow you to choose from a wide range of adjustable settings. It includes RTS, MOBA and FPS.
- Low Input Lag: When the action during the gaming gets intense, the ViewSonic XG2402 gaming monitor can process every command from the keyboard, mouse or controller. It features a low input lag due to which it reduces the delay between the inputs while allowing you to take action in real time.
Warranty and Driver
Though it comes with a 3-year warranty, you can’t take its advantage until you see five bright pixels or five dark pixels or a combination of 5-faulty pixels. Hence, if you find some dead pixels in your gaming monitor, you won’t be able to fix them until there are 5-faulty pixels. The drivers of the gaming monitor is available on the official site; you can downloads its drivers to have an outstanding viewing experience.
Conclusion
Concluding the review, the ViewSonic XG2402 is a 24-inch display with a 1920*1080p resolution which offers the perfect picture quality. Its attractive price, AMD FreeSynch technology and additional features make it one the best gaming monitors available in the market. Its aesthetic could be a little bit better by working on its bezels. It is the best gaming monitor for those who rely on lag-free display to have outstanding gaming experience and beat their competitors. If you have $300 to spend on gaming, we suggest you should definitely invest in ViewSonic XG2402. For more information, explore the internet.