Amazon Basics 23.8-inch Computer Monitor 120 Review UK 2026

Most monitors make you pick your poison. You want smooth motion? Great, here's a 144Hz TN panel with colours that look like a 2003 screensaver. You want decent colours? Here's a 60Hz IPS that'll make fast-paced gaming feel like you're watching a slideshow. The Amazon Basics 23.8-inch Computer Monitor 120 Hz is trying to sidestep that whole argument by giving you an IPS panel at 120Hz in the budget bracket. The question is whether it actually pulls it off, or whether something had to give to hit that price point.

Short answer: it's genuinely good for what it is. The IPS panel with 99% sRGB coverage and 1500:1 contrast ratio is a proper step above the bargain-bin TN screens that used to dominate this price bracket, and 120Hz with Adaptive Sync means gaming is noticeably smoother than the 60Hz monitors most people are upgrading from. There are real caveats, which we'll get into, but if you're setting up a home office or a casual gaming desk and you don't want to spend a fortune, this is worth taking seriously. The 85 owner reviews averaging ★★★★½ (4.7) aren't lying to you either.

So here's the full picture, spec by spec, with the honest bits included.

The panel covers 99% of the sRGB colour space and 16.7 million colours, with a 1500:1 contrast ratio. There's built-in LowBlue Light and Flicker-Free technology for those long work sessions, and the four-sided narrow bezel design keeps things looking clean whether you're using it solo or in a multi-monitor setup. Connectivity includes HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, and a 3.5mm audio-out jack, plus built-in 2W stereo speakers. VESA mounting is supported for those who want to ditch the stand.

One thing before you buy: Amazon's own product listing notes that hitting the full 120Hz requires a graphics card and drivers that support 120Hz output, a certified 120Hz-capable cable (HDMI or DisplayPort), and the refresh rate set manually in your system's Advanced Display Settings. That's not unusual for monitors in this class, but it catches people out more often than you'd think. If you're running an older GPU or a basic HDMI cable you found in a drawer, you might end up stuck at 60Hz and wondering what went wrong.

The trade-off with IPS, compared to VA panels, is typically contrast. VA panels can hit native contrast ratios of 3000:1 or higher, making blacks look genuinely dark. IPS panels usually sit around 1000:1. The fact that Amazon Basics is claiming 1500:1 here is. Whether that's a marketing-friendly measurement taken under optimal conditions or a genuinely above-average IPS result is hard to verify without independent measurements, but even if the real-world figure is closer to the typical IPS range, it's not going to look bad. Blacks won't be inky, but they won't be the washed-out grey you get from a cheap TN either.

IPS glow is a known characteristic of this panel type. In dark rooms watching dark content, you'll likely see a slight brightening in the corners of the screen. It's not a defect, it's just IPS doing IPS things. Most people don't notice it during normal use, but if you're a home cinema type who watches films in a pitch-black room, it's worth being aware of. VA would serve you better for that specific use case. For everything else, IPS is the right call at this price.

The 99% sRGB coverage is genuinely good news for display quality in everyday use. Images look vibrant, colours feel accurate, and the 16.7 million colour depth means you're not going to see banding in gradients or skies. The anti-glare coating (standard on monitors like this) helps in typical office environments with overhead lighting, though in a room with a bright window directly behind you, reflections can still be distracting. That's not unique to this monitor; it's just physics.

One thing flagged in the product listing is a note specifically for Mac users: macOS HiDPI scaling can cause a blurry display, and Amazon recommends following specific display setup instructions to sort it. This is a known quirk with 1080p monitors on macOS, which increasingly assumes higher pixel densities. If you're a Mac user, it's solvable, but it does require a bit of fiddling in System Settings. Windows users won't have this issue. Owner reviews don't flag widespread complaints about image quality, and a 4.7 average from 85 reviews suggests most people are happy with what they're looking at.

The Adaptive Sync support is the other important piece. Adaptive Sync (the VESA open standard that both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia's G-Sync Compatible implementations are based on) synchronises the monitor's refresh rate to your GPU's frame output in real time. The result is that even when your frame rate dips below 120fps, you don't get screen tearing or the judder that comes from V-Sync. For casual gaming on a budget GPU where you're not always hitting 120fps, this matters a lot. It's the difference between a smooth-ish experience and a visibly stuttery one.

Worth being explicit about the setup requirement: you need to manually set 120Hz in your display settings, and you need a cable that's actually rated for it. HDMI 1.4 can handle 1080p at 120Hz (the bandwidth is there), and DisplayPort 1.2 handles it easily. But a generic HDMI cable that came bundled with a TV five years ago might not be certified for 120Hz signalling. If you're buying this monitor, buy a decent cable at the same time and save yourself the frustration of troubleshooting why it's stuck at 60Hz.

For 120Hz gaming, that's adequate. You're not going to be playing competitive esports at a professional level on this monitor, but for casual gaming, single-player titles, and even moderately fast-paced multiplayer, the motion performance is fine. The 120Hz refresh rate itself does more for perceived motion clarity than shaving a couple of milliseconds off the response time would. Fast-moving objects in games will look cleaner at 120Hz than they did at 60Hz, even if the GtG isn't class-leading.

What you want to watch for with IPS panels is inverse ghosting, which is the bright halo that can appear around moving objects when overdrive is set too aggressively. Budget monitors sometimes have limited overdrive control, meaning you either get some trailing or some overshoot, with no ideal middle ground. Owner reviews don't report significant ghosting complaints, which is a decent signal. For the use cases this monitor is aimed at (office work, casual gaming, general home use), motion performance is not going to be a problem.

The listing doesn't quote a Delta-E figure, and there's no mention of factory calibration. At this price point, that's expected rather than surprising. Factory calibration is typically reserved for professional-grade displays costing significantly more. What you're likely getting is a panel that's reasonably accurate out of the box but not fine-tuned. For most users, that means colours look good and natural without any adjustment. If you're doing colour-critical work like photo editing for professional clients or print production, you'd want a calibrated display with a known Delta-E below 2. That's not this monitor's audience.

For content creation at a hobbyist level, though, this is genuinely usable. YouTube video editing, social media content, basic photo editing for personal use: the 99% sRGB coverage means your colours won't be wildly off. You might want to spend ten minutes in the OSD adjusting colour temperature and brightness to your preference, which is true of essentially any uncalibrated monitor. The 16.7 million colour depth (8-bit) is standard for this class and means gradients in skies and backgrounds will look smooth rather than banded.

Real HDR requires peak brightness well above 400 nits (ideally 600 to 1000 nits for HDR400 and HDR600 certification respectively, per the VESA DisplayHDR standard), plus some form of local dimming to control contrast zones. Budget IPS panels simply don't have the backlight hardware to deliver this. If you enable HDR in Windows on a monitor like this, what you'll typically get is washed-out colours and blown-out highlights, because the monitor is trying to display an HDR signal it doesn't have the brightness range to handle properly.

The practical advice: leave HDR off. Use this monitor in SDR mode, which is what it's designed for, and it'll look great. The 1500:1 contrast ratio and 99% sRGB coverage are more than enough for SDR content. HDR is one of those features where the absence of a bad implementation is genuinely better than its presence. Amazon Basics didn't try to fake it, and that's the right call.

The listing doesn't specify peak brightness in nits, which is a gap in the published specs. For a monitor in this class, typical SDR brightness is somewhere in the 250 to 300 nit range, which is adequate for most indoor environments. In a well-lit office or home office, that's enough to see the screen clearly without straining. In a very bright room with direct sunlight hitting the screen, you might find yourself wishing for more headroom. The anti-glare coating helps, but it can't compensate for insufficient brightness.

For gaming and general use in normal indoor lighting conditions, the brightness and contrast combination is fine. Dark scenes in games will show the typical IPS grey-blacks rather than true deep blacks, but colours and midtones look good, and the 1500:1 contrast figure suggests there's reasonable separation between light and dark areas. Owner reviews don't flag brightness as a problem, which suggests the panel holds up well in typical home and office environments. If you're in a very bright workspace with lots of natural light, it's a monitor with a higher peak brightness spec.

The practical workaround is the VESA mount compatibility. VESA support means you can ditch the included stand entirely and put the monitor on a monitor arm, which gives you full positional freedom for much less than you'd spend on a premium monitor with a built-in adjustable stand. A decent single-monitor arm from a reputable brand costs around £20 to £40, and the combination of this monitor plus a good arm gives you better ergonomics than many more expensive all-in-one solutions. It's worth factoring into your total budget if ergonomics matter to you, which they should, especially for long work sessions.

The four-sided narrow bezel design is a genuine positive. It keeps the monitor looking modern and clean, and if you're planning a dual-monitor setup, narrow bezels mean the gap between screens is minimal. The overall build quality, based on owner feedback, seems solid for the price point. Nobody's reporting wobble or structural issues. It's not premium, but it doesn't feel cheap in the way that some budget monitors do. The black finish is straightforward and inoffensive, the kind of thing that fits into any desk setup without drawing attention to itself.

The HDMI 1.4 port is worth a quick note. HDMI 1.4 has enough bandwidth for 1080p at 120Hz (it supports up to 10.2 Gbps, and 1080p at 120Hz requires around 8.9 Gbps), so you're not being short-changed on the HDMI version for this resolution and refresh rate combination. If you were running 4K or 1440p at high refresh rates, HDMI 1.4 would be a bottleneck, but at 1080p 120Hz it's fine. DisplayPort 1.2 has even more headroom and is the preferred connection for gaming.

• HDMI 1.4 (supports 1080p at 120Hz)
• DisplayPort 1.2
• 3.5mm audio-out
• Built-in 2W x2 speakers

What's not listed is a USB hub, USB-C, or any additional inputs beyond the two video connections. For a budget office and gaming monitor, that's expected. USB-C with power delivery is a feature you pay significantly more for. If you need to charge a laptop through your monitor or connect a single cable from a modern laptop, this isn't the right monitor. But for a desktop PC setup with a dedicated GPU, the HDMI and DisplayPort combination covers everything you need, and the audio-out means you can plug in headphones directly at the monitor rather than reaching around to the back of your PC.

The AOC 24G2 is probably the most direct competitor. It's a 23.8-inch IPS panel at 1080p with a 144Hz refresh rate and FreeSync Premium support. That's a higher refresh rate ceiling than the Amazon Basics monitor's 120Hz, and FreeSync Premium adds a minimum 120Hz LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) requirement, which means the sync range is more robust. The AOC 24G2 has been around long enough to have extensive independent testing published by display reviewers, confirming solid out-of-box accuracy and reasonable response times. It typically sits at a similar or slightly higher price point depending on current deals. If you're primarily gaming and want the extra headroom of 144Hz, the AOC 24G2 is worth a look.

The LG 24MK430H is a step down: a 23.8-inch IPS monitor at 1080p but capped at 75Hz. It's cheaper, and LG's IPS panels have a good reputation for colour quality, but 75Hz versus 120Hz is a meaningful difference for anyone who games or just wants smoother desktop use. Unless budget is extremely tight, the Amazon Basics monitor's 120Hz is a better daily-driver experience than 75Hz. The LG makes sense if all you're doing is word processing and spreadsheets, but for anything else the extra refresh rate is worth having.

The Amazon Basics monitor holds its own well in that comparison. The claimed 1500:1 contrast ratio is higher than either competitor's stated spec, the 99% sRGB coverage is on par, and the built-in speakers are a small but useful addition over the LG. The AOC 24G2's 144Hz ceiling is the one area where the Amazon Basics monitor is clearly outgunned, but for most casual gamers the difference between 120Hz and 144Hz is much less noticeable than the jump from 60Hz to 120Hz. If the Amazon Basics monitor comes in at a lower price than the AOC 24G2, it represents solid value. If they're the same price, the AOC's 144Hz and FreeSync Premium certification give it a slight edge for gaming-focused buyers.

The caveats are real but manageable. The stand is almost certainly tilt-only, so budget for a monitor arm if you care about ergonomics. There's no HDR to speak of, but that's fine because the SDR experience is what this monitor does well. Mac users need to do a bit of display settings housekeeping to avoid the HiDPI blurriness issue. And you need a proper 120Hz-rated cable and a GPU that supports 120Hz output to actually get the headline refresh rate. None of these are dealbreakers; they're just things to know before you buy.

The 85 owner reviews averaging ★★★★½ (4.7) tell you that people who bought this are, overwhelmingly, happy with it. That's a strong signal. Budget monitors often have vocal disappointed minorities who drag the average down; a 4.7 average with 85 reviews suggests the experience is consistently positive rather than hit-and-miss.

Who should buy this? Anyone setting up a home office, a first gaming PC, or a secondary monitor for a multi-display setup. Students, remote workers, casual gamers on a budget. Anyone upgrading from a 60Hz monitor who doesn't want to spend mid-range money. This is the monitor for people who want a solid, no-drama display that does everything well without costing a fortune.

Who should skip it? Competitive esports players who want 144Hz or higher and the fastest possible response times should look at the AOC 24G2 or similar. Content creators doing colour-critical professional work need a calibrated display with a known Delta-E. Anyone who watches a lot of dark-scene content in a pitch-black room would be better served by a VA panel's deeper blacks. And if you need USB-C connectivity or a USB hub built into the monitor, you'll need to spend more.

The honest don't-overspend line: if all you're doing is office work, emails, and the occasional YouTube video, a basic 75Hz IPS monitor (like the LG 24MK430H) will do the job for less money. The 120Hz here is genuinely useful, but only if you're gaming or you're the type who notices and appreciates smoother desktop scrolling. Know your use case before you spend.

Editorial score: 7.5 out of 10. Excellent value for the budget bracket, with a panel quality and refresh rate combination that punches above its price point. Held back only by the expected ergonomic limitations and the absence of any meaningful HDR capability.