Iiyama ProLite E2607WS review

Iiyama's ProLite E2607WS is no spring chicken. We first clapped eyes on its 26in TN panel back in August 2008, and since then it hasn’t changed a jot.

Plonk the Iiyama on a desk and it looks every bit the monitor of yesteryear. The black plastic casing is far chunkier than its slinky, modern sibling, the Iiyama ProLite E2710HDSD. In many ways, though, the E2607WS shows that newer isn’t always better.

For starters, that hefty casing conceals a pair of impressive integrated speakers. They’re nowhere near audiophile quality, but they have enough volume and body to make a movie or game soundtrack rather palatable. It also shows its cheaper stablemate the door when it comes to ease of use. The OSD is easy to navigate and the buttons far less fiddly.

An even bigger benefit over its modern rivals is its 16:10 ratio panel and matching 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. The extra vertical height compared to Full HD panels makes a palpable difference to how spacious the Windows desktop feels. In an age where 16:10 panels are rapidly disappearing, monitors like the Iiyama are an increasing rarity.

Image quality is good too: an average uncalibrated Delta E of 2.2 with absolutely no fiddling reveals that the Iiyama's colour reproduction is pretty accurate right out of the box. It isn’t as bright as some, though, and at a measured 261cd/m2 it comes up just short of its claimed 300cd/m2. It also fails to deliver the claimed 1,000:1 contrast ratio; our measurements saw it manage a mere 669:1.

Despite technical shortcomings, it more than makes amends with sterling performance elsewhere. Tricky skintones are handled with surprising aplomb, and colours look tint-free and neutral. It does struggle to differentiate between blacks and the darkest greys, however, a trait that crushes shadow detail in dark scenes.

The real difficulty comes when trying to choose between this and its sibling, the 27in ProLite E2710HDSD. Pay the £31 premium and the E2607WS’ higher resolution, great image quality and decent speakers are unlikely to disappoint, but the lower price and larger size means the 27in E2710HDSD just edges it overall.

Author: Sasha Muller