Review: HKC B4000 23.8-inch Monitor (Budget IPS)

A few weeks ago, Gearbest asked if I wanted to review anything from their website and I picked three monitors, the HKC T7000, HKC Q320 Pro and HKC B4000. Since I'm someone who values colour accuracy and I'm not a gamer, I searched on their website for monitors with the best colours, and these three were the ones that caught my attention.

Here are the specifications:

• Screen size: 23.8 inch
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Panel: IPS
• Ports: HDMI, VGA
• Viewing angle: 178 degree
• Contrast: 20,000,000:1
• Response Time: 8ms
• Included items: 1x HMDI cable, 1x power cable

The specifications are decent for an IPS panel. The only thing that stands out is the incredible 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio. It must be some typo. lol

This is a very minimalist monitor without many features. There are no USB ports. It's also not a gaming monitor and does not support freesync. I picked this specifically to review because it's an IPS panel. Gearbest sells a lot of gaming monitors so IPS screens are kinda rare.

Looking at this HKC 23.8-inch monitor reminds me of my first 24-inch monitor, the Dell U2405FPW, from 2005. That Dell monitor was such a humongous and clunky. I loved that monitor so much because it was the first time I could afford such a huge monitor that had such high resolution (at that time).

When I look at the HKC B4000 now, I'm just amazed at how fast technology has evolved, and how the price has dropped for monitors like this. The retail price for that Dell monitor back then was US $1,199. IPS monitors at 24-inches are now priced around US $150 - $200. The HKC B4000 is selling at US $150. It's just amazing how affordable monitors are nowadays. But price is just one factor, let's talk about the build and performance.

Build quality and design

This is an incredibly thin monitor. I've never seen such a thin IPS monitor before. It's only 6.5mm thick. In the photo above, that black thing is my phone.

The monitor only becomes thicker at the base where the ports are.

I find it quite strange that they have included the ancient VGA port. Not sure how old your graphics card is if it still supports VGA.

The build quality is good enough but for a monitor this thin, to say that it's not fragile would be lying.

The bezels are also incredibly thin, measuring at 1.8mm. The bezels is even thinner than my menu bar. From the front, you're almost looking at just the screen. The bezels are definitely still needed, if not how would you carry or adjust the monitor?

Because the monitor is so thin, to adjust the monitor for tilt, you have to use both hands, one at top and the other at the bottom, to tilt it. If you use one hand, you'll move the monitor together with the stand.

The stand has a minimalist design and does not take up a lot of table space. You do need to fix up the stand yourself using the screws provided. A cross-type screwdriver is required but it's not included. Fixing up the stand is straightforward.

Only the tilt option is available for the stand. This part is a bit exposed but you can cover it with a black piece of plastic that is included.

The overall design just looks great. It's a simple and clean design.

My only minor quibble is the bezels ain't flushed to the surface of the screen. That's the only thing I can complain about.

Performance

I used a Spyder5Pro colour calibrator and measured 95% sRGB support. Color gamut is quite decent for a monitor at this price range. It's not 99% sRGB but it's close. When I powered on the monitor for the first time, I could tell instantly the colours are going to be great.

Viewing angles are great too. There's very minimal colour shifting when viewed from the side. This is a screen suitable for graphic design or media creation.

The screen is matte and non reflective.

To get the best colours, you have to go into the monitor menus to choose the correct colour temperature before you calibrate the screen. There are three to choose from: cool, warm, user. You should choose USER since that's the neutral colour temperature. If you haven't calibrated your monitor before, you probably don't need to colour calibrate this. It should look alright out of the box. I need to calibrate mine because I use too many monitors and my computer is has too many colour profiles, one specific to each monitor.

Downside

I did spot some light leaking at the top left corner. For some reason, my camera wasn't able to capture the light leak so I guess it's not that serious.

Another downside which is more significant is there's adaptive contrast that I can't seem to find a way to turn off. Basically, when the screen is

Backlight

Backlight is quite even. In the photo above, you may notice more light leaking from certain areas above but in real life, I can't notice that with my eyes. Nothing to complain about.

The light leaking at the top left corner is strangely not a big problem when the screen is dark, such as when you're watching movies.

There's the classic IPS glow though, just like many other IPS monitor.

Conclusion

For the price that it's currently selling at, which is US $150, it's quite worth the money. And depending on where you are, you might even qualify for free shipping from Gearbest.

95% sRGB support is good enough for photo and video editing. There's not going to be any difference editing on 95% vs 99% sRGB screens. Both are going to look great. The colours on the HKC B4000 are great.

HKC is a pretty much unknown brand in the west. I've never seen HKC products being reviewed on major tech website before. Anyway, all items bought from Gearbest comes with a one year warranty. For more returns and warranty info, visit Gearbest Warranty and Returns page.

This review will not be complete if I don't compare it to another monitor. I'm gonna use the Dell U2317H which is selling at US $165. The Dell has USB ports but other than that, all the other features are pretty similar. Ultimately it will come down to the looks. The HKC has a simple minimal, more elegant design. Dell's design looks nice too. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder. Pick your favourite.

If you have more budget, like US $300, consider the 25-inch HKC B6000 monitor (2560 x 1440 resolution) that supports 99% AdobeRGB. That's also a budget monitor is its own category.

Availability

You can check out more reviews for the HKC B4000 at https://www.gearbest.com/desktop-computer-monitor/pp_666161.html?lkid=1…