The Dell E2220H is a pretty basic 1080p, 60Hz monitor with a TN panel and unfortunately, it delivers mediocre overall performance. The stand offers only limited ergonomic adjustments, so it might be difficult to place it in an ideal viewing position, which is important as the image degrades when viewed off-center. Like all other TN monitors we've tested, it has a low contrast ratio, and our unit has bad black uniformity, so it's not a great choice for a dark environment. That said, it has good gray uniformity, decent peak brightness, and great reflection handling, so there shouldn't be any issues using it in a moderately bright room.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, with units that we buy completely on our own, without any cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized and custom tools to measure various aspects with objective data-based results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance against the competition, and whether or not it's easy to find.
Our Verdict
The Dell E2220H is a mediocre monitor overall. It's okay for office use or gaming, with great reflection handling, low input lag, and good gray uniformity. It's only passable for multimedia or media creation, as it has disappointing viewing angles, low contrast, and bad ergonomics.
- Low input lag.
- Great reflection handling.
- Bad ergonomics.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Low contrast.
The Dell E2220H is an okay monitor for office use. Relative to the size, the screen resolution is decent, but it isn't great for multitasking. It also has poor viewing angles, low contrast, and bad ergonomics. On the plus side, it has great reflection handling, good gray uniformity, and decent overall text clarity.
- Low input lag.
- Great reflection handling.
- Bad ergonomics.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Low contrast.
The Dell E2220H has low input lag, but otherwise it's just an alright gaming monitor. It has a slow response time, resulting in a long blur trail behind moving objects, and it doesn't support any advanced gaming features, like variable refresh rate. It has okay peak brightness and great reflection handling, though, so there shouldn't be any issues using it in a moderately bright room.
- Low input lag.
- Great reflection handling.
- Bad ergonomics.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Low contrast.
- Slow response times.
This is a mediocre monitor for multimedia. The relatively small screen size of the Dell E2220H makes it difficult to make out small details in movies, and the image degrades at an angle, so you can't really share the screen with anybody else. That said, it has low input lag, good gray uniformity, and great reflection handling.
- Low input lag.
- Great reflection handling.
- Bad ergonomics.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Low contrast.
This is an unremarkable monitor for media creation. The Dell E2220H has bad ergonomics, and the image degrades at an angle, so it's difficult to share the screen with a client or colleague. Although it has decent text clarity, the relatively small screen can make it difficult to work with larger projects, or even to see the full UI of your favorite editing software. On the flip side, it has an excellent SDR Color Gamut and Volume, with nearly perfect coverage of the sRGB color space.
- Low input lag.
- Great reflection handling.
- Bad ergonomics.
- Image degrades at an angle.
- Low contrast.
The Dell E2220H doesn't support HDR.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 22 inch Dell E2220H, which is part of Dell's "Essential Monitors" lineup and is available in a variety of sizes. Note that the larger sizes all have IPS panels, so we don't expect our review to be valid for them.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Dell E2220H doesn't correspond to our review, please let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests such as gray uniformity may vary between units.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Refresh Rate | Pixel Type | Notes |
| E1920H | 19" | 1366x768 | 60Hz | TN | DisplayPort & VGA |
| E2020H | 20" | 1600x900 | 60Hz | TN | DisplayPort & VGA |
| E2220H | 22" | 1080p | 60Hz | TN | DisplayPort & VGA |
| E2420H | 24" | 1080p | 60Hz | IPS | DisplayPort & VGA |
| E2420HS | 24" | 1080p | 60Hz | IPS | HDMI & VGA |
| E2720H | 27" | 1080p | 60Hz | IPS | DisplayPort & VGA |
| E2720HS | 27" | 1080p | 60Hz | IPS | HDMI & VGA |
You can see the label for our unit, which was manufactured in May 2020, here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Dell E2220H is a pretty basic budget monitor. If you're willing to spend a bit more, there are much better monitors available.
See our recommendations for the best 1080p monitors, the best office monitors, and the best monitors under $200.
The Samsung T55 is better than the Dell E2220H. The Samsung uses a VA panel, compared to a TN panel on the Dell, which results in much deeper blacks on the Samsung. The Samsung is also much better for gaming, with better response times and support for FreeSync variable refresh rate technology.
The BenQ ZOWIE XL2411P is much better than the Dell E2220H. The BenQ has a much faster refresh rate and faster response times, making it a better choice for gaming. The BenQ also has much better ergonomics, and it's a lot brighter, making it a more versatile choice.
The ASUS MX279HS is much better overall than the Dell E2220H. The ASUS has an IPS panel, with much better viewing angles, better gray uniformity, and better response times. The ASUS is also larger, which results in a lower pixel density, but it's easier to see what you're working on or share your screen.
The ASUS VG245H is much better than the Dell E2220H. The ASUS has a slightly faster refresh rate, but it has significantly faster response times, and it supports FreeSync variable refresh rate technology, making it a much better choice for gaming. The ASUS also has much better ergonomics, and it's much more accurate out of the box.
Test Results
The Dell E2220H has a very simple, unassuming design. It looks very similar to most of Dell's lineup, with a simple, flat stand, and a flat back with no fancy designs or patterns.
Very similar stand to other Dell monitors we've tested. It supports the screen well and leaves room for small objects in front of the display. The stand is pretty lightweight and doesn't prevent the monitor from wobbling.
Update 01/20/2021: For consistency, we've changed the height adjustment from N/A to '0.0'. The score has been adjusted accordingly.
Unfortunately, unlike most Dell monitors we've tested, the Dell E2220H has very limited ergonomics, as it can only tilt.
The back is very plain, similar to other Dells. The stand is removable, exposing VESA mounting holes if you want more flexibility, but there's no quick release. There's a small hole in the stand that can be used for cable management.
The borders are quite a bit thicker than most monitors we've tested recently. This isn't a great choice for a multi-monitor setup.
The Dell E2220H is pretty thin, which is great.
The Dell E2220H has just okay build quality, but it doesn't look and feel as premium as most Dell monitors we've tested. There are no gaps or significant issues with our unit, but the front borders are flexible and not very tight, and the stand is very light, causing the display to wobble a bit.
The Dell E2220H has a low contrast ratio, resulting in blacks that look gray in a dark room. For a TN panel, these results are slightly above-average. If deep blacks are important to you, a VA monitor would be a better choice, but we haven't tested any that are available in this size.
This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video is provided for reference only.
The Dell E2220H has just okay peak brightness. It's bright enough for most rooms, but it might not be bright enough to overcome glare if you're in a room with lots of natural light.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
Mediocre horizontal viewing angle, which is to be expected from a TN monitor. It probably won't cause any issues for most people, but it isn't ideal if you often share your screen with someone else.
Like most TN monitors, the Dell E2220H has poor vertical viewing angles. From above it's not too bad, so it's okay to share your screen with someone standing beside you, but from below colors invert and wash out completely.
This monitor has good gray uniformity. The top of the screen is a bit darker than the rest; this could be due to the poor vertical viewing angles. In near-black scenes, the uniformity is much better, with very little dirty screen effect, but there are still some noticeable uniformity issues.
Note that this varies between units, so let us know how yours looks if you have this monitor.
Unfortunately, our Dell E2220H has bad black uniformity. The screen is cloudy throughout, which can be distracting in dark scenes. On the plus side, there's very little flashlighting around the edges.
This monitor has decent accuracy out-of-the-box. There are some noticeable issues across many shades of gray and most colors, and gamma doesn't follow the sRGB target curve at all, but is instead almost flat, averaging close to 2.2.
The Dell E2220H is much more accurate after calibration. White balance is nearly perfect, and gamma follows the sRGB target curve almost perfectly. There are still some minor inaccuracies in some colors, but these shouldn't be noticeable.
You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and shouldn't be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model, due to manufacturing tolerances.
Excellent SDR color gamut, with nearly perfect coverage of the sRGB color space used by most content. Unfortunately, it has limited coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space, which may be disappointing to some content creators.
Excellent SDR color volume. Due to the low contrast ratio, it can't display dark saturated colors very well, and like most LCD displays, blues aren't very bright.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
There are no signs of temporary image retention.
Great gradient handling. There are signs of 8-bit banding, especially in darker shades, which is to be expected with an 8-bit monitor. This shouldn't be an issue with normal content.
There's no noticeable color bleed on this monitor.
The Dell E2220H has great reflection handling.
Decent text clarity, especially after enabling ClearType on Windows (top photo).
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Dell E2220H has a disappointing response time. The level of overdrive can't be adjusted, and although there's no overshoot, the total response time is quite slow, resulting in a long blur trail behind moving objects.
The backlight is completely flicker-free, which is great.
There's no optional Black Frame Insertion feature.
The basic 60Hz refresh rate is fine for most people, but it's not very good for gaming. It doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology.
Excellent low input lag, typical for a 60Hz monitor.
This is a fairly small, low-resolution screen, so it isn't ideal for multitasking. If you need a portable monitor for on-the-go use, check the Lepow Z1 Gamut.
