Review: Hazro HZ26W monitor

Ranging in size from 23in to 30in, Hazro's monitors are based on high-end panel technology and offer good performance in stylish, yet industrial-strength housings.

We took a look at the 26in model and it's obvious that this is a serious piece of equipment. There's nothing flimsy or cheap - the casing is metal throughout and the build-quality is exceedingly good.

Because aluminium is such a good conductor of heat it can be completely dust-sealed, requiring no exposed vents, and can be wiped clean of minor spills without damage.

From the back, a large Hazro logo sits above a trio of inputs: DVI, VGA and component video. There's no attempt to conceal the connector ports, nor is there any cable management but this feels somehow in keeping with its functional yet minimal look.

A touch-sensitive control panel is slightly set back below the bezel. The on-screen menu is well laid out and offers good control over colour and image settings including aspect-ratio scaling, although we were a little surprised at the lack of automatic input switching.

The HZ26W offers impressively wide viewing angles. Not only does the S-IPS panel reproduce an extremely wide range of colours, unlike cheaper TN-based designs, it displays no colour or contrast shifts as you move your head around, making it an ideal product for graphic design or critical colour-based work such as digital photography and video editing. In our tests, the HZ26W produced one of the widest colour gamuts we've seen.

We found the monitor stand a little disappointing, though and it's also lacking extras such as USB ports, memory slots or audio ports.

However, cutting back on such features allows you to purchase a top-quality display for considerably less than competing products.