14 DAY TRIAL // Most TVs and monitors nowadays have one or two integrated speakers, plus subwoofers here and there, but they usually have 1 or 2W audio power. AOC has released an exception to that so-called rule.
Well, technically there are two of them, but the only difference is that one supports Miracast, while the other doesn't.
The newcomers go by the names of i2473Pwm and the i2473Pwy and both support MHL (mobile high-definition link), meaning that you can connect a phone to them and show the UI on the large screen.
Both monitors have a diagonal of 23.8 inches, or 60.5 cm, and IPS panels. IPS stands for in-plane switching and is an alternative to TN (twisted nematic), sacrificing some of the response time in favor of wider viewing angles.
The AOC 73-series displays both have 178-degree angles, both horizontally and vertically, as well as a brightness of 250 cd/m2.
The luminosity is pretty average really, but at least the response time of 5 ms is decent instead of slow (with IPS, you're in danger of limiting yourself to 7 ms or even 9 sometimes).
Then, there's the set of two 7 watt ONKYO high-quality loudspeakers, which will give you high-quality audio “to match the exceptional image quality with high-class sound.”
The speakers are part of the stand, though, not the display frame itself. It's why said stand is so much thicker and oddly shaped compared to regular monitors.
Moving on, the new monitors have earned TCO 6.0 and Energy Star 6.0 certification, thanks to their efficient LED backlights and other energy-saving features.
All in all, the two newcomers would be pretty standard displays, if not for their high-quality speakers and, in the case of i2473Pwy, the ability to mirror content from mobile devices wirelessly.
That's what Miracast technology is for. While MHL allows you to mirror smartphones and tablets via a cable, Miracast makes the whole process wireless.
The AOC i2473Pwm and the i2473Pwy monitors should sell soon for around GBP 159 / $267 / €195 and GBP 189 / $317 / €231.
You'll probably want to buy one or the other if you often wish to use your smartphone when you're at the desk, or if you want to watch a series or film but aren't much into large television sets. On that note, the resolution is of 1920 x 1080 pixels, Full HD as it were, nothing too fancy. If you want big screens and pixel counts, look for an UHD TV instead.