CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor Review: The Budget Productivity Powerhouse?

For months, my home office setup felt incomplete. I was hunched over a 15-inch laptop screen, squinting at sprawling spreadsheets and trying to edit documents with multiple windows tiled together in a chaotic mosaic. The neck strain was becoming a daily companion, and the constant eye fatigue made long work sessions feel like an endurance test. I knew I needed a dedicated monitor, but the search was overwhelming. The market is flooded with options, from cheap, no-name screens with questionable quality to high-end behemoths costing more than my laptop. My goal was simple: find a monitor that offered a clear, comfortable viewing experience for productivity, wouldn’t break the bank, and had a few modern features to make it a worthwhile investment. The challenge was cutting through the marketing jargon to find a product that delivered real value without hidden compromises.

What to Consider Before Buying a Desktop Monitor

A desktop monitor is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for boosting productivity, reducing physical strain, and enhancing your entire computing experience. Whether for work, study, or entertainment, a good monitor transforms a cramped laptop view into an expansive digital canvas. It allows for efficient multitasking, provides a more immersive viewing experience for media, and, with the right eye-care technologies, can significantly reduce the eye strain associated with prolonged screen time. It’s the central hub of your desktop, defining how you interact with your digital world every single day.

The ideal customer for a budget-friendly monitor like this is someone facing the daily grind of office work, a student needing a reliable screen for research and writing, or anyone looking to add a second screen to their setup for improved workflow. It’s perfect for tasks like word processing, spreadsheet management, web browsing, and casual media consumption. However, it might not be suitable for those who are professional graphic designers needing perfect colour accuracy, or competitive gamers who demand lightning-fast response times and even higher refresh rates. For those users, a more specialised, and typically more expensive, monitor would be a better investment.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: Measure your desk space carefully. A 22-inch monitor is a compact and versatile size that fits most desks without overwhelming the space. Consider whether you plan to use a single monitor or a dual-monitor setup, as the physical bezels (the frame around the screen) become more important for a seamless look.
• Performance & Panel Technology: Key specs to watch are resolution, refresh rate, and panel type. For this size, Full HD (1920×1080) is the standard, offering sharp text and images. A 100Hz refresh rate, like the one offered here, provides a noticeably smoother experience than standard 60Hz monitors, especially when scrolling. The CHiQ uses a VA (Vertical Alignment) panel, known for its excellent contrast ratios and deep blacks, which is great for text clarity and watching videos.
• Connectivity & Compatibility: Check the ports on your computer. Most modern laptops and PCs use HDMI, but older machines might still use VGA. The inclusion of both, as with the CHiQ 22F650, offers great flexibility. If you plan to use a VESA mount to attach the monitor to an arm or wall, ensure the monitor is compatible and that the port layout doesn’t interfere with the mount—a crucial point we’ll explore later.
• Ergonomics & Eye Care: Long hours in front of a screen demand comfort. Look for features like tilt adjustment to get the perfect viewing angle. More advanced monitors offer height, swivel, and pivot adjustments. Crucially, features like Flicker-Free technology and a Low Blue Light mode are essential for reducing eye strain and are thankfully becoming standard on quality budget models.

Keeping these factors in mind, the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor stands out in several areas. You can explore its detailed specifications here.

While the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

Unboxing the CHiQ 22F650: First Impressions and Key Features

Opening the box for the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor, the first thing we noticed was its surprising lack of weight. As confirmed by several users who found it “hardly believable how lightweight” it was, this makes handling and setup a breeze. Assembly is refreshingly simple and took us, quite literally, under two minutes. It involves attaching the metal stand base to the neck with a single included screw—no tools required. The monitor then clicks securely onto the stand.

Once assembled, the monitor’s “ultra-slim” design is immediately apparent. The main panel is incredibly thin, giving it a sleek, modern profile that looks far more premium than its price tag would suggest. The three-sided “frameless” design adds to this high-end aesthetic, promising an immersive, edge-to-edge picture. The matte black finish is understated and fits well in any office environment. The box contents are straightforward: the monitor panel, the stand components, a 1.5m HDMI cable (a welcome inclusion that some brands omit), the power adapter, and a user manual. Overall, the initial impression is one of excellent value and thoughtful, minimalist design.

A Detailed Look at the CHiQ 22F650’s Day-to-Day Performance

A monitor’s true worth is revealed not on the spec sheet, but in daily use. We put the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor through its paces for over a week, using it for everything from intensive spreadsheet work and multi-tab research to light photo editing and after-hours media streaming. We focused on the core aspects that matter most to a home office user: its visual quality, its performance smoothness, its physical design, and its overall usability.

Visual Fidelity: How Good is the 1080p VA Panel?

The heart of any monitor is its display panel, and the 21.45-inch VA panel in the CHiQ 22F650 is surprisingly capable. With a Full HD (1920×1080) resolution, text is sharp and easy to read, which is paramount for productivity. We spent hours drafting documents and navigating complex spreadsheets, and we experienced none of the fuzziness that can plague lower-quality screens. This was echoed by one user who does extensive spreadsheet and imagery work, calling the monitor “superb” with “crystal clear” images.

Where the VA panel technology truly shines is in its contrast ratio. CHiQ claims a 3000:1 static contrast, and in our testing, blacks appeared deep and inky, while whites remained bright. This makes watching videos or viewing images a much more dynamic experience compared to typical IPS panels in this price range, which often have a greyish tinge to their blacks. The 99% sRGB colour gamut coverage means that colours are vibrant and accurate enough for general use and even some hobbyist-level photo editing. One user noted the “colours are vibrant,” a sentiment we wholeheartedly agree with. The 178-degree viewing angles are solid, with minimal colour shift when viewing the screen from the side. The anti-glare matte coating is also effective at diffusing reflections in a brightly lit room, further enhancing visual comfort.

Beyond 60Hz: The 100Hz Advantage in Work and Play

One of the standout features of the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor is its 100Hz refresh rate. For years, 60Hz has been the standard for office monitors, but the jump to 100Hz provides a tangible improvement in user experience. Every interaction, from moving the cursor across the screen to scrolling through web pages and documents, feels significantly smoother and more fluid. This reduces perceived motion blur and makes the entire operating system feel more responsive. It’s a quality-of-life improvement that, once you experience it, is hard to go back from.

For casual gaming, the 100Hz refresh rate, combined with Adaptive Sync (FreeSync) technology, is a game-changer. FreeSync synchronises the monitor’s refresh rate with the output from a compatible graphics card, eliminating screen tearing and stutter for a much smoother gameplay experience. We tested it with a few titles and found it worked flawlessly, providing a tear-free image. However, it’s important to set expectations. As one user rightly pointed out, the “picture quality isn’t so great if you are a gamer.” This is likely due to the 6ms response time, which, while fine for most, may result in some minor ghosting in very fast-paced competitive games. For general office use and casual gaming, though, the 100Hz performance is a fantastic feature at this price point. If smoothness and responsiveness are high on your list, the CHiQ 22F650 is an impressive performer.

Design and Ergonomics: Sleek Looks with a Critical Flaw

From a distance, the CHiQ 22F650 looks fantastic. The ultra-slim profile and thin bezels give it a modern, minimalist aesthetic. However, a closer look reveals a point of contention raised by users that we can confirm. While the physical plastic bezel is tiny, there is an additional black border of about 5mm built into the panel itself. The on-screen image does not extend to the physical frame as some marketing images might suggest. For a single monitor setup, this is a minor aesthetic issue, but for those creating a multi-monitor array, it means there will be a noticeable black bar between the screens.

The stand is sturdy and metallic, providing a stable base, but its functionality is limited. It only offers tilt adjustment (from -15° to +5°), with no option for height, swivel, or pivot. This lack of height adjustment was a known drawback mentioned by one user, so it’s critical to ensure your desk and chair setup places the monitor at a comfortable eye level.

The biggest issue, however, is a significant design oversight related to VESA mounting. The monitor is VESA compatible, but as multiple users have angrily reported, the placement of the HDMI port is directly behind one of the mounting points. If you use a standard VESA plate, it can completely obstruct the HDMI port, making it impossible to use. This is a baffling and frankly unacceptable design flaw for anyone planning to use a monitor arm. You might be able to find a workaround with a specific type of VESA adapter or a right-angled HDMI cable, but you shouldn’t have to. This single issue is the monitor’s most significant Achilles’ heel.

Usability and Connectivity: The Good and the Tedious

In terms of connectivity, the CHiQ 22F650 offers the essentials: one HDMI port, one legacy VGA port, and a 3.5mm audio-out jack. The inclusion of VGA is great for compatibility with older hardware, and the audio-out is useful for connecting external speakers or headphones, as the monitor has no built-in speakers—a point that caught some buyers by surprise. A joystick on the back controls the on-screen display (OSD) menu. While a joystick is often preferable to multiple confusing buttons, we found the menu system itself, as one user described, “not user friendly and very tedious to use.” Navigating the settings for brightness, contrast, and colour modes feels clunky, but once you have it set up, you likely won’t need to touch it often.

On the plus side, the monitor includes a full suite of eye-care technologies. The DC dimming, Flicker-Free backlight, and Low Blue Mode all work together to reduce eye strain during long work sessions. We enabled the Low Blue Mode for late-night work and found it made a noticeable difference in visual comfort, reducing that feeling of tired, dry eyes. These features are not just marketing bullet points; they are essential for anyone who spends the majority of their day in front of a screen.

What Other Users Are Saying

After compiling our own findings, we delved into broader user feedback to see how our experience lined up. The sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, especially regarding the value proposition. Many users, like one retiree, praised the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor for being a “superb” upgrade from a laptop screen, highlighting its “crystal clear” images and “vibrant colours” for productivity work. Its ease of setup is another common theme, with one happy customer noting it “literally took 2 mins to put together.”

However, the praise is not without its caveats. The most significant and frequently mentioned complaint is the VESA mount and HDMI port design flaw. One frustrated user stated, “If you want to use the HDMI port and VESA mount you can forget it as the port is right under where one of the VESA mount screws is.” Another common point of criticism is the misleading bezel marketing, with a buyer feeling “a little disappointed” that there’s a 5mm internal border not shown in product images. While most find the monitor reliable, there are isolated but serious reports of issues, including one user who experienced a dangerous electrical fault with the power supply, highlighting potential quality control inconsistencies.

How Does the CHiQ 22F650 Compare to the Alternatives?

The CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor carves out a specific niche, but it’s important to understand the other options available, which cater to different needs.

1. Dopesplay 15.6” 1080P Portable Monitor

The Dopesplay monitor serves a completely different purpose. It’s a portable, lightweight 15.6-inch screen designed to be a travel companion for your laptop. While it shares the 1080p resolution, its primary benefit is mobility, powered directly via USB-C. If your work requires you to be on the move and you need a second screen for presentations or increased productivity in a coffee shop or hotel room, the Dopesplay is the obvious choice. However, for a permanent desk setup, the larger size, higher 100Hz refresh rate, and better contrast of the CHiQ 22F650 make it a far more comfortable and immersive primary display.

2. Gawfolk 34 Inch Curved Gaming Monitor 165Hz

The Gawfolk monitor represents the other end of the spectrum. This is a massive 34-inch ultrawide, curved display built specifically for immersive gaming. With its higher 165Hz refresh rate, ultrawide aspect ratio, and curved screen, it’s designed to fill your peripheral vision and provide a competitive edge in games. It is significantly larger, more expensive, and aimed squarely at gamers and media enthusiasts. The CHiQ 22F650 is a compact, budget-friendly productivity tool; the Gawfolk is an entertainment centerpiece. Choosing between them depends entirely on your primary use case and budget.

3. UPERFECT 15.6″ FHD 1080P Portable IPS Monitor

Similar to the Dopesplay, the UPERFECT is another excellent portable monitor. It differentiates itself with an IPS panel, which typically offers superior colour accuracy and viewing angles compared to the CHiQ’s VA panel, though often at the cost of contrast ratio (less deep blacks). It also comes with a smart cover that doubles as a stand. This is the ideal choice for digital nomads, students who work in various locations, or anyone needing a high-quality, colour-accurate screen on the go. The CHiQ 22F650 remains the better choice for a static, budget-conscious desktop setup where screen size and a high-contrast display are more important than portability.

Our Final Verdict: Is the CHiQ 22F650 the Right Monitor for You?

After extensive testing, we can confidently say that the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor offers exceptional value for a specific type of user. If you are looking for a compact, affordable monitor for a home office, for studying, or as a secondary screen for productivity, it is an outstanding choice. The combination of a sharp 1080p VA panel with excellent contrast, vibrant colours, and a fluid 100Hz refresh rate creates a user experience that punches well above its price tag. The sleek, ultra-slim design also makes it a stylish addition to any desk.

However, the recommendation comes with a crucial warning: if you plan to use a VESA mount, you must be aware of the severe design flaw that can block the HDMI port. For users who will only use the included stand, this is a non-issue. But for those who value ergonomic flexibility via a monitor arm, this could be a deal-breaker. For its target audience—the budget-conscious desk worker—the CHiQ 22F650 delivers on its promises of smooth performance and great visual quality where it counts most.

If you’ve decided the CHiQ 22F650 22 Inch FHD 100Hz Monitor is the right fit, you can check its current price and purchase it here.