The two displays with no built-in speakers (LG and Samsung) automatically score a zero. And the ones that do offer this feature are dreadful.
If you're looking to buy a monitor at the budget end of the market, and intend to use it for anything more sonically challenging than system bleeps and audible notifications, we recommend you factor in the cost of a set of speakers.
The four monitors with built-in speakers all offer weak, flat sound with very little definition and character. The NEC is barely audible, which is almost a blessing considering how bland and lifeless our test tunes sound.
NEC MULTISYNC LCD195VXM+
The BenQ offers no power at all, and an audio quality reminiscent of catching the overspill from someone else's iPod on a particularly miserable train journey.
The other two are better, but barely so. The Asus is tinny, very flat and lacking in bass and definition, and although the Hanns G offers a marginally more rounded sound, it is still like listening to a stereo playing in the next room.
