The Acer T232HL is ten years old at this point, and in the world of technology, this thing should belong in a museum. Despite that, the Acer T232HL is still a decent contender in the touch screen monitor market.
Screen size: 23-inch
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Brightness: 300 cd/m²
Ports: 3 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, HDMI x 2, VGA, DVI, 3.5mm audio jack
Weight: 11.38 lbs
A lot of that comes down to the lack of replacement models due to the relatively low popularity of touch screen monitors, but that’s not to sell the Acer T232HL short – it was a great monitor when it came out, and it still has a lot of the features you’d look for in a modern monitor today.
The 10-point multi-touch screen is responsive and comfortable to use, and the whole thing feels sturdy and well-built. The looks will be divisive, depending on how you feel about the huge screen bezels, but we think its design has stood the test of time. That’s not to say it isn't without its issues though – the color accuracy isn’t amazing, and at $300, it’s not cheap.
However, for an old timer monitor, the Acer T232HL can still hang with the best touch screen monitors on the market today.
Acer T232HL: Design
- Sturdy build
- Ugly bezel around screen
Unlike other touch screen monitors which try to disguise themselves as a regular screen, the Acer T232HL makes a statement - it’s clear from looking at it that this is a touch screen device, not just some random screen to watch YouTube on.
It’s also well designed too. While not the most flexible touch screen monitor on the market, the Acer T232HL is the easiest to readjust to a new angle. In our tests, we found it was easy to move the Acer T232HL from one position to another with one hand, despite the size and weight of it. It also feels stable and secure too, unlike some other monitors, which wobble around during use.
There is a fairly chunky 1.25-inch bezel around the entire screen, which looks quite ugly now that we’re used to edgeless touch screens on many of the best smartphones. It can be a blessing in disguise though, as it gives you something to grab when you need to readjust the screen angle. That's a generous take on the design, however, but it is very practical.
You can adjust the screen angle anywhere between 30 and 80 degrees, which means you can keep the screen upright like a standard monitor or lay it down almost flat in front of you - a feature that makes the Acer T232HL ideal for digital artists who want to draw directly onto the screen.
Acer T232HL: Screen quality
- Full HD with 60 Hz refresh rate
- Touch screen works perfectly
The Acer T232HL has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, aka full HD, which is essentially the baseline standard for monitors these days. It’s tough to find a dedicated touch screen monitor that goes above this resolution though, so users looking for 4K screens will likely have to give up on the touch screen dream (or buy a laptop with a 4K screen, at great expense). It has a 60 Hz refresh rate and a 5 milliseconds response time, so you won’t have any issues with the screen updates lagging behind your movements when you’re using it.
If you’re buying a touch screen monitor, the very least you’d expect is that the touch screen works as advertised and we’re happy to say it does. We were able to use all of the functions of the screen - like dragging, pinching, and rotating - without any problems.
The only real issue we have with the Acer T232HL is the color accuracy, especially when the screen is viewed from an angle other than straight on. What we mean by this is that images on screen don’t always look the color they should do. This is disappointing, but we’re talking relatively minor deviations here - a picture of a rose will show up a slightly lighter shade of red, but it’s not suddenly going to turn yellow. If color accuracy is hugely important to you, we recommend checking out the Planar Helium PCT2235. Ultimately, we didn’t feel it impacted our experience with the Acer T232HL much at all.
Some users on Amazon have noted that the screen is quite reflective and can be difficult to use without a screen filter, but the Acer T232HL has received generally positive reviews on the site with an average star rating of 4 stars out of five.
Acer T232HL: Usability
- Easy to set up
- Comfortable to use
We found that the Acer T232HL was incredibly easy to set up and start using. The ports and sockets were all easy to access. It has two HDMI ports, a VGA port for those with older connections and several USB 3.0 ports. There are also in-built speakers and an audio jack to let you connect a headset to the monitor. You can also mount the Acer T232HL on the wall with standard VESA mount.
If comfort is your primary concern with a touch screen monitor, then the Acer T232HL is easily our top pick of the available options thanks to some intelligent design choices. For one thing, all the buttons are on the side of the screen, rather than the top, which means that you won’t accidentally press them while using the touch screen.
If you do run into issues, Acer has a great customer service system and can be contacted via email, phone and on their website. It should be noted that most of the support channels are only accessible during regular business hours.
Acer T232HL: User reviews
One benefit of the Acer T232HL’s age is that it’s had plenty of time to build up its reputation, which means that there are far more user reviews for this model than for newer monitors. The Acer T232HL has an average user rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon with 444 global reviews at the time of writing.
Positive reviews stated that it was easy to set up and use, and that the display looked bright and sharp. There were quite a few use cases on display too, with one reviewer using the Acer T232HL as part of their digital audio workstation to help them record music at home.
There are some negative reviews too though, with disappointed users noting that they struggled to get the touch screen function to work on newer versions of Windows. Many other users stated it does work on Windows 10 and 11 though, so it seems to be a relatively isolated issue.
Should you buy the Acer T232HL?
The Acer T232HL is really starting to show its age at this point, but it’s still one of the better touch screen monitors that you can buy. That says a lot more about the lack of touch screen monitors on the market than it does anything else, but regardless, we’d happily recommend this to anyone who needs a touch screen monitor for their home or work set-up.
It has a sharp, bright display and responsive touch screen controls, all wrapped up in a professionally built shell. The adjustable stand is easy to use and lets you write at an angle that’s comfortable for you. The only real downside is the so-so color accuracy, especially if you’re not viewing the screen straight on. We didn’t find it to be a deal-breaker though.
If this product isn't for you
If you’re looking for the best touch screen monitor for you, but want a bit more modern, then you should definitely check out the Philips 242B9T. This model only came out a couple of years ago, and while it’s primarily aimed at small businesses, it’s also a great choice for people who need a touch screen monitor at home.
Creative types might want to look at the Planar Helium PCT2485, which has a few features that make it perfect for drawing on. For one thing, it can lie perfectly flat on the desk, so you can draw on it like you would a normal notepad. It also has bezels that are beneath the glass screen, which means you won’t be constantly bumping into them when drawing at the edge of your page.
Finally, if you prefer a screen with a matte finish, then you should check out our review of the Dell P2418HT. The screen has an anti-glare coating which makes it much easier on the eyes during extended sessions.
