These are the best monitors you can buy in 2022

With the need to work from home that many of us faced in the past couple of years, technology has become especially important. Many of us had to create new work setups at home, or maybe you needed to upgrade your old setup to make it suitable for your needs. One of the core parts of a work-from-home setup is the monitor. Whether you have a desktop PC with no screen or you need a second display for your setup, a great monitor is important to ensure you have a good time using it and that it works well for your needs. We’ve rounded up some of the best monitors you can buy today to help you do just that.

Of course, a monitor doesn’t have to be just for work. There are some great gaming monitors out there, too, so we’ve also included some of them here. Whether your goal is productivity or entertainment, we have something for you here.

Navigate this article:

• Best overall: ASUS ProArt PA278CV
• Best 4K monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2723QE
• Best ultrawide: LG UltraWide 38WN95C-W
• Best 1080p/budget monitor: HP 24mh
• Best HDR gaming monitor: Alienware QD-OLED AW3423DW
• Best high refresh rate gaming monitor: Samsung Odyssey G7
• Best budget gaming monitor: Asus TUF Gaming VG259QR
• Best portable monitor: LG gram +view
• Honorable mention: HUAWEI MateView

Best overall monitor: ASUS ProArt PA278CV

Buying the “best” monitor is very dependent on your specific needs, but for general purpose use and to get a great balance performance and capabilities, the ASUS ProArt PA278CV is probably your best bet. It’s a great, sharp monitor with solid color coverage, a clean design, and a reasonable price.

First off, this is a 27-inch IPS panel that looks fantastic. It’s got Quad HD resolution (2560 x 1440) and a maximum refresh rate of 75Hz if you want a slightly smoother experience compared to traditional 60Hhz screens. It actually has an adaptive refresh rate between 48Hz and 75Hz. It covers 100% of sRGB and 100% of Rec. 709 color spaces, and it has a rated color accuracy of Delta E < 2, so it’s also great for color-sensitive work and creative professionals.

The panel reaches up to 350 nits of brightness and it has a contrast ratio of 1,000:1, which is fairly standard for a monitor like this, and it should look great. It doesn’t support HDR, but not everyone needs that. As we said, this is a great choice for general purpose use.

A nice inclusion that not every monitor has is built-in speakers. You get two 2W speakers built into the ProArt PA278CV, so you can at least get decent sound output of them for media consumption and the like. There’s also a headphone jack built-in in case your PC doesn’t have one or it’s out of reach.

The design of the monitor itself is fairly clean and minimalistic, and it has pretty small bezels on the sides and the top. The bottom bezel does house some buttons, which on one hand makes controls easier to use, but on the other, makes the monitor less visually appealing. The display/stand supports tilt adjustments between -5º and 35º, swivel between -45º and 45º, and it can pivot 90 degrees in either direction, so you can use it in a vertical orientation. It also has 15cm of height adjustment on the stand. If you prefer, you can use VESA mounting with a 100mm x 100mm mount.

For ports, the ASUS ProArt PA278CV supports USB Type-C input, as well as DisplayPort 1.2 (with daisy-chaining support), and HDMI 1.4. Those aren’t the newest standards, but they’re all you need to drive a display like this, so there’s no worry there. The USB Type-C port not only supports a display signal, it also powers a USB hub, with four USB Type-A ports built into the monitor so you can connect more peripherals. Plus, the monitor can even provide up to 65W of passthrough charging for a laptop, so you can connect the monitor, some peripherals, and a charger into your laptop using a single port.

Overall, that’s a great combination of specs and features, and if you’re buying an all-purpose monitor, this is one of the best options. There’s a slightly different model without USB Type-C input (and all the benefits that come with it), which is noticeably cheaper if you don’t need all the bells and whistles. Otherwise, the design and display are similar.

Best 4K monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2723QE

If you’re interested in something even sharper, the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE is a relatively new, but excellent 4K monitor. It’s packing a new type of IPS panel that looks great, it’s bright, and it has a sleek design.

First off, as we’ve already mentioned, this is a 4K display (3840 x 2160), and it’s a 27-inch IPS panel, so it’s going to look very sharp at that resolution. It covers 100% of sRGB, 100% of Rec. 709, and 98% of DCI-P3 color spaces, so color reproduction should be great for general use, such as work, gaming, and media consumption. Color accuracy is also rated as Delta E < 2, so you should have a great experience on that front. The refresh rate is just 60Hz, which is about what you’d expect for this kind of monitor.

It’s using a new type of IPS panel from LG, called IPS Black, meaning it promises a much higher contrast ratio of 2,000:1 compared to the 1,000:1 contrast ratio of typical IPS panels. That should help with HDR support, and the display is certified for VESA DisplayHDR 400, though that’s not the best you can get if you’re interested in an HDR monitor. The panel reaches 400 nits of brightness, which is pretty much the bare minimum to get some form of HDR support.

Unfortunately, the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE doesn’t have built-in speakers, but it does have an audio line-out port so you can connect a speaker setup.

Design-wise, this is a very clean and sleek-looking monitor. It has tiny bezels on all four sides, and Dell even forgoes putting its logo on the bottom bezel (it’s on the stand instead), aiding to the minimalistic look. That means you have to rely on a nub on the back of the display to control all kinds of settings for the monitor, which isn’t an unusual approach. The monitor stand supports tilt adjustments (-5º to 21º), swivel (60º in total),  15cm of height adjustment, and it can pivot so you can use it vertically. Otherwise, it also has a 100mm x 100mm VESA mounting system.

It supports USB-C input with DisplayPort 1.4 Alternate Mode, two DisplayPort ports (one for daisy-chaining), and HDMI, but that’s not all. The USB-C input can also power a USB hub including five USB Type-A ports, RJ45 Ethernet, and one USB Type-C downstream port with 15W of power delivery so you can charge your phone, for example. If you’re not using USB Type-C for display output, there’s a secondary USB-C upstream port to power just the USB ports for peripherals. The monitor stand includes a hole to run your cables so you can organize your setup a bit better.

If you want a super-sharp display that’s great for work and entertainment, the Dell U2723EQ is one of the best monitors you can buy right now. It’s not the best option for HDR support, but if you don’t need that, it’s definitely worth your consideration.

Best ultrawide monitor: LG UltraWide 38WN95C-W

If you’ve got no qualms about spending money on a good monitor, the LG UltraWide 38WN95C-W is one of the best ultrawide screens you can get. It’s sharp, it has great colors, and the design itself is great. You just need to be ready to shell out.

The display itself is a 38-inch curved panel and it comes in a very sharp resolution of 3840 x 1600, resulting in 21:9 aspect ratio that gives you a ton of space to work with. That extra width makes it ideal for multi-tasking, since you can have multiple apps open at once and they’ll all still be easily visible. The panel also has a 144Hz refresh rate and it’s NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible, so you could potentially use it for gaming. Colors look great, too, and the panel covers 98% of DCI-P3 and 125% of sRGB, making it a great choice for both media consumption and even some content creation.

The panel supports HDR10 and it’s certified with VESA DisplayHDR 600, so it can also offer a solid HDR experience. It reaches up to 450 nits of brightness, which is more than visible enough for most indoor environments, and it has a typical 1,000:1 aspect ratio, like most IPS displays.

You also get built-in speakers for audio, and they’re fairly powerful units, too. Two 5W speakers should give you great stereo sound all things considered, rounding out an already excellent monitor.

Design-wise, the LG UltraWide 38WN95C-W looks premium and modern enough. It’s obviously quite large due to the display size, but it should still fit nicely into any environment as long as you have space. The included stand supports swivel (15º in each direction), tilt (-5º to 15º), and height (up to 11cm) adjustments. As you can probably imagine, a screen of this size can’t pivot, especially being a curved panel.

As for ports, the LG UltraWide 38WN95C-W is one of the few monitors on this list that comes with a full 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 connection. That means a single USB cable can deliver the display signal, data, and power up to 94W, so you can keep a laptop charged if that’s the PC you’re using with it. There are also two HDMI and one DisplayPort input if you prefer that. You also get two USB Type-A ports to connect peripherals to your computer.

This isn’t a cheap laptop, but what you get in exchange is a fantastic experience across the board wrapped in a sleek design. You can use it for the office as much as you can use it for gaming, so it’s versatile, and it can serve you well for a long time to come.

Best budget / Full HD monitor: HP 24mh

You don’t need to spend a lot f money on a top-of-the-line monitor to get a great experience. If you’re looking to save a few bucks, the HP 24mh is a great Full HD monitor you can get that nails all the basics. It’s also a great gateway if you’re trying a dual-monitor setup for the first time, so you can get a feel for it without spending too much.

As the name makes evident, this is a 24-inch monitor, and it comes in Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). It’s not as fancy as the more expensive monitors, but Full HD is still a great resolution and more than good enough to give you a productivity boost. I personally use a Full HD monitor on a daily basis for my work, and it’s great to have it on my desk. This is an IPS panel, meaning you get great viewing angles, which is already nice to have. It even has a slightly smoother 75Hz refresh rate compared to traditional 60Hz displays. HP doesn’t really specify any sort of color coverage, so you shouldn’t expect this to compete with more expensive panels, but it’ll do the job just fine for most people.

The HP 24mh can reach up to 250 nits of brightness, so it should be good enough for indoor use as long as you’re not sitting too close to a window. Direct sunlight may make this one a bit harder to see, but it shouldn’t be a problem otherwise.

One nice feature the monitor includes is built-in speakers, which are a very welcome addition at this price. There’s a pair of 2W stereo speakers, which is solid enough for watching videos and movies. It should at least be better than the built-in speakers on most laptops.

The design of the HP 24mh is pretty good, too. You get narrow bezels on three sides, while the bottom makes room for some branding. You’ll find buttons for setting up the monitor on the underside of the panel, so they’re a bit more accessible than if they were on the back. The monitor stand also supports tilt (-5º to 23º) and height adjustments, and while HP doesn’t mention it very clearly, you can actually rotate the screen 90 degrees to use it in portrait orientation. That’s really nice to have in a cheaper monitor like this.

As for ports, you get all the basic options you need: One DisplayPort connection, one HDMI port, and one VGA port if you’re still rocking a PC that has one of those. There’s also an audio jack if you want to use external speakers or headphones. Of course, there’s nothing fancy like USB-C inputs or Thunderbolt on a monitor this cheap, but you’re already getting a really good value with everything else it offers.

It may not compete with the cream of the crop, but for users on a budget, the HP 24mh is undoubtedly one of the best monitors you can get right now.

Best HDR gaming monitor: Alienware AW3423DW

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a great feature that more and more monitors have now, and whether you want to watch movies or play games, good HDR performance is great to have. It allows different areas of the display to hit varying levels of brightness, offering higher contrasts, and thus, more realistic and simply pleasant imagery. And as far as HDR goes, or gaming in general, it doesn’t get much better than the Alienware AW3423DW, a stunning QD-OLED display that’s simply fantastic in almost every way.

Starting with the basics, this is a large 34-inch display with a wide 21:9 aspect ratio, which is fairly typical for gaming monitors. It’s also a very sharp panel, with a 3440 x 1440 resolution. And, because it’s a gaming monitor, you get up to a 175Hz refresh rate via the DisplayPort connection, though HDMI is limited to 100Hz. Plus, OLED has another benefit – fast pixel response times, as low as 0.1ms. The display is slightly curved so the edges of the image are still more visible in your peripheral vision.

What really gets this panel apart, however, is that it’s the world’s first QD-OLED gaming monitor. This new type of display is an improved implementation of OLED that allows for brighter displays, and sure enough, the Alienware AW3423DW can reach up to 1000 nits of brightness. Because it’s an OLED panel, it has DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification, but with up to 1000 nits of brightness, it can also produce very bright HDR images with great amounts of detail in both shadows and highlights. It’s also still a very color accurate panel, covering 99.3% of the DCI-P3 color space and with a Delta E < 2.

A potential downside of this monitor is that it has no built-in speakers, so you’ll have to provide your own sound output. To be fair, if you’re willing ti invest this much in a monitor, you probably also want to invest in a proper speaker setup, but it would be nice to have.

Like most Alienware products, the AW3423DW comes with the company’s new Legend 2.0 design language, with a combination of black and white that makes for a very sleek look. The more otward-facing parts are white, while the front-facing components are mostly black. There’s also RGB lighting on the Alienware logo and the RGB loop around where the stand attaches to the monitor. Functionality-wise, the monitor supports tilt, swivel, and height adjustments – pivot rotation wouldn’t be ideal with a wide aspect ratio like this.

Rounding things out with ports, the Alienware AW3423DW comes with two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, and a USB hub consisting of four USB Type-A ports, powered by an upstream USB Type-B port. You also get audio line out to connect some speakers, and a standard headphone jack if you prefer using that. There are some things missing, like USB Type-C for a single-cable solution, or hDMI 2.1 to support 4K 120Hz gaming on the latest consoles. Still, for PC gaming, DisplayPort 1.4 is all you need, and you still get a great experience with HDMI 2.0.

While it’s pricy, the Alienware AW3423DW is hands-down one of the best HDR monitors and gaming monitors around, so we couldn’t not include it here. It’s a display like no other.

Best high refresh rate gaming monitor: Samsung Odyssey G7

Sure, the Alienware monitor above may be the cream of the crop in terms of gaming monitors, but you definitely pay for that privilege. If you want the best gaming monitor from more mainstream point of view, the Samsung Odyssey G7 is the one you want to look at.

The Samsung Odyssey G7 comes in both 27-inch and 32-inch models, but they both sport a sharp Quad HD resolution (2560 x 1440) and a 240Hz refresh rate. This is kind of the sweet spot for gaming, where you get a pretty sharp image and Quad HD, but also extremely smooth gaming. It also supports NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for tear-free gaming, and it has a 1ms response time. This is a VA panel using Samsung’s QLED technology, and it covers 125% of sRGB and 95% of DCI-P3, so colors should look pretty good here, too.

The Odyssey G7 has a typical full-screen brightness of 350 nits, but it can hit a peak brightness of 600 nits, meaning it achieves VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification. With a 2,500:1 contrast ratio that means you should get a pretty great experience with HDR gaming.

You also get built-in speakers, though Samsung doesn’t really mention them on the product page. These are always nice to have as a backup, even if built-in monitor speakers are usually not that great.

Design-wise, the Samsung Odyssey G7 definitely looks like a gaming monitor. The speakers are housed in angular-looking enclosures and they feature RGB lighting, which is customizable with the built-in software of the monitor. Also customizable is the “infinity core” on the back, which is a glowing orb of light that frankly looks really cool. It doesn’t offer as many customization options as some other monitors, but it does look great. A potential problem with this monitor is just how big it is, especially considering it’s just a 16:9 panel. Between the very curved monitor (1000R curvature) and the large stand, this will take up a chunk of space on your desk.

Finally, we have the ports, and the Odyssey G7 comes with one HDMI 2.0 input and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports that are fast enough to make full use of Quad HD 240Hz panel (though HDMI 2.0 only supports that spec with chroma subsampling). There’s no USB-C one-port connection, but you can use the monitor as a USB hub by connecting your PC to the USB Type-B port on the back. That gives you a pair of USB Type-A ports that may be easier to reach than the ones built into your PC, specifically if it’s a desktop.

Overall, the Samsung Odyssey G7 offers great value for gamers, with high resolution and high refresh rates, plus solid color reproduction and some cool RGB effects. It’s probably the best monitor for most PC gamers since it has a very high refresh rate and HDR600. However, if you also want to play on the latest consoles, you may also want to check out the newer Odyssey G70A. It has a 4K panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, and it adds HDMI 2.1 support so you can play at 4K and 120Hz on an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5.

Best for budget gaming: Asus TUF Gaming VG259QR

Not everyone who’s a gamer has a big budget to use on a monitor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a solid experience. For cost-conscious gamers, the Asus TUF Gaming VG259QR may be one of the best monitors you can buy today, and it packs some nice features for its price tag.

The panel itself is a 24.5-inch IPS panel, and it comes in Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). That’s about what you’d expect for a budget monitor, and the IPS panel should ensure you get great viewing angles from all sides. Of course, it’s a gaming monitor, so it has a smooth refresh rate of 144Hz by default, though you can boost it up it to 165Hz. It also supports adaptive sync and it’s Nvidia G-Sync Compatible, plus it features Asus’ Extreme Low Motion Blur tech so fast movements don’t ruin the image quality.

Like most IPS panels, it has a contrast ratio of 1,000:1, and it reaches up to 300 nits of brightness, so it should look fairly good all things considered. However, it’s not an HDR monitor, though that’s not something you should really expect at this price point.

To help you save a bit more money, the monitor also includes a pair of stereo speakers built-in, specifically with 2W of power each. This isn’t an overly impressive setup, but it’s still great to have any built-in speakers at this price so you don’t have to invest in a sound system, too.

Design-wise, the Asus TUF Gaming VG259QR is actually quite nice. It has small bezels on three sides of the screen, though the bottom bezel makes it a point to remind you the monitor supports HDMI and DisplayPort, for some reason. The overall design is fairly gamer-like, with angular edges and a red accent on the base. In terms of features, it includes some niceties like tilt adjustments (-5º to 33º), swivel (90º each way), height adjustment (13cm), and even pivot support so you can use it in portrait orientation. That’s impressive for a monitor at this price and it gives you versatility you wouldn’t normally expect at this price. Of course, you can use a VESA mount (100mm x 100mm) if you prefer using it that way, too. The monitor’s controls are on the back, but they’re easily reachable on the side and the buttons are relatively big, so you should be able to get the hang of it quickly.

As for ports, you get a few basic inputs, which is really all you need. There are two HDMI 1.4 inputs and one DisplayPort 1.2 input. You’ll need to use DisplayPort to support the full 165Hz refresh rate, but HDMI still supports 120Hz, which isn’t too far off.  You also get an audio jack if you want an easier way to connect headphones to your PC without reaching for the audio jack on your desktop. There are no fancy features like a USB hub or passthrough charging for a laptop, but that’s not surprising at this price.

In the end, while it’s obviously not a high-end monitor, the Asus TUF Gaming VG259QR gets a lot of things right. It has great entry-level performance for a gaming monitor, and features like swivel, tilt, and pivot are really nice to see at this price point. It’s certainly one of the best monitors you can buy as a budding gamer.

Best portable monitor: LG gram +view

An extra monitor can give you a boost to productivity at home, but what if you could take that on the road? With a portable monitor, you can, and the LG gram +view is probably the best option when it comes to portable monitors for productivity.

In a world where a lot of productivity laptops are opting for 16:10 aspect ratios, LG was smart enough to adapt, and the LG gram +view is a 16-inch panel that’s a perfect match for those laptops. It’s very sharp, too, coming in WQXGA (2560 x 1600) resolution, so it’s fantastic for getting work done. Plus, it covers 99% of DCI-P3, so color reproduction should also be very good, and you can use this monitor for all kinds of work. It also reaches up to 350 nits of brightness and it has a 1200:1 contrast ratio, which is better than most portable monitors offer.

Since it’s meant to be used with a laptop, which has its own speakers, the LG gram +view doesn’t have any. If you wanted this to be a portable gaming monitor for something like a Nintendo Switch, that might be a bummer, but for PC users, it’s totally fine.

Design-wise, the LG gram +view is a thin and light display, measuring just 8.3mm thick and weighing a mere 1.48lbs, though the included folio cover brings that up to 2.18lbs. That folio cover doubles as a kickstand, and you can use it to hold the display in both portrait or landscape orientations depending on your preference. It should be easy to pack in with your laptop without much hassle, though we’ll say this might be a case where you want to choose based on the size of your laptop. A 13-inch external monitor like the Arzopa portable monitor may be better for smaller laptops, for example. Regardless, this is a very easy display to take anywhere.

As for ports, there are two USB Type-C inputs so you can easily plug in your laptop from either side. You can use a single port for both the display signal and power delivery, so you don’t need any extra cables to power the monitor.

All in all, this is a great portable monitor that can greatly expand your productivity on the go. If you want something a little different, the Asus ZenScreen MB16AHP is a great alternative. It has a built-in battery so it can actually help power your laptop if you want to keep working away from an outlet.

Honorable mention: HUAWEI MateView

We would have loved to include the Huawei MateView in our top spot, but as you’re probably aware, you can’t really buy HUAWEI products easily in the United States. Still, this is such a good monitor that we couldn’t go without mentioning it.

One of the things that’s fantastic about this display is that it’s not your typical 16:9 screen, nor is it ultrawide. It’s actually the opposite, and it comes in a tall 3:2 aspect ratio you don’t see very often on monitors. This aspect ratio has become more popular in laptops, and it gives you a lot more vertical space and surface area to work with compared to other 28-inch displays. It’s incredibly sharp, too, with 4K+ (2840 x 2560) resolution giving you fantastic pixel density for crisp visuals. With a display that big and sharp, productivity is fantastic on this display. You can stack two windows side by side and see a lot more content than you would on a 16:9 panel. The display covers 100% of sRGB and 98% of DCI-P3, so color reproduction is great, too.

It’s a bright panel, too, reaching 500 nits of brightness and with support for DisplayHDR 400, meaning you get a solid HDR experience, too. Plus, it has a 1200:1 contrast ratio, which is pretty good for an IPS panel. Both productivity and media consumption should be great here.

The HUAWEI MateView offers a complete experience, including a pair of stereo speakers with 5W of power each. That should give you a great media experience, and to add to that, there are two far-field microphones built-in to give you better audio quality for calls.

The design of the HUAWEI MateView is clean and modern. Most of the chassis is clean, and all of the ports are actually on the stand, rather than the display portion itself. The stand supports tilt adjustment (-5º to 18º) and height adjustments up to 11cm. No swivel or pivot is supported, though, which is odd to see for such a premium monitor. The monitor’s controls use a “smart bar” underneath the screen. It’s a touch-sensitive bar, so you use tap and swipe gesture to adjust volume, switch inputs, and so on.

As for connection options, the MateView comes with two USB-C ports, one for power and one that connects to your PC for display, data, and power delivery up to 65W. It als has one HDMI 2.0 port and one mini-DisplayPort connection so you can use whatever method you prefer. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack if you want to have audio that way, and two USB Type-A ports for accessories to connect to your PC. A cool thing about this monitor is that it can actually connect wirelessly, too. You can use it as a wireless monitor for your PC or HUAWEI smartphone, which is a great option to have.

While it’s not possible to buy in the US, we’d still recommend checking it out below if you’re interested in learning more.

Those are some of the very best monitors you can buy today for all kinds of uses. For each choice, we tried to strike a balance between features and a reasonable price, so you’re getting great value for money with all these options. That’s especially true with the ASUS ProArt 278CV at the top of our list, offering a great balance of sharpness, color accuracy, and price that makes it ideal for just about anyone. If we’re speaking in more personal terms, I’d love a tall screen like what the HUAWEI MateView offers.

If you’re trying to create the perfect work-from-home setup, consider checking out our list of the best PCs for working from home. If you’re buying a monitor for gaming, then maybe the best gaming laptops are more interesting for you (and on that note, we’ve also covered the best gaming monitors in a separate article). And if you’re buying a monitor like the LG UltraWide 38WN95C-W, you may also want to make sure you also have a laptop with Thunderbolt support.

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