We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more›
We’ve updated this guide with our new pick for the best ultrawide monitor, the Dell P3421W.
Whether you’re buying a first or second monitor for your desktop computer or buying a big screen to use with your laptop at home, a good monitor is a wise investment. There’s no single monitor that will work best for everyone, but our monitor guides cover all kinds of different sizes, uses, and prices, from basic 24-inch budget models to big 4K screens to high-refresh-rate gaming monitors. Here are the best ones we can find, and what kinds of things they’re good for.
If you have a newer computer and do a lot of visual work, 4K monitors are for you.
27-inch monitors generally offer the right balance of size and price for most people.
Ultrawide monitors are good alternatives to dual displays for gamers or multitaskers.
If you’re low on desk space or just don’t want to spend a ton, 24-inch monitors will do the trick.
The P2721Q combines a sleek design and plenty of ports with great contrast, color accuracy, and color gamut support.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $570.
Who this is for: Anyone who has bought a new computer within the past three or four years and does a lot of photo or video editing work. Great 4K monitors make text sharper and show more detail in images, and they can give you more usable desktop space so you can fit more stuff on your screen at once.
Why we like it: The Dell P2721Q is the best 4K monitor for most people because of its color accuracy, adjustable stand, and excellent port selection, as well as Dell’s three-year warranty and Premium Panel Guarantee. In addition to the typical HDMI and DisplayPort connections, it provides one USB-A port and two USB-A 3.0 ports on the bottom edge. It also has a USB-C port that can provide up to 65 W of power to your laptop over a single cable, reducing the number of cables on your desk and providing enough power to charge most 13-inch laptops. On its sRGB color preset, its color accuracy is good enough for most people right out of the box.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The P2721Q has a slightly thicker bottom bezel that hides some of the monitor’s internal electronics, as opposed to other monitors that are consistently thin all the way around. This will likely only be a problem for those who flip the monitor into portrait mode, and want to minimize the amount of space between the P2721Q’s screen and another monitor.
Learn more in our full review of the best 4K monitors.
This 2560×1440-resolution 27-inch monitor has good color accuracy, an adjustable stand, and all the ports most people will need.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $395.
Who this is for: Anyone with a computer (or graphics card) that is more than three years old and can’t support a 4K display, or anyone who relies on apps that don’t scale well.
Why we like it: The Asus ProArt Display PA278CV is a 27-inch monitor with a wide variety of ports and decent color accuracy on most of its presets. The exception is its sRGB preset, which offers fantastic accuracy but locks the display at a relatively dim brightness that we found too low for daily use. The PA278CV has an HDMI port, a DisplayPort input and output, a USB-C port, and four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, making this monitor particularly good for anyone who wants to use theirs with a laptop. It provides enough power to charge most 13-inch laptops, and its flexible stand tilts, swivels, pivots, and adjusts in height. It also has a three-year warranty with a good dead-pixel policy.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Although Asus advertises the color accuracy of its ProArt displays, in our tests the PA278CV was good but not great in that regard on almost every preset. If you’re in a dim or dark room, its sRGB setting is exceptionally accurate, but otherwise you’ll have to calibrate the screen yourself to get the best results.
Learn more in our full review of the best 27-inch monitors.
The VA2456-MHD is an affordable and reasonably color-accurate monitor with great contrast that pairs well with any laptop or desktop. Its main flaw is a basic stand that only tilts the monitor up and down, but that’s typical of almost all inexpensive monitors.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $120.
Who this is for: Anyone who has limited desk space, prefers a smaller screen, or has less than $150 to spend, and who doesn’t mind giving up nice-to-have features such as a USB hub or an adjustable stand. A 24-inch monitor is a lot bigger than even the largest laptop screen but takes up much less room on your desk than a 27-inch monitor.
Why we like it: The ViewSonic VA2456-MHD is a 24-inch 1080p monitor that isn’t fancy, but it’s a big step up from anything that costs less than $100 or the cheap monitor that you may have bought with your desktop computer. It offers fairly accurate color that will be just fine when you’re looking at photos and watching movies, as well as a good contrast ratio with deeper blacks than you can find on other monitors in this price range. It has a stable stand that doesn’t wobble as much as those of some other cheap monitors we tested. It also has both HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, okay-sounding internal speakers, and a three-year warranty.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The problems with the VA2456-MHD are the same problems that most budget monitors have. It has neither a USB hub nor a USB-C port for newer laptops. The stand can only tilt the monitor up and down, whereas the stands of our more expensive picks also allow swiveling from side to side, pivoting the display 90 degrees, and adjusting its height. And this monitor doesn’t support refresh rates higher than 60 Hz or offer FreeSync support for smoother gaming. It’s the best all-around package for most people, but we have other picks in our guide to budget monitors that provide some of these features in exchange for other trade-offs.
Learn more in our full review of the best budget monitors.
The Dell P3222QE is more expensive than most 27-inch monitors, but it has good color accuracy and USB-C connectivity, and its larger display makes it easier to see the detail in 4K photos and videos.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $720.
Who this is for: Anyone who wants a ginormous 4K screen that can display apps without scaling and doesn’t mind paying more to get it.
Why we like it: If a 27-inch monitor isn’t big enough for you, consider the 32-inch Dell P3222QE 4K monitor. It combines good color and contrast, a few display inputs (including USB-C), four USB 3.0 ports, and a gigabit Ethernet port for wired internet connections. The P3222QE’s USB-C port delivers up to 65 W of power, which is enough to charge a 13-inch laptop at full speed, and it also transmits data, video, and audio. It also comes with a three-year warranty and Dell’s Premium Panel Guarantee.
This monitor is big enough that you may be able to use it without needing to scale up text or UI elements to make them readable. Like the Dell P2721Q, the P3222QE comes with a three-year warranty and a Premium Panel Guarantee, which helps make it easier to spend $700 on a bigger monitor. However, it still costs a couple hundred dollars more than the 27-inch monitors we recommend, and it requires a lot more physical space.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: At around $720 (as of the time of writing), the Dell P3222QE costs $200 more than our 27-inch 4K monitor pick, the Dell P2721Q.
Learn more in our full review of the best 4K monitors.
The Dell P3421W is a sturdy 34-inch ultrawide, with a sharp 3440x1440 resolution.
Who this is for: A dual-monitor setup is usually the best option if you want to have a bunch of app windows open at once, but an ultrawide model might be a better choice if you need a ton of unbroken horizontal space or if you don’t want monitor bezels in between windows.
Why we like it: The Dell P3421W has a sturdy adjustable stand, lots of ports (including a USB-C port that can handle power, display, and data over a single cable), a three-year warranty, and a built-in KVM switch that allows you to easily swap your keyboard, mouse, and video between two computers. The 1440p display has a 60Hz refresh rate, which is great for typical office work, web browsing, and casual gaming.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: If you use your display in direct sunlight, this monitor might not be bright enough for you. It can also provide 65 W of power over USB-C, but some laptops require more. If you have a laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU or an Intel Core i7 processor, you might need to keep the laptop plugged in to a separate charger or use a Thunderbolt dock that can provide the extra power.
Most ultrawide monitors are also curved. This design helps minimize viewing-angle problems—when you’re sitting centered, things on the far edges of the screen won’t look as washed out as they would on a flat display of a similar width—but it also makes ultrawide monitors inaccurate for precision tasks that require straight lines, such as drawing, photo editing, or similar design work.
Learn more in our full review of the best ultrawide monitors.
We look for monitors with adjustable stands to accommodate the widest range of postures and desk setups. But if you need an even-more-adjustable mount for your monitor to achieve better ergonomics, we recommend picking up a monitor arm. All our monitor picks are VESA-compatible and will work with our monitor-arm picks.
We’ve found the best 4K computer monitors, whether you’re editing photos or videos professionally or just want to maximize your usable desktop space.
We researched and tested cheap monitors and found options for less than $200 that are good enough for most people.
Ultrawide monitors are appealing for viewing documents or browser windows side by side, and they make video games more immersive.
For those who have the desk space, 27-inch monitors hit the sweet spot of screen size and resolution, and we have recommendations for almost every scenario.
Andrew Cunningham is a former senior staff writer on Wirecutter's tech team. He has been writing about laptops, phones, routers, and other tech since 2011. Before that he spent five years in IT fixing computers and helping people buy the best tech for their needs. He also co-hosts the book podcast Overdue and the TV podcast Appointment Television.
We researched and tested cheap monitors and found options for less than $200 that are good enough for most people.
Ultrawide monitors are appealing for viewing documents or browser windows side by side, and they make video games more immersive.
We tested 10 monitor arms ranging in price from $50 to $335, and we recommend the Fully Jarvis for its great adjustability, smooth movements, and long warranty.
by Andrew Cunningham and Harry Sawyers
The Eufy SpaceView and Eufy SpaceView Pro are better than other baby monitors by nearly every measure.
Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). Subscribe now for unlimited access.
© 2022 Wirecutter, Inc., A New York Times Company