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The Best Monitors

By Dave Gershgorn
Updated
The Dell P2721Q monitor on a desk with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Photo: Andrew Cunningham

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 different sizes, uses, and prices, from basic, 24-inch budget models to big 4K screens to high-refresh-rate gaming monitors. Here we discuss the best ones you can buy as well as what you might need them for.

Choosing a monitor


  • Best picture quality

    If you watch 4K content or work with high-resolution media, 4K monitors are for you.

  • Big, affordable screen

    Generally, 27-inch monitors offer the right balance of size and price for most people.

  • Bigger and better

    Ultrawide monitors are good alternatives to dual displays for gamers or multitaskers.

  • Small and affordable

    If you’re low on desk space, or you just don’t want to spend a ton, 24-inch monitors will do the trick.

Our pick

The U2723QE looks sharp, has great contrast, and can charge a MacBook Pro over USB-C.

Who this is for: Great 4K monitors make text sharper and show more detail in images. And they can give you extra desktop space so you can fit more stuff on your screen at once.

Our pick for best 4K monitor, the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE, showing an abstract pink, orange, and blue desktop background.
Photo: Connie Park

Why we like it: The Dell U2723QE uses a new display technology called IPS Black, which gives much better contrast than monitors we’ve recommended in the past. You’ll notice more detail in shadows when watching dimly lit shows, and colors will look vibrant and rich. This new screen is the centerpiece of the monitor, but it also has all the features we look for in a general-purpose monitor: a USB-C port with 90W of power, so your laptop will charge while it’s plugged in through the single cable, and a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) feature to automatically switch your peripherals between computers (if you hook up more than one to the monitor).

Flaws but not dealbreakers: We think the U2723QE is a fantastic monitor, but we would suggest calibrating it before undertaking color-critical work.

Learn more in our full review of the best 4K monitors.

Our pick

This 2560×1440-resolution 27-inch monitor has good color accuracy, an adjustable stand, and all the ports most people will need.

Buying Options

Who this is for: This monitor is for anyone with a computer (or graphics card) that’s over three years old and that can’t support a 4K display, or for 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 it 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.

The Asus ProArt Display PA278CV monitor.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh

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.

Budget pick

The VA24DCP is an affordable and reasonably color-accurate monitor with a USB-C connection and 65 W of charging. Its main flaw is its basic stand, which tilts the monitor up and down only, but that’s typical of almost all inexpensive monitors.

Buying Options

Who this is for: This is for anyone who has limited desk space, prefers a smaller screen, or has less than $200 to spend, and for those who don’t mind giving up nice-to-have features such as an adjustable stand. A 24-inch monitor is a lot bigger than even the largest laptop screen, but it takes up much less room on your desk than a 27-inch monitor.

Why we like it: The Asus VA24DCP is a 24-inch, 1080p monitor with a USB-C port capable of 65 W of charging, making it a great budget option for those who need a basic monitor to connect to their laptop. The color accuracy and contrast are suitable for office work or watching videos, and it’s nicely priced. For desktop users or those with older laptops, it also has an HDMI port.

The Asus VA24DCP, 24-inch, 1080p monitor.
Photo: Dave Gershgorn

Flaws but not dealbreakers: This is a budget monitor, so you’re giving up a few features like an adjustable stand and a USB hub. These are nice to have, but they don’t affect daily use for many people, so we think that’s a fine compromise. However, the speakers on this monitor aren’t great, and we don’t recommend using them.

Learn more in our full review of the best budget monitors.

Upgrade pick

The HP Z32k G3 is more expensive than most 27-inch monitors, but it has great color accuracy and USB-C connectivity, and the larger display makes it easier to see the detail in 4K photos and videos.

Buying Options

Who this is for: This monitor is for those who want a ginormous 4K screen that can display apps without scaling and don’t mind paying more to get it.

Why we like it: The Z32k G3 has the same kind of IPS Black technology found in our top 4K monitor pick. This gives the monitor great contrast and superb color accuracy. It has 100 W of USB-C power delivery, and it also supports Thunderbolt 4, which means you could connect two of these monitors to your computer with one USB-C cable. And it has a bunch of USB ports for connecting peripherals to your computer.

Our upgrade pick for best 4K Monitor, the HP Z32k G3 showing an abstract blue and black background.
Photo: Connie Park

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The HP Z32k G3 is a bit pricey, and you’ll need a large space to put it.

Learn more in our full review of the best 4K monitors.

Also great

The Asus ProArt PA348CGV is a full-featured ultrawide with a flat screen, rather than a curved one like many other ultrawides.

Buying Options

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 you don’t want monitor bezels in between windows.

Why we like it: The Asus ProArt PA348CGV is color-accurate for any kind of creative work, has a USB-C connection with 90W of charging, and a 120 Hz refresh rate that’s fast enough for most gaming. While many ultrawide displays curve their corners in to make them more immersive, we found that we didn’t miss it on the PA348CGV's flat display. A flat screen also means you can do design or video editing, and lines won’t be warped by the curve of the monitor.

The Asus ProArt PA348CGV sitting against a yellow surface, showing a seascape bristling with rocky islands.
Photo: Marki Williams

Flaws but not dealbreakers: You’ll have to use DisplayPort or USB-C if you want the 120 Hz refresh rate, as the monitor’s older HDMI 2.0 ports can’t handle all that data.

Learn more in our full review of the best ultrawide monitors.

Our pick

The Asus ZenScreen MB16ACV has a sharp, 1080p display, which makes it a great second monitor for work.

Buying Options

Who this is for: Portable monitors can be helpful if you commonly work on a laptop away from an office, like in coffee shops, coworking spaces, or hotel rooms. If you already have a set workspace, you’d get more value from other monitors on this page.

Why we like it: The Asus ZenScreen MB16ACV has a quality 15.6-inch screen and an integrated stand, and it’s also compatible with older Windows laptops that don’t have USB-C ports. The MB16ACV also costs a competitive $200, about $100 cheaper than similar competitors, without sacrificing any key features.

Our pick for best portable monitor overall, the Asus ZenScreen MB16ACV, in an upright position, held up by its included stand.
Photo: Dave Gershgorn

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The MB16ACV has only one USB-C port, which is barely a flaw. Many portable monitors have two USB-C ports, one to connect to your laptop and another to plug into the wall to supply power to the monitor and computer. We never found a situation where we couldn’t just plug our laptop in to charge normally while using the MB16ACV.

Also, Asus software that allows older laptops to send video through a USB-A is available only on Windows. Those who have older Macs without a USB-C port will not be able to use the monitor as intended.

Learn more in our full review of the best portable 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 of our monitor picks are VESA-compatible and will work with our monitor-arm picks.

This article was edited by Signe Brewster and Caitlin McGarry.

Meet your guide

Dave Gershgorn

Dave Gershgorn is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He’s been covering consumer and enterprise technology since 2015, and he just can’t stop buying computers. If this weren’t his job, it would likely be a problem.

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