Gadgetory

welcome back to hardware unboxed it's time to talk about the best monitors you can get on the market right now normally we do these sorts of updates every six months or so it turns out I miss the mark by a couple of months so I'm a little late with this update but it's probably best that I've waited until now to get some more monitor testing under my belt before the next wave kicks off later this year the focus of this video is on gaming monitors if you're after a professional monitor for work the requirements are a bit different so we're just sticking to gaming for now and as always we're continuing to look for the best value picks in each category sometimes I'll also provide an outright best option which might blow out the budget a bit more but as always the focus is bang for buck value products but before we get into the pics this video is brought to you by Vikings war of clans a pretty addictive game that you can play on your PC right now you know us we love PC gaming here at Hardware unbox which is why we've partnered with Vikings war of clans for this video and to be honest it's an impressive game for something that's so easy to launch all it takes is a web browser know download necessary plus registration is fast and easy so you'll be playing in no time and just quietly I'm a big fan of these types of strategy games they're a lot of fun especially when you start to link up with other players online join Vikings for free using my link in the description box today and get a cool bonus of 200 gold coins for a kick start trust me it's really worth your time now let's get back to the video last time I updated my monitor recommendations the vo-tech GN 24 C was my pick in the best 1080p category fast-forward more than half a year and this excellent value option is still the best choice for gamers on a budget in fact it's even come down in price dropping from $200 at the end of last year to just a hundred and eighty dollars these days making it even more of a steal than usual the vo-tech June 24 C is a 24 inch 1080p 144 Hertz display that uses a curved VA panel similar to many other monitors out there there are a lot of reasons why this is a great choice for gamers firstly the high maximum refresh rate delivers smoother gameplay then slower 75 or 60 Hertz options given you're only saving $50 at best to drop down to 75 Hertz it's well worth spending the extra money on 144 Hertz not only will this monitors better specs last you longer but many GPUs these days are highly capable of 1080p high refresh gaming even in the mid-range class so making the most out of these specs isn't as outlandish as it once was the GN 24 C also comes with free sync and it supports low framerate compensation which effectively allows adaptive sync to work from 144 Hertz all the way down to 1 Hertz this is a key requirement for gaming monitors and something you won't get with cheaper 75 Hertz monitors plus the June 24 C works perfectly with either AMD or Nvidia graphics cards I also really like the size for 1080p 27 inches is a bit too large for modern 1080p displays and you start to feel the effects of a low pixel density at that size but 24 inches just feels right and the VA technology helps to deliver a decent contrast ratio of over three thousand to one in my testing response times are also excellent for a VA with a 5.2 millisecond grader great average the only major downside to the GN 24 C is its availability you can only get this monitor in the United States but don't worry because basically the same panel is available in other territories in the msi m AG 241 c it's a little more expensive than the June 24 C in the US but it's still around the $200 mark which makes it a decent alternative don't confuse it with the older msi g20 4c though try and get the ma g variant instead it's a little bit better understandably not everyone once a curved veer pants some buyers might want a flat monitor instead or something with better response times in that case I'll point you towards either the Acer XF a 240 or the AOC g2 560 FX both the 24-inch 144 Hertz 1080p 10 monitors at around $200 the picture quality isn't as good as the June 24 C but both are good budget options if you're after something a little different 1440p monitors remain the best option for gamers with excellent high refresh model sitting between 300 and 400 US dollars it's no longer an outrageous proposition to have a monitor that combines a decent resolution with excellent performance if you have a mid-range to high-end GPU a 1440p 144 hertz display will give you a great experience today and still have plenty of life left for the next few GPU generations my pick of the bunch right now is the LG 32 GK 650f at three hundred and fifty dollars it's not the outright cheapest model with the 1440p 144 Hertz display you can get 27 inch curved v8 models for around 300 to 310 dollars without much issue but the 32 GK 650f has a number of additional features that are worth spending cash on over the more budget offerings to start with it's a 32 inch flat VA panel I prefer flat panels over curved panels especially at this size and aspect ratio and it seems many of you guys do as well given that 27 inch curved variant sit around $300 and 32 inch variants at 330 dollars at their cheapest I think it's well worth spending an extra thirty dollars to go up in size from 27 to 32 inches and then an extra $20 on top of that to make it flat but that isn't the only reason why the 32 GK 650f gets my vote it has class-leading performance for a 144 Xavier panel of these specifications especially when it comes to response times which allowed the panel to deliver a true 144 Hertz experience many of the curved options sit in the eight to nine millisecond grader gray range which is too slow for true 144 Hertz while the 32 GK 650f clocks in at 6.5 milliseconds that's important for delivering less ghosting and motion blur it also lacks wide gamut functionality which might be a negative to some but it actually makes the monitor more accurate and easier to work with given most content your viewers master for srgb it doesn't support HDR unlike some which claim to offer HDR but just are not giving you a fake experience and perhaps most importantly it comes with a very adjustable stand featuring height tilt swivel and pivot functionality features that are usually cut with lower end products if you don't have $350 to spend my other recommendation is the pixie opx to seven 5h and just 260 US dollars it's a 27-inch 1440p 95 Hertz monitor with a flat IPS panel and 95% DCI p3 coverage it too has decent response times around the 6.5 millisecond mark and all the advantages of an IPS display including excellent viewing angles and color performance for $90 less the only real downside here is the refresh rate which is cut down to 95 Hertz it still has free sync and it's still a great option for gamers who want a decently high refresh 1440p monitor on a budget and finally I'd also like to point out the biotech GFT 27 DB which is the best 1440 PT and monitor you can get it costs $300 unlike the 32 GK 650f offers 1440p at 144 Hertz but in a flat 27 inch size the reason you'd get this over the LG model is if you were really concerned about response times the GMT 27 DB is about twice as fast and has great color performance for a TN but still features the usual TN issues like relatively poor viewing angles and contrast ratios for ultra-wide monitors there are two recommended directions you can go either you can save a bit of cash and opt for a 34 40 by 1440 you display at a hundred Hertz or you can go all out on the best 144 Hertz models on the market considering the price difference my current recommendation is for the cheaper 100 Hertz morals but I'll present both of you here so when looking at 34 40 by 1440 ultra wide displays at 100 Hertz or you'll have to spend these days is around four hundred and fifty dollars which is crazy considering just a few years ago these panels were a premium $1000 option most of the budget classed models used the same Samsung VA panel offering contrast around three thousand to one and response times in the five to seven millisecond range it's a high quality panel that's well suited to gaming and something I have no trouble recommending my pick of the bunch right now goes to the MSI ma g3 for 1cq which is on sale for just three hundred and ninety dollars but often sits at four hundred and fifty dollars or so it's widely available delivers decent performance and is going to impress those who haven't doubled in ultralights before if the ma G 341 C Q isn't a great price for you those in the US should look at the vo-tech GN 34 seat which is very similar at around 450 dollars while Aziz should check out Cogan's essentially identical 34 inch ultrawide monitor with the crazy product name if you have more money to spend and they're interested in getting the best available monitor without getting ripped off entirely I'd go with the LG 34 GK 950 F it's one of the few monitors offering 30 for 40 by 1440 at 144 Hertz right now and does so with a curved IPS panel that's excellent quality out of the box and offers over 95% DCI p3 coverage for wide gamut work the edge to our experience isn't great but response times near 6 milliseconds and adaptive sync that works with AMD and NVIDIA GPUs headlines a feature set that's outstanding for ultra wide gamers you'd have to really want the additional refresh rate though because while this monitor is the best available for gaming right now it does cost an eye-watering $1,000 which does drop occasionally to $800 on sale even that sale price though is significantly higher than the 100 Hertz model that I typically recommend the best 4k monitor category is going to be the shortest because there aren't many displays in contention right now for most people especially those on a tighter budget getting a 1440p 144 Hertz monitor will be a better option than a 4k 60 hertz display for gaming both costs roughly the same these days but the 1440p models I've just been talking about will have better performance better adaptive sync experiences higher refresh rates and often better panel quality the step up from 1440p to 4k isn't nearly as large as this step from say 1080p to 1440p in terms of visual quality so to me it's simply not worth trading off all those extras especially the high refresh rate for just a small bump in resolution whether there are a couple of monitors that offer the best of both worlds a high resolution 4k experience with a high refresh rate and the best on the market right now is the ASA nitro XV 273 K it will set you back around $800 at least twice the price of a basic 60 Hertz model but it delivers a 27 inch IPS display at 3840 by 2160 with the maximum refresh rate of 120 Hertz and I say 120 Hertz here because despite being advertised as 144 Hertz the maximum refresh rate you can use in a practical setting is 120 Hertz not that that's a bad thing it's still a high refresh rate and something you'll struggle to max out even with an NVIDIA GeForce r-tx 20 atti in my testing performance was solid and it offers a wide color gamut if required I'd ignore the HDR capabilities though they're mediocre at best unfortunately there hasn't been a lot of improvements made in the hgr monitor ecosystem since the last time I was recommending monitors there are still lots of monitors that claim to be HDR compatible but don't deliver a great HDR experience common issues include not supporting a high peak brightness not including a full array local dimming backlight for increased contrast and occasionally not even supporting wide color gamut pretty much every monitor that passes display HDR 400 certification doesn't actually deliver a meaningfully improved HDR experience and therefore it isn't worth buying as an HDR display and it's not much better at display HDR 600 while only a small selection of display HDR 1000 monitors pass all the required terms in the checklist looking at these validation badges unfortunately isn't good enough to determine whether an HDR monitor is actually going to deliver a good experience my advice for most people interested in HDR monitors is the same as last year and that's not to bother the risk of fake HDR is too high it's still too early to jump into the HDR ecosystem and I'd hate for anyone to buy an expensive hgr monitor only to discover later that they've got something with fake HDR if a monitor says it supports HDR make sure it's a good SDR monitor at a good price first and then treat any HDR support as a free bonus and don't pay extra for hgr either I've seen plenty of monitors where they offer HD are at an added price but the HDR mode isn't actually any better than SDR with that said if you have money to burn and they're after a real hgr monitor for gaming my recommendation goes to the Acer predator X 27 which is one of the only gaming grade monitors I'd be happy recommending for HDR it's still expensive and over 1,600 US dollars but it is a wide gamut display with 384 zone F Ald backlighting and 1000 nits of peak brightness it looks phenomenal while gaming it's worth keeping in mind that several other high-quality HDR monitors are coming soon the new ultra wide models with 512 zone F Ald backlights and 200 Hertz refresh rates are almost here which could interest some buyers with deep pockets asus also has a new mini LED model coming later this year which is set to be similar to the predator X 27 but with a decent increase to the backlight zones it could be worth waiting for those displays if you're planning to put over $1,500 for an HDR monitor so that sums up my current monitor recommendations since last time updated this list the 1440p and ultra wide options have come down in price significantly and form some of the best buyers on the market today which is great to see you can find links to current prices for the monitors we've recommended in the description below consider subscribing for more monitor content there's always a new monitor in my office for testing at any one time also consider supporting us on patreon to get access to our monthly live streams and exclusive discord chat among a number of other perks and I'll catch you in the next one