The Best Gaming Monitors We’ve Tested in 2025
Looking to upgrade your setup with a new display? These are the best gaming monitors we've tested
With hundreds of different gaming monitors on the market today, each claiming to deliver smooth, responsive gaming, vibrant colors, and an arsenal of features, it’s vital to pick a model that makes the most of your PC, laptop, or games console. Underestimate your needs, and you’ll create a bottleneck that prevents your new graphics card or PS5 from performing at its best; overestimate, and you’ll be left with an expensive mistake that your hardware can’t utilize fully.
Of course, you probably already know this – and you’re here because you want to simplify the process of choosing the best gaming monitor currently available. Below you’ll find our pick of the best gaming monitors for 2025. We’ve tested as many 1080p, 1440p, 4K, and ultrawide gaming monitors as our eyes can take, covering a range of price points and varying specifications to deliver our pick of the best.
Alternatively, skip to the bottom of the page to find out how to choose the best gaming monitor for you.
Best gaming monitor: At a glance
| Best ultrawide gaming monitor | Philips Evnia OLED 49M2C8900 (~$1471) | Check price at Microless |
| Best gaming monitor for work and play | Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 (~$636) | Check price at Amazon |
| Best curved OLED gaming monitor | Acer Predator X45 (~$1600) | Check price at Walmart |
How we test gaming monitors
It’s important to support our monitor reviews with in-depth testing. As such, on receiving a monitor for review, we start by using an X-Rite colorimeter and DisplayCal calibration software to measure color gamut coverage and accuracy, luminance, black point, and contrast, and panel uniformity and color temperature. We also use Blur Busters’ suite of web-based motion handling tools to test for ghosting/inverse ghosting and motion blur, as well as the effects of various levels of overdrive and/or MBR. If a gaming monitor has HDR with local dimming, we use a looped video with a bright white moving shape to try to catch the zones in action.
Having run those tests, we use the monitor for at least a week, playing games known to have good HDR implementation (such as Returnal or Cyberpunk 2077) and qualitatively assessing day-to-day performance. We judge build quality, viewing angles, ports, and stand adjustability, and we navigate the OSD thoroughly to try any extra features.
READ NEXT: Best External Hard Drive
The best gaming monitors you can buy in 2025
1. Philips Evnia OLED 49M2C8900: Best ultrawide gaming monitor
Price when reviewed: $1,471 | Check price at Microless || Screen size: 49in 1800R | Resolution: 5,120 x 1,440
There are several monster 49in ultrawide monitors on the market, all built around the Samsung-made 5,120 x 1,440 Quantum Dot OLED panel; but the Evnia 49M2C8900 is the best of the lot, by some margin. It beats the Asus ROG competition thanks to a higher refresh rate (240Hz vs 144Hz) and Samsung’s own by having a far superior operating system. The Evnia’s speaker system demolishes the Asus and the Samsung, and it’s by far the most stylish of the three.
The vast 32:9 5K OLED panel is super impressive. It’s bright (hitting over 770cd/m² from a 10% area in HDR mode) and extremely colorful, while motion fidelity is bordering on perfect. The big Envia is the first monitor we’ve tested that’s been subjected to VESA’s new Certified ClearMR testing regime for motion fidelity, and it earned the highest possible accolade: a ClearMR 13000 award.
Where the 49M2C8900 really shines is with its 4-speaker 30W sound system, which can blow you clean out of your gaming chair when turned up to 10, and the excellent Ambiglow lighting system. Compared to the already impressive 34M2C8600, the lighting system here is brighter and more reactive.
Key specs – Screen technology: QD OLED; Adaptive sync: HDMI forum VRR, AMD FreeSync, Nvidia G-Sync; Video inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x DisplayPort 1.4, DP Type-C x 1; Other ports: 4 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x USB-B, 1 x 3.5mm; Speakers: 7.5W x 4; Refresh rate: 240Hz; Response time: 0.03ms
2. MSI MPG 271QRX QD-OLED: Best 27in OLED gaming monitor
Price when reviewed: $750 | Check price at Amazon || Screen size: 27in | Resolution: 2,560 x 1,440
In a world dominated by 240Hz OLED gaming monitors, MSI has just crashed the party with a genuine “Hold my beer” moment by launching a sub-$1,000 (if only just) OLED gaming monitor with stunning motion fidelity thanks to a screaming 360Hz refresh rate.
When describing the quality of the new MSI’s motion handling it’s tough not to resort to a stream of superlatives. It is superb, almost preternatural – there isn’t even a hint of ghosting or smearing. That makes the 271QRX a truly tournament-grade bit of gaming kit.
Gamut volumes are wide with 139.6% of sRGB, 96.2% for AdobeRGB, and 98.9% of DCI-P3 covered. These are matched by exceptional levels of accuracy with Delta E variances of just 0.95, 0.76, and 1.27 against the Display P3, sRGB, and Adobe RGB profiles. Creative professionals, queue here. Panel uniformity is also superb, with minimal variance across the 25 brightness and ISO 14861 swatches.
SDR brightness is, as always with OLED panels, a bit of an Achilles’ heel, varying between 245cd/m² and 255cd/m², depending on color profile. In HDR mode, however, the maximum brightness from a 10% white patch against a black background hit 989cd/m² in Peak 1000 setting.
No matter what you do with it, what you watch on it or in what mode you watch it, you can’t help but be impressed by this new MSI gamer. It’s a game changer, no pun intended.
Key specs – Screen technology: OLED; Adaptive sync: AMD FreeSync Premium Pro; Video inputs: 1 x USB Type-C, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4a, 2 x HDMI 2.1; Other ports: 2 x USB-A 2.0, USB-A 2.0 upstream, 1 x 3.5mm; Speakers: No; Refresh rate: 360Hz; Response time: 0.03ms
3. Philips Evnia 34M2C8600: Best gaming monitor for work and play
Price when reviewed: $636 | Check price at Amazon || Screen size: 34in 1800R | Resolution: 3,440 x 1,440
Looking for a gaming monitor that’s neither too big nor too small, offers superb picture quality, great sound, and good looks? Then the Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 is it. Like all the monitors in the Evnia range, the 34M2C8600 delivers a gorgeous design with its white cabinet and colorful speckled stand.
Built around a 175Hz, 34in 3,440 x 1,440 Samsung-made QD-OLED panel with an 1800R curvature, the Evnia 34M2C8600 performed exceptionally well in our real-world tests (read: gaming sessions), while the two 5W speakers supply excellent sound. Content looks outstanding in either SDR or HDR, thanks to the screen supporting wide color gamut volumes and class-leading color accuracy.
You also get a 6-port USB hub with full KVM, the always-impressive Philips Ambiglow lighting system, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification. The only negative is that the HDMI ports are v2.0, so there’s no VRR support for console gamers.
Key specs – Screen technology: QD OLED; Adaptive sync: AMD FreeSync, Nvidia G-Sync; Video inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, DP Type-C x 1; Other ports: 4 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x USB-B, 1 x 3.5mm; Speakers: 2 x 5W; Refresh rate: 175Hz; Response time: 0.03ms
4. Acer Predator X45: Best curved OLED gaming monitor
Price when reviewed: $1,600 | Check price at Walmart || Screen size: 44.5in 800R curve | Resolution: 3,440 x 1,440
If immersion is what you desire, then you really can’t beat a big 45in 4K panel with a curve tighter than a switchback hairpin; in this case, 800R. Sit a meter or so away, and your game will fill your field of vision up, down, left, and right. We played right through Halo: Infinite in HDR on the X45, and the only way the experience could have been more immersive is if we’d been sucked into the game Jumanji-style and then reappeared in the Expert Reviews offices in the year 2040.
The 4K OLED panel at the heart of the X45 is a stunner. With wide color gamuts (146.8% sRGB gamut volume, 104% DCI-P3, and 101.1% Adobe RGB) and impressive brightness levels (425cd/m² in SDR, over 900cd/m² from a small area in HDR mode), content looks stunning. The monitor’s two 5W speakers pump out a composed soundscape at impressively high volume levels.
A Type-C input means you get full KVM functionality, but the two HDMI ports are v2.0, so no console VRR; plus the ports are hard to access as a result of the size and weight (over 28lb) of the monitor. For immersive gaming, though, nothing else can match the X45.
Key specs – Screen technology: OLED; Adaptive sync: AMD FreeSync, Nvidia G-Sync; Video inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, DP Type-C x 1; Other ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x USB-B, 1 x 3.5mm; Speakers: 2 x 5W; Refresh rate: 240Hz; Response time: 0.01ms
The PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 Pro, and Xbox One X all support 4K (3,840 x 2,160) resolutions, meaning you can splash out on a 4K screen and enjoy the benefits of gaming on it. The Xbox Series X/S and PS5 also support Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) resolutions, so you can purchase a cheaper monitor and still make the most of your console.
A gaming PC supports all commercially available resolutions from 720p to 4K and beyond. As a rule of thumb, Quad HD is widely accepted as the Goldilocks zone for PC gaming, though it depends heavily on your graphics card.
PC gamers can also uniquely enjoy ultrawide monitors with 3,440 x 1,440 or even 5,120 x 1,440 resolutions – if they have the cash.
Panel type
There are four main types of monitor panel, all of which are based on either LCD, LED, or OLED technology. In the past, some panel types had obvious benefits over others – but these days, the lines have become blurred, so don’t limit yourself to one type of panel.
TN – At the bottom of the pile, these are cheap, fast, and less colorful than other types. There might still be some sub-$250 monitors of a few years old around; but these are best avoided.
VA – More costly than TN but less than IPS models, these offer decent colors and great contrast. Weak viewing angles were an issue, but improvements mean they’re now much the same as IPS displays. You’ll find them in curved gaming monitors and those gaming models that sit between budget and high-end.
IPS – Pricier, as well as more colorful, this panel type’s weakness is black levels or contrast. Recently, we’ve seen them squeezed out of the gaming monitor sector by better OLED monitors from above, and cheaper VA monitors from below.
OLED – These offer outstanding motion fidelity, but in general, OLED panels aren’t as bright as IPS and VA panels (at least when it comes to whole-screen brightness) and are more expensive, too.
Response time
To reduce input lag and get the edge on your opponent, you’ll require a panel with the lowest possible response time – quoted response times from manufacturers are G2G (gray-to-gray), with 1ms the fastest time achievable. That said, it’s unlikely that you’ll find a gaming monitor with a response time of more than 2ms nowadays.
Refresh rate vs frame rate
In a nutshell, you want a monitor with as high a refresh rate as you can afford, with 144Hz the minimum requirement for gaming. Most gaming monitors these days refresh at 165Hz, 180Hz, or 240Hz, with some pushing to 360Hz or even 500Hz. The current sweet spot for PC gaming monitors is Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) at either 165Hz, 180Hz, or 240Hz.
Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync
Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync are two similar technologies designed to prevent screen tearing by syncing the refresh rate of your monitor with the frame rate output by your gaming PC’s GPU.
AMD’s FreeSync is found on most monitors since it’s an open-source standard, while fewer monitors are compatible with Nvidia’s G-Sync – an increasing number are now listed as “G-Sync compatible”, though. Both technologies are compatible with both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.
High Dynamic Range
You might be considering splashing the cash on a gaming monitor with HDR for gorgeous colors and inky shadows. While many monitors have official VESA DisplayHDR certifications, it tends to be entry-level stuff, so it’s important that you temper your expectations. A decent TV will do HDR far better for the most part, thanks to superior algorithmic image wrangling.
For a decent HDR experience on a gaming monitor, look for certifications of DisplayHDR 600 or higher and either an OLED panel or an IPS panel with mini-LED local dimming support. The latter allows the backlight to adjust in sections rather than as one unit, which delivers more nuanced control over dark/bright patches.
If HDR is your thing, consider splashing the cash on an OLED monitor. The high small-area brightness levels and infinite contrast ratios are inherent side effects of OLED panels being able to display perfect blacks, making them perfect for HDR content. Mini-LED IPS panels are almost as good.
Design and features
Stand – The more you spend, the more versatile the stand. If you can, go for a monitor with all four major adjustment types (height adjustment, tilt back/forth, swivel left/right, and portrait mode pivot); cheaper options will likely deliver one or two (height and tilt, most commonly).
Mount – All of the monitors here are VESA-compatible, which means they can be mounted on an aftermarket stand or an articulated arm.
Ports – Again, the more you spend, the more you’ll get. In general, gaming monitors aren’t as well connected as their office brethren, so check our specs list before you buy.
Plus, ask yourself if you need a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch, which enables you to connect two sources to your monitor (one via a Type-C DP Alt Mode port, usually a laptop) and then swap back and forth between them using the same keyboard and mouse.
