The 6 Best 27 Inch Gaming Monitors - Winter 2020 Reviews

The best 27 inch gaming monitor with a 1080p resolution is the ASUS VG279QM. It's one of the best gaming monitors we've tested as it's one of the few with a 280Hz refresh rate and an IPS panel. It has native FreeSync support, and if you have a newer NVIDIA graphics card, it's certified to be G-SYNC compatible.

Fast-moving content on this screen has almost no motion blur. The response time at its max refresh rate is one of the best we've tested on a monitor, and it also has an excellent response time at 60Hz. There's even a Black Frame Insertion feature, which unlike most monitors, you can use when VRR is enabled. The input lag is also really low, except at 60Hz, so it's not ideal for console gamers. Despite having a 1080p resolution, the picture quality is good as it has great out-of-the-box color accuracy, wide viewing angles, excellent gray uniformity, and it gets bright enough to combat glare.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most IPS screens, it has a low contrast ratio. It supports HDR10, but it can't display a wide color gamut, so HDR content doesn't look all that much different from SDR. However, like most ASUS gaming monitors, it has outstanding ergonomics, so you can place it how you like in your setup. Overall, it's the best 27 inch gaming monitor with a 1080p resolution that we've tested.

The best 27 inch gaming monitor with a 1440p resolution that we've tested is the LC27G75TQSNXZA. It's a model that's available in two sizes, 27 and 32 inches, and although we tested the 32 inch variant, we expect our results to be valid for the 27 inch version. It's a well-rounded monitor and delivers excellent gaming performance.

It has a high native 240Hz refresh rate with FreeSync support and G-SYNC compatibility to reduce screen tearing. The input lag is incredibly low and it stays about the same with VRR enabled, which is great. The response time is simply incredible whether you're playing at its max refresh rate or 60Hz, and there's a Black Frame Insertion feature to help improve the appearance of motion. It performs best in dark rooms as it has an impressive native contrast ratio that makes blacks appear as they should. HDR content looks decent because it displays a wide color gamut and has okay HDR peak brightness, but some highlights may not pop how they should. It also offers okay ergonomics, and despite its curved screen, you can still rotate it into portrait mode.

Unfortunately, its edge-lit local dimming feature is bad and results in uniformity issues when activated. It also has narrow viewing angles, so you quickly lose image accuracy when viewing off-center and it's not ideal for co-op gaming. On the upside, it has Picture-by-Picture and Picture-in-Picture modes and you can display images from two sources at once. All things considered, this is one of the best 27 inch gaming monitors we've tested.

The best 27 inch gaming monitor with a 4k screen that we've tested is the Acer Predator X27. It delivers superb picture quality with its high resolution and excellent motion handling. Its response time is fast, resulting in very little motion blur, and it performs equally well whether you play at its maximum 144Hz refresh rate or at 60Hz, which is good news for console gamers.

Input lag is extremely low, and it supports NVIDIA's G-SYNC variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing. If you're in a moderate-to-bright room, then this is a perfect choice. It gets searingly bright, enough to fight glare in any type of room setting, and its reflection handling is pretty decent. There are four USB 3.0 ports that you can use to charge your mobile devices, and it comes with internal speakers. You can add a crosshair to shooter games or a frame rate counter overlay, and it even has some customizable RGB lights to match your mood.

Sadly, it doesn't have good dark room performance, as its IPS panel has significant black uniformity issues, even with its full-array local dimming enabled. Also, its low contrast ratio makes blacks look gray, although this is expected of most IPS panels. On the bright side, it has wide viewing angles, and there's almost no visible dirty screen effect. If you're looking for something that can do nearly anything and price is no object, you should check this one out.

The best budget 27 inch gaming monitor that we've tested is the ASUS VG279Q. It's a great gaming monitor with a few extra gaming-oriented features. It's well-built and the stand has outstanding ergonomics. The 1080p resolution may be too limiting for productivity, but it doesn't put too much stress on your graphics card when gaming.

It has an incredibly low input lag, and even though it slightly increases with VRR enabled at 60Hz, it shouldn't be noticeable for most people. It has a native 144Hz refresh rate with FreeSync support and G-SYNC compatibility, and it has an excellent response time at its max refresh rate. Even at 60Hz, the response time is still good, but you may notice some motion blur behind fast-moving objects. It has a few extra features, like the ability to add a crosshair onscreen for FPS games, and there are built-in speakers. It's a good choice for co-op gaming as it has wide viewing angles, and if you game in a bright room, it has good reflection handling and great peak brightness.

Unfortunately, it's not the best choice for watching content in dark rooms as it has a low contrast ratio and it also doesn't support HDR, but that's somewhat expected for a model in this price range. However, it has excellent color accuracy and good coverage of the Adobe RGB color space if you also want to use it for photo editing on the side. Overall, if you're in the market for the best 27 inch monitor and are on a budget, you should be happy with this one.