The 6 Best Budget Gaming Monitors - Spring 2021 Reviews

The best budget gaming monitor with a 1080p resolution that we've tested is the Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx. This excellent IPS model delivers an amazing gaming experience. It has wide viewing angles and excellent ergonomics, including a full 360-degree swivel range, making it a fantastic choice for co-op gaming. It's well-suited for bright settings due to its great peak brightness, but like most IPS panels, it has a low contrast ratio that makes it less ideal for dark rooms.

Gaming-wise, it has exceptionally low input lag to provide incredible responsiveness, and it delivers clear and smooth motion thanks to its fast response time and 165Hz refresh rate. It supports FreeSync and is compatible with NVIDIA's G-SYNC to minimize screen tearing, although the latter only works over a DisplayPort connection. It supports HDR; however, it can't display a wide color gamut and doesn't get bright enough for a true HDR experience.

There are only a few additional features, which is somewhat expected for a budget model. There's a pair of integrated speakers, and you can add a virtual crosshair or frame rate counter on the screen. In addition to its flicker-free backlight, it has a blue light filter to help reduce eye strain. All in all, this is an excellent and versatile monitor that's easy on the wallet.

The best budget gaming monitor with a 1440p resolution is the Gigabyte G27Q. It's a feature-rich IPS model that delivers a responsive gaming experience and is well-suited for a wide variety of uses. Its 27 inch screen provides great immersion and plenty of screen space for work. It has good viewing angles so that images remain accurate when viewed from the side, and it overcomes glare easily in bright lighting conditions. It isn't the best choice for dark rooms as it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look grayish.

It has an excellent response time and a 144Hz refresh rate, resulting in clear images and almost no blur trail behind fast-moving objects. Input lag is incredibly low, and it has native FreeSync support and G-SYNC compatibility to reduce screen tearing. It has an optional Black Frame Insertion feature; however, it isn't usable while VRR is enabled. It has a good wide color gamut and gets decently bright, enough to deliver a pretty decent HDR gaming experience, but not quite bright enough for HDR movies.

Unfortunately, the ergonomics are poor as it only allows for height and tilt adjustments. Also, its response time is significantly slower at 60Hz, making it less ideal for 60fps console gaming. On the upside, it has plenty of features, including two USB ports and a pair of integrated speakers. You can add a virtual crosshair, timer, and frame rate counter to the screen or display your computer's diagnostics, like CPU usage and temperature. Overall, it's a great gaming monitor that should please most people.

The best budget gaming monitor with an ultrawide screen that we've tested is the Acer Nitro XV340CK Pbmiipphzx. This 34 inch model has a 21:9 aspect ratio, which gives you more horizontal space than a typical 16:9 display, providing an incredibly immersive gaming experience. It has an IPS panel with decent viewing angles, making it great for sharing content and playing co-op games. The ergonomics are pretty good for an ultrawide, which includes a full 360-degree swivel range.

Gaming feels amazingly smooth and responsive, as it has a low input lag, a 144Hz refresh rate, and excellent response times. It supports FreeSync natively and is compatible with G-SYNC to reduce screen tearing. It has a Black Frame Insertion feature to improve motion clarity, but like most monitors, it isn't usable simultaneously with VRR. Unfortunately, its mediocre contrast makes blacks appear grayish, so it isn't ideal for dark rooms.

There are two USB 3.0 ports that you can use to charge your mobile devices or connect other peripherals. There's also a Picture-in-Picture/Picture-by-Picture mode, which lets you display two input signals simultaneously, a great feature for streamers running on two computers. Lastly, it has a flicker-free backlight and a blue light filter to reduce eye strain. So, if you want an ultrawide screen without spending a fortune, this one is worth considering.