The 6 Best Curved Monitors - Fall 2020
Reviews

The best curved monitor that we've tested so far is the Samsung C27HG70. It has a large 27 inch screen that provides an immersive gaming experience as well as plenty of space to work. Its 1440p resolution delivers a detailed image, and it has a 144Hz refresh rate that makes motion look incredibly smooth. Its build quality is great, and it has good ergonomics, with an arm-like stand that's easily adjustable.

It uses a VA panel with a high native contrast ratio to produce deep and inky blacks. It can get bright enough for use in any room setting and has a matte coating that handles reflections well. Response time is excellent; however, it's recommended to play at the monitor's maximum refresh rate, as its response time when playing at 60Hz is noticeably worse. On the plus side, it has support for FreeSync, and it's compatible with recent NVIDIA graphics cards. As expected, it has an exceptionally low input lag, even with VRR and HDR enabled.

The viewing angles are mediocre, which is expected of a VA panel, although the screen's light curve can help with visibility. It has great color accuracy out of the box, and it can display a wide color gamut for a decent HDR experience. If you're into curved monitors, this is the best one we've tested so far.

The best curved monitor with an ultrawide screen for gaming is the LG 34GN850-B. It's an impressive gaming monitor with a high refresh rate and 1440p resolution, giving you an immersive gaming experience.

It has an exceptional response time at its max refresh rate of 160Hz, even better than some 240Hz monitors. Motion looks incredibly clear, and the response time is also excellent at 60Hz, which is ideal for console gamers. Sadly, it doesn't have a Black Frame Insertion feature, but this shouldn't be an issue since motion is already so smooth. It has native FreeSync support, and NVIDIA certifies it as G-SYNC compatible. It has an incredibly low input lag, and even though the input lag at 60Hz is just a bit higher than some other monitors, this shouldn't be much of an issue.

Unfortunately, it has limited ergonomics, and because it has an IPS panel, it has a low contrast ratio, so blacks don't look black when viewed in the dark. On the upside, it has good picture quality with great peak brightness, wide viewing angles, great out-of-the-box color accuracy, and a good wide color gamut for HDR content. On the whole, this is a great ultrawide curved gaming monitor.

The best curved monitor with a super ultrawide screen that we've tested so far is the Samsung C49RG9. It's a well-rounded monitor with a 49 inch screen that's the equivalent of placing two 27 inch monitors side-by-side. It has a 32:9 aspect ratio and a 5120x1440 resolution, which is ideal for multitasking as you can open many windows at once.

It performs well both in bright and dark rooms. With its VA panel, it has a decent contrast ratio, and its local dimming feature improves it a bit, although local dimming isn't very effective at zone transitions because it only has about ten dimming zones. It gets extremely bright, easily enough to combat glare, and it has good reflection handling, so it performs well even in the brightest of rooms. Gamers should enjoy this monitor's 120Hz refresh rate, FreeSync support, low input lag, and quick response time that remains fast even when playing at 60Hz.

Unfortunately, it has narrow viewing angles, which is expected from a VA panel, so the screen's left and right edges may appear darker. The curved screen helps with that issue, but it isn't perfect. Fortunately, HDR looks great on this monitor because it has great coverage of the commonly-used DCI P3 color space, and it gets bright enough to truly bring out highlights. All in all, this is one of the best curved monitors if you're looking for a super ultrawide monitor.

The best budget curved monitor that we've tested so far is the AOC CQ27G2. It's a simple and inexpensive monitor with great gaming performance. It has limited extra features, but for its price, most people should be happy with this monitor.

It has a 1440p resolution and a 144Hz native refresh rate. It has FreeSync support, and it works with NVIDIA graphics cards for G-SYNC compatibility. Its response time as its max refresh rate is great, resulting in minimal motion blur, and even though it's a bit slower at 60Hz, most people shouldn't be bothered by this. Its input lag is really low, and it stays low with VRR enabled, which is great. The VA panel helps it deliver deep blacks, but it doesn't have local dimming, and its uniformity is bad. It has decent ergonomics, but like most curved monitors, you can't switch it into portrait mode.

Unfortunately, it doesn't perform very well in bright rooms because it doesn't get very bright, and it really struggles to handle reflections with direct sunlight on it. It's ideal to place it in moderately-lit rooms. It doesn't support HDR, but this shouldn't be a problem for most gamers on a budget. All in all, the AOC is the best budget curved monitor we've tested so far.