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The 5 Best Budget And Cheap Monitors - Winter 2024 Reviews

Updated
Best Budget Monitors

There are plenty of monitors you can get if you're looking for something on a budget. While you won't get the best performance and features as you would with high-end monitors, a few budget models still offer great performance, even better than some more expensive options. As the monitor market grows, you can find low-cost displays for various uses, from office work to gaming, and even with more features like Mini LED backlighting or high resolutions, including up to 4k.

As there are so many different options available, it's important to consider your personal preferences and how you'll use the monitor; you'll want something with sharp text clarity and good ergonomics for office work, or you'll want to get something with a high refresh rate for gaming. Regardless of what you need it for, it's important to consider the monitor's performance for your specific use, as you'll want to get the most bang for your buck.

We've bought and tested over 300 monitors, and below, you'll find our top picks for the best monitors available for purchase at a low cost. Also, check out our recommendations for the best monitors under $200, the best monitors under $500, and the best budget and cheap gaming monitors.


  1. Best Budget Monitor

    The best monitor you can get on a budget is the Dell G2724D. It's a versatile 27-inch monitor with a 1440p resolution that's good for most uses. It's rather simple and barebones regarding features, but it gets the job done, especially if you don't need anything fancy on a budget. It has good text clarity, which is great for reading through webpages and documents, and it's also a good choice for well-lit rooms as it gets bright enough to fight glare and has good reflection handling. Despite its budget cost, it's fairly well-built and has outstanding ergonomics, making it very easy to place in an ideal position.

    Even though it performs well for everyday use, it's mainly designed as a gaming monitor and excels at that. It has incredible motion handling thanks to its fast response time, and it has a 165Hz refresh rate with variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing. One downside is that it has limited picture quality as it has a low contrast ratio, and blacks look gray in dark rooms. That's typical of most budget monitors, but if that's important to you, the AOC Q27G3XMN is a good low-cost monitor with much better picture quality thanks to its Mini LED backlighting. However, it has a worse response time than the Dell monitor, and it has some bugs.

    See our review

  2. Best Cheap Monitor

    If you prefer a cheap display and don't need the gaming features of the Dell G2724D, then check out the ASUS VG246H. There are a few trade-offs for getting this monitor instead of the Dell as it has a smaller screen and lower resolution, so images are less detailed, but it still has decent text clarity. It also has a much lower 75Hz refresh rate and isn't meant for gaming, but that doesn't make a big difference if you need something simple for office work anyway.

    It has a few advantages for productivity, like an sRGB picture mode with great accuracy before calibration, making images look life-like. It also has good reflection handling, which is useful if you want to use it in a well-lit room, but it doesn't get bright enough to fight intense glare. Lastly, it has remarkable ergonomics that make it easy to adjust, which is great if you constantly need to share your screen with someone else. However, as expected for a cheap display, it's limited in extra features, as it doesn't even have a USB hub.

    See our review

  3. Best Budget Monitor For Work

    If you want something mainly for working and don't mind spending more than on the entry-level ASUS VG246H, check out the Dell S2721QS. It has a larger screen and higher 4k resolution than the ASUS, so there's more screen real estate for multitasking, and it also delivers much better text clarity. It's a great choice if you want to use it in a well-lit room, as it gets bright enough to fight glare and has good reflection handling. It also has wide viewing angles and impressive ergonomics, making it easy to share your screen with someone next to you, as the image remains consistent from the sides.

    Although it delivers good picture quality and excellent office performance, it's limited in extra features. It does have Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes, but it doesn't have a USB hub to connect to other devices. If you want something with a USB hub, including a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort Alt Mode, you can also check out the higher-end Dell S2722QC, which often goes on sale. These extra features offer great value, but the S2721QS is usually cheaper.

    See our review

  4. Best Budget 24-Inch Monitor

    If you don't need something for office work like the Dell S2721QS and prefer a smaller screen than the Dell G2724D, you can get plenty of good, budget-friendly 24-inch monitors. However, many monitors with this screen size focus on gaming, and that's the case with the ViewSonic XG2431, which has a higher 240Hz refresh rate than the G2724D, and with a lower 1080p resolution, images aren't as detailed. Regardless, it's an impressive gaming monitor with a fast response time and VRR support to reduce screen tearing.

    It has extra gaming perks, like a versatile backlight strobing feature that you can customize to improve the appearance of motion, which is something many budget monitors can't do. However, it doesn't work at the same time as VRR, which is typical of many gaming monitors. Besides that, it also has great ergonomics and wide viewing angles, so it's still versatile enough if you need a small display for productivity or even co-op gaming. It even has two USB-A ports to quickly connect your peripherals, like a keyboard and mouse.

    See our review

  5. Best Budget 32-Inch Monitor

    If you want a bigger screen, a few budget-friendly 32-inch monitors are decent enough for everyday use, but low-cost monitors of this size aren't as good as smaller displays. Regardless, if that's what you want, the LG 32GN650-B is a decent choice, and you can also find it as the 32GN63T-B at different retailers. Both models perform the same, so you can get whichever you can find for cheaper. It has a higher resolution than the ViewSonic XG2431, but because of the large size, the pixel density is similar, so the text clarity is just okay.

    The main downside is that this monitor has a lower 165Hz refresh rate than the ViewSonic and isn't as good for competitive gaming. It has worse motion handling with more smearing and inverse ghosting, but it's still decent enough if you're getting into PC gaming. It also has FreeSync VRR support with G-SYNC compatibility to reduce screen tearing. Additionally, it has a VA panel that looks good in dark rooms thanks to its high native contrast ratio, but it has narrow viewing angles, so the image looks washed out from the sides.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • Dell S3422DWG: The Dell S3422DWG is a budget-friendly ultrawide monitor with a wider screen than the LG 32GN650-B/32GN63T-B, but it costs more. However, it's a good choice if you want an ultrawide and are okay with spending a bit more. See our review
  • ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV: The ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV is a good budget monitor for work with more features than the Dell S2721QS, like a USB hub, but it has a lower resolution. See our review
  • Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx: The Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx is a 24-inch, 1080p monitor like the ASUS VG246H, and it also gets brighter, but it can be harder to find at times. See our review
  • ASUS TUF Gaming VG249Q1A: The ASUS TUF Gaming VG249Q1A is a cheaper alternative to the ViewSonic XG2431, which is still very good for gaming and has a fast response time but a lower refresh rate than the ViewSonic. See our review

Recent Updates

  1. Mar 12, 2024: Replaced the AOC Q27G3XMN with the Dell G2724D for consistency with other recommendations; replaced the Gigabyte GS27QC with the ASUS TUF Gaming VG249Q1A in the Notable Mentions because the ASUS is cheaper.

  2. Feb 01, 2024: Replaced the Gigabyte M27Q P with the AOC Q27G3XMN for consistency with other articles; added the Gigabyte GS27QC and the Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx to Notable Mentions.

  3. Dec 01, 2023: Added the HP OMEN 27q and the ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV to Notable Mentions; verified that the recommended monitors are still available.

  4. Nov 08, 2023: Replaced the ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV with the Dell S2721QS for consistency with other articles; in Notable Mentions, added the Dell G2724D and replaced the Gigabyte M34WQ with the Dell S3422DWG for consistency with other articles, as it costs less.

  5. Sep 13, 2023: Replaced the Gigabyte M27Q and the Dell S2721QS with the Gigabyte M27Q P and the ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV for consistency with other articles; added the S2721QS and the HP OMEN 27qs to Notable Mentions; reordered the categories to reflect how people are looking for budget monitors.

All Reviews

Our recommendations are based on what we think are the best monitors you can get for a low cost, including the best cheap monitors. They are adapted to be valid for most people. Rating is based on our review, factoring in price and feedback from our visitors.

If you would prefer to make your own decision, here is the list of all of our monitor reviews that are currently under $350. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. Most monitors are good enough to please most people, and the things we fault monitors on are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.