The 5 Best Budget And Cheap Monitors - Fall 2024

The best budget monitor we've tested is the AOC Q27G3XMN. It's a 27-inch, 1440p monitor mainly designed for gaming, but it's versatile for other uses, too. The main advantage of this over other budget-friendly monitors is that it uses Mini LED backlighting, which is a feature mainly found on higher-end models. Combined with its high native contrast ratio and good local dimming feature, it displays deep blacks against bright highlights, which is great for gaming in dark rooms. It also gets bright enough to fight glare and make highlights pop, so it's a great choice for watching content or gaming in HDR.

Although it's limited in extra features besides that, which is expected for a low-cost monitor, it's also useful for gaming. It has a max 180Hz refresh rate that you can reach over DisplayPort, and motion looks sharp thanks to its fast response time, but there's smearing with fast-moving objects. One thing to know is that this monitor sometimes goes out of stock, so if you can't find it available, check out the Acer Nitro XV275U P3biipx. It performs similarly and also has Mini LED backlighting, but it has worse motion handling.

There are benefits to getting a 4k monitor, like the sharper text that's useful for office work. There are some 4k displays you can get at a budget cost, like the Dell S2721QS, which is designed with work in mind. It's a good choice if you have a well-lit office space as it gets bright enough to fight glare, has wide viewing angles, and its excellent ergonomics make it easy to adjust. However, it's different from the AOC Q27G3XMN as it doesn't have Mini LED backlighting, and the picture quality is much worse in HDR. It's also limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and has worse motion handling, but that's what you have to expect from an office monitor. 

A downside of using this monitor for work is that it doesn't have any USB ports, so you have to make sure your laptop or computer has enough ports to connect all your devices. If that's important for you, you can also look into the higher-end Dell S2722QC. It has a USB hub that includes a USB-C port with 65W of power delivery, but considering it performs similarly, you're paying more for the extra features, and the S2721QS is the better choice for most people.

If you don't need a 4k display like the Dell S2721QS and prefer a simple and cheap monitor, then look into the Dell G2724D, which you can find for a low cost directly from Dell's website. It has a 27-inch, 1440p screen like the AOC Q27G3XMN, but the main difference is that it doesn't have Mini LED backlighting, and its local dimming feature performs a lot worse. This means that blacks look gray in the dark, and it fails to make highlights pop the same way the AOC does, so it's worse for watching HDR content. However, that's the trade-off for getting something cheaper, and it still performs well for other uses.

Like the AOC, it's focused on gaming as it has a 165Hz refresh rate, and there's less smearing with fast-moving objects than on the AOC. Even if you want to use it for productivity when you aren't gaming, it's a good choice, as it gets bright enough to fight glare and has wide viewing angles that keep the image consistent when viewed from the sides. Like the S2721QS, it even has remarkable ergonomics that make it easy to adjust.

If you're looking for a cheap monitor but find a 27-inch screen like the Dell G2724D too big, there are some decent low-cost 24-inch displays to choose from. One of those is the AOC 24G15N, which is a cheap 1080p display that's meant for gaming and doesn't have many extra features, but it does its job as a simple monitor. It doesn't deliver the same details as the Dell because of its lower resolution, and one of the biggest differences is that it has worse motion handling with more smearing.

That said, it still has features you'd expect in a gaming monitor, like a 180Hz refresh rate and VRR support to reduce screen tearing. It even has a backlight strobing feature to try to reduce persistence blur, but it causes image duplication. However, if you don't need such gaming features and you prefer a 24-inch monitor for work, you can also check out the Dell P2425H. It has a few work-oriented features and even comes with a more ergonomic stand than the AOC, but it also costs a bit more and doesn't have any gaming features.

Although the monitors recommended above have 24- or 27-inch screen sizes, which represents most of the budget monitor market, there are a few decent low-cost 32-inch monitors available if you want a bigger screen. Budget monitors of this size aren't as good as smaller displays, but if you want a larger display, 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. Like the AOC 24G15N and the AOC Q27G3XMN, it's focused on gaming as it has a 165Hz refresh rate.

The main downside to this monitor is that fast-moving objects look blurry, and there's some smearing and inverse ghosting, though it's still decent enough if you don't play many fast-moving games. Since it has a VA panel, it displays fairly deep blacks next to bright highlights. However, the image looks washed out from the sides, so it's not a good choice if you regularly share your screen with someone else next to you.