The 5 Best 144Hz Monitors - Fall 2023 Reviews

The LG 32GQ950-B is the best 144Hz monitor we've tested. It's a high-end monitor with excellent gaming performance and a few features to improve the overall user experience. It has a 32-inch screen and 4k resolution with high pixel density, which helps produce an immersive gaming experience with sharp images and a ton of detail. You can overclock its 144Hz native refresh rate to 160Hz, which results in a slightly smoother gaming experience, but the overclock feature doesn't work consistently. The monitor can also take full advantage of current-gen gaming consoles thanks to its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, letting you play 4k games up to 120Hz from the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

It has an excellent response time across its entire refresh rate range, which results in smooth motion handling, so you won't notice too much motion blur with fast-moving objects. While the response time at lower refresh rates is worse than at high refresh rates, motion still looks good. Lastly, it has some features to give you a competitive advantage, like a Black Stabilizer mode to see opponents better in dark games and a crosshair mode for FPS gaming.

If you find the LG 32GQ950-B too expensive and don't need such a premium 144Hz gaming monitor, consider the Sony INZONE M9. While it still is an excellent monitor, it does cost less than the LG, with a few trade-offs. It doesn't have an overclock feature, but because that doesn't always work on the LG anyways, this doesn't make much of a difference. It also has worse motion handling than the LG, so while there's more blur with fast-moving objects, it's still good enough for most gamers, as the response time at its max refresh rate of 144Hz is excellent.

One advantage of the Sony monitor is its superior picture quality, particularly its better local dimming feature. It displays deeper blacks in dark rooms than the LG and has much less blooming around bright objects. It gets brighter with most HDR content, but small highlights don't stand out as much as on the LG. Lastly, the Sony has a few features that you can only take advantage of with the PS5, like Auto HDR Tone Mapping, and it still works without issue with other sources, like an Xbox Series X|S or a gaming PC.

If you don't need the best of the best and still prefer saving some money, consider the Gigabyte M32U. It has a bigger 32-inch screen than the Sony INZONE M9, but you must make some trade-offs to get something cheaper. Its picture quality is worse as its local dimming feature isn't as good, so it performs worse in dark rooms. It also supports 24 Gbps bandwidth of HDMI 2.1, which is less than the 40 Gbps of the Sony and still enough to play 4k games up to 120Hz from consoles, but if you're PC gaming with an HDMI 2.1 graphics card, it needs to use compression to reach that bandwidth.

Besides these differences, the Gigabyte is still an excellent overall gaming monitor whose 4k resolution and high pixel density deliver an incredibly immersive gaming experience. It also has variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing and works with AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards. It gets very bright, which is useful if you want to game with it in a well-lit room. If you find the 32-inch screen too big, consider the smaller Gigabyte M27U, which is similar but has a native refresh rate of 150Hz.

If you're looking for the best budget 144Hz monitor, consider the LG 27GL850-B, which is also available as the 27GL83A-B, and the only difference is that the 27GL850-B has two USB ports. It's different from the Gigabyte M32U because it has a lower 1440p resolution, which means it doesn't deliver the same amount of details and image sharpness, but this is what you must expect for a budget monitor. Luckily, it still offers great gaming performance with a fast response time across its entire refresh rate range. It also has FreeSync VRR support with G-SYNC compatibility, but the VRR support is limited to 100Hz when using an HDMI connection.

It has good picture quality, especially if you want to use it in a bright room because it has good reflection handling and gets bright enough to fight glare. However, it isn't as good in dark rooms as it has a low contrast ratio with bad black uniformity, so it's better to leave a few lights on in your gaming room if you want good picture quality. Another low-cost option is the Gigabyte G27Q, which costs less than the LG but has worse motion handling.

If you want a cheap gaming monitor, the Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx is a good alternative to the LG 27GL850-B/27GL83A-B. It has a smaller screen with a lower 1080p resolution, so images are less detailed, but the smaller size is good if you have limited space in your gaming setup. Unlike the LG, you can overclock its 144Hz native refresh rate to 165Hz for a slightly smoother gaming feel.

It has an impressive response time at its max refresh rate and at 120Hz for smooth motion, but there's more overshoot with 60Hz signals when you have VRR enabled, which causes white trails behind fast-moving objects. You can disable VRR to reduce this issue, but that also means there's a chance you'll see screen tearing. Speaking of VRR, it has FreeSync support with G-SYNC compatibility for NVIDIA graphics cards. Despite its low cost, it has features you'd expect to find in most gaming monitors, including a virtual crosshair to give you an advantage in FPS games, as your game's anti-cheat tool won't detect it.