The 6 Best 24-25 Inch Monitors - Summer 2020
Reviews

The best 25 inch monitor we've tested so far is the Dell UltraSharp U2520D. Like most Dell monitors, it performs best as an office monitor, but it's surprisingly well-rounded and should please most people.

This monitor has what most people need to keep their productivity high. It has wide viewing angles if you need to share your screen with someone else, it gets bright enough to combat glare, and its reflection handling is okay. It also has great out-of-the-box color accuracy, so you won't need to get it calibrated unless you want to. If you're a photo editor, you should be happy to know it has great coverage of the Adobe RGB color space and it has an outstanding color volume too.

Unfortunately, like most monitors with an IPS panel, it's not ideal to use in the dark. It has a low contrast ratio, making blacks appear gray. However, even though this monitor is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and doesn't support any variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, it still has an impressive response time and a low input lag, making it good for casual gaming. Overall, this is a very good 25 inch office monitor.

The best 25 inch gaming monitor we've tested so far is the Dell Alienware AW2521HF. It has an incredibly high 240Hz refresh rate, and it's one of the few monitors that has an IPS panel with that refresh rate. It's a good overall monitor that's especially impressive for gaming.

This monitor has one of the best response times at its max refresh rate we've seen so far. Motion is exceptionally clear, and even when playing at 60Hz, the response time is outstanding, which is ideal for console gaming. Its input lag is also really low, and even though it slightly increases with its VRR enabled, it shouldn't be noticeable for most people. It has native FreeSync support, and it's certified to work with newer NVIDIA graphics cards too. Even though the monitor is limited to a 1080p refresh rate, the picture quality is still good with its great peak brightness, very wide viewing angles, good out-of-the-box color accuracy, and excellent gray uniformity.

Unfortunately, it doesn't support HDR, and due to its IPS, it has a low contrast ratio and disappointing black uniformity, so it's not ideal for dark room gaming. On the upside, it has RGB lighting on the stand, which you can control through the on-screen display. All in all, it's the best 25 inch monitor for gaming we've seen so far.

The Dell P2417H is the best 24 inch monitor in the budget category that we've tested so far. It's a simple 1080p monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate, and it comes in the same frame as most Dell monitors, with the same good build quality and great ergonomics, so you can adjust it however you like.

Its IPS panel has decent viewing angles, but like most IPS monitors, it doesn't look good in the dark due to its low contrast ratio. If you care about accurate color reproduction, the good news is that it has great color accuracy out-of-the-box. There are two convenient USB 3.0 ports for charging located on the side and two more USB 2.0 ports on the back. The backlight is also flicker-free, which can help reduce eye strain. Motion handling is very good, and input lag is low; however, it doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing when gaming.

Unfortunately, it doesn't get very bright, so it's best to avoid placing it in a really bright room. Overall, if you're looking for a small monitor on a budget, this is a very decent choice. It doesn't have the sharpest resolution or the most features, but for a monitor this size, it's the best 24 inch monitor in the budget category we've tested so far.