The 6 Best Gaming Monitors - Spring 2023 Reviews

The best gaming monitor we've tested is the Dell Alienware AW3423DW. It's an excellent ultrawide gaming monitor that doesn't have the highest resolution or refresh rate compared to other monitors, but it's known for its incredible motion handling and remarkable picture quality. It has a QD-OLED display, so it combines the perfect black levels of OLEDs with the wide range of colors of quantum dot displays. Content looks amazing in dark rooms, and colors look vivid in HDR, but there are issues when using it in a bright room as the black levels raise, so it's better to game with it in the dark.

Its OLED panel provides a near-instantaneous response time, resulting in an incredibly smooth motion without any blur trail behind fast-moving objects. It also has a 175Hz refresh rate that you can achieve over a DisplayPort connection from your PC. Lastly, it natively supports G-SYNC variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing, which is beneficial if you have an NVIDIA graphics card and want to take full advantage of it. If you have an AMD graphics card and don't need G-SYNC, there's a FreeSync variant of this monitor, Dell Alienware AW3423DWF, that's a bit cheaper and offers similar performance.

If you game from a PS5 or Xbox Series, you'll want a monitor that can take full advantage of those consoles, like the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 S32BG75. It's different from the Dell Alienware AW3423DW because it has a 32-inch 4k screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is ideal for consoles. After all, they don't support ultrawide gaming. Its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth lets you take full advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, as you can play 4k @ 120Hz games on it. It has a max refresh rate of 165Hz, but if you want something with an even higher 240Hz refresh rate to also use with PC gaming, the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 S32BG85 is a good alternative, but it costs more, and the consoles can't take advantage of the 240Hz refresh rate anyways.

In terms of the Neo G7's gaming performance, it's excellent thanks to its fast response time across its entire refresh rate range. It also has low input lag for a responsive feel. It delivers great picture quality, and while it doesn't offer the same perfect black levels as the Dell, it instead has Mini LED backlighting that lets highlights get brighter in HDR and has a decent local dimming feature.

If you aren't willing to spend a ton on your next gaming monitor but still want excellent performance for both consoles and PC gaming, check out the Gigabyte M32U instead. It has a 32-inch, 4k screen like the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 S32BG75, with the main difference being that it doesn't feature Mini LED backlighting. It means it doesn't have the same excellent picture quality, especially for dark room gaming or HDR, but it has a different panel type with wider viewing angles, making it the better choice for co-op gaming.

It has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth for console gaming, and even if you game from a PC, it's excellent thanks to its low input lag for a responsive feel, 144Hz refresh rate, and fast response time across its entire refresh rate range. It also has native FreeSync VRR support to reduce screen tearing with AMD graphics cards, and if you have an NVIDIA graphics card, it's G-SYNC compatible. If you find the 32-inch screen size too big, there's a smaller version, the Gigabyte M28U, that you can get for cheaper, but it has worse ergonomics and doesn't get as bright.

If you don't need a high-resolution monitor and prefer an option in the lower mid-range price category for PC gaming, then the Gigabyte M27Q X is a great choice. It's a different type of monitor from the Gigabyte M32U because it has a lower 1440p resolution, so images aren't as sharp; however, it has a higher 240Hz refresh rate, which is ideal for competitive PC gaming. It lets you play games at a high frame rate with ease, and it has native FreeSync VRR support with G-SYNC compatibility to reduce screen tearing.

Its response time is fantastic at its max refresh rate and remains quick even with lower-frame-rate signals. It also has a backlight-strobing feature that works at the same time as the VRR feature, which isn't something all monitors can do, and it works across a wide refresh rate range. Gaming feels responsive thanks to its low input lag too. It also has a few extra features to improve your gaming experience, like various overlay and crosshair features and an Eagle Eye mode that zooms into a part of the screen so you can see your game better, giving you a competitive advantage.

If you're on a budget, there are plenty of options. You'll have to sacrifice a few features, but you can still get something with impressive gaming performance, like the ViewSonic XG2431. It has a lower resolution than the Gigabyte M27Q X and a smaller screen, so it doesn't deliver the same immersive gaming experience but has the same 240Hz refresh rate. Combined with its lower resolution, it's easier for your graphics card to reach its maximum refresh rate and isn't as taxing on your graphics card either.

The high refresh rate helps provide an extremely fast response time, and it has low input lag for a responsive feel. It also has an optional backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur, and unlike many monitors, you can control the flicker of it to your liking. While images aren't very sharp due to the 1080p resolution, the image clarity is still decent enough to see details in your games. However, if image clarity is important to you, then check out the Gigabyte M27Q, which is a 1440p budget-friendly monitor, but it has a lower 170Hz refresh rate, meaning the ViewSonic still offers the best gaming performance.

If you need a basic monitor for gaming that doesn't cost much, consider the Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx. It has a 1080p resolution and 24-inch screen size like the ViewSonic XG2431, but with a lower 165Hz refresh rate, this monitor is better for casual gamers who don't play games at a high frame rate or for those getting into PC gaming for the first time. While its motion handling isn't as good as on the ViewSonic either, it still has an excellent response time at its max refresh rate and is great at 120Hz. However, there's ghosting with 60Hz objects when you have VRR enabled, so if you're playing games at a low frame rate, it's better to disable VRR for improved motion handling.

It has native FreeSync support like the ViewSonic, and it's also G-SYNC compatible if you have an NVIDIA graphics card. It has a backlight-strobing feature that isn't as customizable as that on the ViewSonic, and if you prefer not to use it, the backlight remains flicker-free, which helps reduce eye strain during long gaming sessions. Its input lag is also low, no matter the frame rate of your game.