The 3 Best 27-Inch Monitors for 2025

For more information about the 4K monitors we’ve tested, read our full guide to 4K monitors.

The Alogic Clarity Pro Touch is an interesting and expensive 27-inch 4K monitor that’s also a full 10-point touchscreen and works with the company’s stylus. Usually touchscreens this large are reserved for all-in-one PCs, and there aren’t any other similar high-resolution touchscreen options that we found of the same size. It’s sharp, it has an impressive webcam that automatically pops up when a camera application is launched (but doesn’t always lower afterward), and the touchscreen works well with Windows. However, there are a few flaws. MacOS is not intended to work with touch, so we had issues using the touchscreen with a connected MacBook open, as the touch would register as a click on the laptop’s screen instead of the display’s. No matter the operating system, we saw a slight purple color cast that we couldn’t easily remove without having to edit the RGB levels. We’ve also seen a steady stream of negative reviews about the company’s customer service. Good customer service is important for any company we recommend, but especially for a $1,200 monitor from a small, relatively unknown company whose warranty doesn’t even include bright dots or dead pixels.

The Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q2 is a very high-quality 27-inch OLED monitor with a 1440p resolution and 240 Hz refresh rate, but we think it’s just a bit too expensive for the specs right now. The monitor is sharper and has better features than last year’s $1,000 LG UltraGear 27GR95QE-B for $300 less, but it’s still more than double what you’d pay for a comparable 1440p IPS, and we don’t recommend spending that much on a 1440p display. We’re waiting for prices to come down on OLED displays before recommending them more widely.

The Gigabyte GS27Q is a budget 1440p gaming monitor that doesn’t have the USB-C port and USB hub that we look for in our top picks, but it’s sharp and more color-accurate than most budget monitors we test. It has a refresh rate of 165 Hz, HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort, and reaches about 320 nits of brightness, which is fine for indoors but a bit dim to use in a sunny room. If you’re looking for a cheap gaming monitor for your desktop and don’t need USB-C, this one fits the bill. However, it was also out of stock everywhere at the time of writing.

The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV is about $30 more expensive than our top pick, for a few small quality-of-life increases we didn’t think were worth it. It includes a new anti-glare coating, an ambient light sensor, and 6 watts of additional power delivery over USB-C. It also has a lower refresh rate of 100 Hz, and it can display about 980 million fewer colors because it’s an 8-bit display, versus the 10-bit display of our top pick.

The Dell UltraSharp U2724D has the fantastic IPS Black technology we liked in the U2725QE, but it doesn’t have USB-C power delivery. We think that’s critical for anyone using a laptop with a monitor.

The Dell UltraSharp U2724DE is a nice 1440p monitor with IPS Black and Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connectivity. But it’s pricey, and we think if you’re spending more than $500 on a monitor, you might as well get 4K resolution, like with our upgrade pick, the U2725QE.

The Titan Army P27A2R is a $200 budget gaming monitor that unfortunately didn’t fare well in our tests. We measured it to have a contrast ratio of 880:1, and it had visibly less contrast than the competition. It also doesn’t have a USB-C port or charging.

The ViewSonic VX2767U-2K has an attractive price for a 27-inch, 1440p display with USB-C. However, when we tested the display, it wouldn’t reliably detect a signal over USB-C, even after we tested it with five different laptops. The display would work properly after various combinations of turning the display on and off or plugging and unplugging the cable, but no combination reliably got the monitor to detect a video connection over USB-C the first time.

The LG UltraGear 27GR95QE-B looks incredible when gaming, due to its high-contrast OLED display and 1440p resolution. But text looks a bit fuzzy on the screen, so it’s slightly difficult to read on it for daily use. This is a condition of how pixels are arranged on OLED displays. So for that reason and potential long-term burn-in concerns, we’re recommending most people hold off buying OLED computer monitors until the technology is a bit more refined.

We previously included the MSI Modern MD271QP as a budget pick, but its price has increased since we originally published this guide. It’s still a nice monitor, but for a similar price we now recommend just getting out top pick. We’ll review more budget options in coming months to provide a new recommendation.

The Sceptre E275W-QP is one of the cheapest and most-promoted 1440p monitors on Amazon, but we recommend steering clear. Out of the box it has great contrast and color accuracy, but once you change the brightness its picture quickly falls apart. At its lowest brightness setting we measured its contrast ratio as 354:1, and at its highest setting we measured an abysmal 7:1 contrast ratio.

We also tested the Pixio PX277 Prime, a budget 1440p gaming monitor that’s prominently promoted on Amazon. We found that the monitor looked crooked on its stand after we set it up, with no way to adjust it or make it straight because you can only tilt the display up and down. The Pixio’s color also didn’t look as good as other monitors and didn’t have adequate controls to improve the picture.

Dell’s S2722DC is a decent 1440p monitor that was edged out for our top pick by Asus’ fantastic ProArt PA278CV display. The S2722DC had noticeably lower contrast than the ProArt, which resulted in the picture looking worse across the board.

The LG 27UP850-W is a great 4K display with HDR and a 96 W USB-C port. We think our pick, the Dell S2722QC, represents a better value to most people at $100 cheaper. Most laptops don’t require 96 watts of charging, and Dell’s three-year warranty is far better than LG’s more limited one-year warranty.

The HyperX Armada 27 is a $500 display with a 1440p resolution and specifically pitched toward gamers. It has a 165 Hz refresh rate, which is similar to that of the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQ, and comes with a desk mount rather than a stand, making for a nice addition when desk space is limited. We think our also-great pick provides a better value, as you get similar specs and gaming experience for cheaper.

We haven’t tested the Asus ProArt Display PA278QV, but on paper it’s the exact same monitor as the PA278CV without the USB-C port. Consider buying it instead of the PA278CV if you use a desktop computer or don’t care about USB-C and want to save $80.

ViewSonic’s VG2755-2K is similar to the VG2756-2K but has three USB Type-A ports in its USB hub and no Gigabit Ethernet port, and it refreshes its screen 60 times per second rather than 75. It’s normally $20 or $30 less than the VG2756-2K or the Asus PA278CV, but those monitors’ additional features are worth the relatively small price difference.

We didn’t test Dell’s P2720DC, which is a little more expensive than our main picks and has a 60 Hz refresh rate and no FreeSync support. It is cheaper than the U2721DE, though, and Dell’s U- and P-series monitors typically have good color accuracy and nice designs. It may be worth a try if you want a monitor with a USB-C port, a USB hub, and an adjustable stand and if you want better color accuracy than our picks can give you out of the box.

Acer’s V277U bmiipx was our budget pick in a previous version of this guide, and it’s still a good option at its typical price of around $250.

Acer’s Nitro VG0 VG270U bmiipx and KA272U biipx are good budget options priced around or just under $250. Both offer a 75 Hz refresh rate and FreeSync support along with a pair of HDMI ports and a DisplayPort connection. However, the KA272U feels even cheaper and more plasticky than the other already pretty cheap-feeling budget monitors we tested.

BenQ’s PD2700Q costs more than other 27-inch Acer budget monitors, and it has a big, chunky bezel that makes it look more dated. It does have a USB hub, but its ports handle only USB 2.0 speeds, limiting their usefulness. And it exhibited poor color reproduction in our tests—its 1230:1 contrast ratio was the best of anything we tested, but its DeltaE numbers were all near or above 3.0.

Dell’s S2721DGF is an excellent gaming monitor, with a 165 Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium Pro support, a USB hub, and better color accuracy than the ViewSonic XG2705-2K has. In addition, on the back it has blue LED lights, which serve no functional purpose but do look kind of cool. But it’s normally around $150 more expensive than the ViewSonic monitor we recommend for light gaming, and its contrast ratio of 919:1 is short of the 1,000:1 baseline we prefer. On top of that, although Dell prominently advertises the monitor’s VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification, its HDR mode isn’t very good. For example, its local dimming feature, which can turn down the backlight’s brightness during dark scenes to show more detail, is imprecise, producing an unpleasant splotchy look that ruins the effect (for more on what high dynamic range is and what it entails, check out our TV coverage).

The Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ is a gaming monitor with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, FreeSync support, and an adjustable stand. It usually sells for a little over $400, which makes it less expensive than the Dell S2721DGF. But it doesn’t have a USB hub like Dell’s monitor does, its color accuracy (as on all gaming monitors we tested) was poor, and it’s still a bit pricier than the ViewSonic XG2705-2K. Stepping up from 144 Hz to 165 Hz is not worth paying extra for, but the VG27AQ is a decent option if the ViewSonic model is out of stock.

This article was edited by Signe Brewster and Caitlin McGarry.