Best gaming monitors tried and tested for 4K, 1440p and ultra-widescreen gaming

With its ultrawide and curved, 34in quantum-dot OLED display, this Alienware is a stunning all-round screen and the best gaming monitor we’ve tested. As an OLED display you get that impeccably fast response time, inky blacks and giant contrast, and thanks to Samsung’s quantum-dot tech (seen in higher-end QLED televisions), you’re getting better colour accuracy across the entire brightness spectrum. It also reduces OLED burn-in, which is particularly important for a monitor showing static on-screen furniture like task bars and icons.

The 165Hz refresh rate can be beaten by IPS screens, but for most users it’s responsive enough and worth the trade-off for that boosted image quality. Games look and feel great on this screen.

One of the best QHD gaming monitor’s we’ve tested, the Asus rog swift PG329Q offers strong specifications in the 1440p range. The IPS display can reach a refresh rate of 175Hz with a 1ms response time, while HDR10 with a peak brightness of 600 nits means you’re getting decent enough HDR performance too.

We like Asus gaming monitors for their excellent blurring and ghosting reduction in SDR mode, which keeps fast-moving objects looking crisp and legible on screen. There’s also support for variable refresh rates on the Xbox Series X. It’s also 32 inches which is about as big a monitor as you’d want running at this resolution (there are 4K monitors in this price range if you want extra clarity) but for 1440p gaming the Asus rog swift PG329Q is a great monitor packed with useful features.

The Sony inzone M9 is designed around the PS5 and the PC, with a look that resembles the clean, sweeping white lines of the high-end games console. To that end it supports 4K resolutions, and takes advantage of Sony Electronics’ enormous expertise – gained from its decades of experience building Sony Bravia TVs – to produce vivid colours, smooth HDR and precise local-dimming on an IPS display panel.

That IPS tech holds the Inzone M9 back a little when it comes to overall contrast – an OLED screen is technically superior – but the fast refresh speeds make for a responsive and dynamic gaming experience. We’re not sold on the strangely positioned tripod stand and the limited height adjustment, but the KVM-style keyboard switching (which swaps your keyboard and mouse controls over to whichever source you’re using) is a nice feature on a desktop that’s shared between a PC, laptop and console.

The Asus TUF gaming VG28U ticks all the boxes when it comes to the best 4K gaming monitors. For around £600 you get a standard 144Hz refresh rate – which is plenty smooth for most players – with G-Sync and FreeSync certification to elimate screen tearing. There are four HDMI ports, two of which are 2.1, and a DisplayPort 1.4.

The display is especially impressive in SDR mode, where the “extra low motion blur” feature can capably cut out blurring in fast-moving games, even at higher resolutions where most monitors would struggle with blur. HDR performance and overall brightness is decent too. Edge dimming can produce some cloudiness in very specific situations, but it’s barely noticeable and most players won’t mind.

While 1440p is still the norm there are an increasing number of 32in 4K gaming monitors entering the market, particularly now that PCs and consoles are better able to utilise the higher resolution. The Asus rog strix XG32UQ is one of the best examples in this growing category.

This IPS panel can be “overclocked” to hit 160Hz – we found no problems or drawbacks from permanently switching to this refresh rate – and offers good contrast and vibrancy with 600 nits peak brightness and 94 per cent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. The screen is HDR 600 certified but uses edge-lit local dimming, which results in some faint blooming from the corners in high-contrast, low-light scenes.

You’ll need a pretty hench GPU to run many games in 4K and at 160fps, so consider a 1440p display if your machine isn’t up to it, but overall this is an excellent 4K display at a good price.

A monitor for gamers with a whole lot of space, the Samsung odyssey G9 is an ultra-widescreen, highly curved display with a 32:9 aspect ratio and a 5120 x 1440 resolution. That’s equivalent to two QHD screens side by side, and when you consider this an alternative to having multiple monitors across your desk, its enormous size starts to make sense.

Putting the sheer vastness to one side, this is a superb display and uses a a QLED panel for dazzling brightness while retaining contrast and colour accuracy. There’s a 240Hz refresh rate and support for G-Sync and FreeSync. HDMI 2.1 compatibility and a 1ms response time for low-lag gaming. For flight-simmers and other specialist players looking for a truly immersive display, the Samsung odyssey G9 is a worthwhile investment.