5 Best Monitors with Good Built-in Speakers

1. Best Pick: LG 32UD99-W

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Editor’s Rating: 4.4/5

If you want the best monitor that comes with decent speakers, check out the LG 32UD99-W, an all-around 4K display with an IPS panel. It’s one of the best IPS monitors on the market, featuring excellent color accuracy, a fast response time, FreeSync support, and good connectivity. It sells for about $800 apiece, which makes it the most expensive product on this list.

A 32-inch display, the 32UD99-W has a simple design, with thin bezels at all sides, a white back panel, and a minimalist stand with cable management. Instead of on the bottom bezel, the LG logo is found on the stand’s crescent base. All ports are located on the back panel and are outward-facing, which makes them easy to see. The ports include one DisplayPort, two HDMI ports, one USB-C port, one audio out, and two USB 3.0 down ports.

The monitor comes with a pair of 5-watt speakers, which are located at the bottom. The speakers are decent and might surprise some people with their sound quality. While they certainly won’t please audiophiles, many people will find them adequate enough for listening to music and watching video clips on the internet. They can get very loud, too, which is nice.

The 32UD99-W has a well-built stand that easily supports the large screen. You can adjust the height and tilt and pivot the screen. The adjustment ranges are decent, with a 4.3-inch height adjust and a 20-degree backward tilt. You can’t swivel the screen, though, so if you want to adjust it from side to side for a more comfortable viewing angle, you’ll need to rotate the entire monitor itself.

Like most LG monitors, the 32UD99-W features a joystick under the bottom bezel for going through the on-screen display. The small joystick is more intuitive than the usual set of buttons seen in other displays, though some people will find it awkward to use initially. A well-designed control scheme is not that great if the internal menu itself is convoluted, though. But fortunately, LG also did a good job on that front, with the 32UD99-W featuring an organized menu with a nice selection of options.

The 32UD99-W is an excellent monitor for all-around use. It’s got great picture quality, with wide viewing angles, decent HDR performance, and outstanding color accuracy with almost perfect coverage for the sRGB color space. The out-of-box color accuracy is also good while the contrast is decent for an IPS panel.

You can use this LG monitor for photo editing, web development, graphics design, editing spreadsheets, and general office work, among other things. It’s an ideal display for multitasking, thanks to the large screen and the 4K resolution. Moreover, it has good brightness and reflection handling, which is great in a typical office setup with a moderate amount of ambient light.

For gaming, the 32UD99-W is also a solid monitor for both PC and consoles, featuring a fast response time and a great input lag even when running in 4K resolution. It’s great for games with pretty graphics, such as Far Cry 5, God of War, Final Fantasy XV, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. It also supports FreeSync over DisplayPort and HDMI, which is great if you game on PC and/or Xbox One.

Overall, the 32UD99-W is a fantastic 4K display, not only for productivity and general use but also for regular gaming. It’s got outstanding color accuracy, wide viewing angles, HDR support, FreeSync support, and a very low input lag. If money is not an issue for you, this LG offering is the best option if you want an all-around monitor with decent built-in speakers.

2. Best Budget: Dell S2719H

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Editor’s Rating: 3.9/5

If a budget monitor has built-in speakers, it’s almost guaranteed that they sound awful. Only a select few products come with decent-sounding speakers, and one of them is the Dell S2719H, which sells for just around $200.

A 27-inch IPS display, the S2719H is not that different from many of Dell’s regular office monitors regarding overall design, featuring a minimalist frame with good build quality. The bezels at the top and sides are very thin while the bottom bezel, where the company logo is located, is only slightly thicker. The back panel is black, like with the Dell S2417DG, a budget G-Sync monitor.

The built-in speakers blast out from the bottom of the monitor and are surprisingly decent. Enhanced by Waves MaxxAudio, the 5-watt internal speakers are decent enough for listening to music and watching videos on YouTube. While they are not the best for movies and video games, they are not as unbearable as those 2-watt speakers usually found in other cheap monitors.

The connection ports are also down-facing on the back panel, which makes them a bit difficult to access, especially when the monitor is placed close to the wall. You will only find two HDMI ports and one audio out on this monitor. It’s not that surprising for a budget monitor to exclude a USB hub, but a monitor without a DisplayPort is uncommon today.

Compared to Dell UltraSharp monitors, the S2719H has a much more limited stand, though the familiar cable management hole is still present. The stand, which has a flat base, only offers a tilt option, with a backward tilt of 21 degrees. You can’t adjust the height, swivel the screen, and switch to portrait mode, which is disappointing. Furthermore, you’ll need a special adapter if you want to mount the screen to a monitor arm for more adjustability.

The S2719H has a set of buttons for going through the internal menu. Located on the bottom-right corner, the clickable buttons are easy to use and produce a satisfying click when pressed. The on-screen display is also well designed, featuring an organized structure with a good selection of options.

While not as versatile as our top pick, this Dell product is a good monitor for office work and general use, featuring a 1080p resolution and a standard 60 Hz refresh rate. It has good picture quality for a budget display, with good color accuracy, wide viewing angles, and decent brightness. On the other hand, the contrast is subpar, which is a common issue among IPS monitors.

Although it has a good response time and input lag, the S2719H is not the best option for gaming, most especially for competitive gaming. It’s decent enough for casual gaming on PC and consoles, but if you typically play fast-paced first-person shooter games like Overwatch, the best cheap gaming monitors will prove to be much more suitable options.

In all, the S2719H is a good budget monitor with decent speakers. It offers good value for the money and is great for general use and office work like editing spreadsheets. If you prefer a smaller screen and/or want an even cheaper product, check out the smaller Dell S2419H, which sells for about $180.

3. Best Value: Asus MZ27AQ

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Editor’s Rating: 4.1/5

A part of the Asus Designo series, the MZ27AQ is a good monitor for office work, media consumption, and general use, offering great value for the money. It’s a 27-inch display with an IPS panel, but unlike our budget pick, it has a QHD native resolution, which translates to a higher pixel density. You can get it for just around $300, which is a pretty good deal.

Compared to our other top picks here, this Asus display has a much more stylish design, boasting a very thin profile with thin borders at the top and sides. The main electronics are housed on the bottom half of the back panel, which makes for an extremely thin upper half. All connection ports are outward-facing on the back panel for easy access. You’ll find two HDMI ports, one DisplayPort, and one analog audio port on this monitor.

Co-developed by Harman Kardon, the sound system is composed of a pair of built-in 6-watt speakers and an external 5-watt subwoofer, which looks like one of those Bluetooth speakers equipped with the Amazon Alexa virtual assistant. The internal speakers fire out from the bottom while the subwoofer can be positioned on either side of the monitor.

The sound quality is good for a monitor sound system. It’s good enough for watching movies and sports and playing video games. Although still not in the same league as dedicated external speakers or headphones, it’s a lot better than those found in many other monitors selling for $300. You can change the sound mode in the settings, with the monitor featuring four sound modes, including movie and gaming modes.

As with our other top picks, the OSD is well designed, with a good selection of options, including a few gaming-focused options. Like the LG 32UD99-W, the MZ27AQ has a joystick control for going through the OSD. Located on the backside, the small joystick – which doubles as a power button – is intuitive and makes navigating the OSD much faster.

The MZ27AQ comes with a sturdy stand with a ring-shaped base. Due to the stand’s design, you can’t place the monitor too close to the wall. Sadly, the stand doesn’t offer much in terms of ergonomics, only offering a tilt adjustment with a 22-degree backward tilt. Additionally, there is no basic cable management in the stand, but that’s not as big of a deal as the limited adjustability.

Featuring an almost perfect coverage for the sRGB color space, the MZ27AQ is a good monitor for office work, media consumption, and general use. It has wide viewing angles, good peak brightness, and good reflection handling, all of which make it a suitable monitor in an office setting. It’s great for multitasking with three or four windows open at the same time, with the QHD resolution translating to sharper texts and more detailed images.

On the flip side, the MZ27AQ is not a suitable monitor for hardcore PC gaming, and one of the reasons for that is the limited refresh rate. But for regular gaming, it’s decent enough, especially if you mostly play turn-based RPGs, adventure games, sports games, and strategy games. If you want a monitor that works extremely well for both gaming and productivity, there are better options out there.

While it has a few notable design flaws, the MZ27AQ is a good monitor overall and is a recommended option if you want a minimalist unit with a relatively small footprint. It offers good picture quality, with superb color accuracy and wide viewing angles, and comes with a good sound system.

4. Samsung C27F591

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Editor’s Rating: 3.8/5

The Samsung C27F591 is another good option if your budget is locked at around $300. It’s a 27-inch display with a VA panel and a 1080p resolution, both of which easily separate it from the similarly priced Asus product above. It’s good for general use and casual gaming, offering good picture quality and AMD FreeSync support.

One of two curved displays on this list, the C27F591 has an attractive design, featuring thin bezels at the top and sides, a curve radius of 1800R, and a clean back panel. The screen has an anti-glare coating while the back panel has a glossy finish. Compared to the Asus MZ27AQ, the C27F591 has a much thicker profile when viewed from the side, which is due to the curved design.

Like with most monitors with built-in speakers, the internal speakers blast out from the bottom of the monitor. The 5-watt speakers are good for monitor speakers, especially when the sound profile is set to music mode. They have an acceptable bass and can get very loud, which might surprise some people. They are decent enough for watching movies and listening to music, but for critical listening and serious gaming, they are not that great.

All connection ports are located on the back panel. Outward-facing instead of down-facing, the ports include one DisplayPort, one HDMI port, one VGA port, one audio out, and one audio in. The menu control is also found on the back panel, on the bottom-left corner. It’s in the form of a small joystick, just like with the Asus MZ27AQ. It’s easy to use and is more convenient than the usual set of buttons seen in other monitors.

Unlike with the Samsung C27HG70, this monitor’s stand has very limited ergonomics. You can only tilt the screen forward and backward, with a 20-degree max backward tilt, which, to be fair, is one of the better backward tilt ranges out there. Moreover, there is no VESA mount on the back panel, so you can’t easily mount the screen to a monitor arm.

The C27F591 is a good all-around monitor, but it’s not particularly outstanding in one area. You can use it for general office work, watching movies, and internet surfing, among other things. It’s got good picture quality, with excellent contrast, great coverage for the sRGB color space, and decent peak brightness. On the other hand, the viewing angles are limited, which is not surprising considering the panel tech.

For casual gaming, this Samsung display is also good and is a bit better than the Dell and Asus displays above. The response time is good for a VA panel while the input lag is low, but as with our budget pick, this monitor is not ideal for competitive gaming. If your PC has an AMD graphics card, you can also take advantage of the FreeSync support to reduce screen tearing in games. It’s worth noting that the max refresh rate shoots up to 72 Hz when FreeSync is enabled.

Overall, the C27F591 is a good product if you want a 27-inch curved monitor with good built-in speakers. It has a stylish design and offers multiple input options for versatility, including a legacy port for older computers. It has good picture quality with excellent contrast and is a solid monitor for all-around use.

5. Asus MX34VQ

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Editor’s Rating: 4.2/5

One of the largest in the Asus Designo series, the MX34VQ is a 34-inch ultrawide monitor with a VA panel, a 3440 x 1440 native resolution, and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It’s a good display for both productivity and gaming, with the curved ultrawide design offering a wider field of view and more immersion when gaming. It sells for about $650-700, which makes it the second-most expensive product on this list, right behind our top pick.

The MX34VQ is unique among the monitors in this guide, and not just because it’s a curved ultrawide display. It’s got thin bezels and a curve radius of 1800R, but what makes it stand out is the integrated Qi charging dock in the stand’s transparent, disc-shaped base. While not exactly a fast charger, the 5-watt wireless charger is very convenient and easily connects with compatible devices.

All you need to do is put a compatible device on the Qi charging plate and the rest is automatic, with the charging process starting with no need to press buttons on the monitor. While charging, the base lights up, although you can turn it off if you find it distracting.

On the flip side, the stand itself has poor ergonomics. The MX34VQ actually has the worst ergonomics among the products included in this guide, which is saying a lot considering three of the other products only offer a tilt adjustment. The MX34VQ only offers a tilt option as well, but what makes that even worse is the very limited 15-degree backward tilt.

Compared to the other four monitors listed here, the MX34VQ has the best built-in speakers, boasting a pair of 8-watt speakers that blast out from the bottom. Co-developed by Harman Kardon, the sound system is one of the best out there and is proof that not all monitor speakers are trash. The speakers have good bass and can get very loud. You can change the sound profile in the settings, with the monitor featuring a few preset sound modes, including sound modes for music and gaming.

The input ports are located on the back panel and are down-facing, which makes them harder to see than outward-facing ports. The input ports include three HDMI ports and one DisplayPort. There is also an analog audio port, but there is no USB hub, which is disappointing considering the monitor’s price.

For navigating the on-screen display, this Asus product has a small joystick under the bottom bezel, just like with the LG 32UD99-W. The joystick is more intuitive than the usual clickable buttons seen in many other monitors, though some of you might find it confusing to use at first. The MX34VQ also features a well-designed on-screen display with a good selection of options, including several picture modes and gaming-focused options.

The MX34VQ is a great all-around monitor that works well for productivity, media consumption, and even serious gaming. It has good picture quality, with a very high contrast ratio, great color accuracy once fully calibrated, and good peak brightness. If you want to use this monitor for photo editing and other art-related work, we recommend calibrating it as soon as possible, as the out-of-box colors are not that great.

While not as good as some of the best gaming monitors on the market, the MX34VQ also works well for gaming, featuring a 100 Hz refresh rate, a good response time, a low input lag, and FreeSync support for reduced screen tearing when the frame rate is erratic. It’s great for racing games, first-person shooter games, and action RPGs, with the curved ultrawide screen offering a more immersive gaming experience.

All in all, the MX34VQ is one of the best monitors with built-in speakers. It has good picture quality, with superb contrast and great color accuracy, and boasts a low input lag and adaptive sync tech. It has a convenient wireless charging dock and features good-sounding speakers. If our top pick is not your cup of tea, consider this 34-inch monitor instead if you want a screen larger than 30 inches.