Best Console Gaming Monitors

1. Best Pick: LG 27UK650-W

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Editor’s Rating: 4.7/5

The LG 27UK650-W is the best monitor for console gaming that you can get today, especially if you want a futureproof setup. 4K resolution will likely be more widely adopted when the next generation of consoles roll out, so investing in a 4K monitor now is a sound decision. If money is not an issue for you, the 27UK650-W is the best option at the moment, especially if you own a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X.

A 27-inch IPS monitor, the 27UK650-W sells for around $450, a very reasonable price for a 4K monitor with HDR support. It has a simple design, featuring thin borders and a curved stand with a small ring for cable management. As with most other LG monitor, it has a joystick control at the bottom for navigating the on-screen menu. The OSD itself is well done, with a good selection of monitor calibration options.

The back panel is very basic and has a clean, all-white finish. All input ports are facing outward, making them easy to access. The 27UK650-W has two HDMI ports, a DisplayPort, and an audio out, with no USB hub, which might disappoint some of you. Moreover, this monitor has no built-in speakers, so you’ll need to use headphones or external speakers for audio.

The 27UK650-W has decent ergonomics. You can adjust the height as well as tilt the screen forward and backward. You can’t swivel the screen, though, which means you need to rotate the entire monitor if you want to do a side-to-side adjustment. The stand itself is stable enough and easily supports the screen, with no alarming wobbling issues.

While not as exceptionally fast as monitors designed for competitive gaming, the 27UK650-W is a fantastic monitor for consoles overall. It has excellent picture quality, boasting wide viewing angles and good color accuracy out of the box. It has a fast response time and great motion handling overall, making it a suitable monitor for fast-paced games. In addition, this monitor has AMD FreeSync support, which means smoother gaming for those who game on Xbox One.

The 27UK650-W has a low input lag, even when running in its native 4K resolution, which makes it a good monitor for fighting games and first-person shooters, although not as much as monitors with TN panels. RPGs, adventure games, and open-world games such as Assassin’s Creed Origins, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will look fantastic on this monitor, especially if the game has 4K support.

On the flip side, the 27UK650-W is not a suitable monitor for gaming in a dark room. It has a subpar native contrast and backlight bleed issues, both of which are common for a monitor with an IPS panel. This monitor is best used in a bright room. It has good reflection handling and enough brightness to perform well in a well-lit setting.

Overall, the 27UK650-W is an excellent 4K monitor for console gaming. It’s got a fast response time for an IPS monitor, low input lag, and great picture quality. And as a bonus, it’s also great for office work and general use. So if you want an all-around monitor for both productivity and console gaming, this LG monitor is for you.

2. Best Budget: BenQ Zowie RL2455S

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Editor’s Rating: 4.2/5

Not all monitors are created equal. Some are built to offer an immersive experience. Others are designed for exceptionally fast and smooth gameplay. The BenQ Zowie RL2455S falls in the latter category. It’s a 24-inch TN monitor built specifically for fast-paced competitive multiplayer games, such as first-person shooters and fighting games. It’s one of the best budget gaming monitors on the market, selling for just around $170.

The RL2455S is more about function than form. It has a rather bland design, with fairly thick borders and a basic stand. While it is rigid enough, the stand has mediocre ergonomics, with no swivel and height adjustment options. You can tilt the screen by a few degrees, but that’s it. If ergonomics is important to you, check out the more expensive RL2460 and RL2455T models.

Unlike with most monitors, the control buttons are on the side of the frame. The buttons are responsive and easy enough to use but don’t set your expectations too high when it comes to the on-screen menu itself. The OSD is not well implemented, with some users finding it limited in terms of calibration options and confusing to navigate.

The monitor’s back panel is straightforward, with none of those flashy cosmetics (read: RGB lighting) often seen in other gaming monitors. All input ports – which include an HDMI and an audio out – are neatly lined up at the rear and are easy to access. BenQ outfitted the RL2455S with built-in speakers, but don’t expect them to sound good. In fact, the speakers sound terrible, so just go with gaming headsets or external speakers.

The RL2455S is an excellent monitor for competitive gaming. It has an exceptionally fast response time and an effectively lag-less performance. We recommend it for fast-paced competitive multiplayer games such as Overwatch, Battlefield 1, and Rocket League. Fans of sports simulations, real-time strategy games, and fighting games will also like this monitor.

On the other hand, those who value picture quality will be disappointed with the RL2455S. It has subpar color reproduction and poor viewing angles, both of which are not surprising considering the monitor uses a TN panel. Additionally, it has a low native contrast ratio, so it’s not the most ideal for games with a lot of dark scenes, such as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Outlast 2, and other survival horror games.

In all, the RL2455S is an excellent budget monitor for gaming – but only when it’s used for the games it was designed for. If you mainly play fast-paced multiplayer games, you’ll love this BenQ gaming monitor. But if you are not much into competitive gaming or don’t really care about fast response times, then consider our other top picks instead.

3. Best Value: Dell P2417H

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Editor’s Rating: 4.3/5

If picture quality is more important to you than ultra-fast response times but you can’t afford to spend over $200 for an IPS monitor for console gaming, go for the Dell P2417H. It’s an affordable monitor that offers good value for the price. You can get it for just around $180, which puts it in the same price range as our budget pick.

Of the best console gaming monitors listed here, the P2417H stands out, but not because it has killer specs. It’s the only product not specifically marketed for gaming use, featuring a professional design similar to most other Dell monitors. It has fairly thin borders all around and comes with a sturdy stand with a small footprint.

The P2417H has the usual physical buttons seen in most monitors, located on the bottom-right corner. Although some might find them too small, the buttons are responsive and give off a nice feedback when pressed. Similar to most other Dell monitors, the P2417H’s on-screen menu is well done and easy to navigate, with a good selection of calibration options.

Compared to our budget pick from BenQ, this low-cost Dell monitor offers much better ergonomics, giving you more screen adjustment options for a more comfortable setup. You can adjust the height as well as tilt and swivel the screen. You can also switch it to portrait mode in case you plan to use it for tasks in which portrait mode is beneficial.

In terms of connectivity, the P2417H is far more generous than our budget pick. It has an HDMI port, a DisplayPort, a VGA port, two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. For quick access, the USB 3.0 ports are located on the frame’s edge, positioned sideward. The P2417H can still function as a USB hub even when it’s on standby, but make sure to enable that feature in the OSD.

Concerning overall gaming performance, the P2417H is solid and should satisfy most people. It has a fast response time and a low input lag, but not on the same level as the other gaming monitors in this guide. It has good picture quality for a low-end IPS monitor, with wide viewing angles and decent reflection handling. Out of the box, it has good color accuracy, so you don’t need to do a lot of color calibration at the onset.

As with other monitors with an IPS panel, this Dell monitor has a low contrast ratio. It can’t produce very deep blacks and is most suitable in a well-lit room, especially considering its backlight bleed issue. If you usually play games in a dark room, you’ll find the Samsung C27HG70 to be a much more suitable option, most especially if you game on Xbox One X.

For competitive gaming, the P2417H is not a recommended monitor. Both the ViewSonic XG2402 and the BenQ Zowie RL2455S are significantly better options for that. For regular gaming, this 24-inch monitor is more than capable. It’s great for mainly single-player games, such as Persona 5, Cuphead, and Life Is Strange.

While not as built for gaming as other monitors in the same price range, the P2417H is overall a good monitor for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. It offers better picture quality than budget TN monitors and has a low input lag. And like the LG 27UK650-W, it also works great for non-gaming use, making it a better all-around monitor than our budget pick.

4. ViewSonic XG2402

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Editor’s Rating: 4.4/5

The ViewSonic XG2402 is another fantastic monitor for fast-paced competitive gaming. It’s one of the best gaming monitors on the market. It’s better than our budget pick in many areas but is more expensive, selling for around $50 more. If you are willing to spend close to $250 for a TN monitor for competitive gaming, go for the XG2402.

A 24-inch monitor, the XG2402 has a more appealing design compared to the budget BenQ monitor above. It looks a lot more like a gaming monitor, featuring a nice lighting system on the back panel. It has a well-built frame with fairly thick borders on all four sides and comes with a rigid stand that easily supports the screen. The XG2402 has good ergonomics, with options to adjust the height and tilt and swivel the screen.

All input ports are at the rear, positioned downward. Connection options include two HDMI ports and a DisplayPort. The XG2402 also comes with a pair USB 3.0 down ports, allowing you to hook up other peripherals. For cable management, there is a small ring on the stand, which is adequate enough to keep the cables organized for the most part.

Like our budget pick, the XG2402 has built-in speakers. But that’s no reason to get excited about as the speakers are not that good, which isn’t surprising since monitor speakers tend to be terrible. As with almost all monitors, using external speakers or headphones makes for a more enjoyable audio experience, especially when playing games with excellent music.

The XG2402 is an outstanding monitor for competitive gaming. It has an extremely fast response time and an excellent input lag, making it an ideal monitor not only for first-person shooter games but also for fighting games as well as racing games. It has fantastic motion handling, with very little blur during action-packed scenes.

For PS4, the XG2402 is a good monitor. For Xbox One, the XG2402 is an even better monitor, thanks to its AMD FreeSync support over HDMI. With FreeSync enabled, the picture quality will stay smooth when the framerate fluctuates during graphics-heavy scenes. If you also plan to use it for PC gaming, the XG2402’s high native refresh rate and good 48-144 Hz FreeSync range should be good news for you.

On the flip side, the XG2402 uses a TN panel, which automatically means you get mediocre viewing angles. And while it’s fairly decent for a TN monitor, the XG2402 gets easily beat by monitors with IPS or VA panels when it comes to overall picture quality. Additionally, it has a low contrast ratio and is not a very good monitor for gaming in a dark room.

If the BenQ Zowie RL2455S is too limited of a TN monitor for you, consider upping your budget and going for this ViewSonic monitor instead. It has a similarly exceptional response time and input lag but offers a better overall picture quality and a USB hub. It has FreeSync support, too, which is the most appealing feature for Xbox One users.

5. Samsung C27HG70

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Editor’s Rating: 4.6/5

The Samsung C27HG70 is an excellent all-around gaming monitor for both PS4 and Xbox One, featuring outstanding motion handling and a very low input lag. You can get it for around $450-500, which puts it in the same price range as our top pick. If the LG 27UK650-W is not to your liking, consider this monitor instead.

Of all the products listed here, the C27HG70 easily stands because of its unique design. It has a 27-inch curved screen with a curve radius of 1800R. It has a VA panel, which is kind of a compromise between IPS and TN, and a native resolution of 2560 x 1440.

The C27HG70 has a large overall footprint, mostly because of its arm-like stand, which has an unconventional adjustment system. When detached from the stand, the monitor itself is fairly thin, though its curvature does make it seem rather thick. The stand is well built and easily supports the curved screen. It has decent ergonomics, with options to tilt and swivel the screen as well as adjust the height.

Like the ViewSonic XG2402, the C27HG70 has a lighting system on the back panel. When turned on, the lighting manifests on the ring around the stand mount. All input ports are well secured at the rear and easy to access. The input ports include a pair of HDMI, a DisplayPort, an audio out, a mic in, and two USB down ports, one of which can be enabled for fast charging.

You’ll also find a joystick-like control on the back panel. You control the on-screen menu with this joystick, which feels more intuitive than the buttons seen in other monitors. The OSD is well organized and has a good selection of monitor calibration options. Overall, the C27HG70 is a well-designed monitor that combines form and function in an effective manner.

When it comes to actual gaming performance, the C27HG70 is outstanding. It has a fast response time and a very low input lag across different resolutions. It has great motion handling overall, making it suitable for action-packed games. In addition, it has a good picture quality, featuring a high native contrast, decent HDR performance, and good glare handling. The C27HG70 also has AMD FreeSync support over HDMI, which makes it a great monitor for those who game on Xbox One.

As with other monitors with VA panels, the C27HG70 has narrow viewing angles. This makes it unsuitable for local multiplayer games unless you and your friends don’t mind the picture quality loss when the screen is viewed from the side. On the plus side, this Samsung monitor is a lot more suitable for gaming in a dark room than all the other products on this list.

Overall, the C27HG70 is one of the best console gaming monitors out there, all things considered. It has good picture quality, a fast response time, low input lag, HDR support, FreeSync support, and multiple connection options. If you can spend more than $400 on a gaming monitor, the C27HG70 is the second-best option on the market, right behind the LG 27UK650-W.