Best budget-friendly monitors on the market
If you’re a productive person or a gamer who wants to stream and/or multitask, then the easiest way to do that is by adding a second monitor to your setup. Right now, we’re using our first monitor to write this article, while having a list of monitors and prices on our second. It’s making this article much easier and faster to write, and we didn’t break the bank to pay for that second display.
And you don’t even have to go looking for a good budget monitor yourself, as we’ve done the looking for you. These are some of the best monitors out there that will work for your needs as well as your budget. And you can check out all of
CNET’s top monitor picks at www.cnet. com/tech/computing/best-monitorunder-200/tag=CAD187281f.
SAMSUNG T35F 27-INCH FHD IPS MONITOR
If you are looking for budget gaming monitors, this budget FHD monitor’s 75Hz refresh gives you a little latitude for gaming and has an IPS panel for better color and viewing angle in the sea of VA competitors; plus, this cheap gaming monitor option is pretty attractive with thin bezels and a stand that’s less clunky-looking than some. You’ll get an HDMI cable in the box, and it has a 100x100 VESA mount. There are some drawbacks, such as some backlight bleed that buyers have noticed, and it has an HDMI 1.4 connection instead of 2.0 (if you care), plus the stand only allows the screen to tilt, not raise or lower.
LG 24-INCH FREESYNC MONITOR (24ML600M-B)
This LG monitor is a solid, attractive general-purpose choice with some gaming perks. Though we’d hardly call it a gaming monitor, it has features for a good gaming experience, such as AMD FreeSync support, the ability to overdrive the response time, a 1ms motion-blur reduction mode and an optional center crosshair. It’s slightly brighter than most, and there’s a picture mode that seems to improve the color accuracy. It’s got a VGA connector in addition to the two HDMIs (though that’s not uncommon in this price range) if you’ve got a really old device to connect.
GIGABYTE G27FC A 27-INCH 1080P 165 HZ CURVED GAMING MONITOR
We aren’t fans of curved 27-inch monitors or VA panels much, but in a sea of 75Hz options, the Gigabyte is a refreshing 165Hz. That makes it a lot more suited to gaming than all of the 75Hz models. It also has a greater-than-sRGB color gamut, low-power stereo speakers and a USB hub, which you rarely find together in this price class. It typically lists for $250, but you might be able to find it on sale.