The Apple Studio Display is expensive. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the Silicon Valley giant's products. It's expensive, and some might argue it's worth the premium — and I won't lie, I've always been a little envious of those who own it. Have you seen how good it looks, how great it performs?

But as someone who reviews great tech day in and day out, I've finally found an Apple Studio Display alternative that's expensive but nowhere near as pricey as the first-party monitor. I've spent the last week testing the BenQ MA270S, and boy, I shed a tear when I boxed up our review unit to ship it back.

Unlike most of the other monitors I've tested, the MA270S is a MacBook-first monitor, and it's designed for owners of Apple's powerful laptops. Its design, interface, selection of ports, and companion app are all very Apple-esque. It packs a bright and vivid 5K Nano-texture glass panel that's a joy to look at. As a MacBook user, this is the monitor of my dreams, and here's why it's worth buying if you can't get the Apple Studio Display.

Nano Gloss for the win

I've used and reviewed my fair share of the best monitors, and one of the reasons why the BenQ MA270S is the perfect display for MacBook users is that it features a Nano-texture glass display — or Nano Gloss. It's the same glass you'll find on the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Studio Display XDR. This panel delivers true blacks and refined highlights, and it's one of the reasons why the colors appear Mac-like.

The MA270S' Nano Gloss panel is designed to diffuse the light source softly, making it more comfortable to look at. The surface diffuses the light so it looks like it has a velvety finish. What's great about the MA270S is that its panel features flicker-free technology, and it has received the industry's stamp of approval. Eye Comfort 3.0 certification from TÜV Rheinland and EyeSafe 2.0 mean that the monitor is designed to reduce visual fatigue and protect eye health.

As someone who spends up to eight hours a day, five days a week, staring at a screen, using a monitor that doesn't hurt my eyes or make them feel achy is a necessity for me. Now that I've used a Nano Gloss screen, I don't know how I'm going to go back to my work-sanctioned monitor.

Mac-like, true-to-life colors

Alongside the Nano-texture glass that protects your eyes during prolonged use, the BenQ MA270S boasts Mac-like colors, as the monitor has been fine-tuned for this. This makes it a class apart from all of the other screens I've tested. BenQ says that its Nano Gloss panel goes toe-to-toe with the Apple Studio Display.

According to BenQ, in side-by-side tests, "color tone and saturation were remarkably close," and it "maintained contrast and color that stayed consistent with Mac colors, ensuring accuracy whether working flexibly or sharing the screen." When I plugged my MacBook into the MA270S, I immediately noticed the colors looked just like on my work-sanctioned MacBook Air M2, so I was looking forward to seeing how the monitor performed in my lab tests.

And lo and behold, the MA270S performed formidably. I measured the color coverage and accuracy, and imagine my surprise when the MA270S upstaged the Apple Studio Display and the very expensive Apple Studio Display XDR. Have a look at the table below. As you can see, in my lab tests, the MA270S covered 158.7% of the sRGB color space and 112.4% of the wider DCI P3 gamut, blowing both Apple displays out of the water.

As for color accuracy? Also better than both Apple displays, as the MA270S achieved a Delta-E score of 0.09. This goes to show that the color relayed on the monitor is extremely close to the output from the source. The closer the Delta-E score to zero, the better, and the MA270S's 0.09 score is quite a bit better than the Apple Studio Display's and the Apple Studio Display XDR's (0.2 each).

Throw 10-bit color into the mix, and you've got a beast for productivity and creative work. The colors I saw on the MA270S appeared bright, vivid, and nothing short of stunning, and I felt fully immersed in whatever activity I was doing — whether that was going about my daily task or watching 4K wildlife compilations on YouTube.

I even edited some photos to share on my Instagram account, and knowing that the colors I was seeing on the monitor were as accurate as they could be gave me a lot of confidence in post-production.

Ports for days

For power users and those who have many, many devices they like hooking up to their monitors, the BenQ MA270S sports a wide array of ports. Ready to find out what they are? Let me take a deep breath in. Okay. Here we go:

• A power port (obviously)
• Two HDMI 2.1 ports
• One Thunderbolt 4 port with 96W power delivery
• A second Thunderbolt 4 port with 15W power delivery
• And another Thunderbolt 4 port for daisy-chaining
• Two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 downstream ports with 10Gbps transfer speeds and 7.5W power delivery
• One USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 downstream port also with 10Gbps transfer speeds and 15W power delivery
• And a USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode port with 35W power delivery

Phew! Give me a second to catch my breath. Okay, I'm back now. Having that many ports at your disposal means you don't need to worry about hooking up any additional USB hubs or docks. Cable management is a breeze, too, as BenQ happily includes a cable holder that can be clipped around the monitor's stand.

For MacBook users, I really can't think of a better monitor. Well, there's the Apple Studio Display, yes, but not everyone has $1,600 just lying around. If you're happy to fork over $999 at B&H Photo / £884 at Amazon U.K., the MA270S is a no-brainer. It's stunning to look at and use; it features more ports than you might have use for, and its color coverage and accuracy easily outdo Apple's first-party displays.

What do you think? Would you buy the MA270S? Or is there another MacBook-first monitor you use? Let me know in the comments below! And check out my full BenQ MA270S review for all the details.

More from Tom's Guide

• Forget Apple Studio Display — I just tested the BenQ MA270S and its Nano-texture glass display is ‘one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen’
• BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review: The endgame of productivity monitors
• Best monitors in 2026

I’ve always been envious of people who own the Apple Studio Display, but I’m also aware that it’s very much out of my budget. First-party products aren’t everything, though, and the BenQ MA270S proves that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a Nano-texture glass display. Having spent a week with it, I’m finding it very hard to go back to my old monitor now.

The MA270S sports a gorgeous, bright 5K panel that’s easy on the eyes — no, really, it carries industry-leading certification that make it safe for prolonged use. Boasting outstanding color coverage and accuracy, the MA270S is perfect for creatives and photo editors, especially those who own MacBooks as the monitor features seamless Apple integration. There’s no shortage of ports and cable management is a delight.

Could this be the best monitor for you? It certainly is for me! Read my full BenQ MA270S review to find out more.

BenQ MA270S review: Specs

BenQ MA270S review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 5K monitor with a bright, detailed and colorful Nano Gloss panel
• Who is it for? MacBook users and Apple fans who don’t want to spend thousands on the Apple Studio Display
• How much does it cost? The BenQ MA270S is available for $999 / £884
• What do we like? The 5K panel, wide color coverage, accurate colors, plethora of ports, and Apple-like app for controls
• What don’t we like? The 70Hz refresh rate and high(ish) price… but that’s about it

BenQ MA270S review: The ups

From its beautiful, bright 5K Nano Gloss display and its wide range of ports, to its color coverage and accuracy, the BenQ MA270S doesn’t give you much to complain about.

Built for MacBook users

The BenQ MA270S is advertised as a monitor designed for MacBook users, and as someone who uses a MacBook Air M2 for work and a MacBook Pro M1 at home, I can confirm that this is an Apple-first display, through and through. Just like the Apple Studio Display ($1,599), the MA270S features a Nano-texture glass (or Nano Gloss), so that’s where the similarities start. I’ll talk about the panel shortly but before that, I want to talk about the MA270S’ Apple-first compatibility.

When you buy a monitor that isn’t made specifically for MacBooks or Mac minis — the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 ($749), for instance — you may not get the right colors. The MA270S, however, boasts BenQ’s Mac color-tuning technology, which means that it shows the exact same colors sent by your MacBook (in short: color accuracy is spot on). This is backed up by my lab testing, which I’ll discuss in detail soon.

Adding to the MA270S’ appeal for MacBook users is the synchronized controls — if you have the companion app installed (more on that shortly). If you press the brightness or volume buttons on your MacBook, both your MacBook and the MA270S will be adjusted simultaneously. I love this feature as it means I don’t have to use the monitor’s joystick to adjust the brightness every time. It has simplified my workflow in a small but meaningful way.

Apple-esque app for controls

To take full advantage of the BenQ MA270S and its many features, you’ll need to download the Display Pilot 2 app, available for free on Windows, macOS and Linux. I downloaded and tested it on my personal MacBook Pro M1. It runs in the background and you can access it via an icon in the primary Menu bar — akin to the MacBook’s Control Centre.

Display Pilot 2 essentially lets you control and customize the monitor directly from your connected source, and without having to fiddle with the physical joystick and buttons. You can use the app to quickly change resolution, adjust the monitor’s speakers’ volume, choose a layout, customize blue light settings, auto-match and synchronize color profiles when changing color modes, and even customize the speakers’ five-band equalizer.

I personally love having an app for changing monitor settings. That means I don’t have to physically move — call me lazy all you want, but at least it isn’t breaking my flow!

There's no remote control, though, which was something we loved on the BenQ PD3226G editing monitor — with its round hotkey puck. The physical desk puck let you switch functions without even having to change software window, making it a handy workflow addition.

Stunning 5K Nano Gloss display

I’ve used many monitors, and as a reviews writer, I’ve tested my fair share of displays. The BenQ MA270S is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful monitor I’ve ever seen. As I alluded to earlier, the MA270S features a Nano Gloss or Nano-texture glass, similar to the one you’ll find on the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Studio Display XDR ($3,599). The Nano Gloss panel delivers true blacks and refined highlights, and colors appear lifelike and exactly how they do on your MacBook — and I’ll discuss color coverage and accuracy shortly.

The MA270S’ Nano Gloss panel features flicker-free technology as well as Eye Comfort 3.0 certification mark from TÜV Rheinland and EyeSafe 2.0. These are industry-leading certifications which reaffirm that the monitor is designed to reduce visual fatigue and protect eye health. In theory, that’s fantastic, and in practice, it’s even better. The MA270S is a sheer delight to look at, and even after eight straight hours of use, my eyes haven’t felt tired or achy.

Another thing I love about the MA270S is how bright the monitor gets. Similar to the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S ($1,199), the MA270S features a 27-inch 5K IPS panel with a resolution of 5120 x 2880, and it’s bright, colorful and easily readable under office lights.

My lab testing confirmed the same. As you can see from the table above, the MA270S reached a peak brightness of 387.4 nits in SDR mode, and it’s the brightest of any other third-party monitor I’ve tested so far. It’s dimmer than the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Studio Display XDR, but both monitors are far pricier than the MA270S.

While the MA270S’ HDR brightness is nothing to write home about at just 272 nits (10% window size), at least it has an HDR mode, which the Apple Studio Display doesn’t.

Superb color coverage

As someone who spends a lot of time editing photos and videos, I need a display that boasts great color coverage and accuracy — and the BenQ MA270S does just that. According to BenQ, its Nano Gloss panel “maintained contrast and color that stayed consistent with Mac colors” in side-by-side tests with the Apple Studio Display, so if you want Mac-like colors on a third-party monitor, this is the display to get.

I put the MA270S through its paces to see how it fared against other monitors. In my lab tests, the MA270S covered 158.7% of the sRGB color gamut and 112.4% of the wider DCI P3 color space. Anything over 100% is good, so the MA270S goes above and beyond.

As you can see from the table above, the MA270S outperforms its cousins, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S and the BenQ PD3226G ($1,099). It also upstages the the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Studio Display XDR, neither of which even come close to covering the entirety of the DCI P3 color gamut. The MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 covers even more of the spaces but you don’t get a Nano Gloss panel or as many productivity-focused features, as it’s a gaming monitor.

So, all of that sounds great on paper, but what about in real-world usage? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed testing the MA270S. The greens look vivid and rich, while reds appear deep and blues are intense and pure. None of the colors look oversaturated or fake, whether I was watching a 4K wildlife video on YouTube or playing a neon-bright game like Cyberpunk 2077. There was plenty of detail to enjoy in the shadows, and highlights didn’t appear blown out either.

I used the monitor to edit some photos I’d taken on the Canon EOS R6 Mark III, and I was able to color-grade accurately, as the fine color differences were more visible. The MA270S also features 10-bit color so it’s capable of displaying 1.07 billion individual hues — again, perfect for creatives who, like myself, use the best drones or best cameras.

Outstanding color accuracy

Alongside wide coverage, colors appear accurate on the BenQ MA270S too. We measure color accuracy as a Delta-E number, and this is a numerical representation of how much two colors differ. It gives you an idea of how close the color relayed on screen (i.e. the monitor) is to the color output from the source (i.e. the computer).

You ideally want the Delta-E score to be as close to zero as possible. As you can see from the table above, the MA270S achieved a Delta-E score of 0.09 in my lab tests, which is phenomenal. This means that the colors displayed on the monitor are near-identical to the ones being sent to it by the laptop.

The MA270S displays colors even more accurately than its closest competitors. Once again, it performs better than the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Studio Display XDR, as well as the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S and the BenQ PD3226G. That isn’t to say that any of the monitors are bad — but when it comes down to on-paper specs, the MA270S just that little bit better.

My lab tests reassured me that the colors I was seeing on screen were as accurate as they could be, and this gave me more confidence when editing photos for my photography Instagram account.

A plethora of ports

BenQ rarely skimps on ports, and its MA270S isn’t any different. It hosts plenty and plenty of ports, all present to streamline your workflow and keep your devices powered — just like on the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S. A selection of ports is located around the back and another at the bottom of the panel. These include a power port (duh) and two HDMI 2.1 ports for hooking up your MacBook, console or other laptop.

Now, allow me to word-vomit for a second. You get three Thunderbolt 4 ports: one with 96W of power delivery, another with 15W of power delivery, and a third for daisy-chaining. Then there’s a bunch of USB ports. You’ve got two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 downstream ports with 10Gbps transfer speeds as well as 7.5W of power delivery. There’s a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 downstream port too, with 15W power delivery and, again, 10Gbps transfer speeds.

And last but not least, there’s a USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode port with 35W power delivery. I know you’re probably wondering, “What’s DisplayPort Alt Mode?” Essentially, it means the monitor's USB-C port can receive video signals using the DisplayPort protocol. This gives you extra connectivity options; can help you cut down on cables; and is also super handy if you're routing graphics through a docking station via USB-C, as you can still access the high resolutions and supported refresh rates of DisplayPort.

BenQ includes a handy cable holder which you can clip around the monitor stand. You can then bunch up your cables and run them through the holder to create a nice and tidy setup. It’s great and I wish all monitors came with one.

BenQ MA270S review: The downs

There isn’t a lot to dislike about the BenQ MA270S but it’s important to note that its refresh rate is limited to 70Hz, and it’s a little expensive (but still cheaper than the Apple Studio Display).

70Hz refresh rate only

The BenQ MA270S competes directly with the Apple Studio Display, and it serves as a cheaper alternative to Apple’s first-party monitor. In the same vein, the MA270S doesn’t have a very high refresh rate either, topping out at just 70Hz — that’s only 10Hz more than the Apple Studio Display’s 60Hz refresh rate. Because of this, I wouldn’t really recommend the MA270S for competitive or FPS gamers.

If you spend a lot of your time playing games, it might be worth checking out one of the best gaming monitors instead. There are plenty of options available around the $1,000 mark, like the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 ($749) and the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED ($1,099). Of course, you’ll miss out on that lovely Nano-texture glass with either of those options, though.

Expensive… but cheaper than a Studio Display!

BenQ monitors don’t come cheap — it’s the price you pay for the premium build and features after all. The MA270S isn’t the cheapest monitor around, retailing for $999 at B&H Photo / £884 at Amazon U.K. This makes it pricier than some other monitors I’ve tested, like the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 ($749) and the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 ($949), and it’s only slightly cheaper than the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S ($1,199).

But none of those monitors have seamless Apple compatibility akin to a first-party monitor. And even though the MA270S sounds expensive as a standalone product, it really isn’t when you compare it to Apple’s monitors. It’s a lot cheaper than the Nano-texture glass variant of the Apple Studio Display XDR which costs a whopping $3,599. It’s also cheaper than the entry-level Apple Studio Display which retails for $1,599.

Given that, I’d say the MA270S’ premium price tag is less of a drawback and more of a pre-purchase consideration. You’re getting great MacBook compatibility and a stunning Nano Gloss display, as well as a wide array of ports, all for at least $600 less than the Apple Studio Display.

BenQ MA270S review: Verdict

You don’t need to spend thousands to get a Nano-texture glass monitor like the Apple Studio Display, and the BenQ MA270S proves that. Designed with MacBook users in mind, the MA270S combines a stunning Nano Gloss 5K panel, excellent color accuracy and coverage, and comes with a plethora of ports for efficient cable management.

The MA270S’ 5K display is the star of the show, delivering outstanding sharpness and vibrant yet accurate colors. It’s comfortable to use all day long, thanks to industry-recognized eyecare certifications, making it great for creatives and power users. Add in seamless Mac integration and a user-friendly companion app, and you forget that the monitor’s refresh rate is limited to just 70Hz.

If you’re a MacBook user looking for a cheap alternative to the Apple Studio Display, the MA270S should be your port of call. After using it, I’m dreading going back to using my old monitor.

The best gaming monitors can elevate your experience and make your favorite games feel extremely immersive — and the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 does just that. This is one of the finest monitors you can buy today, as it boasts a blistering 500Hz refresh rate and a 0.03ms response time. With wide color coverage and accurate shades to boot, the X50 gives you nearly everything you could ask for.

Almost, because the monitor isn’t perfect. It isn’t the brightest monitor around, and it doesn’t feature enough ports for complex setups. It’s on the expensive side of things, too. On the plus side, though, the monitor sports a minimalist design and it’s a jack of all trades.

To find out if this is the perfect monitor for you, and whether those compromises are worth making, read my full MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 review.

MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 review: Specs

MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 27-inch QD-OLED monitor with a 0.03ms response time and 500Hz refresh rate
• Who is it for? Competitive as well as casual gamers who want best-in-class performance
• How much does it cost? It’s not cheap. The MSI X50 retails for $749 / £599
• What do we like? The exceptional gaming performance, great color coverage and accuracy, and sleek and minimalist design
• What don’t we like? The low brightness, lack of ports, and premium price tag

MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 review: The ups

From its minimalist design to its 500Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time as well as color coverage and accuracy, the MSI X50 is a superb monitor.

Minimalist, sleek design

The MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 is a sleek and minimalist monitor that can fit right into most setups — whether that’s work-first or a gaming den. It comes in all-black with minimal branding and no loud RGB. The 27-inch panel is perfect for those short on space and to me, it feels like the sweet spot, or Goldilocks, of monitor sizes. Not too big, not too small.

The X50’s panel is held together by a body that measures 24 x 20.9 x 9.5 inches, including the stand. Weighing 17.6lbs, the monitor isn’t too heavy so it can be easily moved around if you’re cleaning or rearranging your setup. The stand itself feels fairly compact, sporting a mostly flat, shield-shaped base, and it doesn’t take up too much space. Its height can be adjusted up to 4.33 inches, and the monitor can swivel horizontally, tilt vertically, and even rotate into a 90° vertical position.

Incredible gaming performance

If you need a mid-range monitor that doesn’t skimp on gaming performance, the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 is the one for you. As you do on many other gaming monitors, the X50 features several picture modes, such as Premium Color, FPS, RTS, RPG, and others. But that’s not even the best part.

The X50 boasts a whopping 500Hz refresh rate for PC gaming and a 0.03ms response time, making it excellent for slow- and fast-paced titles alike. You can plug in a console too, and the X50 supports HDMI VRR and a resolution of up to 1440p at 60Hz or 120Hz — if you’re using a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, that is.

I tested the monitor for PC gaming, and regardless of the title I played, the X50 didn’t let me down. I didn’t experience any choppiness while playing fast-paced games like Forza Horizon 5, as well as first-person titles like Counter-Strike 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 where I was comfortably running 480-500fps. No motion blur and no noticeable ghosting made for an extremely enjoyable gaming experience — and that’s thanks to the 0.03ms response time which is on-par with pricier monitors, like the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 ($949) and the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED ($1,099).

The X50’s QD-OLED panel is nothing short of stunning, too. The screen boasts outstanding color reproduction, so neon-bright lights in Cyberpunk 2077 were well-balanced against the dark, inky shadows, and the game looked incredible. Meanwhile, in Forza Horizon 5, desert scenes appeared warm with the beige tones not appearing too yellow or oversaturated. There was plenty of detail to enjoy in close-up shots of the drivers’ faces in F1 25 too, as I could see the face wrinkles and fine lines in detail.

My lab testing further confirmed the X50’s color coverage across the two most common color gamuts: sRGB and DCI P3. As you can see from the table above, the X50 covered 192.9% of the sRGB space — though you don’t need more than 100%, this goes to show that the X50 boasts great tonal range. DCI P3, a wider color gamut used primarily for cinematic video editing, is easily covered by the X50 too at 136.7% coverage.

The extensive color coverage makes the X50 fantastic for gamers who also partake in creative work, such as photo and video editing. The monitor upstages the Alienware AW2725D ($499), the MSI MPG 272URX, and the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36, to name a few. The only monitor that outdoes the X50 is the HyperX Omen OLED 27q ($499), but by a very narrow margin.

Great color accuracy

In addition to superb color coverage, the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 features great color accuracy, as proven by my lab testing and real-world use. Color accuracy is measured as a Delta-E score, which is a numerical representation of how much two colors differ — and how close the color relayed on screen (the monitor) is to the output from the source (a computer or console). The closer the score to zero, the more accurate the colors.

The X50 achieved a Delta-E score of 0.11 in my lab tests, which is exemplary, especially compared to its competitors. In the table above, the X50 performed better than the five other monitors I pitted it against. I can also confirm that the colors I saw on the monitor appeared extremely accurate to me.

As I mentioned earlier, the X50 is a competent monitor for photo and video editing too, and the great color accuracy further bolsters that aspect. Color modes like sRGB and Display P3 are available for color grading and correction in post-production, and the X50 even features an Adobe RGB mode.

Adobe RGB is a color space that covers a wider range of colors used by CMYK printers, and is essential for photographers who print. Editing in this mode ensures color accuracy for creating prints. What’s surprising is that the X50, a gaming-first monitor, features an Adobe RGB mode when creativity-oriented monitors, like the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S ($1,199), don’t. The X50 isn’t just a one-trick pony.

MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 review: The downs

The MSI X50 is fantastic but it isn’t without its shortcomings. It isn’t the brightest and it doesn’t feature a ton of ports. Oh, and it’s a little expensive too.

Not the brightest

If you’re looking for the perfect brightness stats and specs on paper, the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 might not be for you. While the monitor looks fairly bright in real-world usage, my lab testing showed that it doesn’t get very bright. This isn’t the X50’s fault; OLED and QD-OLED monitors just aren’t very bright, especially compared to IPS panels.

Have a look at the table above. I measured the X50’s brightness in both SDR and HDR (10%, 40% and 100% window sizes). It achieved a peak SDR brightness of 289.6 nits, and though that doesn’t sound especially bright, the X50 outclasses its competition.

HDR is another story, and it doesn’t have a happy ending for the X50. Measured in a 10% window, the monitor reached only 284 nits. The only other monitor it upstages here is the HP Omen Transcend 32 and its 241 nits. Every other monitor, however, blows the X50 out of the water.

Don’t let the X50’s poor on-paper results put you off. In real-world situations, it’s plenty bright. Having used it extensively, I haven’t had any issues seeing or reading the monitor, even when it’s been sunny and a lot of sunlight has made its way into the room. Low brightness, on paper at least, is just a limitation of OLED panels, sadly.

Could use more ports

One of my biggest gripes with the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 is the lack of ports. Located around the back, you’ll find two HDMI 2.1 and a DisplayPort 1.4 ports. There’s also a USB-C port with 15W of power delivery, and it enables you to charge your handheld console or laptop while keeping it connected to the monitor — thereby negating the need for a separate charger. You got a 3.5mm audio out port too to plug in your headset.

These sound fine, but I’m surprised that there isn’t a USB hub as found on many other monitors, like the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 or the HP Omen Transcend 32. The existing array proves limiting if you need to hook up more devices for complex workflows. I suppose MSI had to reserve something for its pricier X36, eh? And hey, at least you get a 3.5mm audio out jack — something that’s missing from the Alienware AW2725D.

A little expensive

There’s no denying that the MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 is an excellent monitor in almost every regard — and it carries a premium price tag, too. The X50 retails for $749 / £599 at Amazon, though you can sometimes find it for up to 20% off during sales events. For instance, at the time of writing, it’s down to $649 / £498, so it’s worth keeping an eye out during Black Friday and the like.

This retail price makes the X50 pricier than a lot of its competition, like the Alienware AW2725D ($499) and the HyperX Omen OLED 27q ($499). It’s a lot cheaper than the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED ($1,099), though, and features a much higher refresh rate. If you find yourself with another $200 to spare, you could even get the ultra-wide curved MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 ($949).

Of course, this isn’t to say that the X50 is unjustly overpriced. It packs plenty of performance and best-in-class features that make it worth the premium. Think of this as less of a drawback and more of a pre-purchase consideration.

MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 review: Verdict

The MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 doesn’t skimp on features or performance. For gamers, it packs a blistering 500Hz refresh rate and a 0.03ms response time, which combine to produce incredibly smooth, responsive gameplay with virtually no motion blur or ghosting. The 27-inch QD-OLED panel delivers stunning image quality with best-in-class color coverage and accuracy.

The X50 doubles as a capable creative-work display too, thanks to its dedicated color modes. Additionally, sporting a minimalist, low-key design, the monitor fits right into most existing setups. But the monitor isn’t perfect. HDR brightness is underwhelming compared to its rivals, and the limited port selection may frustrate users with more complex workflows. It also costs noticeably more than several strong alternatives from HP and Alienware.

At the end of the day, though, if it’s sheer speed and beautiful visuals you’re after, the X50 is still a more-than-capable monitor. For the 500Hz refresh rate alone, the X50 almost justifies its premium asking price.

As expected, there are plenty of monitors here at Computex 2026. Asus unveiled a bunch of new displays, including its first monitor with a Tandem OLED panel. Alienware also showcased new products, such as the Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED monitor, which brings some serious upgrades to one of the best gaming monitor lineups around.

That said, I've always believed there's still room for innovation in this space, and not everyone is looking for the highest refresh rates or the fastest response times. Here at Computex 2026, I came across a new monitor from a relatively young brand that does something completely different — it comes with Google TV built directly into the monitor.

This monitor is basically a smart TV

Traditionally, monitors and external displays have relied on an external input source to display anything on screen. They're essentially "dumb" displays that require a Windows PC, Mac, console, or streaming device to do anything useful. But that's not what Amzfast's new monitor is trying to do.

The company has introduced a new 27-inch 4K monitor at Computex 2026 that runs Google TV out of the box. This means that alongside working with gaming PCs and Mac devices, the monitor independently runs Google TV — which is essentially Android TV with Google's modern interface — giving it access to Android apps and the Google Play Store.

That means you can run apps like YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, and more without connecting any external hardware to this monitor. In fact, the bundled remote even includes a Live TV button that provides access to Freeplay, Google's free streaming TV channels.

In terms of the display itself, you're looking at a Fast IPS panel with 4K resolution and support for up to a 160Hz refresh rate. It includes a USB-C port with 65W Power Delivery, two HDMI 2.1 ports, and a DisplayPort for connectivity.

There are also plenty of software settings you can tweak, including the ability to boot directly into a connected device when powering on. The monitor also supports multiview, allowing you to display two sources simultaneously. In theory, that means you could have your desktop workspace on one side while streaming content through the built-in Google TV interface on the other.

The company hasn't disclosed the internal specifications yet, including what chipset is powering Google TV behind the scenes. However, during my roughly 15-minute hands-on session on the show floor, the experience felt surprisingly fluid. Apps opened quickly, navigation felt responsive, and because it runs Google TV, you'll also be able to cast directly from supported apps on your phone.

Amzfast hasn't announced pricing or availability just yet. However, given that competitors, including Asus, sell similar smart monitors for around $350, I'd expect the company to undercut that price in some way.

Representatives told me they're "trying" to bring the monitor to the U.S. market as soon as possible, although they denied to share any launch timeline. It would've been great to see this arrive before the FIFA World Cup, though.

There's another monitor from this brand worth keeping an eye on

The Google TV monitor wasn't the only display Amzfast had on show. It also showcased several new monitors, including its first move into the OLED market. Historically, the brand has relied on IPS panels to keep prices low, but that's changing with their new AMZG27P1QL.

The monitor features a 27-inch 2K OLED panel with support for up to a 280Hz refresh rate. Amzfast claims response times as low as 0.03ms, alongside HDR support, which could make this a compelling option for gamers. There's also a built-in blue light filter designed to reduce eye strain during longer gaming sessions.

Of course, being a more budget-conscious brand, it isn't packing cutting-edge technologies like Tandem OLED panels or GaN-based power supplies. That said, if you're looking for an OLED gaming monitor that focuses on the fundamentals and keeps the price within reach, this could be worth considering.

Similar to the Google TV monitor, though, Amzfast hasn't shared pricing for the OLED model just yet, but it does say it plans to launch the monitor in the U.S. later this year for under $500.

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Asus went all-in on OLED monitors at Computex 2026, and we got our first hands-on look at some of them.

Over the past few years, the company has tried to make OLED the default choice, whether you're a competitive esports player or someone building a work-and-gaming setup. Asus wanted to cast the widest net possible, and mostly to great effect.

I spent a good chunk of my time checking out Asus' gaming monitors at Computex 2026, but I found only one worth spending my time with. Read on to find out what it was!

The 32-inch ROG Swift OLED is everything you'd want from a flagship monitor

I've seen a lot of OLED gaming monitors over the past couple of years, and at this point, it's honestly difficult to get excited about yet another 32-inch 4K OLED display. But Asus' ROG Swift OLED PG32UCWM (yes, the name is a mouthful) brings a few genuinely interesting upgrades.

As expected, you're looking at a 32-inch 4K OLED panel. The monitor uses Tandem RGB Stripe OLED technology. The Tandem OLED part means there's a dual-layer OLED stack designed to improve brightness, while the RGB Stripe pixel structure means the underlying panel ditches the traditional white sub-pixel entirely and relies solely on red, green, and blue sub-pixels.

The result, Asus says, is noticeably sharper text, which has long been one of the biggest complaints about such monitors, along with better color reproduction compared to previous OLED generations. Asus even had a digital microscope connected to the display to show the sub-pixel layout.

The monitor runs natively at 4K and 240Hz, but it can also switch into a Full HD mode capable of reaching 480Hz. As you'd expect, it also supports Dolby Vision, while Asus claims a response time of just 0.03ms. Connectivity is equally impressive, with DisplayPort 2.1 offering full 80 Gbps bandwidth, alongside HDMI 2.1 and USB-C with 90W PD.

One of the more interesting details wasn't the display itself but the internals powering it. The rear of the monitor still carries the usual ROG industrial design language, but Asus has also integrated GaN-based power delivery technology into the monitor's power system.

According to the company, using GaN improves power efficiency and reduces heat generation, which is increasingly important when driving a tandem OLED panel at such high resolutions and refresh rates.

Asus also confirmed that a 27-inch version is coming later this year. Unfortunately, the company still isn't talking about pricing just yet.

This 540Hz OLED monitor is where things get interesting

Another arguably more interesting monitor from a technology perspective was the ROG Strix OLED XG259QWPG Ace. Asus is calling it the world's first OLED esports monitor, and honestly, there is a pretty good reason for that claim.

Until now, most 500Hz+ monitors have relied on LCD technology (TN or IPS panels). Asus is taking a different approach by using a Tandem WOLED panel in the ROG Strix OLED XG259QWPG Ace. As you'd expect, the move to Tandem OLED brings a number of benefits, including up to 15% higher peak brightness, 25% larger color volume, and up to 60% longer OLED lifespan compared to previous-generation WOLED panels.

The monitor itself features a 24.5-inch display and can reach an eye-watering 540Hz refresh rate with a 0.02ms response time. It's pretty clear that this monitor is aimed at professional esports players and competitive gamers. Asus is also using its GaN tech here to help improve efficiency and keep temperatures under control.

The company has even added measurement markings directly onto the stand and base, allowing players to consistently position the monitor exactly how they like it, something professional esports players will probably appreciate more than anyone else.

I also got to see the ROG Strix OLED XG259QWPG Ace side by side with a traditional high-refresh-rate gaming monitor that wasn't OLED, and the difference was immediately noticeable. The OLED panel delivered noticeably better color reproduction, especially when viewed from off angles.

Outlook

Computex is always packed with monitors, gaming gear, and other ridiculous hardware. And with the event now officially underway, there's still plenty more weird and wonderful tech to check out.

I'll be spending the next few days getting hands-on with even more peripherals and displays to find the coolest gadgets at Computex 2026, so stay tuned!

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For the last few years, a 240Hz refresh rate has been the standard for the best gaming monitors that promise buttery smooth performance. However, with Computex 2026 kicking off in Taipei this week, monitor manufacturers are cranking the Hz to the limit.

Our friends at Tom's Hardware reported that Acer is boosting its Predator gaming monitor up to 1,000Hz. And Samsung is expected to reveal 32-inch QD-OLED that offers 360Hz at 4K and 680Hz at 1080p, per PCWorld.

But unless you're a professional FPS gamer, you may not need those super speeds. Recently, my colleague Tony Polanco got a chance to check out LG's "world's first" 1,000Hz gaming monitor.

"All the slides moved very smoothly at 240Hz and up. I’m sure a eagle-eyed esports player could tell the difference between 1,000Hz and 720Hz, but I sure couldn’t," Tony wrote of the experience.

Tony also recently went eyes-on with Samsung's new 6K gaming monitor saying it "can offer a truly rich viewing experience."

One nice thing about these new super monitors is that it makes slightly older, but still quality monitors a bit cheaper. I've picked out four that you can pick up right now for under $1,000 and under $500 that still over 240Hz refresh rates and optimal performance.

240Hz OLED gaming under $500

If you're looking to save some money, then the HP HyperX OMEN QD-OLED and Alienware's new AW2726DM are both newer monitors released this year the won't break the bank. Neither monitor will blow you away with design or the best specs but they perform mighty well at their price point and tick all the right boxes.

Just under $1,000

These next two monitors are both bigger than the sub-$500 ones we looked at but also more expensive. However, Samsung's 6k monitor is expected to launch around $1,600 and the LG 1,000Hz beast is expected to be well north of $1,000 when it releases.

At launch both the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED and LG UltraGear 45GX90SA had equally sky-high prices. However, they're both about a year old now and between sales and a natural price drop have reached friendlier waters.

The Lenovo has seen the biggest drop as it launched closer to $1,200 but is now only $879 on Amazon.

"The Legion Pro 34WD-10 is an excellent performer. The exquisite QHD OLED panel has enhanced every aspect of my gameplay, from immersion to performance. And having the space of the ultra-wide aspect ratio has been incredibly useful for operating multiple windows when working," my colleague Peter Wolinski said in his hands-on testing.

Meanwhile, the LG UltraGear is so good that we described as both a good gaming monitor and an impressively feature OLED TV. this set can pull some true double duty if you need. Problem is it launched with a massive $1,700 price tag. Fortunately, it's nearly halff off now.

If you're in the market for a new gaming monitor don't wait for spec monsters that you don't actually need. Try out any of these suggested monitors and your eyes will be in for a treat and a super smooth performance.

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The Alienware 34 QD-OLED gaming monitor series has been my favorite ever since the first model launched in 2022. Now, it’s set to receive a new model later this year. While the Alienware AW3426DW isn’t a radical change from the past, it delivers meaningful upgrades for an even richer gaming experience.

Some enhancements include a higher refresh rate of 280Hz, up from the previous 240Hz. The display’s new 5-stack Penta Tandem tech helps deliver darker blacks in bright environments, higher peak brightness, and sharper text with no fringing. As before, the 34-inch curved display does an excellent job of immersing you in games.

The Alienware 34 AW3426DW has debuted at Computex, but I’m currently testing it at the office. My full review will come in due course, but for now, I want to outline the basics of what has a good shot at making our best gaming monitors list. Here’s what I think of the AW3426DW.

Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED hands-on: Specs

Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED hands-on: Display

Like previous models, the AW3426DW has an immersive 1800R curvature and a sharp 3,440 x 1,440 resolution. Yes, it’s not a 4K OLED panel, but everything looks bright and vibrant. And thanks to the cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio. If you’ll pardon the pun, it’s a sight to behold.

I tested Cyberpunk 2077 on the AW3426DW and was impressed by the rich picture quality. The greater contrast between dark and light elements is noticeable and makes colors feel more vibrant. That said, the standard picture mode isn’t as oversaturated as on other gaming monitors, which helps everything feel more realistic.

Naturally, I’ll need to test more games, and we need to run our display benchmarks to see what the AW3426DW can really do, but for now, I can say it delivers a superlative gaming experience.

Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED hands-on: Design

The Alienware AW3426DW has the same design as before, which I certainly won’t complain about because it’s both lovely and practical.

With its panel measuring 32.05 x 14.23 x 4.38 inches, you’ll need a decent-sized table for this beauty, but nothing overly large. The flat stand is pretty unintrusive, so it’s unlikely to get in the way of peripherals like your keyboard and mouse. The cutaway on the stand’s shaft makes cable management easy, and you can raise or lower the monitor to your desired height.

Again, I’m glad Alienware didn’t change the AW3426DW’s design, since it’s about as perfect as you can get. It might not immediately scream “gaming monitor,” but it keeps the focus on the display and, thus, on whatever game you’re currently playing.

Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED hands-on: Performance

Performance gets a nice boost thanks to the higher 280Hz refresh rate and lower 0.03ms response time. And as before, compatibility with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync also helps deliver a smooth gaming experience.

To test the AW3426DW, I connected it to the new Alienware 16 Area-51 gaming laptop, which packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, and 32GB RAM. You won’t need such a beastly rig for this monitor, but it certainly helps.

Thanks to the high refresh rate and low latency, I had a smooth time playing Cyberpunk 2077. I couldn’t get the frame rate anywhere near the refresh rate, but having all that extra headroom effectively eliminated any choppiness. I also didn’t notice any input lag.

Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED hands-on: Outlook

I’ll need more hands-on time with the Alienware AW3426DW, but for now, I can say it brings meaningful updates to an already fantastic gaming monitor.

Even if it gets outclassed by the new Alienware 39 5K OLED, it should still be an excellent option for those who want a smaller monitor with excellent features. Stay tuned for my full review!

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I recently reviewed the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B, which can hit a 720Hz refresh rate. I thought we couldn’t get higher than that, but LG decided that wasn’t enough and has now unveiled what it claims is the world’s first native 1,000Hz Full HD gaming monitor. No, that’s not a typo, my friends.

During a recent LG event, I got to see the new LG UltraGear 25G590B first-hand. While I wasn’t able to test any games on the prototype model, I did see a test pattern that demonstrated how much smoother things can run at 1,000Hz compared to lower refresh rates. I also learned about some of the AI features meant to provide a more immersive experience.

While I’m not the competitive gamer this monitor is designed for, I’m still impressed that it can hit such a lofty refresh rate. Here are my eyes-on impressions of the LG 25G590B.

LG UltraGear 25G590B hands-on: Display & performance

Most of LG’s recent UltraGear lineup comprises dual-mode monitors, but the 25G590B is 1,000Hz by default. The company told me that this lets players play (and compete) under consistent visual conditions. I take that to mean you won’t have to worry about the monitor's refresh rate when you're using it.

The test pattern I saw showed several slides running at different refresh rates. Naturally, 30Hz to 120Hz looked the choppiest compared to the higher refresh rates. However, all the slides moved very smoothly at 240Hz and up. I’m sure a eagle-eyed esports player could tell the difference between 1,000Hz and 720Hz, but I sure couldn’t. Regardless, I could still see that the 25G590B does indeed offer buttery smooth movement.

This monitor is best suited for first-person shooters like Counter-Strike and Call of Duty, where you need ultra-fast response times to survive. Despite the 1080p resolution, everything from in-game menus to interfaces comes through clearly, even if you’re moving fast in a game. That’s thanks to a new Motion Blur Reduction Pro technology (as LG calls it) that ensures fast-moving objects are sharp and easy to track.

LG says the 25G590B’s IPS panel has a low-reflection film meant to offer consistent color reproduction while reducing glare. There was a light directly above the monitor I was viewing, and I can confirm it didn’t significantly degrade the image quality. This is all meant to increase visibility across various in-game environments.

LG UltraGear 25G590B hands-on: Design

The 25G590B has a 24.5-inch FHD panel. As I was told, this is the size professional gamers prefer because it lets them see everything on the screen without moving their heads.

Design-wise, LG has kept things simple and efficient. For instance, the stand’s base has a small footprint, so you have more room to move your mouse. There are even calibration indicators on the stand to let you adjust the height, swivel, and tilt settings. This way, you can achieve an optimal viewing angle.

The main embellishment is on the back, with a nifty UltraGear Logo that creates ambient illumination. I wasn’t able to test this at the event, but if this is like other UltraGear monitors I’ve reviewed, you’ll be able to customize the RGB lighting to your liking.

LG UltraGear 25G590B hands-on: AI features

The LG 25G590B boasts AI features, such as AI Scene Optimization, which adjusts picture quality to suit different game genres. We didn’t get to see this feature in action, but one of the slides showed how AI is used to improve image quality and clarity. Given how this is a 1080p display, this seems like a smart feature.

Then there’s AI Sound, which will apparently create spatial audio and deliver clearer in-game communications when used with compatible headsets. Sound is almost as important as visuals in fast-paced first-person shooting games, so it’s good to know LG has taken that into account for a competitive-focused gaming monitor.

LG UltraGear 25G590B hands-on: Outlook

I’ll need to test the LG UltraGear 25G590B myself to see if the insane 1,000Hz is more than just tech flexing. Now that LG has taken the refresh rate wars to literal new heights, it’ll be interesting to see if competitors follow suit.

The LG UltraGear 25G590B should launch in the second half of 2026 in select markets. Let us know in the comments if you would want a 1,000Hz monitor or if you think it's overkill.

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The Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) is the world’s first 6K gaming monitor, according to Samsung. While this 32-inch monitor focuses on high pixel counts, it also has two refresh rates that favor cinematic or competitive gaming.

I recently went hands-on with the G80HS at a Samsung event, and was stunned by the sharp picture quality it delivered in both its 6K 165Hz and 3K 330Hz display modes. Not only that, but the vibrant colors and smooth performance made me demo the monitor longer than I typically would. It’s a thing of beauty.

Though it doesn’t have an OLED panel, its ultra-sharp resolution and immersive 32-inch canvas make for a fun gaming experience. Here’s what I think of the Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS).

Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) hands-on: Display

Naturally, the 6K resolution is the main draw here. And I have to say, it’s not just number-flexing.

When I played Cyberpunk 2077 on the Odyssey G8, I purposely focused on buildings in the distance. Despite being so far away, I could make out the individual windows and even the dirt around the building’s facade. Of course, objects in the foreground, like the car and the grimy streets I rode across, also came to life in stunning detail.

3K resolution is just slightly less detailed than 6K, but no less stunning. I’m used to 1440p monitors, so the step up from that is noticeable, even if it's not as sharp as 4K. I could tell the immediate difference when I switched between 3K and 6K modes. However, you’re not getting a diminished viewing experience with either mode.

We’d need to get the Odyssey G8 in for testing, but to my eyes, everything looked bright and colorful on the 32-inch display. I don’t know which display mode it was set to, but the colors didn’t appear overly saturated. Despite this not being an OLED panel, you still get excellent overall picture quality.

Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) hands-on: Performance

Dual-mode gaming monitors are all the rage these days, and the Odyssey G8 follows suit with its two refresh rates.

6K resolution gives you 165Hz, while 3K mode bumps that to 330Hz. 6K 165Hz mode is ostensibly for “cinematic” games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Ghost of Tsushima, where you’d want the very best picture quality. Conversely, competitive gamers who need faster performance can flip over to 3K 330Hz. In this way, the G80HS is basically two gaming monitors in one.

Since I’m not a competitive gamer, I couldn’t notice a huge difference between the modes in terms of performance. However, I’m sure hawk-eyed Esports players will notice the difference right away. Regardless, both modes feel incredibly smooth and responsive.

Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) hands-on: Design

The G80HS has the familiar design of the Odyssey series, with its sharp angles and relatively dark color way. Besides the display, the only other light source is the RGB ring around the monitor stand, which creates a nice glow when the monitor is close to a wall.

Other features include a flat stand that doesn’t get in the way of your peripherals, and easy access to the ports on the back. I was also able to raise, lower, and tilt the monitor to my liking.

Overall, this is a nice and practical design that keeps the focus on the game you’re playing.

Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) hands-on: Outlook

Right now, the Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) isn't yet available to purchase. However, it should cost around $1,600 on Samsung's online store. That's not cheap, but for what it offers, it could be worth it for you.

I’ve tested a lot of the best gaming monitors over the years, so it’s nice to have the Samsung Odyssey G8 G80HS flip the script by featuring a 6K resolution. That might sound ludicrous (and perhaps it is), but there’s no denying that it can offer a truly rich viewing experience.

I can’t yet say whether this should be the new standard, but it’s certainly impressive. I should have a full review of the Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80HS) soon, so stay tuned for more!

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At $499, the HyperX Omen OLED 27q is arguably a lot to spend on a 1440p 240Hz gaming monitor. That’s especially true when you compare it to the wide selection of 1440p monitors on Amazon, most of which sit under $200. Some of those sub-$200 monitors even have higher refresh rates than the HyperX Omen. However, compared to pricier competitors offering similar specs, it's a great deal.

Considering that four of the five displays on our best gaming monitors list have OLED panels, there’s a reason critics keep turning back to the technology, even as more competitive miniLED panels are hitting the market.

OLED has benefits that standard IPS displays have yet to match. From vivid colors to eerily dark blacks, the richness on display is hard to match. OLED does suffer from lower peak brightness, but given that most people sit inches from their monitors, it should still be bright enough for most.

If budget is a concern, then it ultimately comes down to the type of work you’ll need the monitor for outside of gaming. For creatives who need the color accuracy of OLED, the 27q is an easy choice. For everyone else, there might be more to consider. Still, if you've eyed a more expensive monitor at $1,000+, this one is a steal.

Here's my full HyperX Omen OLED 27q review.

HyperX Omen OLED 27q review: Specs

HyperX Omen OLED 27q review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A flat 27-inch 2560 x 1440 QD-OLED monitor with a 0.03ms response time and 240Hz refresh rate.
• Who is it for? Creatives and enthusiast gamers who want the richest colors and top gaming performance.
• How much does it cost? It’s marketed at $499, but at time of writing, it's $399 on HP's website.
• What do we like? It’s hard to match OLED's vividness, and the 240Hz refresh rate makes it a top performer for gaming.
• What don’t we like? There’s no forward tilt, so the display looks like it’s leaning back slightly when on its stand.

HyperX Omen OLED 27q review: The ups

The HyperX Omen OLED 27q delivers the good thanks to its vivid picture quality and fast performance.

OLED or nothing

Fans online jest that once you go OLED, you never go back. That’s the case with the HyperX Omen OLED 27q, or any other OLED gaming monitor on the market.

Given the richness of color and the near-instantaneous response time, jumping to an IPS display can feel like a significant downgrade. Although miniLED monitors are starting to hit the market, the gap in color contrast is closing.

At a 2560 x 1440 resolution, it won’t take the highest-end graphics cards to push this monitor. However, getting all 240Hz out of a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake 2 will require an Nvidia RTX 5080 or above. Actually, when testing Cyberpunk 2077 on my gaming rig, which is equipped with an RTX 5090, it struggled to maintain a consistent 240 fps. Granted, that framerate is totally overkill for this type of game.

The HyperX Omen OLED 27q has eight display modes, with some dedicated to genres like RTS, RPG, and FPS. There are also some creator-centric modes, such as Display P3 and sRGB. These modes are the same as you'd get on similar monitors, albeit with more balance between gaming and creativity.

For creative work, that’s where color accuracy and brightness come into play. In our testing, the 27q spanned 116% of the sRGB and 82% of the DCI-P3 color gamuts in the monitor's sRGB display setting. For creatives, the 27q will likely suffice for photo editing and other use cases.

Like all OLED gaming monitors. HDR brightness isn't exactly impressive. This is a small knock, but not out of the ordinary for similar monitors.

Esports performance

My competitive game of choice on PC is Overwatch. My personal monitor is a Samsung Odyssey G9 OLED, a 49” behemoth of a display with an absurdly wide 32:9 aspect ratio. When playing Overwatch, however, it crops down to a 21:9 aspect ratio. It’s also a 240Hz panel, making it a fair comparison to the 27q.

While playing Overwatch, I noticed no difference between the two displays aside from their aspect ratios. I was still able to land headshots with Kiriko’s kunai as efficiently as I always do, depending on how sharp my mind feels at the moment.

That’s the thing with OLED. The technology is rather standardized, meaning the colors, depth, and response times will feel very similar across similarly spec'd monitors. So, if you’ve decided to take the plunge on an OLED gaming monitor, it simply comes down to the size you want and how much you’re willing to pay, in my opinion.

For competitive gamers, the 27q features a crosshair, which places a reticule at the center of your display to make aiming easier. I personally don’t use this function, so I can’t speak to it at greater length. But if it’s a feature you prefer in your gaming displays, know that it’s here.

The 27q also includes a speedrun and countdown timer, which is handy when trying to run through Super Mario Bros. or Sonic Adventure 2 as quickly as possible. I’m not a speedrunner, so this is less useful to me, but I’m sure those in the speedrunning community might find this to be a valuable add-on.

More importantly, the 27q does feature both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium. While on HP’s website and on the monitor's box, only G-Sync is advertised, in the settings, you can enable FreeSync.

HyperX Omen OLED 27q review: The downs

As a gaming monitor, there really isn't much to ding the 27q on. It delivers the performance advertised on the box.

Bland design

I also noticed that the 27q, while being able to tilt backward or turn 90 degrees, had limited forward tilt when affixed to the included stand. As a result, the monitor leans back slightly, making it a bit awkward to look at it directly. Although I did have the monitor rather close to me when it was on my desk. If you move the monitor a few inches back, it should make for a better experience.

The number of ports is also rather limited. It only sports two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Granted, given that this monitor is relatively small at 27 inches, it’s not like you’d be using a KVM switch to use two computers on it simultaneously.

The monitor's design is kind of boring. There also aren’t any fancy RGB lights on the back, although some may prefer that. But other than that, there really aren’t many demerits to throw at the 27q.

Good enough but not standout

There are certainly faster OLED monitors on the market, such as the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36. But at $870, it's more than double the price of the 27q.

And honestly, at that price, I feel it might be better to opt for a super ultrawide monitor, like the Samsung Odyssey G9 OLED, which is also around the $900 range, depending on sales. That's also assuming your desk can accommodate it.

HyperX Omen OLED 27q review: Verdict

The HyperX Omen OLED 27q is a solid monitor at a competitive price, but it doesn’t do much to set itself apart. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as most OLED displays on the market are rather standardized, meaning that manufacturers don’t have incredible leeway in making their displays more unique. At most, consumers are faced with choosing between higher refresh rates, wide aspect ratios, and sometimes gimmicky AI features.

But this is good for consumers, in my opinion. The commodification of OLED technology means it can reach more people at a wider range of price points. The fact that someone can walk into a Best Buy and pick up a 27-inch OLED monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate would have been unheard of a decade prior. After some online research, I found that 1440p IPS monitors with a 144Hz refresh rate from 2016 were over $700.

Ultimately, I recommend the 27q. I would tell someone with a $200 budget to consider saving up for the 27q. Also, yes. Would I personally opt for the 27q when there are 21:9 and 32:9 ultrawide OLED monitors available on the market? No. But that’s me. For many, a 27-inch display is the perfect sweet spot. It’s compact and is ideal for esports titles like Counter-Strike 2 and Overwatch.

If you’ve been in the market for an OLED display and have the cash to spend, go for it.

Who needs two monitors when you can get an ultrawide, 40-inch beast that makes your space look tidy? The Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide, as its name suggests, is a 40-inch monster featuring a gorgeous 5K panel, and it’s one of the best monitors for Mac users. Boasting excellent color coverage and accuracy, the Edge 5K is great for creatives, photo and video editors, and everyone in between. There’s a plethora of USB ports, too, which eliminates the mess of cables and additional docks.

But the Edge 5K isn’t perfect. It’s heavy and unwieldy, and it doesn’t feature the strongest hinges, making the screen wobble when it’s touched. Oh, and there’s the small matter of that price tag — it’ll set you back nearly $1,500!

For the complete breakdown, read my full Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide review.

Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide review: Specs

Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 40-inch ultrawide Mac-first monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio
• Who is it for? Photographers, video editors, creative professionals, and anyone and everyone in between
• How much does it cost? It ain’t cheap as it retails for $1,499 / £1,399!
• What do we like? The excellent color coverage and accuracy, 5K panel, array of USB ports, and Mac-first design
• What don’t we like? The unwieldy design, loose hinges, and premium price

Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide review: The ups

The Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide’s panel is gorgeous, and its color coverage and accuracy will give you little to complain about. There’s a plethora of USB ports, too, and the monitor’s Mac-friendly design makes it fit right into existing setups.

Huge 40-inch 5K panel

Who needs two or three monitors when you can have one massive display instead? The Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide, as its name suggests, features a 40-inch 5K IPS panel with a resolution of 5120 x 2160. I’m more accustomed to using 27-inch screens, and my office desk consists of two of these. If you don’t fancy two separate monitors, the Edge 5K is the perfect monitor for you.

I’ve found the 40-inch panel to be extremely handy for navigating multiple browsers and windows at the same time. It also makes quick work of trawling through massive spreadsheets and Slack threads. 5K monitors are becoming increasingly popular amongst creatives, and the Edge 5K’s panel is stunning. Colors are bright and vivid (more on that shortly), and the monitor gets quite bright too.

I lab-tested the Edge 5K’s brightness and was very impressed with the results in SDR mode. As you can see in the table above, the Edge 5K reached a peak brightness of 417 nits (Alogic advertises 400 nits), which is better than the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S ($1,199) and the Dell UltraSharp 40 ($2,399), both of which are also 5K monitors. The Apple Studio Display XDR ($3,299) gets a tad brighter, but most users won’t be able to tell the difference.

However, the Edge 5K disappoints when it comes to HDR brightness. In my lab testing, the monitor achieved a peak HDR brightness of 168 nits only (100% window size), which pales in comparison to all the other monitors on the list. If that’s an issue for you, it’s worth considering other displays — the PD2730S is my top pick, as long as you don’t mind stepping down to 27 inches.

Excellent color coverage

The Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide is a beautiful monitor for creatives and photo editors, and that’s because it boasts excellent color coverage and accuracy. Alogic claims that the monitor covers 100% of the sRGB color space and 99% of the wider DCI P3 gamut. Manufacturer claims are usually conservative, as I’ve seen with other monitors, so I had to lab-test the monitor to see for myself.

In my lab tests, the Edge 5K covered 104.5% of the sRGB and 99.8% of the DCI P3 color spaces, surpassing Alogic’s aforementioned claims, which is superb. The monitor performs slightly better than the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S in the DCI P3 space, but only by a small margin. It also blows the Apple Studio Display XDR and the Apple Pro Display XDR out of the water.

So, the Edge 5K performs formidably on paper, but what about in practice? In real-world usage, this monitor lives up to those numbers. All shades appeared vivid and bright. Reds and purples appeared rich while greens and blues looked lushious. I watched a few 4K videos on YouTube and I noticed there was plenty of detail in the shadows, and highlights never appeared blown out or oversharpened.

I even edited some photos I’d captured on the best cameras and best drones, and I appreciated being able to see the different shades and hues. Thanks to 5K resolution, editing 4K videos was a walk in the park as I could accurately make extreme crops without losing detail.

Accurate colors

Alongside wide color coverage, the Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide boasts great color accuracy too. When I measured color coverage, I measured the accuracy as well, known as Delta-E, which is a numerical representation of how much two colors differ. Delta-E gives you an idea of how close the color relayed on screen (i.e. the monitor) is to the color output from the source (i.e. the computer). You want the score to be as close as possible to zero.

The Edge 5K achieved a Delta-E score of 0.08 in my lab tests, which is outstanding and better than every other monitor in the table above. A score of 0.08 means the colors displayed on the monitor are extremely accurate. When I was editing photos, this gave me reassurance that the colors on the monitor were appearing as intended, and I could confidently continue editing.

A range of creative features

As you’d expect from a creativity-focused monitor, the Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide packs a range of creative features. Naturally, you get access to color modes like sRGB and Display P3. There’s also a dedicated Adobe RGB color mode for photographers who print, and this gives the Edge 5K a leg-up over the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S, which surprisingly doesn’t feature it.

The Edge 5K also features Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes which can be accessed via the on-screen display settings by using the joystick. These modes, essentially, enable windows from different sources to be simultaneously displayed on the monitor. In Picture-in-Picture, you can adjust the window size and position to suit your needs, while Picture-by-Picture splits the monitor into two, giving you essentially two different screens. I’m certain many creatives will find these useful.

Designed for MacBook owners

Though the Alogic 40-inch 5K Ultrawide is compatible with Chromebooks and Windows machines, it is advertised as a Mac-first monitor. That’s due in part to its ports (more on those shortly) and its design. You can buy the Edge 5K in either Silver or Space Gray colors. Sound familiar? Those are the colors used by MacBooks, of course, so this monitor will fit your setup effortlessly and is ideal for those chasing visual aesthetics.

Plenty of USB ports

The Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide doubles as a USB dock thanks to its extensive array of ports, designed with macOS users in mind. As a productivity-oriented monitor, it packs all the ports that would be needed by creatives, photographers and videographers. Around the back, you’ll find an HDMI 2.0 port and a DisplayPort 1.4 port for connecting your laptop or PC to the monitor.

Located next to these is a USB-C 3.0 Gen 1 port with 90W of power delivery and display capabilities, so you can plug in, say, your MacBook Air M2 and charge it simultaneously. You also get two USB-C downstream ports (although Alogic doesn’t specify the data transfer speeds), an Ethernet port, as well as a 3.5mm jack for headphones or computer speakers. There are no USB-A ports, unfortunately, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing — you may want to pick up a USB-C to USB-A adapter for around $12.

Throughout my testing period, I haven’t felt the need for more ports, as the one’s on the Edge 5K are more than enough for hooking up my laptop and other peripherals.

Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide review: The downs

The Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide is an excellent monitor, but it’s important to note that it’s heavy and unwieldy, and it doesn’t come with the strongest of hinges. Oh, and it’s a little expensive too.

Heavy and unwieldy

As is the nature of ultrawide monitors, the Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K is heavy and large, weighing 18.36lbs and measuring 37.04 x 27.32 x 9.64 inches (with stand). I’m used to using heavy monitors — the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S, which I tested most recently, weighs 18.12lbs. However, because the PD2730S is a 27-inch monitor, I didn’t have any issues lifting it or moving it around.

The Edge 5K is a different story, as I found it quite difficult to move around and reposition it. It’s unwieldy and is best suited to staying in one place, so if you like to rejig your setup every now and then, you may want to start hitting the gym.

Not the sturdiest hinges

One of the things I’m most disappointed by is the Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide’s hinges — yes, the ones that keep the screen attached to the stand, and enable you to swivel and extensively adjust the viewing angle. When I first assembled the monitor, I immediately noticed that the hinge felt loose, and the screen moved a lot if I lightly pressed it with my finger.

After setting it up on a desk, I sat in my chair, pulled it forward and in the process of doing so, banged the chair’s arms against the table. When that happened, I saw the Edge 5K’s screen wobbling. Now, I’m not saying that this monitor won’t stand the test of time, but seeing it jiggle and wobble like that doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence. I haven’t had this issue with any of the (many) other monitors I’ve used and reviewed.

Expensive

This is more of a pre-purchase consideration than an outright flaw: the Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide doesn’t come cheap. But this is the nature of 5K monitors, especially ones with huge displays. The Edge 5K retails for $1,499 at B&H Photo / £1,399 at Park Cameras, so it costs almost the same as the base Apple Studio Display ($1,599). The Edge 5K is worth the investment if you want a Mac-compatible monitor that isn’t made by Apple but at this price, why wouldn’t you just buy the first-party monitor? Obviously, if you need a 40-inch screen, the Edge 5K is the way to go.

The Edge 5K is pricer than other 5K monitors I’ve tested, like the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S ($1,199) but again, the latter features a smaller 27-inch screen. Luckily, Alogic’s offering is cheaper than the Dell UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub which starts at a whopping $2,399. There’s also the LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B ($1,999), but it’s a gaming monitor rather than a productivity-first display, so that might not be everyone’s bag.

Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide review: Verdict

For productivity power users and creatives, the Alogic Edge 40-inch 5K Ultrawide is an excellent choice. It delivers on its core promise of replacing a multi-monitor setup with one expansive 40-inch screen, as well as features like Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture. Its 5K display offers excellent brightness and sharp detail, and exceptional color coverage and accuracy make it perfect for photo and video editors.

That said, the monitor isn’t without its faults. Its sheer size makes it tricky to reposition, and the wobbly hinge design undermines confidence in an otherwise premium package. Given that this monitor costs nearly $1,500, I honestly expected better.

But if these are compromises you’re okay with, nothing is stopping you from getting the Edge 5K. At the end of the day, it’s a color-accurate productivity monitor that gives you very little to complain about.

As someone who uses a MacBook Air M2 for work and a MacBook Pro M1 for personal use, I've always been envious of people with the Apple Studio Display. After all, it looks good and it packs performance in spades. But the more I review monitors, the more I realize, I don't need an Apple Studio Display, especially as it's quite expensive and a little out of my budget. The solution? A third-party monitor with exceptional Mac compatibility, and there are few options better than the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S.

BenQ is a well-known brand in computing circles, and it's the brains behind some of the best monitors you can buy today, one of them being the PD2730S. I've thoroughly lab-tested it and used it for the better part of two weeks for everyday productivity, and the results are in: it's glorious. Pretty Delightful, really, and no other monitor has streamlined my workflow as much as the PD2730S has.

Hosting a plethora of productivity-focused ports, many photo editing features and color modes, as well as being accompanied by a handy control accessory, there are many things to love about the PD2730S. Though it's a little expensive, it's $400 cheaper than the base Apple Studio Display, making it a fantastic alternative for Mac users.

A simply stunning 5K panel

My favorite thing about the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is its gorgeous 5K panel. It's bright, colorful, and features an anti-reflective coating to protect your eyes from glare. In my lab tests, the PD2730S achieved a peak brightness of 382 nits, which dropped to 346 in HDR (window size 100%). While that might sound like a lot, in real-world usage, I had no issues seeing everything on the screen in exceptional clarity, even in a brightly lit room.

But color coverage and accuracy is where the PD2730S truly comes into its own. Colors appear extremely accurate, bright, vivid and detailed, which is crucial to me as someone who reviews the best cameras and the best drones. My lab testing further confirmed what I was seeing on screen. You can scroll through the results in the table below.

As you can see, the PD2730S covers 104.9% of the sRGB gamut and 98.3% of the DCI P3 space, and it even crushes the much pricier Apple Studio Display XDR and the Apple Pro Display XDR in the DCI P3 color space! The PD2730S' Delta E score of 0.1 is also slightly better than both Apple displays, which means that the monitor relays colors extremely accurately (the closer the Delta E score to zero, the better).

Overall, the PD2730S hasn't given me anything to complain about when it comes to how it displays colors — and that's one of the many reasons why it earned 4.5 stars from me in my full review.

Streamline your workflow

I won't lie: I love a good accessory when it's not just a gimmick and is actually useful. BenQ includes what it calls a Hotkey Puck with the Creative Pro PD2730S, and it's essentially a controller that gives you quick access to the monitor's settings.

There's a scroll wheel and a few buttons which can be customized to access color modes, input, DualView and even app launch. If you frequently swap between color spaces, this accessory would be a boon for you.

Also in the PD2730S' arsenal is its range of photo editing features. You get sRGB, Display P3, DCI P3, Rec.709, HDR, and even a Darkroom mode. Oh, and there's a CAD/CAM mode for product designers; an Animation mode for game designers; and the aforementioned DualView mode which displays designs side-by-side to streamline your workflow.

Having used the Hotkey Puck (and I love that pun) and the monitor extensively, I don't know how I've gone so long without it — and it will be an uphill battle for any other productivity-first monitor to upstage the PD2730S.

You've convinced me: where can I buy it?

So, you want to buy the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S: great! The monitor is available for $1,199 / £988 at Amazon, and you even get a 12-month subscription for Pantone Connect Premium, a mobile app for color matching on the go. Given that the Apple Studio Display starts at $1,599, the PD2730S feels like a much cheaper, perhaps even better, investment.

Of course, it won't be for everyone. The monitor's lack of a dedicated Adobe RGB color mode sticks out like a sore thumb, as it limits its use for photographers who print. Adobe RGB covers a wider range of colors used by CMYK printers versus sRGB, so colors may not appear as accurate when you're going to print them.

But in the grand scheme of things, the PD2730S doesn't really have many other flaws, and if you can get over the lack of Adobe RGB, I'm confident you'll be extremely satisfied with all the other goodies the monitor has to offer.

More from Tom's Guide

• I just tested this 5K Mac monitor that's $400 cheaper than the Apple Studio Display — and it offers vivid colors, excellent accuracy, and streamlines your workflow
• I ditched my dual-monitor setup for a single 40-inch ultrawide — and two screens aren’t better than one
• I've tested 100 monitors and these are the best ones for work, gaming and everyday use

I spend up to eight hours a day, five days a week, staring at a screen, so having one of the best monitors is a non-negotiable for me. I’ve just tested a monitor that puts nearly every other 27-inch screen to shame, and that’s the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S. This 5K monitor is a sight for sore eyes, offering plenty of editing and productivity-oriented features to streamline your workflow. Whether you’re a professional creative or someone who just wants a nice screen to look at, this is the monitor for you.

The PD2730S boasts excellent color coverage and accuracy, and it’s got a wide array of ports to hook up all your peripherals or quickly transfer data. BenQ happily includes a Hotkey Puck that also helps you make changes on-the-fly and without the need to dig through menus. It is truly marvelous — but not without its flaws.

To find out if this is the right monitor for you, read my full BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review.

BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review: Specs

BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 27-inch 5K monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate and a plethora of ports and editing features
• Who is it for? Creatives, photographers, videographers, graphic designers, game designers, what-have-you
• How much does it cost? Quite a bit, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is available for $1,199 / £988
• What do we like? The bright panel, outstanding color coverage and accuracy, wide range of ports and editing features, and the included Hotkey Puck
• What don’t we like? The lack of an Adobe RGB mode and the steep price

BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review: The ups

The BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is a stunning monitor, packing a lovely 5K display with excellent color coverage and accuracy. For creatives, there’s plenty of productivity-first features and ports to take advantage of, too — as well as a handy Hotkey Puck.

Gorgeous and bright 5K panel

The BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S features one of the most beautiful panels of any monitor I’ve used or tested so far. Fitted with a 27-inch 5K IPS panel with a resolution of 5120 x 2880. A 27-inch panel, for me, is the sweet spot, as it isn’t too big that it takes up all the space on your desk, and it isn’t too small that you can’t see everything that’s displayed properly and in depth.

I was able to easily fit the PD2730S on my already-crowded office desk, as I slotted it in perfectly next to another 27-inch monitor and a pair of computer speakers. That’s because the monitor measures 24.17 x 16.83-22.74 x 9.53 inches, and its base isn’t too wide either. The monitor, with the stand, weighs 18.12lbs, so it can be easily moved around.

Speaking of the panel, the PD2730S is quite bright, as I was able to read it properly under bright office lights as well as when bright sunlight came in through the big windows behind my office chair. My lab testing confirmed the same.

In SDR mode, the PD2730S achieved a peak brightness of 382 nits, and it dropped to 346 in HDR (window size 100%). This monitor is much brighter than the BenQ PD3226G ($1,199), the MSI MPG 272URX ($1,099) and the Dell UltraSharp 40 ($2,500). The PD2730S pales in comparison to the Apple Studio Display XDR ($3,299), but I’ll caveat that by saying the Apple display is three times the price of the BenQ. For the price you’re paying, the PD2730S is plenty bright.

Productivity-focused ports

Much like many other BenQ monitors, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is a productivity-oriented monitor, suited to game designers, photographers and videographers. It is, then, not surprising that it packs in loads of productivity-friendly ports. Naturally, there’s a power port, an HDMI 2.1, and a DisplayPort 1.4 around the back for display connection.

Alongside these, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports. One’s a 90W upstream port for either hooking up to the display or as a power-out for your laptop. The other’s a 15W port for charging and daisy-chaining. You also get two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2: a data-only upstream one and a 7.5W downstream charging port, both with 10Gbps transfer speeds. *takes a deep breath* There’s also three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, two with 4.5W of power delivery and one with 7.5W. And to top it off, there’s a 3.5mm audio out port too.

That’s a lot of ports, and they cover everything you need for a clean, well-managed desk. If you use a lot of devices and peripherals, the PD2730S is the perfect monitor for you. What more could you ask for, really?

Outstanding color coverage

The ports and the 5K panel would be utterly useless if the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S didn’t feature excellent color coverage. Thankfully, it does! BenQ claims the monitor covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and 98% of the wider DCI P3 color space. But as I’ve seen with most other monitors I’ve lab-tested, manufacturer claims are usually conservative, so I put the PD2730S through its paces.

As you can see in the table above, the PD2730S covered 104.9% of the sRGB gamut and 98.3% of the DCI P3 space — both of which are higher than BenQ’s aforementioned claims. The monitor doesn’t perform as well as the BenQ PD3226G, but all you really need is a percentage more than 100%, which the PD2730S achieves in the sRGB test.

The PD2730S also crushes the much pricier Apple Studio Display XDR and the Apple Pro Display XDR in the DCI P3 color space, surpassing both with ease. The MSI MPG 272URX performs formidably, too, but it’s a gaming monitor and doesn’t have as many productivity features as the PD2730S.

Numbers on paper are one thing, but how does the PD2730S perform in real-world usage? I’ve been thoroughly impressed in my testing. All shades appeared vivid and detailed, and there was plenty of detail to be found and enjoyed in the shadows, too. Highlights never appeared too sharp or peaking, especially while watching 4K videos on YouTube.

I love the 10-bit color depth too, which means that the PD2730S is capable of displaying 1.07 billion individual hues. I found this handy as I usually capture 10-bit 4:2:2 RAW video with the best cameras and the best drones.

Excellent color accuracy

In addition to superb color coverage, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S boasts excellent color accuracy, too. BenQ says that the PD2730S should have a Delta-E score of less than or equal to 2. Delta-E is a numerical representation of how much two colors differ, and it gives you an idea of how close the color relayed on screen (i.e. the monitor) is to the color output from the source (i.e. the computer). The closer the score to zero, the better.

Naturally, I put this to the test with my own lab-testing, and the monitor achieved a Delta-E score of 0.1. This means that the monitor relays colors extremely accurately, and even more accurately than some of its competitors. As you can see in the table above, all other monitors — including the pricey Apple Studio Display XDR and the Dell UltraSharp 40 — score higher than the PD2730S. This doesn’t mean they’re bad; it simply means that the PD2730S is either on par or better. It’s what we’d expect from a high-end monitor, too.

And indeed, I was seeing colors very well on the PD2730S. The lab tests reassured me that the colors I was seeing on screen were accurate, which helped me edit photos accordingly and confidently for my reviews and my photography Instagram page. The monitor also has a 60Hz refresh rate which feels plenty to watch videos I record at 60fps — but of course, if you want more, you might want to consider the BenQ PD3226G with its 144Hz refresh rate.

Industry’s stamp of approval

The BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S carries a few official accreditations and certifications for added reassurance. It features Pantone and Pantone SkinTone Validation, which are industry-standard color definitions for printing — perfect for creatives who print. With the monitor, you get a 12-month subscription for Pantone Connect Premium, a mobile app for color matching on the go.

This monitor is Calman Verified as well. Calman is well-known for making display calibration software (it’s what we use to test the best TVs!), and the certification ascertains that Calman approves of the monitor’s AQColor technology.

A range of editing features

For photo and video editors, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S features plenty of editing features. Let’s talk about the color modes first. You get a range of these, including but not limited to: sRGB, Display P3, DCI P3, Rec.709, HDR, and even a Darkroom mode for those who want to mimic the heightened color perception achieved in a darkroom.

Then you’ve got dedicated modes for specific tasks. There’s a CAD/CAM mode for product designers as this mode displays superior contrast between lines and shapes in illustrations. Game designers and animators can take advantage of the Animation mode which enhances the clarity of dark areas without overexposing bright ones. The last is the DualView mode which, as the name suggests, displays designs side-by-side to streamline your workflow.

I also appreciate the anti-reflective coating which reduces glare. The PD2730S’ panel has a TUV-certified reflection-free feature too, which enhances eye comfort during long periods of use. As someone who stares at a screen for up to eight hours, five days a week, this is a blessing.

An accessory that streamlines your workflow

Last but certainly not least, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S comes with a controller pad accessory which BenQ calls a Hotkey Puck (get the pun?). It’s the same as the one you get with the BenQ PD3226G: a white circular remote with a scroll wheel and a few buttons. While you can control the monitor via the physical buttons, it’s much easier to use the Puck as you don’t need to extend your arms or get up from your seat.

On the Puck, you’ll see three buttons, and these are fully customizable. You can remap these to gain quick access to Color Modes, Input, DualView, KVM or app launch. This speeds up and streamlines your workflow, and it’s especially useful if you frequently swap between color spaces.

The KVM switch is a boon, too, as it enables you to use the same monitor and peripherals with multiple computers — ideal for those working across different machines.

BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review: The downs

While the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is an outstanding monitor, it’s important to note that there’s no dedicated Adobe RGB mode, and that it costs a pretty penny.

No Adobe RGB mode

Similar to the BenQ PD3226G, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S lacks a dedicated Adobe RGB mode, which essentially deters its use for photographers who print. Adobe RGB covers a wider range of colors used by CMYK printers versus sRGB. When editing photos for print, small or large, colors may not appear as accurate as you want them to be.

sRGB is perfectly fine for online use, and for photographers or game designers who are making a digital-first product. In my testing, I had no issues ensuring color accuracy while editing photos I’d taken on a range of different cameras. If Adobe RGB is important to you, I’d recommend the Asus ProArt Display PA27JCV ($799) instead.

A little expensive

By now, I’m certain it’s clear that the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is an excellent monitor, perfect for game designers, photo editors, productivity power users, and everyone in between. But all of those goodies don’t come cheap. The PD2730S retails for $1,199 / £988 at Amazon, which is quite a bit of dough. Studio displays generally cost a lot of money — let’s not forget that the Apple Studio Display XDR starts at a whopping $3,299.

Of course, if you’re restricted by your budget and don’t want to spend over a grand on the PD2730S, there are other options. The 27-inch version of the Asus ProArt Display PA27JCV costs $799. It’s Calman-verified and comes with similar productivity-oriented ports as the PD2730S. You don’t get BenQ’s hotkey pad with the Asus, naturally, but if that’s a sacrifice you’re willing to make, do so by all means.

BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S review: Verdict

For creatives and professionals, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2730S is a powerhouse, period. With its stunning 5K panel, wide color coverage and accuracy, and comprehensive connectivity, it sets a high bar for productivity displays. It’s a reliable companion for photo and video editing, thanks to its many color modes and settings, and the included Hotkey Puck does well to streamline workflows and save you a few minutes here and there.

But I wish I could say the PD2730S was perfect, as it isn’t. The lack of a dedicated Adobe RGB mode is a notable omission for photographers who work in print, and the $1,199 price tag is a steep investment. However, having tested this monitor extensively, I believe the PD2730S is an exceptional tool that does enough to justify its cost. It’s a premium, purpose-built display that delivers exactly what modern creatives need to succeed.

There’s no ideal desk setup that works for everyone. While one person might be content with a laptop or a single monitor, another might want multiple monitors. Likewise, your old desk setup might have been perfect at the time but now, it no longer meets your needs.

As someone who builds desk setups for a living, I’m constantly trying out new configurations when it comes to how many displays I have and what’s driving them. Although I spent years using a single ultrawide monitor by itself, I later added a portable monitor underneath it specifically to keep up with work chats. Of course, I wasn’t done there.

From stacked monitors to dual monitors and even triple monitors, it feels like my desk is constantly evolving and rightfully so. However, at the beginning of this year, I put together a dual-monitor setup that I just couldn’t bear to break down. That all changed though, when I finally had a chance to try out a larger, 40-inch ultrawide.

Even though the Innocn 40C1U’s screen is only six inches wider than the 34-inch ultrawide I’ve used for years now, it’s made a massive difference. So much so that I don’t think I could go back to using a dual-monitor setup anytime soon. If you’ve also been considering upgrading your own desk setup, here’s why you might want to go wider instead of adding another display.

No curves here

At 40 inches, the Innocn 40C1U is certainly an outlier. With most monitors, once you go beyond 34 inches wide, you no longer have the choice between a flat or a curved display. Since I have multiple monitors for my various desk setups stored in a closet, I don’t really have the option to use curved ones as they take up far too much space when not in use.

After eying the Innocn 40C1R online for what seemed like ages, the company reached out and asked if I’d be interested in trying out the more powerful 40C1U instead. Since I just reviewed the Apple Studio Display XDR, I decided to give this 5K2K monitor a try and I’m glad I did.

In the box, you get a surprisingly capable stand along with a high-speed HDMI cable, a USB-C video cable and a power cable. The fact that Innocn includes a USB-C cable in the box is a nice touch. However, like with the LG DualUp monitor I reviewed back when I first started at Tom’s Guide, I would have loved to see a USB-B to USB-A cable included as well — but more on that in a bit

While the 40C1U is definitely on the less expensive side for a 5K2K monitor, I really like how it has a built-in power supply instead of a bulky power adapter with a barrel port connector. Likewise, it has standard 100 x 100 VESA mounting holes instead of the 75 x 75 ones you see on many of the best gaming monitors. If you’ve ever tried to lift a display like that up off your desk using one of the best monitor arms, then you know how much of a hassle it can be.

In terms of ports, the 40C1U has a generous selection on the right side including two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4 connection, an upstream USB-C port with 65W of power delivery, two USB-A ports, a USB-B port and a headphone jack. As such, you can connect up to four devices at the same time.

After unboxing the 40C1U and attaching the included monitor stand, it was time to take it for a spin. Given I had a MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip on hand, I figured that would be perfect for testing out this monitor as I previously used that laptop with the Studio Display XDR. Fortunately, there weren’t any dead pixels or other issues to be worried about and everything worked like a charm right out of the box.

With my initial testing out of the way, I decided to build a new desk setup based around the Innocn 40C1U to see just what this 40-inch, 5K2K ultrawide was capable of.

Mac or PC: why not both?

Deciding between a Mac or a PC for work can be difficult which is why many people like myself use both. Normally, I spend my time working on my Mac mini M4 at one desk setup and on one of the best mini PCs at another. This time though, I wanted the best of both worlds and figured having two computers on the wider Secretlab Magnus Evo desk wouldn’t be a problem, so I did just that.

On the left side, I set up that MacBook Pro in a vertical stand with the computer set to not go to sleep with its lid closed. Then on the right, I plugged in the Framework Desktop which, in addition to being a powerful PC for work, holds up surprisingly well when gaming despite not having a discrete GPU.

Normally, you’d need two separate keyboards and mice with a setup like this one. However, remember those USB-A ports and that USB-B port around back? Well, like many of the best monitors, the 40C1U features a built-in KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch. So instead of having to connect, disconnect and then reconnect my mouse and keyboard over Bluetooth, I plugged their respective 2.4 GHz USB dongles into the back of the 40C1U. This let me use the same mouse and keyboard with multiple computers.

Since the USB-C cable plugged into the MacBook Pro handles both video and data, I was able to use my peripherals on Mac with just a single cable. However, because I connected the Framework Desktop via HDMI, I had to connect a USB-B to USB-A cable at the back of the monitor and then plug it into my PC. If you get a monitor with a built-in KVM switch that doesn’t come with this cable, don’t worry. Just like I did, you can likely borrow the one from your printer until you pick up a new one.

What I like about using the Innocn 40C1U with both of these computers is that I don’t have to press any buttons or mess around in the display’s settings menu to use my mouse and keyboard. Instead, I just switch inputs and the monitor does the rest, automatically assigning my peripherals to whichever computer is currently on screen. Having the option to use macOS or Windows 11 while working has been great and I’m kind of surprised I didn’t try something like this earlier.

With my dual-OS desk setup for work finished, it was time to try pushing the 40C1U — and the Framework Desktop too for that matter — to its limit.

Work hard, play wide

Now I know what you might be thinking: gaming on a 5K2K monitor requires a beefy gaming PC. I thought the same thing when I first booted up Steam on the Framework Desktop. Using a massive panel like the 40C1U for gaming seems impractical since you need to render a whole lot more pixels than you would on a 1080p or 1440p display.

I know Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR upscaling tech sometimes get a bad rap due to "fake frames," but in this instance, FSR was a lifesaver. When I first loaded up Death Stranding 2, everything looked a bit blurry at this high resolution. After updating AMD’s software and enabling FSR, however, the game was surprisingly playable.

I did have to drop the game’s internal resolution down to 2560 x 1080 and let FSR upscale it back to 5K2K. Much like when I brought the Framework Desktop to my living room to play on my 4K TV, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip and built-in Radeon 8060S graphics in this mini PC really surprised me.

Playing Death Stranding 2 on a 40-inch ultrawide adds so much immersion. With FSR enabled, my frame rate stayed at around 70 fps — even with the graphics set to high. I also didn’t have to worry about hooking up bookshelf speakers as the 40C1U has built-in audio. While you’ll still want one of the best gaming headsets for a truly premium experience, the monitor’s built-in speakers were more than capable.

It’s worth noting that with its 100Hz refresh rate, the 40C1U is a productivity monitor first and foremost. If you have a powerful GPU or don't mind enabling frame generation, you can certainly game on it, but running games natively at 5K2K will be a tall order for most rigs.

If you’re after a larger ultrawide primarily for gaming, the Innocn 40C1R is the better (and cheaper) choice. It has a more manageable 1440p resolution and a faster 144Hz refresh rate. Still, while it's better for high-speed gaming, you lose out on the incredible clarity and text crispness you get with the 40C1U’s 5K2K resolution.

The cost of simplicity

Deciding between a dual-monitor setup and a single ultrawide is a tough choice. You can pick up a pair of identical monitors — or even use mismatched ones like I did here — for a whole lot less than a massive ultrawide display. However, doing so requires a bit more work, both during the initial setup and in your daily workflow.

With two screens, you have twice the cables to manage. You also might need to swap out your power strip for one with more outlets and be much more deliberate with your cable management. Using a dual-monitor arm can help, but as I’ve found, this often requires longer cables to route through the arms and down to your computer.

When using a single ultrawide like the Innocn 40C1U, you cut your cable count in half. But since the display is so large, you might need to invest in a heavy-duty monitor arm. If you use a standard one, your monitor will likely droop instead of staying firmly in place.

After years of testing both configurations, I’d recommend setting aside some extra cash for a single, wider display. You don't have to worry about lining up bezels or managing a nest of wires. At the same time, both Windows and macOS also tend to play better with a single monitor than they do with multiple screens.

The Innocn 40C1U was the upgrade I needed to finally break down my previous setup and go back to an ultrawide. I’m not saying I won’t build another dual-monitor setup in the future — or finally tackle a quad-monitor one — but for now, I’m more than content using multiple computers on a single, massive display.

More from Tom's Guide

• I built a completely distraction-free desk setup with these 10 gadgets and now I’m truly locked in
• Monitor stand vs monitor arm: how to pick the right one for your display
• I spent a week with dual Apple Studio Displays and realized I’ve been lying to myself about glossy screens for years

The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B ($999) is one of the wildest devices I’ve tested. Like most of LG’s current gaming monitors, it lets you switch between two refresh rates. The difference is how high those numbers go: 540Hz at 1440p resolution and 720Hz at 720p resolution. No, those numbers aren’t typos! As things stand, this is certainly one of the fastest gaming monitors you can buy, but that’s not all the UltraGear 27GX790B-B has going for it.

The main complaint I have with every OLED gaming monitor I’ve reviewed is the dim HDR compared to other monitors. LG’s latest bucks that trend by delivering some of the brightest brights I’ve seen on similar devices. In fact, the company claims this is the world’s brightest OLED gaming monitor. I can’t verify if that’s true, but I’m inclined to believe it, especially after our testing.

As with all LG UltraGear monitors, this 27-inch model features an elegant design that’s well-suited for any office or gaming setup. Since this is a gaming monitor, you can enable RGB backlighting for fun. You also get a great range of motion to help you achieve the best viewing angle.

The insanely high refresh rates are certainly impressive and ensure that everything runs buttery smooth. However, unless you’re a professional gamer, you likely won’t be able to tell the difference between what you get here and what you’d get from a similar 240Hz monitor. In fact, I even question whether professionals can tell the difference.

Other than refresh rates that feel like tech flexing and the monitor topping out at 1440p, I have little to complain about. Faults aside, it’s certainly one of the best gaming monitors, especially if you want such high refresh rates. Find out more in my full review.

LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B is a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor featuring two refresh rates: 540Hz at 1440p and 720Hz at 720p.
• Who is it for? For competitive gamers who need the absolute highest refresh rates.
• What does it cost? The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B costs $994 on Amazon.
• What do we like? We like the elegant design, high HDR brightness for an OLED gaming monitor, and relatively affordable price.
• What don’t we like? The super high refresh rates aren’t essential for most gamers, and the display tops out at 1440p resolution.

LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: Specs

LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: The ups

The UltraGear 27GX790B-B impresses thanks to its insanely high refresh rates, bright HDR brightness, and overall sleek design.

Lovely design

The 27GX790B-B has the classic LG UltraGear design, which is to say that it’s sleek and elegant. I like how the all-silver understated aesthetic can work just as well in an office environment as it would in a proper gaming den. Even the RGB lighting surrounding the monitor arm on the back is relatively subdued, should you choose to turn it on.

Gliding the monitor up and down along the stand is a smooth process, as is tilting it forward and back for that perfect viewing angle. If you want, you can also rotate the monitor a full 90 degrees for vertical orientation—something I certainly appreciate.

You get a good amount of ports, including two HDMI, one DisplayPort, a lone USB-C, and a pair of USB-A. All the ports are located on the back, so you’ll need to turn the whole monitor and stand around to access them. The button to switch from 540Hz to 720Hz is conveniently located underneath the display’s bottom bezel, along with the OSD joystick.

The wide and flat stand keeps the monitor in place even when you’re swiveling it. It’s also large enough to place items like your phone or an extra controller. The shaft doesn’t have an opening for tucking your cables through, but this isn’t a deal-breaker.

Vivid display

The 27-inch OLED panel on the 27GX790B-B is a sight to behold. Even though it tops out at 1440p, you get sharp, crisp picture quality when playing games or scrolling through websites. The OLED itself delivers strong contrast between dark and light elements, which helps oversaturated colors look even more vivid.

I played Cyberpunk 2077 on this monitor and was impressed by how vivid the dystopian Night City looked. All the cars, buildings, pedestrians, and holographic displays popped out, heightening my immersion. Similarly, YouTube videos and websites looked great.

The 27GX790B-B has 14 display modes, including modes dedicated to game genres like FPS and RTS. Most of the modes are only slightly different from one another, depending on their intended function. If these presets aren’t to your liking, the “Personalized Picture” mode offers a greater degree of customization.

One of the big selling points here is the HDR brightness, which LG claims is the highest ever for an OLED gaming monitor. To that end, let’s take a look at what our lab results had to say about the Max Brightness display mode.

As you can see from the table above, the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B produces oversaturated colors (sRGB and DCI-P3) and decent color accuracy (Delta-E). We saw similar values across most of the other modes. The Alienware AW2726DM also produces oversaturated hues, though it has better color accuracy (closer to 0 is best).

You’ll notice that the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B delivers significantly higher brightness than its Alienware counterpart. While 561 nits across 10% of the display might not sound impressive, keep in mind that this is nearly double what most OLED gaming monitors deliver. It makes a huge difference, making everything appear more vibrant.

Smooth performance

Thanks to its “Dual Mode” feature, discussing the 27GX790B-B’s performance isn’t as straightforward as it is with other gaming monitors. The default setting is 1440p at 540Hz. With the press of a button, you can switch to 720p at 720Hz. Both of these are tailor-made for professional competitive gamers or hardcore enthusiasts.

Regardless of which mode you choose, both have the same low response time of 0.02ms. Compatibility with Nvidia G-SYNC Compatible & AMD FreeSync Premium Pro also ensures smooth performance.

For my testing, I had the 27GX790B-B connected to the new Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop, which packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 “Panther Lake” CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 mobile GPU, and 32GB of RAM. That’s a pretty powerful gaming laptop, but even with such a rig, you’ll struggle to get frame rates that match this monitor’s refresh rates—even if you drop the graphics settings to low and disable all effects like ray tracing.

That said, even if you can’t get a game to run at 540 frames per second, games will run very smoothly. During my time testing Cyberpunk 2077 on this monitor, I never experienced screen tearing or input delays. The low response time also contributes to the excellent performance.

Simple UI

The 27GX790B-B has the same simple and clean interface I’ve come to expect from UltraGear monitors. This is where you’ll find the aforementioned display modes, along with picture adjust, sound, input, and general options. Everything is easy to locate.

The OSD (On Screen Display) joystick under the display is small but intuitive to use. You don’t have to apply much pressure when you’re moving it up, down, left, or right with your finger.

LG’s interface is pretty bare, but I like the simplicity since I always know where to find what I’m looking for. As I’ve said in previous reviews, the less time I spend fiddling around in the menu, the more time I can spend actually playing games.

LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: The downs

The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B is certainly impressive, but its defining feature is also its greatest weakness.

Obscenely high refresh rate

The big selling point of this monitor is its super-high refresh rates. While it’s certainly impressive to see a monitor going as high as 720Hz, I don’t think it’s completely necessary.

The main issue is that very few games can achieve frame rates high enough to match the refresh rate. Perhaps you could pull it off if you’re playing an ancient game on the lowest possible settings and on a gaming rig with an RTX 5090 GPU and an obscene amount of RAM, but that’s the only scenario I can imagine.

Then there’s the loss of visual fidelity. 540Hz at 1440p looks fine, but everything looks very blurry when playing at 720Hz at 720p resolution. I understand you’re prioritizing performance over visuals, but if you can’t clearly see enemies in a game, is the extra refresh rate even worth it?

I realize I’m not the target esports player who would want such ludicrously high refresh rates. I might feel different if I had the reflexes and timing required for professional gaming. But as an average gamer, I’d rather have a monitor with a more modest refresh rate.

No 4K option

This ties into the last point, but to achieve such lofty refresh rates, resolution had to take a hit—hence why this isn’t a 4K monitor. That’s a shame, considering how the LG UltraGear 32GS95UE-B has a default setting of 240Hz and 4K resolution.

Again, I’m sure professional gamers are fine with sacrificing visuals to achieve the best performance possible—but I’m not that kind of gamer!

LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B review: Verdict

There’s no denying that the LG UltraGear 27GX709B-B offers unprecedented performance. It also delivers astonishing HDR brightness for an OLED gaming monitor. For what you get, it’s certainly worth considering, even if it's admittedly for niche use cases.

That same focus on a specific audience is also this monitor’s greatest weakness. Yes, it’s cool that it can achieve such monumental refresh rates, but most folks don’t need that level of performance. And while the $999 asking price isn’t offensive, something like the $349 Alienware AW2726 has excellent performance and picture quality for a third of the cost—even if it doesn’t get nearly as bright.

The LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B isn’t a gaming monitor for everyone, but it’s arguably the best at what it does. For that reason, I say check it out if you are a hardcore competitive gamer who wants what is arguably the fastest gaming monitor available.

Shortly after I began writing for Tom’s Guide, I covered a news story about an Asus gaming monitor boasting a 240Hz refresh rate. At the time, my team and I thought it was over the top. Who but the most hardcore gamer needed such high refresh rates? In the years since, we’ve only seen refresh rates on certain gaming monitors climb even higher.

What’s the point of all this? Simply put, the higher the refresh rate on the best gaming monitors, the smoother everything looks on screen. For competitive gamers, matching a game’s frame rate to a high refresh rate makes your actions feel fast and responsive. But even if you’re just a regular gamer, you can still benefit from a higher refresh rate.

I’m currently testing the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B ($994 on Amazon), a dual-mode monitor that can switch between 540Hz at 1440p and 720Hz at 720p. This monitor completely blows away the Alienware 500Hz monitor I reviewed a couple of years ago. While testing it, I can’t help but ask the obvious question: Do such high refresh rates truly benefit gamers, or is this all just flexing?

For this article, I’ve reached out to two Future colleagues: Brandon Hill from Tom’s Hardware and Dave James from PC Gamer. As hardware reviewers, they know their stuff and provided me with some great insight on this topic. Here’s what they had to say about high-refresh-rate gaming monitors, along with my own thoughts.

High refresh rates can be beneficial

Not everyone chasing ultra-high refresh rates is doing it purely for bragging rights. I checked in with my colleague Brandon Hill, senior editor at Tom’s Hardware, and he’s a firm believer that high-refresh-rate monitors are a boon for gaming — so long as you have the hardware to push them and the personal drive to take advantage of them.

He regularly games on a massive 49-inch 240Hz DQHD QD-OLED paired with an RTX 5090. Even with that kind of power, he often hovers around 180 FPS in Battlefield 6 while keeping the graphics settings high. “I prefer eye candy over insane refresh rates,” he told me.

The same thinking carries over to today’s dual-mode monitors. Brandon gets why the most hardcore esports players “would kill to eke out every possible frame to gain the upper hand online,” especially when you’re talking pixel response times in the 2ms range and super-low input lag. But he’s quick to admit he’s not in that camp. “I play for fun, not for competitive aspirations.”

Given the choice between 540Hz at crisp 1440p or 720Hz at 720p on something like the Sony Inzone M10S II, his pick is an easy one: “I’d choose the former every single time — and twice on Sundays.”

I agree with Brandon’s take here. While you certainly want games to run as smoothly as possible, it shouldn’t be at the expense of visual fidelity. My eyes scream whenever I switch to the LG UltraGear’s 720Hz mode since it’s locked to 720p resolution. And since I legit cannot tell or feel the difference with 720Hz gaming, sacrificing visuals really makes no sense.

Bragging rights?

Dave James, Editor-in-Chief of Hardware at PC Gamer, has a similar perspective about the benefit of insane refresh rates on gaming monitors. They can surely be beneficial, but they do feel like companies flexing what their hardware can achieve.

Dave says it largely depends on who you are and what kind of games you play. For those of us who mostly enjoy single-player or co-op experiences, he argues that 144Hz is still a fantastic refresh rate, with 240Hz now a realistic and worthwhile target. He understands why competitive players want to chase the absolute highest refresh rates they can manage, but stresses that they only become relevant “if you have a system that can drive frame rates to match.” This is something that’s getting easier thanks to upscaling technologies.

When you can actually keep up with the monitor, Dave says playing a competitive shooter on a super-fast screen “almost becomes like looking through a window.”

That said, Dave is much more skeptical about the other end of the spectrum. Once you get to numbers like 720Hz that are extremely difficult to fully utilize, he believes it shifts away from actual benefit. “Beyond genuinely achievable frame rates, these extra high refresh rates become less about gaming and more about numbers on a spec sheet you can use for marketing and one-upping the competition,” Dave told me. “At this level, those numbers aren't for us gamers.”

This is where I fall on this topic. I find it very impressive that LG and others can achieve such lofty refresh rates on their respective gaming monitors. However, it’s hard to see how this benefits anyone but the most hardcore professional gamers.

Bottom line

After hearing Brandon and Dave’s thoughts and spending time with the LG UltraGear 27GX790B-B, my stance hasn’t changed much. These insanely high refresh rates are impressive, but they’re not essential for most gamers.

If you’re an esports competitor, monitors like this can give you a real edge. For everyone else? 144Hz or 240Hz at crisp resolution still delivers smooth gameplay and great picture quality without any sacrifice.

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If there’s only one monitor you buy this year, make it the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36. This 34-inch QD-OLED monitor is an absolute delight and doesn’t give you much to complain about. For gamers, you’ve got a silky smooth 360Hz refresh rate and quick 0.03ms response time. For productivity power users, there’s accurate and wide color coverage and 10-bit color depth. It’s the ultimate hybrid monitor.

With plenty of connectivity options packed into a sleek design that doesn’t take up heaps of space on your desk, the X36 is one of the best curved monitors I’ve personally used and professionally tested. Performance on paper is just as solid as real-world use, and even though the monitor is expensive, it’s well worth the premium for a plethora of reasons.

For the complete breakdown, read my full MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review.

MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review: Specs

MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A curved, ultrawide 34-inch QD-OLED monitor with a 0.03ms response time and 360Hz refresh rate
• Who is it for? Power users needing expanded screen real estate and best-in-class gaming performance
• How much does it cost? Quite a bit. The X36 retails for $949 / £999
• What do we like? The 360Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time for gaming, accurate and wide color coverage, sleek design, and AI features
• What don’t we like? The slightly dim panel and premium price tag

MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review: The ups

From its silky smooth 360Hz refresh rate and accurate color reproduction, to its 0.03ms response time and useful AI features, the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 is the cream of the crop.

Sleek design

Though the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 features a 34-inch panel, it sports a sleek design. It comes in all-black with minimal branding and good-looking RGB lighting around the back. The panel is held together by a body that measures 32 x 8.9 x 21.3 inches, including the stand, and with the stand, the monitor weighs 29.7lbs. I didn’t find it too bulky or unwieldy to move around — trust me, I’ve carried it between studio spaces.

The base of the X36 stand is fairly compact too, as it has been upgraded from the previous Y-shaped stand to a sleek, flat base that’s thin enough to slide a keyboard over. The monitor can now sit closer to the wall for a more efficient and cleaner desk setup. If you like having two monitors on your desk, you’ll be pleased with how much the monitor can be tilted (20°), swivelled (60°) and pivoted (20°) — plenty of movement to achieve the ideal, ergonomic viewing angle.

Plenty of connectivity options

There’s no dearth of connectivity options and ports on the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36. You’ll find the ports around the back, and these include: power, two HDMI 2.1, a DisplayPort 2.1a, two USB-A, one USB-B, a USB-C 98W PD, and a 3.5mm audio out for headphones. The X36 has you covered in basically every aspect. The USB-C port with its 98W power delivery means you can use your laptop or handheld console using a single cable.

Setting up is a walk in the park and it took me less than a minute to connect my laptop to the monitor. If you want to take advantage of the 360Hz refresh rate, which I did for the most part during my testing, you’ll need to use the DisplayPort 2.1a port.

Powerful gaming performance

If you want a curved monitor for an immersive and powerful gaming experience, there are few better than the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36. Firstly, there are plenty of picture modes for both gaming and professional use, such as AdobeRGB, FPS, RPG, Premium Color, RTS, and… Black and White. The monochrome mode is good for accessibility reasons and can help reduce eye strain — or if you want a cinematic or aesthetic experience, if that’s your speed.

The X36 boasts some impressive specs, such as its 360Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time. Regardless of the game I played, I didn’t experience any choppiness during fast-paced games, such as F1 25, and competitive first-person shooters, like Counter-Strike 2. The smooth, blur-free performance was nothing short of outstanding. The 0.03ms response also meant that I didn’t experience any ghosting or motion blur. This response time is on par with other high-end gaming monitors, such as the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED ($1,099), and even faster than the Alienware AW3423DWF QD-OLED (0.1ms, $1,099).

The QD-OLED panel is a sight for sore eyes, and playing on the X36 is some of the most fun I’ve had while gaming on a PC (as I’m more of a console fan). The X36’s screen is bright and boasts accurate color reproduction. In Forza Horizon 5, the greens were vivid and there was plenty of detail and depth to enjoy in the sand dunes. I also appreciated the level of detail revealed in the shadows in the moody Lies of P, where the world is always dark. I avoided a few jumpscares as I could see the faint outline of enemies in the black areas, which you may not necessarily notice otherwise.

My lab testing further confirmed the X36’s wide color replication, as you can see in the table above. The X36 covers the entirety of the sRGB color spectrum and then some, and this is also true in the case of the wider DCI P3 color gamut. While the Alienware AW3423DWF does slightly better on paper, colors on the X36 still look gorgeous and won’t give you much to complain about — and it performs better than the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED ($,199) too.

The 34-inch panel makes for a thoroughly immersive experience, especially in the first-person F1 25 where I felt like I was actually in the driver’s seat. The 21:9 aspect ratio wraps around your peripheral vision, which makes games feel more realistic, and because of the increased screen real estate, you can see more of the game world without needing to pan the camera as often.

Fantastic for work, too

If you’re spending big bucks on a 34-inch monitor, chances are you’ll be using it for things other than gaming — like work. The MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 is a fantastic monitor for productivity, and I used it as my daily driver for writing articles, scrolling through long message threads on Slack, navigating ginormous spreadsheets, and some photo editing too.

As I noted earlier, the X36 boasts excellent color coverage, and the accuracy is not too shabby either, as proven by my lab testing and real-world use. The Delta-E score is a numerical representation of how much two colors differ, and how close the color relayed on screen (i.e. the monitor) is to the color output from the source (i.e. the computer). The closer the score to zero, the better.

The table above shows that the X36 has a Delta-E score of 0.15, compared to the Alienware AW3423DWF’s score of 0.24 (worse) and the Lenovo Legion 34WD-10’s score of 0.08 (better). While the X36 doesn’t rank as well as the 34WD-10, 0.15 is still excellent. Colors on screen appeared extremely accurate to me, and the monitor made quick work of color grading photos and videos in post-production.

For photographers who print, there’s an Adobe RGB color mode too. The Adobe RGB color gamut covers a wider range of colors used by CMYK printers versus sRGB. This, in turn, ensures color accuracy when editing images for printed photography. It’s great to see MSI include this color mode in a gaming-first monitor, as we were surprised to see it missing from the productivity-first BenQ PD3226G ($1,099).

You also get 10-bit color depth, which means that the X36 is capable of displaying 1.07 billion individual hues. This is great for those who capture 10-bit 4:2:2 raw video with the best cameras or the best drones. Having such a large display at your disposal also means there’s plenty of room for accessing all the controls and different settings in Adobe Photoshop and other software.

Useful AI features

Located just below the MSI logo on the front of the X36, you’ll find what looks like a webcam. It is, in fact, not a webcam, but an AI Care Sensor instead, which can automatically alter the X36’s settings by detecting a human in front of it. The AI Care Sensor, basically, detects images every 0.2 seconds to identify human presence and enable auto turn-offs to conserve energy.

While this is technically a camera, MSI was keen to point out to us that there is no storage functionality — it’s a camera with on-sensor autofocus subject detection capabilities, but it doesn’t actually write (store) that data, to allay any privacy concerns. Imagine a mirrorless camera with autofocus and detection, but with no SD card inserted to save images or video.

Via the settings menu, you can enable Active Mode, Wake On Approach, Lock on Leave, and more, and adjust the timers. If you’re sitting in front of the monitor and decide to get up to stretch your legs or get a coffee, the monitor will automatically turn off. It will turn itself back on when you return to your desk. This worked smoothly in my testing, and I think it’s quite a handy feature, especially if you want to protect your privacy or sensitive documents from onlookers. It’s also something I haven’t seen before on other monitors, so the X36 is well worth the premium (more on this shortly).

MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review: The downs

There’s a lot to love about the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36, but it’s important to note that the QD-OLED panel isn’t especially bright for use in bright conditions, and it’s quite expensive.

A little dim

There isn’t a lot wrong with the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 but if you’re someone who wants the perfect brightness stats on paper, it’s worth noting that the monitor is a little on the dim side. OLED and QD-OLED monitors just aren’t very bright especially compared to IPS panels.

To test the X36’s brightness, I measured it in the standard SDR and HDR modes. As you can see in the table above, even though the X36 doesn’t sound especially bright, it still outclasses both the Alienware AW3423DWF and the Lenovo Legion 34WD-10 with its 280.2 SDR and 278 HDR scores. But the MSI MPG 321URXW ($1,099) and the LG UltraGear 45GR75DC ($899) are both much brighter in HDR — and LG’s offering is cheaper than MSI’s too.

While those scores aren’t particularly ideal for using the monitor in extremely bright or direct sunlight, chances are you’ll be using the X36 indoors anyway. I tested the X36 in the office with big windows located right behind me. Even when sunlight crept in, I was still able to see and read everything displayed properly on the monitor. Again, keep in mind that this isn’t a problem exclusive to the X36 — it’s just a limitation of OLED panels.

Expensive

If you’re planning on buying a QD-OLED ultrawide monitor, chances are you’ll be paying a premium. That’s just the nature of these monitors because of the technology and materials used, and the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 is no different. MSI lists the monitor for $1,099 on its website, but you can grab it for $949 at Walmart U.S. / £999 at Currys U.K. — which saves you $150 in the States.

This is more of a pre-purchase condition and not necessarily a drawback. Many other QD-OLED monitors we’ve tested cost either the same or a little less. For instance, the Alienware AW3423DWF QD-OLED costs $1,099 too, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED retails for $1,199. Heck, even some of MSI’s non-ultrawide monitors, like the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED, cost nearly $1,100. That’s the price of admission for a QD-OLED panel.

Since the X36, at the time of writing, came out only in the first quarter of 2026, we haven’t seen it get any major discounts yet, but it’s worth keeping an eye on Black Friday sales if you don’t want to pay full price.

MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review: Verdict

MSI has knocked it out of the park, once again, with the MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36. This monitor is nothing short of gorgeous, with bright, vivid and accurate colors. Its 34-inch QD-OLED panel makes for an immersive gaming experience, and it’s a productivity powerhouse too. 360Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and actually useful AI features make the X36 a formidable monitor.

The X36 doesn’t take up too much space on your desk either, thanks to its sleek design, and there’s plenty of room for your peripherals and trinkets. Minimal branding also helps the monitor fit right into a professional office environment. If you want to use a second monitor with the X36, you should have no trouble doing so.

Is it worth nearly $1,000, though? I believe so. Not only is the X36 exceptional in real world use, my lab testing showed that it’s just as good on paper too. At the end of the day, the X36 is the crème de la crème of curved monitors.

The Alienware AW2726DM ($349) is something that’s becoming rarer these days: a premium device that won’t break your bank account. Sure, there are similarly-priced or even cheaper gaming monitors out there, but few have all the features you’ll find here.

So what do you get for $349? For starters, a 240Hz refresh rate that helps your games run buttery-smooth, along with a super low 0.03ms response time that offers virtually no lag. The 1440p resolution ensures a clear and sharp image on the 27-inch display, and the OLED panel delivers excellent contrast levels and vivid colors.

Aside from the relatively dim HDR and lack of RGB lighting, you’re not dealing with many trade-offs. The AW2726DM is so good, I’m half tempted to tell you to stop reading here and go out and buy one now. Of course, if you want to know more, then keep reading. Suffice it to say that the AW2726DM is one of the best gaming monitors you can buy — and good enough to find a home in my personal setup.

Alienware AW2726DM review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Alienware AW2726DM is a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor featuring a 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and a 1440p resolution.
• Who is it for? For anyone who wants a decent-sized and feature-rich gaming monitor that’s extremely affordable.
• What does it cost? The Alienware AW2726DM costs $349 and is available now on Dell’s website.
• What do we like? We like the affordable price, vibrant image quality, small footprint, and its host of gamer-friendly features.
• What don’t we like? We don’t like the relatively dim HDR and lack of RGB.

Alienware AW2726DM review: Specs

Alienware AW2726DM review: The ups

The Alienware AW2726DM is a spectacular gaming monitor thanks to its rich feature set and jaw-dropping low price.

Vibrant OLED panel

The OLED panel is the star of the show, especially at this price. At 27 inches, you get just enough space to see everything clearly, even small text. The sharp 2560 x 1440 resolution also helps everything appear nice and sharp, even if it’s half the pixels of a 4K monitor. Thanks to the screen size, you also have enough space to place several open windows or apps.

When I tested Cyberpunk 2077 on the AW2726DM, I was impressed by the richness of the colors and the overall sharp image quality. The holographic fish floating above Night City’s busy financial district, along with the towering buildings and bustling streets, made you feel like you were in the middle of this cyberpunk dystopia.

As you can see in the table above, the AW2726DM delivers oversaturated hues on its standard setting. Color representation (sRGB and DCI-P3) is well above the target 100%, which makes the colors very rich. Color accuracy (0.24) is also quite strong. The numbers don’t lie, this monitor delivers some truly vivid colors.

The Alienware AW2726DM has 11 display modes. This includes modes dedicated to game genres like FPS, RPG, and Sports. The modes are only slightly different from one another, depending on their function. If you’re not happy with any of the preset modes, the “custom color” option allows you to create one from scratch.

Understated design

The Alienware AW2726DM has an understated all-black design that makes it look more like a standard monitor than a gaming device. While it won’t draw attention when you’re using it around others, I personally love its simple, elegant chassis.

The 27-inch monitor rests on a sturdy 8.80-inch stand that doesn’t take up much space on your desk. Since the stand is flat, you’re able to place items like a game controller or phone to keep your desk even tidier. The bearing ring on the base of the stand lets you turn the entire thing 360 degrees.

It’s easy to move the monitor up or down 5.2 inches along the shaft’s stand with minimal force. You can also rotate the display a full 90 degrees if you need it to be vertical. The display tilts 5 degrees forward and 21 degrees backward. All of this lets you achieve your desired viewing angle.

Lastly, there's the port selection, which includes a pair of HDMI ports, a lone DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Reaching the ports is easy since you can turn the monitor 360 degrees on its base. While the port selection isn't extensive, you get the bare basics.

Excellent performance

The AW2726DM delivers phenomenal performance thanks to its buttery-smooth 240Hz refresh rate and fast 0.03ms response time. Keep in mind, those are features you usually get with more expensive gaming monitors. Compatibility with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync also helps deliver smooth gaming performance.

For my testing, I had the AW2726DM connected to the new Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop packing an Intel Core Ultra 9 “Panther Lake” CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 mobile GPU, and 32GB of RAM. You don’t need such a powerful gaming laptop or gaming PC for Alienware’s monitor, but that type of rig can help you utilize it to its full potential.

Cyberpunk 2077 ran like a dream thanks to the 240Hz refresh rate. I also didn’t notice input lag since the response time is a low 0.03ms. Professional gamers who are used to playing on something like the Alienware AW2524H with its insane 500Hz refresh rate might notice a difference, but average gamers like myself won’t. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed by the AW2726DM’s performance.

Clean interface

The Alienware AW2726DM has the same basic interface as other Alienware gaming monitors I’ve reviewed, such as the Alienware AW3425DW.

The user interface maintains its familiar look, featuring a black-and-gray background contrasted with blue-and-white text. Despite the extensive array of options, including display modes and various lighting adjustments, the clean layout ensures that navigating the settings is straightforward.

The OSD joystick used for sorting through menus is very responsive and easy to reach. Its flat, concave top allows you to have a firm hold as you’re clicking through the menus.

Alienware AW2726DM review: The downs

You’re getting fantastic value with the Alienware AW2726DM, but some compromises were made to keep its price affordable.

Not the brightest OLED

This is an issue with virtually all OLED gaming monitors I’ve ever reviewed, but the AW2726DM doesn’t deliver overly bright HDR. In fact, SDR brightness is overall dim across its various display modes.

As you can see above, the HDR brightness is about 340 nits at 10% of the display, so you do get good contrast between dark and light elements. Still, don’t expect eye-scorching levels of brightness even in the dedicated HDR modes. SDR brightness is also lower than the competition.

While I wish the display got brighter, you won’t exactly be squinting when using the monitor. Our office is pretty well lit, but the monitor’s lighting was suitable for the environment. I imagine it would look just right in my comparatively darker apartment.

No RGB

Alienware and RGB lighting are pretty synonymous, so it’s interesting that the AW2726DM has no RGB lighting of any kind. Even the Alienware logo on the back remains dark.

The lack of RGB isn’t a big deal for me since I’m neither for nor against it. And even if there were some RGB lighting on the back, it’s not like I’d be able to see it when I’m in front of the display. However, if you do like RGB, you might be disappointed.

Alienware AW2726DM review: Verdict

On its own, the Alienware AW2726DM is a brilliant gaming monitor that ticks all the right boxes for picture quality and performance. The fact that it only costs $349 just makes it all the better, especially during a time when gaming devices are becoming so expensive.

While you’re not getting bright HDR or RGB lighting, the AW2726DM’s faults are easy to overlook given its generous asking price. If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming den with a new or extra monitor, don’t pass up on this one. Right now, it’s the best value gaming monitor out there. As I said in the headline, it's so good that I'm buying two for myself!

The Alienware AW2726DM is the gaming monitor we need right now. With RAMageddon driving up the price of electronics, a $349 device that’s so feature-rich is almost miraculous. Yes, there are similar monitors out there, but none offer this kind of bang for your buck.

I’ve been testing the new Alienware monitor for a week after first seeing it at a press event, and it’s been a revelation. You get a sharp 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED panel with a smooth 240Hz refresh rate and an ultra-low 0.03ms response time. Thanks to those specs, everything looks and runs like a dream. The fact that there are virtually no compromises for the price is wild.

I’ll have my full Alienware AW2726DM review for you soon. Right now, here’s why this affordable gaming monitor has won me over and why I’m ready to buy at least two of them for my own home setup.

Display

Naturally, the star of the show is the display.

While I’m slightly more partial to 34-inch monitors, I won’t say no to a more compact 27-inch display — especially when it looks this good. This size helps the 2560 x 1440 resolution look sharp and lets you clearly see everything on the screen. For work, you also get plenty of space to comfortably keep several windows open.

Cyberpunk 2077 ran buttery-smooth on this monitor, thanks to the 240Hz refresh rate. I also didn’t notice input lag, since the response time is a low 0.03ms. I’ve only seen that on much more expensive monitors. Unless you’re a professional gamer who needs an even higher refresh rate, you won’t be disappointed with the performance.

There are nine main display modes, and each delivers generally oversaturated colors that make games look vibrant. You can see a handful of the modes in the table above for reference.

HDR brightness isn’t all that bright, but that’s something I’ve come to expect from OLED gaming monitors. As you can see above, the brightness is about 340 nits at 10% of the display, so you do get good contrast between dark and light elements. Still, don’t expect eye-scorching levels of brightness even in the dedicated HDR modes.

Design

Since the Alienware AW2726DM is a 27-inch gaming monitor, it’s easy to find a spot for it in just about any gaming or office setup. I’ve been using it at the office, and no one has caught on that it’s a gaming monitor.

The square 8.80-inch stand provides sturdy support. Its flat design lets you easily place items like your phone or an extra controller on it, helping keep your desk tidy. You can glide the monitor 5.2 inches along the stand’s shaft, rotate it 90 degrees, and tilt it 5/21 degrees. There’s also a bearing ring on the base that lets you turn the entire thing 360 degrees.

The monitor has a simple, all-black design that I quite like. There’s an understated Alienware logo on the right side, but nothing else beyond that. One concern is that there is no RGB lighting, even for the logo. I personally don’t mind this since I’m somewhat neutral on RGB lighting, but it’s worth noting as one of the few trade-offs.

Alienware AW2726DM Outlook

I still need to test more games before rendering my final verdict, but given what you get for the price, I can already see the Alienware AW2726DM finding a spot on our best gaming monitors guide. You get a sharp, vivid display with excellent performance in an easy-to-manage design. It ticks all the right boxes.

At the risk of undermining my own review, I say just go out and buy the Alienware AW2726DM now. As I said, I’m seriously considering buying a pair for myself. That price is extremely enticing. But if you’d rather wait for my full review before pulling the trigger, keep it locked here. Stay tuned!

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I’ve tried out a lot of different multi-monitor configurations over the years, from standard dual-monitor setups to stacked displays and even a triple monitor setup that completely wrapped around my desk. However, I never thought I’d see the day that I’d have not one, but two of Apple’s Studio Displays side by side.

At $1,599 for the standard Studio Display and $3,299 for the new Studio Display XDR, Apple’s monitors are certainly an investment and are geared more towards professionals than the average person. In fact, they’re one of the most expensive options you can get, even among the best monitors.

Back when I reviewed the Mac mini M4, Apple sent over a Studio Display for me to use as my daily driver. It has served me well since, and I still find myself admiring its design and build quality. Recently though, I had a chance to review the upgraded Studio Display XDR.

Featuring a faster 120Hz refresh rate and Apple’s first-ever Mini-LED panel in a standalone display, the XDR is a sight to behold. Once that review was finished, I realized I had both monitors in my office at the same time. Naturally, I decided to put them side by side to compare them — and I simply couldn’t bring myself to break down the highest resolution (and most expensive) dual-monitor setup I’ve ever assembled.

Here’s what it’s been like using dual Studio Displays for a week, and how the stark differences between the two led to a realization that has me completely rethinking what I look for in a monitor.

Not quite a fair comparison

Although they might look identical at first glance, there are some major differences between the original Studio Display and Apple’s new Studio Display XDR. Released back in 2022, the first-generation Studio Display features a 60Hz LED panel with 600 nits of brightness. Under the hood, it’s rocking an A13 Bionic chip — the same one found in the iPhone 11 series and the iPhone SE (2nd gen) — paired with 64GB of onboard storage.

While somewhat dated now, these specs remain impressive as standard monitors aren’t powered by mobile chips, nor do they come equipped with their own internal storage. Most built-in monitor speakers are basic 5W units, but here you get a six-speaker array. While Apple keeps the exact wattage close to its chest, the total output is estimated to be in the 40W to 60W range.

Apple has given the Studio Display XDR a host of upgrades beyond its new Mini-LED panel. For starters, it’s now powered by an A19 Pro chip (the one from the iPhone 17 Pro series), and the internal storage has been doubled to 128GB. Another big change I’m particularly fond of is that the tilt- and height-adjustable stand is now the default, rather than an expensive optional add-on.

Around back is where things really get interesting. Instead of a trio of standard USB-C ports, the Studio Display XDR features a downstream Thunderbolt 5 port in addition to its upstream one. The upstream port lets you easily connect and charge one of the best MacBooks with a single cable, while the downstream port makes using multiple displays even easier.

You see, you can daisy-chain them by plugging a second monitor into that downstream Thunderbolt 5 port instead of running another cable back to your Mac. This makes getting a Studio Display-powered dual-monitor setup up and running much simpler. Much to my surprise, I was able to pull this off with the Studio Display XDR on the right and the original Studio Display on the left.

With the technical testing out of the way, curiosity got the better of me. It was time to see what running dual Studio Displays would feel like, and how working on what is effectively a 10K horizontal workspace would affect my workflow.

Living side by side

Since the original Studio Display that Apple sent over only has a tilt adjustable stand, I had to lower the height of the Studio Display XDR to match it. Then, to tie the two together and to illuminate my workspace, I put the BenQ Screenbar Halo 2 between them. It’s a fantastic monitor light bar in its own right. However, while BenQ did add a cutout at its base so you can use it with the Studio Display without blocking the monitor’s built-in webcam, I really like how I used it to close the miniscule gap between the two displays for good.

Naturally, I’m using a trackball mouse for this desk setup alongside one of the best mechanical keyboards. The premium build of the Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K felt like a natural fit — especially with a Magic Trackpad sitting next to it — to round things out. To say I was impressed with how everything turned out is an understatement; I felt a similar magic sitting at my desk as I did back when Steve Jobs pulled the first MacBook Air out of a manila envelope.

Now that I had the original Studio Display and the new Studio Display XDR next to each other without so much as a slight gap between them, it was time to put this new desk setup to the test. I’m a big multitasker as is and prefer an ultrawide monitor for maximum screen real estate but this immediately felt like overkill.

One thing I love about the Studio Display’s 5K resolution is that it provides enough room for two full-sized apps — or in my case, Chrome windows — side by side. With a Studio Display on each side, I bumped that up from two to four. To be honest, it almost felt like using Chrome’s new Split Tabs feature, albeit without any extra right-clicking.

Now if both of these Studio Displays had VESA mounting brackets around back (a paid add-on with the original but standard with the XDR), I would have used one of the best monitor arms instead. Since they didn’t, I kept the two monitors side by side and this worked out as I didn’t have to pick up another monitor light bar or choose between placing it on top of either display.

As I went about my workday responding to messages on Slack, jumping on video calls and writing stories, it wasn’t the Studio Display XDR’s Mini-LED panel that stood out to me the most. Instead, it was another optional upgrade or the lack thereof on my original Studio Display that made a massive difference.

Stuck between glare and glow

When I first had the chance to try out a Studio Display, I was so excited that Apple was sending over a Mac mini M4 that I didn’t even think to ask about the monitor's specifics. As such, I ended up with a tilt-adjustable stand instead of a height-adjustable one. This was easily rectified with a desk shelf, though.

Over the course of using and photographing the original Studio Display for my Mac mini M4 review, one thing became abundantly clear: this monitor was glossy — almost too glossy.

Now don’t get me wrong, glossy displays certainly have their place. They’re better suited for dark rooms, like a living room where you’re not constantly dealing with ambient light. This makes blacks look deeper and inkier, but it also makes colors appear more saturated so that they pop off the screen. This is one of the main reasons the best TVs tend to feature glossy panels over matte ones.

I first used the original Studio Display in my living room where there’s a lot of natural light before bringing it into my office. Now, I do sit facing the window, but since I have another desk setup on the other side of the room, the glow from that computer can often be seen on the Studio Display’s panel. I notice this most when trying to take pictures, as I consider glare on a screen a non-starter for a great photo. However, it does bother me during the workday, too.

With the Studio Display XDR, I didn’t have a say in the configuration as it arrived on my doorstep while I was technically off for the week. I have to give credit to my team on this one; they requested a review unit with Apple’s nano-texture glass as opposed to its standard — and very glossy — glass.

Now I tried out a QD-OLED display back when I reviewed the MSI MPG 321URXW but I have to admit, this was my first foray with a Mini-LED panel. Sure, it was a lot brighter and the contrast was much improved over that of a standard LED display. However, the biggest and most noticeable difference between these two monitors, at least for me, was their finish.

To give you an idea of the difference between Apple’s standard glass and its $300 extra nano-texture glass, I held up a portable LED video light and pointed it at the two displays. As you can see in the picture above, you can make out the individual LEDs on the original Studio Display on the left but you can’t see a trace of them on the Studio Display XDR on the right.

I know $300 is a lot when you’re already paying $1,599 or $3,299 for one of Apple’s monitors, but having seen both glass options side by side, I’d easily pay extra if I were buying one of my own. Yes, the glossy standard glass still looks great. However, unless you’re only working at night or have invested in some serious blackout curtains, the glare on this premium monitor is enough to take me out of my workflow.

Although I really enjoyed working at a desk with dual Studio Displays, this experiment taught me something about myself. Previously, I spent years thinking glossy was the be all and end all when it came to premium monitors. Just like having a higher resolution, it was the kind of feature I’d seek out before deciding on one monitor over another. Now though, after seeing a glossy and matte display side by side, I think I’d pick the latter every time.

A matte believer

Sometimes when it comes to picking one technology over another, things start small and then quickly escalate. That’s exactly what happened to me — first with a tablet and now with a monitor.

Last year in Taiwan, just as I was about to head home, the Tom’s Guide computing team took a trip to the biggest electronics market in Taipei. While there, I stumbled upon one of TCL’s tablets and had a chance to try out the company’s NXTPAPER tech for myself.

I pulled up the Tom’s Guide home page and, much to my surprise, when I went to take a photo of it, there wasn’t a hint of glare even though I was in a brightly lit mall with harsh overhead lighting.

Much like Apple’s nano-texture glass, the tablet had a matte display that left an impression on me instantly, and not because it had a massive 14-inch screen. Then at the end of last year, TCL sent that tablet along with its NXTPAPER 11 Plus for me to check out. As it turns out, it wasn’t a one-off. Instead, without really giving it a second thought, I had become a matte believer.

Now, after trying Apple’s Studio Display XDR with the nano-texture glass option, I’m ready to ditch all my glossy screens. Think of it like how once you get one of the best OLED TVs, that old IPS monitor has got to go. In fact, I found myself salivating over a TV with a matte display at Costco just last weekend.

The Studio Display XDR is a massive upgrade over the original thanks to its improved specs and, of course, its new Mini-LED panel. However, if you’re considering picking one up for yourself — or even a second-gen, standard Studio Display — you owe it to yourself to at least see one with nano-texture glass before deciding between the two. Who knows? You just might be as impressed with its matte display as I am.

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The Apple Studio Display XDR (starting at $3,299 / AU$5,499) is a massive upgrade over the original and is easily the best monitor the company has made yet. By merging its Pro line with its consumer-oriented Studio Display, Apple has managed to give creative professionals the best of both worlds in a familiar form factor.

Unlike the larger Pro Display XDR at 32 inches, the new Studio Display XDR is a 27-inch, 5K monitor that looks almost identical to the standard Studio Display. However, the monitor’s new Mini-LED panel is the star of the show, delivering an impressive 2,000 nits of brightness and much deeper blacks.

The other big upgrade with the refreshed Studio Display and this new XDR model is Thunderbolt 5 support. In addition to an upstream Thunderbolt 5 port, you also get a downstream port for daisy-chaining multiple Studio Display XDR monitors or connecting premium accessories like high-speed, external SSDs.

The Studio Display XDR delivers on the visual front, but its six internal speakers and 12MP webcam have also received a significant upgrade. Powered by the A19 Pro chip found in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the camera now supports native Desk View, while the redesigned speakers offer 30% deeper bass.

However, some old frustrations remain: you can still only connect one Mac at a time, and you’re paying a $1,700 premium over the standard model for that 120Hz ProMotion panel with Mini-LED backlighting. To soften the blow, Apple finally includes the tilt and height-adjustable stand — or a VESA adapter — free of charge.

My Studio Display XDR review will help you decide if this premium monitor is the right display for your needs or if you’re better off leaving Apple’s ecosystem for a cheaper option with similar specs.

Apple Studio Display XDR: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A 27-inch, 5K Mini-LED monitor for creative workflows and productivity.
• Who is it for? Creators and other professionals who want Apple’s best monitor yet and are willing to pay a premium for it.
• What does it cost? The Studio Display XDR costs $3,299 / AU$5,499 for the standard glass model or $3,599 / AU$5,999 for the one with Apple’s nano-texture glass. Both come with a tilt and height-adjustable stand included.
• What do we like? The stunning Mini-LED panel with deeper blacks, the smoother 120Hz refresh rate, the Thunderbolt 5 port for daisy-chaining displays or for external storage, the wider camera and Desk View support, and how Apple now includes a height-adjustable stand with the monitor.
• What don’t we like? That the Studio Display XDR still only has one input port, its higher price, and how there’s only one size option.

Apple Studio Display XDR: Specs

Apple Studio Display XDR: The ups

The Studio Display XDR is a massive upgrade over the standard model, featuring a 120Hz Mini-LED panel and Thunderbolt 5 support. However, it’s the way these high-end internals work together that makes the monitor truly shine.

XDR but in a familiar design

At 24.5 x 18.8 x 8.4 inches with a 27-inch display and an all-aluminum design, the Studio Display XDR is almost identical to the original Studio Display at first glance. This might come as a bit of a shock to Pro Display XDR users who prefer that monitor’s larger screen, but at 27 inches, the Studio Display XDR is the ideal size for most people and will easily fit on any desk.

Around back, this new monitor still has the same hard-wired power cable since it’s too thin to accommodate a detachable one. You aren’t limited to a tilt-only stand, though, and instead, you can choose between a tilt and height-adjustable one or a VESA mount adapter at checkout. Both options are included in the price and no longer cost an extra $400 like they do with the standard Studio Display.

The only other big visual difference between the two is that the Studio Display XDR is slightly thicker with a larger grill across the top of the monitor. This helps keep the A19 Pro chip and the rest of its internals cool.

The Studio Display XDR isn’t a radical departure from the original but rather another member of the new Studio Display family. Instead, it’s what's inside that sets this monitor apart.

A more versatile Thunderbolt

Around back is where things begin to look a bit different. While Apple’s first Studio Display had a single Thunderbolt 3 port and three high-speed USB-C ports, the Studio Display XDR bumps the monitor’s lone upstream port to Thunderbolt 5.

Capable of transferring data at up to 120 Gb/s, this Thunderbolt 5 port delivers even more power. In fact, with 140W of passthrough charging (vs 96W on the original), the Studio Display XDR is powerful enough to fast-charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

While I would have preferred a second input around back, Apple gave us the next best thing by swapping one of those high-speed USB-C ports with a downstream Thunderbolt 5 one.

In addition to connecting external hard drives and other Thunderbolt-powered accessories, you can also use this downstream port to connect a second Studio Display XDR and drive both monitors with a single cable connected to your MacBook.

If you’re considering upgrading, it’s worth noting that the Studio Display XDR requires you to have macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 or later installed. Likewise, only the following Macs and iPads with Apple Silicon are compatible with this new display:

• 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021 and later)
• 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021 and later)
• 13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020 and later)
• 15-inch MacBook Air (2023 and later)
• 13-inch MacBook Air (M1, 2020 and later)
• Mac Studio (2022 and later)
• Mac mini (2020 and later)
• Mac Pro (2023 and later)
• 24-inch iMac (2021 and later)iPad Pro (M4 and M5)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd–6th generation)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st–4th generation)
• iPad Air (M2, M3, and M4)
• iPad Air (5th generation)

It’s also worth noting that Macs with M1, M2, or base M3 chips — as well as most iPads — are limited to a 60Hz refresh rate on this monitor. To use 120Hz ProMotion, you’ll need an M4 or M5 series chip or an M2/M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra chip.

Smoother, brighter, and deeper

From the instant I plugged the new Studio Display XDR into my Mac mini M4, Apple’s decision to go with a Mini-LED panel with a faster refresh rate over a standard IPS LED one made a huge difference. After turning its refresh rate up to 120Hz, my mouse cursor glided more smoothly across its screen, and scrolling up and down web pages felt and looked better, too.

You don’t have to leave the refresh rate at 120Hz, though, as the Studio Display XDR also supports an adaptive refresh rate that goes from 47 to 120Hz depending on the task at hand.

In the Displays page in the Settings menu, you also have several new color presets to pick from, including a native Adobe RGB one as well as specialized ones for HDR photography and even Medical Imaging (DICOM).

Watching videos on the Studio Display XDR is equally impressive. In the 2025 live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon, Toothless with his all-black scales really stood out against the 2,304 local dimming zones. Likewise, when I watched the latest trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the colors really popped as Mario and Princess Peach looked up at the sky from Peach’s Castle.

Now, if I had a more powerful Mac, I’m sure gaming at 120Hz on the Studio Display XDR would be awesome. Given I only had a Mac mini M4 to test this new display, though, I fired up the original Bioshock and even then, the underwater city of Rapture was a sight to behold.

The same was true when I looked at pre-edited photos in Preview and touched up a few images in GIMP.

Inching closer to an all-in-one

Just like on the new MacBook Neo, the Studio Display XDR features one of Apple’s mobile chips inside. In fact, this monitor is technically faster than that new budget MacBook, as the company’s A19 Pro chip (as opposed to the A18 Pro) handles all of the image processing for its 12MP Center Stage camera.

With an A19 Pro chip under the hood, the Studio Display XDR’s built-in webcam is more capable at producing a cleaner image in low light. However, it’s also what allows you to use Apple’s Desk View feature natively, without having to mount an iPhone on top of your monitor.

At the same time, the A19 Pro serves as a dedicated audio processor. It manages the Studio Display XDR’s six-speaker array to deliver 30% deeper bass by using computational audio. In my testing, audio sounded great both while watching videos and playing games, and the built-in mics were crystal clear during our Monday morning video call.

The $3,299 price tag can certainly be a shock, but when you factor in that the Studio Display XDR essentially has the "brain" of an iPhone 17 Pro Max inside, powering its smart features, that higher price starts to make a bit more sense.

Apple Studio Display XDR: The downs

The Studio Display XDR is a big step up over the original and even beats the Pro Display XDR in some ways. However, many of the same grievances with the original remain, including the fact that you still can’t connect more than one Mac or computer at a time.

Still just a single input

Before the Studio Display XDR was announced, I hoped Apple would upgrade its connectivity and not just the monitor’s panel. While Cupertino did give us a second, downstream Thunderbolt 5 port, I was hoping it would break free from the "one cable" mentality and give us a second upstream port too. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here.

While you can easily connect and charge one of the best MacBooks using a single cable, what if you have more than one Mac? For instance, you might use a MacBook Pro on the go and have a Mac mini or even a Mac Studio at home. In that case, instead of switching between the two on the display itself, you have to unplug the Thunderbolt 5 cable from one and plug it into the other.

If you mainly use Apple computers, you can use your MacBook wirelessly alongside a Mac Studio or Mac mini via Universal Control. However, if you have to use one of the best Windows laptops for work, you’re out of luck when it comes to seamless multitasking.

While the XDR will display a Windows signal, the lack of a second input or a built-in KVM switch means you’re stuck playing "musical cables" every time you want to switch devices.

One size might not fit all

Don’t get me wrong, a 27-inch display is perfect for most people. However, creative professionals like video editors working with lots of clips and long timelines can definitely benefit from a larger monitor.

Going from the 32-inch Pro Display XDR down to the 27-inch Studio Display XDR might be hard for pro users. Sure, you’re getting a better and brighter display, but you’re also losing five inches of screen real estate and dropping from 6K to 5K resolution at the same time.

I would have liked the Studio Display XDR to retain that larger 32-inch screen size, but I understand why Apple decided to consolidate this new monitor into the more popular 27-inch frame. At least you can easily connect two Studio Display XDRs with a single Thunderbolt 5 cable for an almost ultrawide experience using Apple’s displays — though that setup will set you back a staggering $6,598.

Priced like a Pro

At $3,299 — or $3,599 with nano-texture glass — the Studio Display XDR is certainly an investment. While it is $1,700 cheaper than the now-discontinued Pro Display XDR, the price jump from the standard $1,599 model is massive. You are essentially paying the price of a second monitor for the privilege of having Mini-LED and ProMotion.

At the same time, the Studio Display XDR’s higher price might have you considering non-Apple alternatives. The ASUS ProArt PA32QCV ($1,299) is a compelling option for those who miss the 32-inch screen size, offering 6K resolution and a built-in KVM switch for half the price. Meanwhile, the BenQ MA270S ($999) matches Apple’s 27-inch 5K resolution and even allows you to control brightness and volume directly from your MacBook keyboard.

There are some trade-offs when leaving the Apple ecosystem — you lose the 2,000-nit peak brightness, the "Edge Light" features, and the 120Hz fluidity. But if you value sheer screen real estate or budget over perfect interoperability, I’d recommend looking into these alternatives before paying over $3K for the new Studio Display XDR.

Apple Studio Display XDR: Verdict

The Apple Studio Display XDR is the upgrade we’ve been waiting for — featuring a brighter, more responsive Mini-LED panel and significantly faster Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

You also get improved speakers, a wider field of view from the built-in webcam, and, for the first time on an Apple monitor, native Desk View functionality powered by the A19 Pro chip. I also appreciate that the tilt- and height-adjustable stand is included in the base price rather than being a hidden $400 upgrade.

The Studio Display XDR isn’t perfect, though. The fact that you’re still limited to one upstream port remains a major hurdle for multi-device setups, and the 27-inch screen size may feel like a step down for those coming from the 32-inch Pro Display XDR. Then again, for creative professionals with a smaller workspace, this consolidated form factor could be a welcome change.

If you’re looking for the best monitor Apple has to offer and have a compatible Mac capable of taking full advantage of its 120Hz ProMotion panel, the Studio Display XDR is a worthwhile investment. It’s a powerhouse that will handle any creative workload you can throw at it — and look better than anything else on your desk while doing it.

Apple has continued its March event announcements by unveiling a pair of new displays designed to pair with the best MacBooks and the Mac mini. The new Studio Display is an upgrade to the Studio Display (2024), while the all-new Studio Display XDR takes the place of the Pro Display XDR as Apple's professional-grade monitor option.

First launched back in 2022, Apple’s 27-inch 5K monitor has long been one of the best monitors you can buy for the Mac mini M4. The new model, refreshed for 2026, includes a 12MP Center Stage camera with improved image quality and support for Desk View, a studio-quality three-microphone array, and an immersive six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio.

Apple has also added Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, providing more downstream connectivity for high-speed accessories or daisy-chaining displays. This new version starts at $1,599 and Apple is starting pre-orders for it tomorrow, March 4 with general availability starting on March 11.

Meet the Studio Display XDR

Alongside the revamped Studio Display, Apple has also announced the Studio Display XDR, which it calls the "world's best pro display."

The 27-inch 5K Retina XDR display features an advanced mini-LED backlight with over 2,000 local dimming zones, up to 1000 nits of SDR brightness, and 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness. Like its sibling, it includes a 12MP Center Stage camera, three-microphone, six-speaker sound system and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

Designed for workflows like HDR video editing or 3D rendering, Studio Display XDR boasts a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, P3 and Adobe RGB wide color gamuts and a 120Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync.

"Studio Display XDR is a huge leap forward for XDR technology, with a mini-LED backlight, 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness, advanced color accuracy, and a 120Hz refresh rate, transforming workflows like filmmaking, design and print, and 3D animation," said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. "It’s by far the world’s best pro display.”

All that power comes at a cost, and Studio Display XDR with its tilt- and height-adjustable stand starts at $3,299. Like the regular Studio Display, it is available in standard or nano-texture glass options, and can be pre-ordered starting tomorrow, March 4, with availability beginning Wednesday, March 11.

More from Tom's Guide

• MacBook Air M5 revealed: Price, release date and all the upgrades
• MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max announced — price, release date, specs and more
• iPad Air M4: The 3 biggest upgrades for Apple's new tablet

Instead of a full-on keynote presentation, Apple has a “big week ahead” of it starting today with three days of back-to-back product announcements.

From various leaks and rumors, we already have a good idea of what you can expect to see. From a low-cost MacBook that could launch in colorful new designs to more powerful, M5-powered MacBook Air and Pro models, there will be quite a few new Apple computers unveiled.

Likewise, on the mobile front, we’re likely getting a brand new standard iPad as well as an upgraded iPad Air with a new chipset. Not to be outdone by the long-awaited, more affordable iPad, Apple will likely also be showing off the new iPhone 17e.

All of these announcements are enough to get any Apple fan excited, but as a desktop user, I’m most looking forward to an updated Studio Display. First launched back in 2022, Apple’s 27-inch 5K monitor has long been one of the best monitors you can buy for the Mac mini M4. However, in 2026, it’s beginning to look a bit long in the tooth, especially as displays from LG, Samsung, and others keep adding new features.

While I don’t know whether or not we will see a Studio Display 2 at next week’s Apple event, here are the upgrades I want to see most as someone who’s been using the original Studio Display for over a year now.

A detachable power cable

When I first unboxed the Apple Studio Display, I almost gasped. Sure, it was a gorgeous, premium monitor that was packaged incredibly well, but I wasn’t expecting to see a hardwired power cable jutting out from the back. Instead, this is the kind of design decision I’d expect to find on one of the best budget TVs.

So why does the Studio Display have a non-detachable power cable? At just 1.2 inches at its thickest point, the standard port used by monitors with built-in power supplies is just too big. While it could have made the Studio Display slightly thicker to accommodate this port, Apple decided to just make the power cord a permanent fixture instead.

A detachable power cable on the Studio Display 2 would be an instant upgrade in my opinion. You’d have a bit more flexibility when setting up the display, and if you needed a longer cable, you could purchase one separately. How would Apple pull this off without making the Studio Display 2 thicker? Easily, by using a USB-C port and a GaN (Gallium Nitride) charger. This would solve both issues, and with a max power draw of around 170 to 180W, USB-C PD 3.1 (which supports up to 240W) would do the trick nicely.

Multiple sizes

Don’t get me wrong, 27 inches is almost the perfect size for a monitor. Neither too big nor too small, it’s really the sweet spot for most desk setups, and with a 5K resolution, you can easily have two windows open side by side while working. However, if we have a standard, Pro, and Pro Max iPhone, why can’t it be the same for Apple’s monitors?

The current Studio Display features a 27-inch panel, but with Studio Display 2, I’d love to see some more size options. Now I wouldn’t get rid of the 27-inch version as it really is the best for most people. But for those that want a slightly bigger screen — say for scrubbing through the timeline in Final Cut Pro — a 32-inch Studio Display 2 would be perfect. That way, those looking for a larger display wouldn’t have to leave the Apple ecosystem for a monitor from LG, Samsung, BenQ, or MSI.

A modular stand

With the current Studio Display, you can get either a Tilt-only stand, a Tilt-and-Height stand, or a VESA mount at the back if you’d rather use one of the best monitor arms. However, once you make this decision, you’re locked in. None of Apple’s monitor stands are user-replaceable. Instead, if you’re tired of craning your neck down to look at your monitor, you’ll need to drive to your nearest Apple Store and have one of the company’s certified technicians do the swap for you.

Given how much Apple likes to talk about health with the Apple Watch and its Apple Fitness app, you’d figure ergonomics would be at the top of its list when it comes to adding new features to its products. With the Studio Display 2, I’d love to be able to swap out its stand or be able to put it on a monitor arm all on my own. Even if the optional monitor stands were still priced at a premium, at least that would save me an awkward trip to the mall with a very expensive monitor under my arm.

More than one video input

With a premium monitor like the Studio Display, I thought I’d be able to have two computers connected at the same time, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. Though I usually have it connected to my Mac mini M4, when I reviewed the Khadas Mind 2S, which has a Thunderbolt 4 port on the back, I tried plugging it into Apple’s monitor, and it worked. The problem, though, I couldn’t have both mini PCs connected at the same time, as the Studio Display only has one upstream Thunderbolt 3 port.

Since you might have a Mac mini or a Mac Studio at home and use one of the best MacBooks for work, wouldn’t it be great to be able to connect them both to your monitor at the same time? I get why Apple didn’t put any HDMI or DisplayPort connections on the back of the Studio Display, as Thunderbolt gives you that magical one cable experience to charge and for video output. However, I’d love to see a second upstream port on the Studio Display 2. That way, you could use a desktop and a laptop with the same monitor without having to unplug either.

A built-in KVM switch

Speaking of using two computers at the same time, another great feature I’d like to see on the Studio Display 2 is a KVM switch. You can find these on a lot of productivity-focused monitors today, and with one, you can use the same mouse and keyboard across multiple computers.

I know Apple is partial to Bluetooth peripherals, but even Logitech still includes 2.4 GHz USB dongles with its MX Master Series devices. The Magic Mouse and its awkward charging port aren’t for anyone, so why not give Studio Display 2 users options?

In addition to a KVM switch, I’d also like to see Windows support on the Studio Display 2. It might not be the first choice for Windows users when picking up a new monitor, but at least everything — like the built-in webcam and microphones — would work properly when connected to one of the best Windows laptops.

HDR support

In recent years, HDR has become a standard feature on the best TVs. With monitors, though, it’s still a bit of a gamble as some will have DisplayHDR 400 on the box, but this just means the display can reach 400 nits of brightness. If you want a monitor with TV-like High Dynamic Range, you’re going to want to get one with HDR 400 True Black.

The current Studio Display doesn’t have HDR, but if Apple is going to add this feature to really make the colors pop on the Studio Display 2, it should do what it does best and take things to the next level. In 2026, DisplayHDR 1000 is considered the gold standard for this tech, and by getting its next monitor up to this level, that would be a 400-nit increase over the current Studio Display’s 600 nits of brightness.

One way Apple could do this is by ditching the IPS LCD panel in the original Studio Display and going with a Mini-LED one instead. In a similar way to OLED, Mini-LED uses localized dimming for improved contrast to make blacks really pop.

Faster refresh rates

The current Studio Display has a refresh rate of just 60Hz, which pales in comparison to the 120Hz on the base iPhone 17. The best gaming monitors can go even faster, with some getting all the way up to 540Hz, though 240Hz is a lot more common. With a monitor equipped with a faster refresh rate, everything just looks clearer, especially when you’re doing things like scrolling or playing games.

With the Studio Display 2, I think 120Hz would be a big enough upgrade. Not only does this put Apple’s next monitor in line with the best iPhones, but it will also make a big difference for creative professionals editing video on a Mac. As most films are still shot at 24 fps, which you can’t divide by 60, there’s a noticeable judder when editing on a 60Hz display. With a 120 Hz one, though, the Studio Display 2 would offer perfectly smooth playback for almost every type of video content.

Likewise, as Mac gaming just keeps getting better and better, wouldn’t it be great to play a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or the newly released Resident Evil Requiem at a higher frame rate?

Studio Display 2 outlook

Whether or not we’ll see a Studio Display 2 next week is still up in the air. However, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has been working on two new Studio Display monitors for quite some time. Four years is a long time to go between major releases, and since the original Studio Display first debuted back in 2022, now is the perfect time for a major refresh, hopefully with some compelling upgrades.

We’ll just have to wait and see, but if a new Studio Display does get announced next week, we’re definitely going to be calling one in for review to put it through the paces. Stay tuned to Tom’s Guide for all the latest Apple news, especially with all of those new product announcements set to start on March 2nd.

More from Tom's Guide

• I used Apple’s $5,000 Pro Display XDR monitor for a month — here's what happened
• I hated the Mac mini M4’s power button until I accidentally proved Apple was right
• I added this accessory to my desk setup and it fixes the biggest downside with Apple’s Studio Display

Impressed by the rich colors, deep blacks and high brightness of the best monitors and best OLED TVs? Well, prepare for the next stage, as Samsung Display has unveiled its latest QD-OLED Penta Tandem tech for TVs and monitors.

Dubbed "a new premium technology" for QD-OLED panels, Penta Tandem aims to deliver sharper picture quality, better efficiency and even higher peak brightness in new-gen TVs and monitors — and it's thanks to adding an extra emitter layer.

But what is it, and how is Penta Tandem gearing up to be the "ultimate choice" for anyone after QD-OLED displays? With the tech it boasts, it's already looking to mark a new standard of visuals, so let's dive in.

What is QD-OLED Penta Tandem?

Fortunately, it's a lot simpler than it may sound. Samsung introduced QD-OLED displays a few years ago, which essentially combines quantum dots (QD) and OLED panels. So, you're getting the deep blacks and pixel-perfect contrast of OLED with the enhanced brightness and expanded color range of QD technology.

Previously, Samsung Display used a four-layer blue-emitting layer as a light source for these quantum dots to show color. But now, as the name suggests, Penta Tandem moves to a five-layer blue light-emitting structure with the latest organic materials.

As Samsung explains it, think of it like a group of people carrying a couch. Four people can handle it, but having an extra person help out means it lightens the load, allowing for greater efficiency and packing on even more weight.

What this all results in is being able to achieve improved peak brightness on higher pixel density displays, or the same brightness as what we see on monitors and TVs today, but with lower power consumption. In fact, with this new tech, it's expected to double the life span of displays.

“Multi-layer organic light-emitting structure is not simply about adding more layers," says Brad Jung, Head of Large Display Marketing Team at Samsung Display. "It requires deep expertise in selecting materials and optimizing their thickness and combinations."

Jung continues: “Penta Tandem, built on nearly five years of QD-OLED mass production experience since 2021, represents the ultimate choice for customers looking to demonstrate the premium value of QD-OLED.”

The next step in QD-OLED

As it turns out, Samsung Display has already put this tech into action, as Penta Tandem can be found in the company's gaming monitors and OLED TVs from 2025. However, the display tech has now been trademarked, so expect to see Penta Tandem in a whole range of displays going forward.

Samsung noted its 27-inch UHD (3840 x 2160) QD-OLED monitor panel, which may be its 27-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED G81SF, comes with Penta Tandem, allowing it to reach 160 pixels per inch (PPI) while still keeping peak brightness. In fact, as Samsung claims, it's one of the only monitors of this size that can offer this.

So, not only can we expect peak brightness of 4,500 nits for TVs and 1,300 nits for monitors as standard with panels using Penta Tandem, but also a VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification being the norm. That means even deeper blacks, and a huge benefit in visuals in everything we watch or play.

As for what's to come, Samsung Display hints that we'll see Penta Tandem in a certain 49-inch dual QHD (5120 x 1440) monitor, which sounds a lot like the mega-sized Samsung Odyssey OLED G9. That's already one of the best gaming monitors you can get, so adding even more to this display is something to look forward to.

Monitors and TVs are only getting better, with LG Display unveiling the world's first OLED monitor with a 720Hz refresh rate, the more affordable OLED SE for TVs and Samsung delivering a wicked-fast 1,040Hz gaming monitor. Now, with its QD-OLED Penta Tandem coming to even more panels, 2026 is looking to be quite a year for displays.

More from Tom's Guide

• Forget OLED TVs — this new laser projector beams a 300-inch image and gives the LG C5 a run for its money
• I’ve been testing Lenovo Legion’s 200Hz QHD monitor for a week — and it 'puts most other budget screens to shame'
• This $499 QD-OLED gaming monitor just restored my faith in Alienware

As someone who has a sedentary job, I spend up to eight hours a day, five days a week, in front of a screen, and I do a lot of photo editing and enjoy gaming in my spare time. This is why I need one of the best monitors. It must be bright, colors must be accurate and it should be able to keep up with demanding games — the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 does just that.

Succeeding the first-gen model, the R27qe Gen 2 is an excellent monitor for a number of reasons. It’s got a 200Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time, making it a great choice for FPS, RPGs and everything in between. Color accuracy and coverage, as well as brightness, don’t give you much to complain about. Plus, the monitor’s height and viewing angles are highly adjustable. But it’s far from perfect, as the lack of built-in speakers and USB ports might prove significant for some.

Should you still buy it? Find out in my full Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 review.

Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 27-inch QHD gaming monitor with a 200Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time
• Who is it for? Gamers who also need a competent monitor for photo editing and work
• How much does it cost? The Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is available for £199
• What do we like? The bright panel, excellent color accuracy and coverage, 200Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time deliver solid gaming performance and height adjustability
• What don’t we like? There aren’t any built-in speakers or USB ports, and the assembly can prove frustrating

Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 review: Specs

Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 review: The ups

From its outstanding color coverage and accuracy to its 200Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time that delivers a lag-free gaming experience, the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is an all-rounder.

Highly adjustable

If you want a monitor that provides various viewing angles, there are few better than the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2. First of all, the monitor sports a minimalist, low-key all-black design with no loud RGB lighting, so if you want to use it for work or in an office, it’ll fit right in. It measures 24.14 x 10.19 x 20.4 inches with the stand and base attached, and it weighs 13lbs, so there’s no need to worry about accidentally knocking it over.

Secondly, it’s highly adjustable. The R27qe Gen 2’s head has a -5° to +22° tilt, 30° left and right swivel, and a -90° to +90° pivot. This means that you don’t need to worry about placing it in a certain position on your desk to get the best viewing angle. For instance, at my office desk, I have another monitor and loads of tech and trinkets lying around. I didn’t have to clear up my desk much to accommodate the R27qe Gen 2, as I was able to simply adjust the head’s angle to my liking.

It’s worth spending on the R27qe Gen 2, especially over its stablemate, the Lenovo L27i-4B ($109), whose height can’t be adjusted at all. With that monitor, you’re limited to a -5~22° angle tilt, and that’s about it.

Vivid colors both on paper and in practice

I love the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2’s TFT LCD panel, which is bright and displays lovely, vibrant colors. This is a QHD (2560 x 1440) display, and if you’re peeved that it isn’t an OLED panel, know that OLED monitors cost a lot more. For instance, the Alienware AW2725D is almost double the price at $499, and some are even as expensive as the $1,099 MSI MPG 272URX.

As QHD monitors go, though, the R27qe Gen 2 is outstanding when it comes to color accuracy and coverage. In my objective lab testing, the R27qe Gen 2 demonstrated a Delta-E score of 0.16. Delta-E basically shows how accurate or close the color on the screen (monitor) is to the color output from the source (laptop). The closer the score to 0, the better and more color-accurate the images, and 0.16 is a strong score. It’s the exact same score as the BenQ PD3226G’s ($1,099), a dedicated photo and video editing monitor.

As you can see in the table above, the R27qe Gen 2 covers 132.2% of the sRGB color gamut, too, which means it covers the entire color spectrum and then some. This lines up with what I saw on screen during testing: colors appeared bright and true to life, and the different hues and shades looked vibrant. The sRGB coverage is similar to the similarly priced Gigabyte G27FC ($229) and better than the Dell 24 S2421HGF ($250).

The last thing I always test is DCI-P3, which is another common color space with a wider overall gamut than sRGB. It paints us a picture of lifelike color, and the R27qe Gen 2 covers 93.7% of it. Even though it’s a little under 100%, it’s still better than both the aforementioned Gigabyte and the Dell. If you want more DCI-P3 coverage, the Alienware AW2525HM ($249) is a great alternative with 105.2% DCI-P3 coverage as well as 148.5% sRGB coverage.

All of these results go to show that the R27qe Gen 2 is an excellent monitor for both gaming and light productivity — and I will discuss both aspects in detail below.

Excellent gaming performance

The Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is, first and foremost, a gaming monitor, and what a great gaming monitor it is. Featuring a 0.5ms response time and 200Hz refresh rate, it delivers a smooth and lag-free experience. With plenty of picture modes to choose from, depending on the genre you’re playing, you can truly tailor your experience to your liking.

While it doesn’t reach 4K resolution, visuals still look stunning on its QHD panel, and the 27-inch screen is just the right size to immerse you without taking up too much space on your desk. Colors on paper, as discussed above, are one thing, and they might appear different in practice. Well, not on the R27qe Gen 2. Regardless of the game I played, I was thoroughly impressed — from dark shadows to bright street lights, each frame packed plenty of detail for me to enjoy.

I kicked things off by playing Cyberpunk 2077 and roaming around the dark streets of Dogtown at nighttime. The R27qe Gen 2 had no issues in ensuring I saw enemies lurking in the shadows, making them appear bright but not fake. Similarly, when the bright neon lights came into view once I exited Dogtown, the colors appeared vibrant but not overwhelming — they looked just right.

Thanks to the 200Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time, I didn’t experience any choppiness while riding my bike at high speeds or during fast-paced combat; there was no ghosting during the game either. Bear in mind that to make use of the 200Hz refresh rate, you’ll need to use the included DisplayPort cable.

I also hooked up my Nintendo Switch 2 just to gauge how the R27qe Gen 2 performed in an animated game like Sonic x Shadow Generations. Again, the game remained free of any motion blur, even while grinding down rails as the red-haired hedgehog, or using Shadow’s Chaos Control powers. The monitor brought all the dark and light shades to life, and honestly, the game has never looked better. The Switch 2’s refresh rate tops at 120Hz when docked, which meant that the R27qe Gen 2 had no problem handling it.

Great for productivity too

Not only is the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 awesome for gaming, it’s great for productivity and work, too, making it a near-perfect monitor for most people. As I mentioned above, color coverage and accuracy are superb, so you shouldn’t have any problems with editing photos and videos, or simply watching movies or YouTube videos in your downtime.

I review the best cameras and the best drones here at Tom’s Guide, and to analyze the image and video quality, I spend a lot of time staring at the finer details on my monitor. The R27qe Gen 2 is more than up to the challenge. I edited a few photos to test it out, and it worked very well. Whether I was looking for minute chromatic aberration around a subject’s edges or color grading, the R27qe Gen 2 didn’t let me down.

Color coverage is bolstered by 10-bit depth, which means it is capable of showing 1.07 billion individual hues. This is crucial (for me, at least) as many cameras and drones capture footage in 10-bit depth, and the R27qe Gen 2 enables me to see the colors exactly as they were captured.

So, so bright

The Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is the brightest monitor I’ve ever had the pleasure of testing or using. As always, I measured SDR and HDR brightness individually in our testing lab, and the results were impressive across the board.

In the table above, I’ve compared the R27qe Gen 2 to other similarly priced monitors (or monitors I have also lab-tested). In the default Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) mode, the R27qe Gen 2 has a brightness of 321.2 nits. That’s very bright — even brighter than the pricier Alienware AW2725D, which tops at 253.8. At brightness turned up to 100% via the monitor’s menu, I could see the screen properly in a well-lit room. No complaints here.

I then measured the High Dynamic Range (HDR) brightness and compared it to the aforementioned monitors. I’ve left the Dell 24 S2421HGF and the Gigabyte G27FC out of the comparison as neither supports HDR. As can be inferred from the table above, the R27qe Gen 2 offers better peak brightness than the Alienware AW2525HM at 10%, 40% and 100%. It pales in comparison to the AW2725D, but that is an OLED display, so it isn’t a fair fight.

Overall, though, the R27qe Gen 2 is an outstanding and bright monitor, and you’ll be able to see everything on screen and read everything without any qualms using it, regardless of the lighting conditions.

Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 review: The downs

The Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is great but not perfect, as it doesn’t feature built-in speakers or USB ports, and its assembly is frustrating.

Not exactly upgrade-worthy

The Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 isn't exactly a massive upgrade over its predecessor. As its name suggests, it’s the second-gen version of the R27qe. If you already own that monitor and are considering upgrading to the R27qe Gen 2, hold your horses.

The first-gen R27qe has the same 2560 x 1440 resolution, WLED backlighting, 0.5ms response time, 10-bit color depth and similar height adjustability. Is there anything different? The R27qe Gen 2 has a 200Hz refresh rate versus 180Hz on its predecessor, and that isn’t a huge difference. Design-wise, Lenovo has moved the buttons from the side to the bottom of the R27qe Gen 2, and has surprisingly chosen to remove the 3.5mm audio out jack. Oh, and the R27qe Gen 2 is available in Europe only — sorry, Americans.

As the rest of my review has shown, the R27qe Gen 2 is in no way a bad monitor. It’s excellent! But it doesn’t pack enough upgrades to justify replacing your existing R27qe — or feeling bad that it isn’t available in the U.S. On the other hand, if you’re a newbie looking for a QHD monitor or are based in Europe, I can’t recommend the R27qe Gen 2 enough, and you can pick one up for £199.

Annoying assembly

The Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is a highly capable, competent monitor, but I’m not a big fan of the assembly process. With all other monitors I’ve tested, assembly is straightforward. The stand slots into the head, and that’s it. This isn’t the case with the Legion R27qe Gen 2. Included in the box are four bolts or screws. To attach the stand to the monitor head, you need to line it up with the holes in the back of the monitor and then screw in the four bolts.

Not only is it more time-consuming, but it’s a fairly finicky process. When I first set up the monitor for our studio photography, I locked in the base first before attaching the stand to the head. Because the base itself is angular and large, I couldn’t line up the head’s and stand’s holes, so I had to remove the base and then do it. A long and unnecessary process.

No built-in speakers

Although not a major drawback, it’s worth noting that the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 doesn’t feature built-in speakers or a 3.5mm jack. This means that you can’t play audio directly through the monitor. The reason I say this isn’t a massive con is because you’ll be using the monitor with a PC, and you can always connect speakers or a headset to your PC for great sound quality.

You are, of course, out of luck if you don’t already own a gaming headset or external speakers. It’ll also be a pain if you want to hook up your console, like a PS5 or a Nintendo Switch 2, to the monitor. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a monitor in this price range not have speakers, as the Alienware AW2525HM doesn’t either.

No USB ports

You should probably consider other monitors if you want an array of onboard I/O ports, as the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 is pretty stripped-back in this area. It features a power port (naturally), two HDMI 2.1 TMDS and one DisplayPort 1.4 ports. There are no USB-A or USB-C downstream ports for your external peripherals, and it means you’ll need to invest in a separate USB hub if you want more connectivity.

I’d recommend the Alienware AW2525HM or the Gigabyte G27FC if you’d like more connectivity. The former of these has a whopping 320Hz refresh rate, making it the better choice for gaming — although the R27qe Gen 2 is still more than capable with its 200Hz refresh rate.

Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2 review: Verdict

Few budget monitors upstage the Lenovo Legion R27qe Gen 2. This is a terrific monitor for gaming, work, productivity, photo editing and everything in between. With a 0.5ms response time and 200Hz refresh rate, it delivers an immersive, lag-free gaming experience across genres — whether that’s an FPS title, an RPG or a racing game. It boasts excellent color coverage and accuracy, too, and the extensive height and viewing angle adjustment make it a winner.

But few things in life are perfect, and the R27qe Gen 2 isn’t one of them. The assembly is frustrating, while the lack of built-in speakers and USB ports may not be for everyone. It isn’t much different from its predecessor either.

However, if you want a QHD monitor that doesn’t compromise on color rendition and gaming performance, and you’re on a budget, you can’t go wrong with the R27qe Gen 2. It’s bright. It’s colorful. It’s speedy. It’s an all-rounder.

I’ve had a rocky history with Dell, the owner of Alienware. Having built my own gaming PCs for over 25 years, I’ve always been skeptical (to say the least) about Dell and Alienware prebuilts — their historically proprietary hardware makes them difficult, if not impossible, to customize.

I’ve also had a tricky time with a Dell monitor in recent times, which I had to send off for replacement no less than three times, with all subsequent replacements sent to me under warranty turning up damaged.

As you can no doubt understand, I’d vowed not to use another Dell-made monitor for a while. Then the Alienware AW2725D dropped on my desk (metaphorically) for testing, and I rather quickly realized my own words needed eating.

I’ve been testing this 280Hz QD-OLED 27-inch gaming monitor for around two months now, and it’s handled everything I’ve thrown at it: work, gaming, production, you name it. I think this is one of the best gaming monitors you can buy in the mid-range price bracket. Read my full Alienware AW2725D review to find out why.

Alienware AW2725D review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A mid-range 1440p QD-OLED gaming monitor
• Who is it for? Gamers (...duh), although it’ll suit some light production too
• What does it cost? $499 / £509
• What’s good? The beautiful QD-OLED panel, speedy performance, vibrant and accurate colors, and strong contrast
• What’s not? Not a lot, although I wish it had more ports and built-in speakers

Alienware AW2725D review: Specs

Alienware AW2725D review: The ups

From its beautiful 27-inch QD-OLED panel, through to its high 280Hz refresh rate, premium design and suitability for tasks beyond gaming, this is an excellent mid-range display.

Beautiful QD-OLED panel

The Alienware AW2725D features a 1440p QD-OLED panel, which is frankly gorgeous. You can also buy the 27-inch monitor in different sizes, from 25 inches up to 34 inches; and different resolutions, from 1080p to 4K. Naturally, this affects price, as well as refresh rate, with the 27-34-inch 4K models topping out at 240Hz instead of the 1440p’s 280Hz refresh rate.

Given my desk setup and the games I play, 1440p at 27-inches is the sweet spot for me. 27-inches is wide enough for a fairly immersive experience, while also avoiding me having to turn my head to see different ends of the display. That said, if you want a truly immersive experience, an ultra-wide display like the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 ($1,199) is where you’ll want to look.

I find 1440p is plenty of resolution for 27-inches, and the panel relays plenty of fine detail and looks extremely sharp. You can also buy the 27-inch model with a 4K panel, which is the Alienware AW2725Q ($899). As I mentioned above and will cover below, you lose some performance (and more of your cash) by stepping up to 4K, but the differences aren’t huge.

Rich color, strong contrast, decent brightness

Helping that panel look so lovely, of course, are the rich colors and deep contrast from the AW2725D’s QD-OLED pixels. This is an OLED display, meaning each pixel lights itself rather than needing a backlight, resulting in true blacks as each pixel can turn itself off completely — this results in more contrast than IPS or VA (both LCD) panels which use a backlight to illuminate their pixels.

The ‘QD’ slapped on the front stands for ‘Quantum Dot’ — these little dots are essentially tiny semiconductors that produce extremely vibrant colors and also enhance brightness. So, with a QD-OLED, you’re getting better brightness than a standard OLED, and even more vivid colors.

I tested this display by playing a variety of games, three of which were Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (KCD2) and Total War: Rome II. Cyberpunk's vivid, contrasty scenes looked awesome on the AW2725D, with super inky shadows contrasting against bright neon signage. I tended to leave this game in the monitor’s standard mode, which maintains bright highlights — otherwise (in RPG mode) the game felt a little too dark.

KCD2 and Total War: Rome II also looked fantastic, with their warm, saturated palettes done full justice by the monitor’s standard color mode. I switched out the monitor’s color mode to RPG for KCD2 though, which clips the highlights a little to aid in that warmer, historical and cinematic feel. I tried the display’s warm mode, but this felt a little too yellow.

Across the board, there’s tons of contrast on offer, while colors look fantastic and nicely saturated, while still feeling fairly natural in the standard display mode.

Now for brightness. In the table above, I’ve compared the AW2725D’s lab test results against other QD-OLED rivals. The AW2725D offers better peak brightness (measured using the central 10% of its display) than its 4K stablemate the AW2725Q. It also offers comparable peak brightness to both the MSI MPG 272URX ($1,099) and the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10, despite being much cheaper than both. The MSI is a 4K panel, though.

OLED panel brightness rises or drops depending on how much of the screen is in use — this is for screen longevity. While we measure peak brightness at 10% screen usage (right in the center), we also measure at 100%, which gives you a real-world brightness figure. The AW2725D performs similarly to other QD-OLED rivals here, with very little in it. I had no issues using the monitor in bright sunlight, even with a window behind me, in large part thanks to the monitor’s anti-reflective coating.

Burn-in protection

It’s worth noting that the AW2725D also features burn-in protection. It’ll flag you a warning after using it for some time, before automatically turning itself off (by default) to protect the panel. It also features a panel health flag when you access the main menu — this uses a traffic light system to tell you quickly how things stand. If you’re on orange, you can perform a quick panel refresh and be back to green!

Stellar gaming performance

The Alienware AW2725D also has plenty of gaming features up its sleeve, as you’d expect from a gaming monitor. Most notably, its refresh rate tops out at 280Hz, which ensures ultra-smooth gameplay free from motion blur and input lag.

It also boasts a 0.03ms GTG response time. GTG means gray-to-gray and measures how quickly the pixels can change color. A 0.03ms response time is very good, helping to reduce motion blur and ghosting.

Smooth gameplay is, of course, beneficial in virtually all gaming, but these ultra-quick stats are most important in fast-paced titles like first person shooter (FPS) games. I played Counter Strike 2 and Isonzo, two FPS games, and suffered no noticeable input lag or ghosting. In Counter Strike 2, I was running at a consistent 270-280Hz on my hardware — buttery smooth.

The AW2725D also has some handy secondary gaming features. Within the display settings, you’ll find a black stabilizer, which allows you to boost the brightness in black areas of the screen, helping you see enemies hiding in dark areas, for example. There are three “Alienvision” modes. Two of them (Vision 1 and Vision 3) apply a central reticule to the display, with the Vision 1 mode also applying a darkened target box around the reticule. Vision 2 mode applies color peaking around contrast areas to help you detect shapes quickly. All of these will be useful for players wanting every available competitive edge possible.

Not a one-trick pony

The Alienware AW2725D isn’t only good for gaming — in fact, I can’t own or use a monitor that is so. As the cameras editor here at Tom’s Guide and a photographer in my spare time, I use my monitor for a lot of photo and video editing. The AW2725D proved itself highly capable, thanks to its high color accuracy.

As you can see in our lab test results in the table below, the AW2725D demonstrated a Delta-E figure of 0.14. This essentially measures color variance. We use calibrated color spectrometer devices to measure how much the color on screen varies from the color sent to the monitor by the computer. The lower the better and 0.14 is a fairly strong score, showing low variance and meaning the colors you see on screen are true. It isn’t as outright impressive as the 4K variant, the Alienware AW2725Q, but it’s still better than the BenQ PD3226G ($1,099) I tested in late 2025 — and that’s a monitor designed purely for design work.

More impressive is the AW2725D’s coverage of the two most common color gamuts: sRGB and DCI-P3. The monitor covered 190% of the sRGB gamut, which is the most common color space used online. Of course, more than 100% is unnecessary, but it demonstrates that this monitor has a very wide tonal range. Any color that’s in the sRGB gamut can be relayed by this display. The same is true for the DCI-P3 gamut, which is commonly used for cinematic video editing, and which the AW2725D more than covered at 135%. A splendid show.

This means the AW2725D will be a solid choice for gamers who also dabble in a spot of creative work, such as photo editing or making videos for online sharing. If you are printing images or you’re a professional video editor, naturally you’ll want a monitor with a wider array of color modes, such as Adobe RGB (for printed photography) and Rec. 2020 (used in the production of video for television). The AW2725D only has sRGB and DCI-P3 modes, but then again, it is primarily a gaming monitor.

Reasonable price

While it isn’t exactly a budget monitor, the Alienware AW2725D is priced fairly for the performance it offers. One of the gripes we had about the 4K AW2725Q variant was its steep $899 asking price. I’m glad to see the 1440p variant isn’t priced quite as highly.

Like I said, at $499 / £509, it isn’t cheap — but I think this is a reasonable asking price for the beautiful panel with its rich colors and vibrant contrast, not to mention the rapid gaming specs and high color accuracy. The AW2725D is also built very well, looking high quality and finished in a textured, matte plastic that gives a premium feel, again helping justify its price.

Alienware AW2725D review: The downs

I really can’t think of much wrong with the Alienware AW2725D. It’d be nice to have a few more I/O ports and some built-in speakers, I guess, but that’s kinda splitting hairs.

Limited onboard I/O and no speakers

As I alluded to directly above, I’m aware this is splitting hairs, but I’d have liked to see a few more onboard I/O ports on the Alienware AW2725D. I’m used to my BenQ PD3226G monitor which, with its plethora of I/O and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, serves as a USB-C hub.

The AW2725D, by contrast, features 1x USB-A and 1x USB-C downstream ports, the latter of which is rated for 15W of power delivery. That’s fine for charging a couple of devices, but it proves a little limiting when you want to hook up multiple devices for complex workflows. Again, this isn’t a huge issue, and stems partly from me being a spoilt professional tech reviewer who is accustomed to his monitors doubling up as USB hubs.

It’s also worth noting that there’s no headphone jack, nor any internal speakers built into the monitor. Again, I don’t think this is a huge deal as you’ll be hooking this thing up to, y’know, a computer, where you can plug in a headset. Still, it would’ve been nice to see built-in speakers for people who don’t have any external speakers — I know from first-hand experience that when you’re building your PC paycheck-by-paycheck, built-in monitor speakers are a welcome temporary solution.

Alienware AW2725D review: Verdict

The Alienware AW2725D is one of those products where I’ve had to scratch my head for negatives. And realistically, there just aren’t that many. The AW2725D is a lovely monitor, in large part thanks to its beautiful QD-OLED panel, rich colors, inky blacks and strong contrast. Its color accuracy and gamut coverage are excellent, while brightness is on par for a QD-OLED, if not a little better than I’d expect. There is a plethora of gaming features and some handy creative ones too, and on top of all that, the monitor is reasonably priced given the performance.

Sure, I’d have preferred some more ports, and the lack of built-in speakers will be annoying to anyone without an external set; and while it’s fairly priced, it isn’t cheap. But heck, given those are the worst things I can say about it, the AW2725D is doing pretty well. I’m happy to say that the Dell-shaped demons from my past have been well and truly exorcised.

Nvidia G-SYNC Pulsar just got announced at CES 2026, and Team Green has some lofty claims about its capabilities.

Targeting 27-inch 1440p 360Hz gaming monitors (the sweet spot for esports enthusiasts), the big number here is “1,000Hz of perceived motion clarity.” So, of course, I had to put it to the test.

That would be significantly above the 600Hz panel I tested last year, and it’s all done through looking at the entire tech stack of a monitor and making efficient choices to deliver the sharpest fast-moving picture I’ve ever seen on a screen.

What Nvidia G-SYNC Pulsar monitors are available?

Nvidia is aiming its sights on the 27-inch 1440p 360Hz monitor segment for esports — kicking off with four monitors that launched at CES.

• Acer Predator XB273U F5
• AOC Agon Pro AG276QSG2
• Asus ROG STRIX Pulsar XG27AQNGV
• MSI MPG 272QRF X36

Talking to Nvidia, the company confirmed the tech will be expanded to more monitor dimensions, resolutions and refresh rates over time.

How Nvidia G-SYNC Pulsar works

To catch you up, G-SYNC is gaming monitor tech that uses a combination of variable refresh rate (VRR) and extreme low motion blur (ELMB) to deliver the crispiest possible gameplay at buttery-smooth frame rates.

Pulsar takes this to the next level by going into the DNA of the monitor itself — in particular, the strobing of the backlight that illuminates your picture. In traditional panels, the entire backlight will strobe independently of frames being presented on screen (known as a scanout).

As that happens, the trails of previous frames will exist. Granted, it's the tiniest amount, especially at higher refresh rates. But this is still perceived by the human eye as blur.

What G-SYNC Pulsar does instead is use a rolling backlight strobe that pulses in lock step with each frame scanout. This means every pixel is given time to show a stable image before every hit of that backlight.

Next-level sharpness

For you, that means a 360Hz picture with 1,000Hz of perceived motion clarity. And to my peepers, there’s nothing else quite like it when it comes to sharpness — unlocking depth perception I never knew I had.

Take “Overwatch 2” for example. For me, I normally have to alter my depth perception to blur the background so I can see the text floating about my allies and targets. In G-SYNC Pulsar, it was much easier to just see the text float by in my vision while still focusing on the level behind it.

It’s the difference between seeing the target and not, which, in split-second shooter scenarios in an esports context like this, is significant. And ever since this demo, every other monitor I’ve tested here at CES has looked good, but the traditional blur is so noticeable.

If crispiness is essential to you, this is a generational leap in gaming monitor tech. Plus, shout-out to G-SYNC Ambient Adaptive Technology for saving people’s eyes with real-time brightness and color temperature adjustments.

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When it comes to competitive PC gaming, a buttery smooth monitor with extremely low motion blur is everything. I’ve seen all kinds of options, including a mightily impressive 600Hz display that made me a better Counter-Strike player, but Nvidia thinks this problem can be fixed with a new generation of its G-Sync technology named Pulsar.

And how it works is actually quite brilliant — being able to take a 27-inch 360Hz display and, through a combination of different features, give your eyes a perceived 1,000Hz of motion. Allow me to explain what’s going on beneath the hood of these monitors, which are launching January 7, starting at $599.

Feeling the puls-ar

Pulsar pairs variable refresh rate with synchronized backlight strobing to dramatically improve perceived motion clarity. Put simply, by keeping the variable refresh rate of a monitor and the number of times per second those pixels light up in tight lockstep, you can use these to your advantage in providing a much sharper picture.

The answer to this question is usually to just juice up the refresh rate. Offering a 360Hz rate like these monitors from MSI, Asus, Acer and AOC will go some way to resolving this blurriness, but only by so much. And that’s where Pulsar comes in, offering a 4x improvement in picture motion clarity.

And what about those long gaming sessions that turn from day to night? That’s where Ambient Adaptive Technology comes in — auto-adjusting brightness and color based on ambient lighting. Think of this like Windows dark mode, but a little more intelligent.

Outlook

Now, it’s worth me saying that this isn’t designed to be the best buy for every single gamer out there. For better fidelity, there are 4K panels, and better OLED or QLED pixel constructions can give you more immersive color and contrast.

This tech is for the esports players, and to deliver the super-low blur you see here, that’s going to be significant for ensuring any serious competitor can spot a target much easier.

But the addition of Ambient Adaptive mode does give these monitors a nice nod to actually being screens you may use on a day-to-day — not just something to improve your K/D ratio.

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I’ve been using the Apple Studio Display for over a year now with the Mac mini M4, and while it’s a fantastic monitor, it’s not without its issues. That includes the standard glossy screen and the fact that you can only connect one device at a time.

MSI always shows up in full force at CES with new laptops, graphics cards and gaming PCs, but this year, I was completely surprised when the company unveiled its new Pro Max 271UPXW12G monitor.

This all-white QD-OLED display isn’t just another gaming or business monitor. Instead, it’s designed to work perfectly with your Mac; it features M-Color Mode for seamless color synchronization and even allows you to adjust brightness and volume directly from your MacBook shortcut keys.

Here’s everything you need to know about MSI’s new Pro Max QD-OLED monitor and why you might want to consider picking it up over an Apple Studio Display, especially if you’re a power user with multiple devices.

Clear as can be

The MSI Pro Max 271UPXW12G is a 27-inch QD-OLED monitor with quite a few tricks up its sleeve. For starters, thanks to its PureBlack QD-OLED panel, it delivers deep blacks and accurate colors even in a brightly lit room like the one I saw it set up in at CES.

What surprised me most, though — and what immediately made me think of my Apple Studio Display back home — was that there wasn’t any glare whatsoever.

According to MSI, this is because the monitor has an Anti-Glare Low Reflection (AGLR) surface treatment. Likewise, it also comes equipped with upgraded 3H hardness to provide extra scratch resistance.

Since the Pro Max 271UPXW12G sports a QD-OLED display, it has an AI Care Sensor tucked into the "chin" underneath the MSI logo. Just like with the MSI MPG 321URXW I reviewed last year, this sensor allows the monitor to detect whether or not you’re currently at your desk.

When you step away, it dims the display or enables power-saving mode to protect its QD-OLED panel from burn-in as part of MSI’s OLED Care 3.0 tech. At the same time, it also adjusts the monitor’s brightness to match the ambient lighting in your room to maintain uniform luminance.

If you’ve ever tried hooking up one of the best MacBooks to a 4K monitor, then you’re likely familiar with text fringing, where text will often look fuzzy or blurry due to how macOS handles pixel density. In fact, this is one of the reasons Mac users will often pay more for the Studio Display, since it has a 5K resolution with 218 pixels per inch (PPI) and allows for perfect 2x scaling.

MSI took this into consideration when developing the Pro Max 271UPXW12G. It features a pixel density of 166 PPI, which is slightly higher than what you’ll find on standard 27-inch 4K monitors. In my brief time with the display, text looked quite crisp, though it was hooked up to a Windows laptop simultaneously—something you simply can't do on a Studio Display without unplugging cables.

For your Mac (and so much more)

On the back of the Pro Max 271UPXW12G, there are plenty of ports and a whole lot more than you’ll find on the Studio Display. First off, you get two USB-C ports that both support up to 98W Power Delivery. So instead of reaching for your charger, you can just plug your MacBook right into the display using a single cable.

Since you might also want to plug in one of the best gaming PCs, you also get an HDMI 2.1 port and a DisplayPort 1.4a, which supports 4K at 120Hz.

What really ties everything together is the Pro Max 271UPXW12G’s built-in KVM switch. By plugging a keyboard and mouse directly into the monitor, you can then use them across up to three devices connected to it. Because this monitor features two USB-C ports, you can even connect two different laptops without needing an extra data cable; if you’re using the HDMI 2.1 port or the DisplayPort 1.4a to connect a desktop, then you will just need to connect the included USB-B cable.

While I love using the downstream USB-C ports on my Studio Display for connecting peripherals, I almost gasped the first time I realized it only had one input port. With the MSI Pro Max 271UPXW12G, not only can you connect multiple devices, but you can also seamlessly switch between them without having to use a different keyboard and mouse.

It even features M-Color Mode for color synchronization and supports MacBook shortcut keys, so you can adjust the monitor's brightness and volume directly from your keyboard just like you would on an Apple display.

MSI hasn’t released pricing info for the Pro Max 271UPXW12G yet, but given what other 4K QD-OLED monitors are going for right now, I’d say it will definitely be under $1,000 — which makes it significantly cheaper than the Apple Studio Display, which starts at $1,599.

When you add in the fact that you’re getting a glare-free display without having to pay extra for Apple’s Nano-texture glass, and it comes with a built-in KVM switch, the MSI Pro Max 271UPXW12G could be the perfect alternative for Mac users who also have a Windows laptop or a gaming PC.

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At CES 2026, LG Display is set to unveil several new OLED gaming monitors, including one with a blazing fast 720Hz refresh rate. At the same time, these new gaming monitors will also feature its Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 tech.

LG’s new 27-inch OLED gaming monitor features one of the fastest Gaming OLED panels currently available. By refreshing its picture 720 times per second, this new display will be ideal for competitive gaming, especially since it also has a response time of up to 0.02ms.

By combining such a high refresh rate with an ultra fast response time, LG’s new gaming monitor will completely eliminate motion blur even during high-paced scenes and rapid transitions.

Alongside this new monitor, LG will also debut the world’s first 39-inch 5K2K Gaming OLED panel at this year’s show. The company is currently the only manufacturer that makes 39-inch OLED panels and these curved displays with a 21:9 aspect ratio and 1500R curvature are quite useful for video editors and other content creators.

On the show floor, LG will also be showing off the world’s first OLED panel with a 240Hz RGB pixel stripe structure. With 160 pixels per inch, it’s able to perfectly display sharp text with excellent color representation.

Brighter and more colorful gaming monitors

In addition to all of these new OLED gaming monitors, LG Display will also be showcasing its new TANDEM WOLED tech, Primary RGB Tandem 2.0, at CES 2026.

First unveiled last year, Primary RGB Tandem is an OLED stack structure where each of the primary colors of light (red, green and blue) is formed as an independent emission layer. Now with Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 though, the pixel structure is now even more optimized with advanced algorithms.

As a result of these new innovations, LG’s Gaming OLED panels can achieve a peak brightness of up to 1,500 nits, all while delivering perfect blacks with HDR True Black 500 and reproducing 99.5% of the DIC color gamut.

All of LG’s new OLED gaming monitors will all feature Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 and we can’t wait to try them out for ourselves at CES 2026.

LG OLED gaming monitors: Outlook

We were very impressed by LG Display’s new monitors at CES last year and these new offerings have us just as excited. Given that gaming monitors just keep getting faster, I don’t think LG will have the only 720Hz one on display at this year’s show. However, thanks to all of these other advancements, it may be the best looking one.

Last year, we saw a bendable 5K2K gaming monitor from LG. While that one was 45-inches and quite expensive, hopefully this new, smaller 39-inch one won’t carry as premium of a price tag.

If you’re thinking about picking up one of the best gaming monitors, you might want to hold off as there will be plenty of new models from LG and others joining their ranks soon enough. Stay tuned to Tom’s Guide for all the latest on CES 2026 and we’ll be on the ground floor taking in everything first hand soon enough.

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Unless you’ve been chained to a radiator with only an IPS monitor to play the best PC games on for the past half decade, you should know OLED is the display tech to beat for 2026 and far beyond.

Coming in standard widescreen, ultrawide, super ultrawide and blistering 240Hz models, OLED monitors are ideal for hardcore PC gamers. Why? Mainly due to their perfect black levels, coupled with super-speedy response times.

Like anything you cherish in life, OLED screens demand care and attention. Thankfully, the tech is far less demanding in terms of TLC than it used to be. Yet there’s no denying you need to know some crucial tips to get the best out of your OLED panel.

OLED is no longer the future: it’s the here and now for both PC gamers and fans of the best Disney Plus movies. Below, we’ll guide you through five essential tips to get the very most out of the greatest display technology there’s ever been.

Tip #1: Regularly run pixel-cleaning cycles

This is the biggie when it comes to protecting your OLED display. Is OLED burn-in less of an issue than it was a few years ago? Absolutely. Still, not doing your best to protect your screen from dreaded image retention is about as sensible as covering yourself in baby seal pheromones before going for a paddle in shark-invested waters.

Thankfully, all the major OLED players now have built-in safety features to ward off the threat of burn in. Up until a year or so ago, LG Display was the only manufacturer to actually produce OLED panels — the subdivision of the South Korean AV experts has subsequently outsourced its display tech to the likes of Samsung, Sony and Philips.

Now all the major OLED brands have a version of ‘pixel-cleaning’: essentially an automated cycle that rejigs your TV’s onscreen pixels around when your set is in stand-by to help prevent burn-in.

Should you happen to have one of the best gaming PCs hooked up to an LG OLED TV, this feature can be found in the settings menu under ‘OLED Care > OLED Panel Care > Pixel Cleaning’. Other TV/monitor manufacturers will have a similar feature in their menus.

The process takes around 10 minutes to complete if you set it up manually. Yet it will also often engage overnight once your TV has been switched off for several hours — at least with LG OLEDs. The latter wee hours mode applies to most OLED brands now, meaning you no longer have to be so diligent/obsessive about manually pixel-cleaning your OLED panel.

Tip #2: Turn off energy saving

For years the only real Achilles heel of OLED as a tech — aside from the potential threat of burn-in — was a perceived lack of screen brightness next to the best LED TVs. That’s no longer the case.

The astounding LG G5 OLED can reach an eye-rubbing 2,296 nits of HDR brightness in a 10% white window; meaning ‘dim’ OLED screens are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Crucially, though, you won’t get the full benefit of such pupil-scorching vividness unless you tweak your OLED’s settings after unboxing your panel for the first time.

This doesn’t just apply to LG OLEDs: pretty much every major manufacturer of ‘OLED Light-Emitting Diode’ displays have brightness-nixing, energy-saving features enabled by default.

If your energy bills are of real concern, by all means keep this electricity-friendly feature enabled. Yet if you want to experience the true wonder of what the best OLED TVs and OLED gaming monitors can serve up in terms of contrast, turn off energy-saving and let your corneas be beautifully singed by the screen tech's unreal contrast performance.

Tip #3: Own an OLED monitor and a Windows PC? Autohide the taskbar

Most of the best gaming monitors are now OLED, and they have been for years at this point. Unlike watching the best Netflix shows on an OLED display, gaming on the premium display technology when it comes to PC-friendly displays requires a bit more care.

By default, owning an OLED monitor inevitably raises the risk of burn-in. If you use an OLED monitor for primarily gaming purposes, you shouldn’t have much to worry about — after all, most on-screen HUD elements can be switched off should you desire.

The real area you need to worry about with OLED PC monitors is if you regularly use one as your go-to work panel. If you’re clocking a 35-40 hour week on an OLED, you really need to take measures to avoid burn-in.

Because static on-screen icons/elements are the number one cause of screen-burn, eliminating constant static images on your OLED panel needs to be a priority. Your best line of defence on a Windows 11 PC or laptop? Right click the taskbar, click on ‘taskbar settings’, go to ‘taskbar behaviors’, then enable ‘automatically hide the taskbar’. This will protect your display from the most potentially harmful on-screen element of regular desktop usage.

Tip #4: Bump up pixel brightness and contrast

OLEDs have come a long way over the past half decade when it comes to limited screen brightness. High-end OLED panels can now reach over 2,000 nits of brightness. That's pretty exceptional when you consider they absolutely dunk on LED sets when it comes to true black levels.

That said, most OLEDs don’t put their brightest foot forward out of the box. With burn-in becoming less of an issue with each passing year, it’s absolutely okay to be bold when it comes to pumping up contrast and brightness settings.

In the case of LG OLEDs — still very much the market leader — you should absolutely throw caution to the wind with your desired picture preset. By all means ramp up ‘OLED pixel brightness’ and contrast settings to 100. Thanks to automated pixel-cleaning cycles, your beloved display is under minimal threat of burn-in, and cranking up these settings will simply make the best Netflix movies and best Steam games pop in lush style.

Just don’t have a static on-screen image on your OLED panel for hours on end because you’ve fallen asleep on a Saturday night after one too many alcoholic beverages.

Tip #5: Use a microfiber cloth to clean your screen

This tip isn’t necessarily limited to OLED screens, but it’s still a crucial piece of advice if you value looking after your monitor/TV that’s hooked up to your gaming rig.

Regular screen maintenance is vital if you own one of the finest gaming monitors, be it OLED or LED. To ensure your panel doesn’t develop unsightly smears or other screen defects, it’s paramount you know the best method of taking care of your beloved panel.

To ensure your OLED display gets all the love it deserves, make sure you clean it a couple of times a month with the combination of alcohol cleaning solution and microfiber cloths. But be careful. Never apply the solution directly to the screen. Instead, rub a small amount to the microfiber cloth then run it gently in circular motions to keep your OLED screen looking its best.

More from Tom's Guide

• I test OLED monitors for a living — this is the one app I use to stop burn-in
• My favorite OLED gaming monitor can be ruined by burn-in — here’s how to prevent that
• For OLED TVs, burn-in fears are overblown — here's what you need to know

CES 2026 is just around the corner, but Samsung has just revealed its next-gen lineup of Odyssey gaming monitors — and it includes a record-breaking display that beats everyone to a 1,000Hz refresh rate.

Samsung announced its new Odyssey G6 gaming monitor with the world's first 1,040Hz refresh rate, and the 27-inch display even comes with dual-resolution support for QHD (2,560 x 1,440) with an equally impressive 600Hz refresh rate.

The Odyssey G6 (G60H) can hit its sky-high 1,040Hz refresh rate at HD (1280 x 720) resolution, which beats the 750Hz HKC monitor we saw at Computex 2025. While Acer announced its 720Hz OLED Predator gaming monitor and LG Display also unveiled its own 720Hz OLED display, both at 720p, Samsung is the first to break through 1,000Hz.

As for the rest of its specs, the Odyssey G6 comes with a 27-inch IPS panel that supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync for tear-free gameplay, along with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1 ports. Plus, you can expect "HDR10+ Gaming" tech for brighter colors and darker blacks.

Not only is this the fastest refresh rate we've seen among the best gaming monitors we've tested, but even with the Odyssey G6's native QHD resolution, 600Hz offers esports-level speeds. The display is set to arrive in 2026, although Samsung has yet to reveal its price.

That's not all Samsung unveiled, as it introduced another "world first" monitor in its next-gen Odyssey lineup.

World's first 6K 3D gaming monitor (glasses free)

An update to the Samsung Odyssey 3D (G90XF), the tech giant also introduced the 32-inch Odyssey 3D (G90XH) with the first 6K (6,144 x 3,456) display with glasses-free 3D tech. The previous model topped at 4K resolution, making this a considerable jump in visuals.

The new Odyssey 3D uses the same real-time eye-tracking technology to make 2D images appear three-dimensional in games that support it, including Lies of P: Overture and Stellar Blade, but this model comes with dual resolution. At 6K, expect a 165Hz refresh rate, while 3K offers a fast 330Hz.

You can also expect a 0.1ms response time, along with HDMI 2.1 and DP 2.1 ports. While we found that the 3D monitor we tested came with an inconsistent 3D effect and limited game compatibility, hopefully, the 2026 Odyssey 3D gaming monitor can fix these issues. Just prepare for a high asking price (around $1,999).

As for more updates, the Samsung Odyssey G8 has also expanded with three models, including the 32-inch G80HS model with 6K at 165Hz and 3K at 330Hz (just like the Odyssey 3D), a 27-inch G80HF with 5K (5,120 x 2,880) resolution at 180Hz and 1440p at 360Hz and finally the 32-inch G80SH with a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) QD-OLED panel offering up to 240Hz.

All of these models come with FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync support, along with HDR10+ Gaming and HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1 ports.

Samsung is set to shake up the gaming monitor market in 2026, with the Odyssey lineup set to be on show at CES 2026. We'll be on the showfloor to check them out, as they already look to become contenders for the best monitors to grab.

More from Tom's Guide

• LG Display announces world's first 240Hz 'RGB stripe' OLED panel — here's why it's a big deal
• We tested hundreds of gadgets in 2025 — these are the 5 best of the year
• I tested BenQ’s pro editing monitor and this thing is a workflow beast

Just ahead of CES 2026, LG Display has announced the world’s first 27-inch 240Hz 4K OLED monitor featuring an RGB stripe structure. So what the heck is RGB stripe , and why is this announcement important? Simply put, this monitor aims to enhance text readability on OLED gaming monitors.

In some OLED panels, you might notice something equivalent to chromatic aberration around text on web pages, as our friends at PC Gamer note. This phenomenon is known as “text fringing,” and it’s most noticeable on 1440p monitors or panels with lower pixel densities. This happens because the subpixels are arranged in a triangular pattern, which doesn’t always align with how text is rendered. LG Display is getting around that by utilizing the RGB stripe structure.

“The RGB stripe structure arranges the three primary color subpixels — red, green, and blue — in a straight line, significantly reducing visual distortions such as color bleeding and fringing, even at close viewing distances,” says LG Display's press release.

The RGB stripe method isn’t new, but OLED panels that utilize this technique currently top out at 60Hz, which isn’t ideal for modern gamers who desire higher refresh rates. LG Display says its new panel is the first in the world to hit 240Hz while maintaining an RGB stripe structure.

In addition, the display is capable of switching from high-resolution (4K at 240Hz) and high-refresh-rate (1080p at 480Hz) modes, as we’ve seen in monitors like the LG UltraGear 32GS95UE-B.

LG Display applied new technologies, like increasing the aperture ratio to simultaneously achieve an RGB stripe structure and a high refresh rate. The panel also has a high pixel density of 160 pixels per inch (ppi) to provide sharper detail.

LG Display plans to show off this technology at CES, so you can bet I’ll be there to check it out for myself. Not only am I curious to see how much sharper text appears on this panel, but how this technology affects an OLED monitor’s performance in any meaningful way. Stay tuned for more!

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• I just tested this 45-inch LG 5K2K OLED curved gaming monitor
• Best gaming monitors in 2025: Top picks for PC, PS5 and Xbox
• 12 ultimate home office upgrades

Catchy name, right? The BenQ PD3226G. If you managed to type that into Google properly, chances are you’re looking to buy one of the best monitors for creative design and editing.

I’m Pete, Senior Reviews Editor here at Tom’s Guide. In addition to our in-house reviews team, I oversee the site’s camera coverage, which means I do a lot of editing as part of my daily job — retouching photos for reviews, manipulating digital assets in Photoshop and processing video footage.

I’ve been using the PD3226G for all the above for around a month now, and there’s a lot to like about this monitor. It features a beautiful 4K IPS panel, strong DCI-P3 and sRGB coverage, and some nifty features to help speed up busy workflows. For an editing monitor, its price is fairly reasonable. Thanks to a 144Hz refresh rate, it’s also suited to game designers or creatives wanting a single monitor for work in the day and gaming in the evening.

The PD3226G isn’t perfect, with some slight contrast wobbles, low peak brightness and no Adobe RGB setting. However, I still think this is a decent hybrid editing and gaming display. Find out more in my full BenQ PD3226G review.

BenQ PD3226G review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 4K editing monitor that’s also suitable for gaming and general use
• Who is it for? Creatives who need a flexible editing monitor that doubles up for gaming
• How much does it cost?
• What’s good? Its sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage, color accuracy, refresh rate and remote control
• What isn’t? The low peak brightness, slight contrast issues and lack of an Adobe RGB mode

BenQ PD3226G review: Specs

BenQ PD3226G review: The ups

The BenQ PD3226G does most of what an editing monitor must fundamentally do — for the most part. With strong color space coverage and color accuracy, as well as a remote control for streamlining workflows. It’ll also suit gaming thanks to its 144Hz refresh rate.

Wide color space coverage

One of the most important things an editing monitor needs to do is cover the different color spaces well, and the BenQ PD3226G does just that. BenQ claims it covers 100% of the sRGB gamut and 95% of the DCI P3 gamut. But manufacturer figures are often conservative, and in our testing (with a freshly manufacturer-recalibrated color spectrometer, no less), it did even better.

As you can see in the table above, the PD3226G covered 147% of the sRGB gamut and 104% of DCI P3, meaning it has those color spaces entirely covered. You can edit in those spaces, safe in the knowledge that every tone can be relayed.

The BenQ absolutely destroys the Apple Studio Display ($1,599) and Apple Pro Display XDR ($5,999) monitors, neither of which cover the DCI P3 gamut fully. The Dell UltraSharp 40 ($2,399) has even wider coverage, although after 100% it makes little difference.

As you can also see in the table above, many of the gaming monitors we test do just as well with their gamut coverage, so if you’re editing in those spaces, don’t be totally put off by them.

High color accuracy

To put manufacturer claims to the test, we always run Delta-E tests on monitors using our lab color spectrometer equipment. Delta-E measures how far colors on screen deviate from the colors the computer sends to the display. Close to 0 is best, showing low deviation.

The PD3226G features BenQ’s AQColor, which, according to the brand, delivers accurate color out of the box, with a claimed Delta-E of less than or equal to 2. Although that’s a very conservative claim. The monitor’s tested Delta-E using the factory calibration was 0.16, which is what we’d expect for a high-end display.

0.16 isn’t the lowest Delta-E we’ve seen — higher indeed than many gaming monitors — but it’s still very respectable, and means the PD3226G relays colors very accurately. It put in a better performance than other studio-oriented displays, including the Dell UltraSharp 40, the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Pro Display XDR, all of which are much more expensive than the BenQ.

I’ve been using the monitor mostly for photo editing in Adobe Lightroom Classic and Adobe Photoshop, using the sRGB mode as they’re for online use. It’s been comforting to know that the colors I’m seeing on screen are accurate, so I can ensure they’re exactly how I want them.

The PD3226G comes calibrated by the manufacturer. We left the monitor in this calibration to run our tests, so we could see its Delta-E performance from the factory. However, when you do want to recalibrate, BenQ offers two software applications. If you have a calibration device, there’s the Palette Master Ultimate app, and if you don’t, there’s the Display ColorTalk app, which allows you to sync colors to another monitor — this isn’t as good as using an actual calibration device, but it will at least help you achieve uniform color across displays.

In terms of its official accreditations, the monitor features Pantone and Pantone Skintone calibration. Pantone are industry-standard color definitions for printing, so this is good news for designers and creatives involved in printing. The monitor also bundles a free 12-month subscription to Pantone Connect Premium, the Pantone mobile app, for color matching on-the-go — a nice-to-have for any freelancers without a boss that’ll pay for the app otherwise.

The monitor is also Calman verified — basically, Calman (which makes display calibration software) approves BenQ’s AQColor technology from a color accuracy perspective.

Strong editing features

The BenQ PD3226G also boasts a slew of features intended purely for editing. Firstly, there is a range of color modes available, including sRGB, DCI P3, Display P3, Rec.709 and HDR, which are all useful for various creatives editing different types of photo and video. There are also two custom user modes that allow you to set specific color levels, as well as enabling a uniformity mode to ensure consistent brightness and contrast across the entire panel.

There’s a CAD/CAM for product designers; a Darkroom mode for photographers who want to mimic the heightened color perception achieved in a darkroom; an animation mode for, well, animators; and a DICOM mode for medical use (DICOM is used in the evaluation of X-ray results).

A variety of workflow tools

My favorite thing about the BenQ PD3226G is the included controller pad accessory. It’s basically a circular remote with a scroll wheel and a few buttons, which replaces the monitor’s buttons (although those are still present), so you use it to access, navigate through and change the display settings. It’s so much easier than changing settings on the monitor itself (which you need to do regularly on editing monitors), and honestly, I’m not sure how I’ll ever go back.

The handiest things on the pad are the three color profile buttons, which allow you to switch between color space profiles, such as sRGB, DCI P3 and a user preset. This really speeds up workflows if you switch between different editing spaces regularly.

There’s also a built-in KVM switch, which allows you to use the same monitor and peripherals with multiple computers. Again, another huge workflow boon if you are editing across multiple machines. Many creatives will already use an external KVM switch, but having one built into your monitor is just cleaner, letting you tidy up your desk.

Productivity-focused ports

The BenQ PD3226G features two Thunderbolt 4 ports. One is a 90W upstream port, which can be used for display hookup, or as power out your laptop. The other is a 15W out port for charging and daisy-chaining. There’s also a DisplayPort 1.4 port and an HDMI 2.1 port for display connection.

There are two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports —one a 7.5W downstream port, the other a data-only upstream, both with 10Gbps transfer speeds — and three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps downstream ports, two with 4.5W power delivery and one with 7.5W. All in all, it’s quite a formidable array of ports, allowing plenty of connectivity options from the monitor itself. If you have lots of devices and peripherals to hook up and/or charge, this could be the perfect monitor for you.

Just a lovely 4K monitor

It’d be reticent of me to miss the basics, one of which is that the BenQ PD3226G’s 4K IPS panel is lovely! It’s sharp and glorious to behold, thanks to the large 31.5-inch diameter. That diameter also gives it quite the presence, even in an office like mine that’s filled with elite gaming monitors.

The panel also features an anti-glare coating, which is beneficial from a color-accuracy perspective, although for the best results, you’ll want a monitor hood to shield from unwanted ambient light anyway. In day-to-day use, though, the anti-glare coating is most useful for simply stopping headaches and eye strain, and allowing you to see what’s on screen clearly under brighter ambient conditions.

Build quality and finish are also excellent. The monitor just oozes sleek, premium vibes and won’t look out of place as part of a slick creative workspace and/or a contemporarily-styled studio.

It’ll game too!

To round off the pros, the BenQ PD3226G will also game, thanks to its 144Hz refresh rate, which is fast enough for smooth gameplay in fast-paced titles. A fast refresh rate will also be beneficial to anyone using the monitor for game design.

It also features VESA Adaptive Sync and AMD FreeSync. These do the same thing: they vary the refresh rate of the monitor to maximise in-game performance. AMD FreeSync is just optimized for AMD graphics cards.

There’s no Gray-to-Gray (GtG) figure listed by BenQ. GtG measures the time it takes for pixels to change color, and a faster time reduces screen artefacts such as lag and motion blur while gaming. It’s disappointing not to see a figure listed, but then again, this isn’t a gaming-oriented monitor.

BenQ PD3226G review: The downs

The BenQ PD3226G’s only major downside is its low brightness. It’s also worth noting that there’s no Adobe RGB mode for printed photography, and I saw a few contrast issues in testing (although nothing major — and besides, this is an IPS panel).

Not so bright

For an IPS panel, the BenQ PD3226G is a little dim. As you can see in our brightness lab testing results below, it was beaten by other studio- and productivity-focused displays. Now, it’s important to heavily caveat this by saying that you shouldn’t have your monitor too bright when editing, as doing so can affect tonal accuracy. However, if you’re doing general work, especially in a bright area, it’s nice to have that extra brightness if you need it.

BenQ claims the display has a peak brightness of 400 nits in both SDR and HDR, which itself isn’t particularly impressive. But based on our testing, that’s way off the mark anyway. The monitor peaked at 252 nits in HDR and 268 nits at 40% screen utilization in SDR (sRGB).

In fairness, though, this isn't the full story — at least for SDR. We lab test all our monitors in standard SDR mode to ensure we always test under the same conditions. But according to BenQ, screen brightness in this modes is deliberately handicapped (as I mentioned above, full brightness isn't ideal for editing work). In standard SDR color modes, such as sRGB and Display P3, the monitor applies automatic uniformity compensation by default to keep the brightness at appropriate levels for editing. In the monitor's custom 'User' mode, says BenQ, the uniformity compensation is disabled by default, allowing the full ~400 nits SDR brightness.

When you reduce the number of pixels in use, the peak brightness typically increases — that’s why we test using 40% and 10% squares in the center of the display. Normally, we’d expect to see a jump in brightness from 40% to 10%, but there was effectively no difference between these on the PD3226G, again thanks to uniformity compensation.

By comparison, the Dell UltraSharp 40 peaked at 510 nits in HDR, the Apple Studio Display peaked at 568 nits in SDR, and the Apple Pro Display XDR topped out at 467 nits in SDR and a huge 1,600 nits in HDR.

Long story short, this isn't an especially bright monitor, which is a deliberate feature to suit editors using SDR modes. If you're using it for more than editing, though, or you want higher HDR brightness, this may not be the display for you.

Adobe RGB

The BenQ PD3226G lacks an Adobe RGB mode, which is fairly common among editing monitors, but effectively nukes this display’s use for photographers who print. The Adobe RGB gamut covers a wider range of colors used by CMYK printers versus sRGB. This is vital for ensuring color accuracy when editing images for printed photography, as it means fewer tones you see on screen are lost when printing.

For online use, sRGB is fine, and that’ll cover most amateur photographers. As I mentioned earlier, I edited lots of studio photography and sample imagery using this display, all of which were for online use. If you need an Adobe RGB monitor, check out the Asus ProArt PA279CRV, which costs $488.

Slight low-end contrast issues

It’s nothing huge, but it’s still worth mentioning a minor contrast issue I had when testing the BenQ PD3226G. Brighter tones were fine, with clear distinction between all tones at the top end of the scale. However, there was almost no discernible difference between the very darkest colors on the blue color scale in sRGB mode. Switching to HDR, which increases the dynamic range of the display, also didn’t help. Dark areas also felt a little flat and gray.

As the PD3226G is an IPS LCD monitor, this is sort of expected. OLED panels give true blacks and therefore offer more contrast than IPS. Whether this is a problem all comes down to your use cases. If you need to render true blacks on screen, OLED is for you. That said, some OLEDs can also suffer from difficulties with contrast in black and near-black tones (known as “OLED black crush”), where blacks blend together on screen, effectively giving you decreased dynamic range in shadows — so, y’know, the BenQ isn’t on its own here.

Kinda pricey

Editing monitors are expensive, so this isn’t a particularly vicious criticism either. But the PD3226G is a little on the pricey side given its low peak brightness and lack of an Adobe RGB editing mode. It costs $1,099 / £1,099 at Amazon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very capable monitor with very high levels of color accuracy based on our lab test results. And, I know, studio displays often cost a lot of money (don’t even get me started on the Apple Pro Display XDR… it’s only a dollar under six grand).

However, that doesn’t mean the BenQ is cheap, and for freelance creatives budget can be a big concern. You can pick up other Calman-verified monitors for less, like the Asus 34-inch ProArt Display or the 27-inch 5K version for $849. The latter in particular would be my choice — like the BenQ, it functions as a USB-C hub, has a built-in KVM switch and offers wide gamut coverage. Although both Asus displays have maximum refresh rates of 60Hz, the BenQ is better for gaming and game design. Neither have Adobe RGB modes, though, so I’d recommend the $488 Asus ProArt PA279CRV for printed photography regardless of whether you can afford the BenQ.

BenQ PD3226G review: Verdict

The BenQ PD3226G isn’t perfect. It isn’t the brightest, demonstrates some minor contrast issues and is a little pricey. But I still really like it, and its virtues massively outweigh its drawbacks.

The monitor’s color accuracy is very high, while its Pantone certification will be a boon to anyone printing pure color — which is extremely expensive, (thanks partly to Pantone itself) and important to get right. The fast refresh rate makes the PD3226G applicable for gaming and game design. And while the omission of an Adobe RGB mode essentially annihilates its use for printed photography, for everything else, it’s great!

I also absolutely love the workflow features, including the KVM switch, Thunderbolt port and super handy tabletop remote. If you’re a creative professional, you can certainly do a lot worse than the BenQ PD3226G.

Having one of the best monitors on your desk is a near-necessity, whether you work on a laptop for up to eight hours, five days a week, or you're an avid gamer and want the best-looking experience. Given the rapid rate at which technology has advanced (and continues to do so), we're spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a screen.

OLED, 4K and even 5K monitors are all the rage, but what if I told you I've been testing an LED IPS monitor that won't make you care that its resolution is limited to just 1080p, and one that doesn't cost thousands? It sounded too good to be true... until I tested the Alienware AW2525HM 25-inch 320Hz monitor. This is the gaming and work monitor for you if you're on a budget.

Look, I'm no stranger to 4K resolution and just how fantastic it looks, but when the colors look this good and the monitor is this fast, I can look past that. With a whopping 320Hz refresh rate, 0.5ms response time, and mindblowing color reproduction, it didn't take long for the AW2525HM to become my favorite monitor. My mind was blown even further when I saw the price tag, so let me take you through it all.

If Speedy Gonzales was a monitor

Ever heard of the fastest mouse in all of Mexico? If Speedy Gonzales was a monitor, he'd be the Alienware AW2525HM. Marketed as a gaming monitor — and for good reason — the AW2525HM has a whopping 320Hz refresh rate and a 0.5ms response time. "What does that mean?" The 320Hz refresh rate ensures smooth, fluid motion, while the 0.5ms response time reduces ghosting and motion blur.

Sounds great in theory but what about in real-world usage? It works, and boy, does it work well! Regardless of the game I played to test this monitor, I was stunned by the performance, and I was left highly impressed. There was no choppiness during fast-paced combat in Cyberpunk 2077, or while sprinting in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. And no, no signs of ghosting either.

Given the AW2525HM's speed, I'm happy to trade off 4K resolution. Before you come for me, there's another excellent reason for this — and that's the color rendition, which I'll talk about next.

Any color you like

When I see an opportunity to make a Pink Floyd reference, I take it. Now that we're past my exquisite taste in music, let's talk about the Alienware AW2525HM's performance when it comes to color reproduction. 1080p isn't as good as 4K, but when the colors look this good, I'm inclined to not care as much.

First, let's talk about objective testing. I conducted my standardized lab testing to see how the AW2525HM fared in terms of color, and the results blew me away, as you can see in the table below.

What do these numbers mean? The monitor covers 148.5% of the sRGB color gamut, which means it covers the entire color spectrum and then some, and it delivers bold, bright, vivid colors, shades and hues.

Then we've got DCI-P3, another common color space with a wider overall gamut than sRGB, meaning it delivers a more accurate rendition of lifelike color. 105.2% coverage means it can render more shades than the actual gamut.

Lastly, Delta-E, which tells us how accurate or close the color on screen is to the color output from the source, such as your computer or laptop. The closer the score to 0, the more color-accurate the image — yes, 0.06 is an outstanding score.

The numbers are great and tell us half the story, but testing the monitor by playing video games confirms the AW2525HM's prowess in color rendition and reproduction. In Cyberpunk 2077, the neon lights appears brightly colored but not oversaturated to the point that they looked fake. This made the game feel more immersive, which is exactly what you need in an FPS/RPG.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is more of a challenge because there are many dark areas and dungeons in the game. Regardless, the AW2525HM excelled in balancing highlights and shadows to deliver a fantastic image. I was able to make out details in the dark areas, such as plants or objects which were otherwise obscured. And while a lot of the graphics performance comes down to your GPU, all the cutscenes appeared highly detailed and, again, bright and bold, which helped keep my immersion intact.

Wait, how much?!

What does the Alienware AW2525HM excel at? It's ridiculously fast with its 320Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time. It reproduces colors vividly and accurately. It looks great. When I first started using this monitor, I honestly thought it cost more than $500, and you probably will too. But to my surprise, it costs less than half of what I expected.

The question, then, isn't how much it costs — it's how little. That's right. The AW2525HM is a budget monitor and one of the cheapest screens that delivers outstanding performance, retailing for just $249 / £209. 4K and OLED panels cost a lot more money, but given that you're getting a speedy monitor that makes colors look the best they ever have, I really can't complain about being limited to a 1080p resolution.

More from Tom's Guide

• I just replaced my work monitor with this Alienware 25-inch 320Hz screen — and I’m never going back
• I've tested 100 monitors and these are the best ones for work, gaming and everyday use
• I added a portable monitor next to my main display and this inexpensive upgrade is a game changer

As someone who sits in front of a laptop for up to eight hours, five days a week, having one of the best monitors is a necessity for me. While many of the finest screens don’t come cheap, you don’t need to break the bank to get a great viewing experience — just look at the Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED. I’ve been using this monitor for gaming and work and it has blown me away.

Boasting a 320Hz refresh rate and a 0.5ms response time, the AW2525HM is a solid monitor for RPGs, FPS, and any other genre of gaming you can think of. Its color accuracy and rendition are something to behold, as is its SDR brightness. Considering that this monitor costs less than $250, it really doesn’t give you a lot to complain about.

For the complete breakdown, read my full Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED review.

Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 25-inch 1080p monitor featuring a 320Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time
• Who is it for? For gamers who also need a reliable monitor for work
• How much does it cost? The Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED is available for $249 / £209
• What do we like? The 320Hz refresh rate, great color accuracy, minimalist design, and overall fantastic value
• What don’t we like? There are no built-in speakers and HDR is weak

Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED review: Specs

Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED review: The ups

From its minimalist design to its superb color accuracy and reproduction, the Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED is an excellent monitor for both gaming and work.

Minimalist design

If you want a monitor that’s primarily designed for gaming but fits right into an office space and doesn’t draw unnecessary attention, then the Alienware AW2525HM is the one for you. The AW2525HM features an all-black design with minimal branding. There’s no flashy RGB on display either. There’s an Alienware logo around the back of the monitor, and it functions as a holographic sticker that reflects light and appears rainbow-like. I love it.

Given the AW2525HM’s 25-inch screen, you don’t need to worry about fitting it on your desk, even if you’re short on space. The monitor measures 21.87 x 19.71 x 2.71 inches with the stand, so it’s slightly smaller than 27-inch screens like the Lenovo L27i-4B ($109) — my second screen at work. The AW2525HM weighs 13.38lbs with the stand, so while it’s heavy enough to stay in place, it’s still easily liftable and movable.

Adding to the AW2525HM’s minimalism and ease of use is its straightforward menu system, which can be controlled via the clickable joystick located under the Alienware logo on the front. In my testing, I found the menu system highly responsive with zero input lag, and the joystick felt nice to use, too. It was super easy and quick to adjust brightness and contrast, swap between different presets (sRGB, FPS, RPG, etc.) and other settings.

Overall, the AW2525HM is nondescript, looks great on my desk, and is intuitive to use.

Great for gaming

The Alienware AW2525HM is marketed as a gaming monitor, and that’s not surprising given its 320Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time. It excels at delivering a smooth, lag-free gaming experience. There are plenty of picture modes to choose from so that you get a tailored experience, and this includes, but is not limited to, FPS, MOBA, RPG, and Sports.

The AW2525HM features an LED panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 FHD, so there’s no 4K at play. But even without it, visuals look nothing short of stunning, especially for a monitor that doesn’t charge a premium. To test the monitor, I played a few games on a Windows 11 laptop, and regardless of the genre and title, I was mesmerized.

I kicked things off with Cyberpunk 2077, an FPS/RPG with bright neon lights and quick movements that can cause motion blur. The neon colors appeared detailed, bright and vivid on screen, and I appreciated that they didn’t appear oversaturated to the point that they felt fake.

You can see plenty of details even in dark environments, so I was able to make my way through dark areas with confidence in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It’s like I was able to see in the dark, which felt fantastic. And while a lot of the graphics performance is down to the graphics card in the laptop, I felt fully immersed in the life-like cinematic cutscenes during the game, given how detailed all the characters and surroundings appeared.

The whopping 320Hz refresh rate proved its worth in both games, as I didn’t experience any choppiness while sprinting or during fast-paced combat in Cyberpunk 2077. The AW2525HM has a 0.5ms response time, which means its pixels can change colors within 0.5ms, so I didn’t experience any ghosting during gaming either. Of course, if you want even better response times, you’ll need to spend way more on the likes of the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED ($1,099) or the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED ($1,199).

Lab testing analysis: Color

So, the colors look great on screen, but what about actual lab testing? As part of our standardized lab testing, I measured the Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED’s color coverage as well as accuracy — and I was left impressed, in practice and on paper. You can see the results below, compared to other similarly priced monitors.

The AW2525HM covers 148.5% of the sRGB color gamut, which means it covers the entire color spectrum and more, which helps it deliver bright, vivid colors, shades and hues. This is aligned with the bold colors I saw when using the monitor for gaming and work, so I’m very pleased. The color coverage is also better than both the Dell 24 S2421HGF ($250) and Gigabyte G27FC ($229), which are in the AW2525HM’s price bracket.

DCI-P3 is another common color space with a wider overall gamut than sRGB, meaning it delivers a more accurate rendition of lifelike color. The AW2525HM has this space more than covered, with my testing showing 105.2% coverage (meaning it can render more shades than the actual DCI-P3 gamut) — again, better than both the Dell and the Gigabyte.

The last number I tested was Delta-E, which tells us how accurate or close the color on screen is to the color output from the source, such as your computer or laptop. The closer the Delta-E score to 0, the better, and the more color-accurate the images. As you can see above, the AW2525HM blows all other rivals out of the water with a score of 0.6. Even the pricier Alienware AW2725D ($529) is less accurate.

Good for work too

Given the Alienware AW2525HM’s nondescript design, high refresh rate and response time, it’s a fantastic monitor for office work. Its incredible color accuracy and rendition make it a good monitor for editing photos and videos I’ve taken on the best cameras and the best drones.

The 10-bit color depth means that the AW2525HM is capable of showing 1.07 billion individual hues. This enabled me to see the different shades of red and orange in photos of robins I’d taken, as well as the various hues in photos of autumnal leaves and trees. There are a few work-related picture modes, and you can adjust the monitor’s gain, offset, hue and saturation to achieve the ideal settings for photo editing and other work.

This is a very bright monitor too, which is exactly what I needed to watch videos I’d taken of nightscapes on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro and the DJI Mini 5 Pro. My lab testing showed that the monitor’s brightness in SDR peaks at 365 — my coworker, Erin, asked me if my retinas were burning when I had the monitor turned up to 100% brightness!

The table above shows the AW2525HM’s brightness in comparison to other monitors, and as you can see, it’s much brighter than the rest. The AW2525HM feels like an absolute steal, and this brings me to my next point.

Excellent value for money

Given that you get a 320Hz refresh rate, 0.5ms response time, and fantastic color accuracy, you’d think the Alienware AW2525HM costs a lot of money — and you’d be wrong. It’s one of the cheapest monitors on the market, retailing for just $249 / £209, making it the ideal screen for casual gamers who also want to use the same screen for work.

Alienware’s monitor is priced similarly to the Gigabyte G27FC ($229), the Dell 24 S2421HGF ($250), the Lenovo Legion R27fc-30 27-inch 280Hz ($239) and the ViewSonic XG2536 25-inch 280Hz ($299), but Alienware’s device is better than all of them as it offers a faster refresh rate. And while it’s pricier than the Lenovo L27i-4B, it’s well worth the extra spend if you want great color accuracy as well as more hertz.

Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED review: The downs

There isn’t a lot wrong with the Alienware AW2525HM, but it’s worth noting that it doesn’t have the strongest HDR or built-in speakers.

Weak HDR

Strangely, the AW2525HM’s product page doesn’t mention anything about HDR. The only way I found out that it supported HDR was via system settings on my laptop. But I’m not surprised that Alienware doesn’t emphasize this information, considering that the monitor doesn’t have the best HDR.

I tested the HDR at three levels as part of our standardized testing, and the results weren’t great. The AW2525HM peaked at 200 nits on 10% of the screen, 210 nits on 40% and just 198 nits on 100%. While not the brightest, it is worth noting that some of its competitors, like the Dell 24 S2421HGF and the Gigabyte G27FC, don’t support HDR at all — something is better than nothing, I suppose?

No speakers

Annoyingly, the Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED doesn’t feature built-in speakers, so you can’t hear any audio. This is a pretty minor issue if you have external speakers that you can plug into your gaming PC or laptop, or you’re using one of the best wireless headsets. But still, it would have been nice to have some speakers built into the display as a fallback.

Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED review: Verdict

The Alienware AW2525HM 320Hz LED is a fantastic monitor, and I don’t know how I’ve gone so long without it. Its LED panel is bright and detailed, and its color accuracy and rendition blew me away in both subjective and objective testing. I love its 320Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time too, both of which contribute towards a lag- and blur-free gaming experience.

The AW2525HM doesn’t have built-in speakers or the brightest HDR, but these are small drawbacks considering the monitor’s budget price tag. If you need a monitor for gaming and work, I can’t recommend the AW2525HM enough. It’s fast, it’s bright, and it’s unbeatable value for money.

Building a dual-monitor or even a triple-monitor setup at home is a relatively simple task. However, when you’re on the road traveling or even just working from a coffee shop, it’s not that easy and trust me, I’ve tried.

You see, as someone who works from home and has the space for a larger desk setup, I love all that extra screen space I get with an ultrawide monitor on my desk. However, when that wasn’t enough anymore, I added a portable monitor underneath it for keeping track of my work chats and launching apps. Of all the desk setups I’ve tried over the years, this one is my all-time favorite.

Now I can’t always work from the comfort of my home office which is why I picked up one of the best laptops specifically for working on the go a few years back. However, its smaller, 16:9 display feels restrictive compared to my multi-monitor setup at home. As such, I’ve taken to bringing a portable monitor with me when I travel and more recently, a pair of AR glasses.

With either of those options though, I’m still missing out when it comes to screen real state. That’s why when Aura reached out about trying the company’s new foldable, triple-display portable monitor, I jumped at the opportunity.

Here’s what it's been like using this one-of-a-kind portable monitor — both on the go and at home — and why you might want to consider something like this over your standard laptop screen extender.

A truly portable multi-screen experience

The Triple Aero 15.6 Pro Max from Aura comes with everything you need for a portable multi-monitor workstation. In the box, you get the device itself, two USB-C cables (one for connecting and one for power), and a Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable if you want to use it with a desktop or game console. You also get a 65W GaN charger with three international plug attachments, which shows Aura designed this with travelers in mind. Aura even included a felt sleeve that’s large enough to hold both the Triple Aero and a smaller laptop, as I was able to slip my 13-inch ThinkPad into it without any issues.

All three of the displays are housed in an aluminum case that, just like the displays themselves, unfolds. When fully extended, the case doubles as a stand with pre-set positions so you can adjust the angle and height of the screens. Although the ports appear to be on top when folded, they switch to the underside of the center display when unfolded, making them easily accessible. In total, you get two USB-C ports (one for power and one for your laptop) and three Mini-HDMI ports if you want to use it with a desktop or even three computers at once.

Of course, packing three displays and an aluminum frame comes with some heft. At approximately seven pounds, the Triple Aero is heavier than a standard single-display or even a dual-screen portable monitor like Uperfect’s UStation Delta I tested last year. The good news is that the back end of its stand doubles as a convenient carrying handle when everything is folded up.

At 14.1 x 16.5 x 1.1 inches overall, you'll probably have a tough time slipping this into a standard laptop bag. Fortunately, I had a larger flap top backpack with some extra room. With the Triple Aero in its felt case, and my laptop next to it in the larger bag, I headed out to a coffee shop to see what it would be like to get some work done with this triple-display portable monitor.

Unfolded and locked in

Technically, Aura recommends using the included GaN charger to power the Triple Aero, as your laptop’s USB-C port isn’t powerful enough to drive all three displays. I tested this at home anyway, and after a little over an hour, my laptop was begging me to plug it in. I’d recommend sticking with Aura’s guidance if a power outlet is nearby.

Just like with other dual-screen portable monitors I’ve used in the past, you first need to download a special driver on your PC or Mac to use all three of the Triple Aero’s displays. You can download the Windows or Mac driver here, and surprisingly, there’s also a driver for Ubuntu Linux and an app that functions as a driver for Android.

Unlike the single or dual-screen portable monitors I usually bring with me, setting up the Aura Triple Aero 15.6 Pro Max takes more time and some getting used to. You have to open tabs on either side of its aluminum frame before you can begin unfolding its triple displays. From there, you slide the folded displays along a track with three cutouts that hold them in place at different angles once fully extended. Then you flip the displays up and can begin unfolding them.

I have to admit getting this process down took a bit of practice. After doing it three or four times, however, the way the stand and the monitors work together finally clicked. If you do decide to pick up a Triple Aero from Aura, I highly recommend practicing a few times before you try using it in public. It’s not nearly as fast to set up as a traditional portable monitor, but once everything is locked in place, the stand is very stable.

The center display can be tilted forward or backward, and the two side displays can be folded towards you for a cockpit-style layout. They can also be folded backward individually or together to form a triangle, which is useful when showing a presentation to others.

I like that the stand protects the displays when folded and leaves enough room to slide your laptop into the space between its rails. This gives you a quad-display setup that perfectly mimicked my ultrawide desk setup at home. As you can see in the photo above, I kept Slack open on my laptop’s smaller 13-inch screen and used the Triple Aero's displays for work and research.

During my work session at a coffee shop, I had a shared Google Doc open on the left display, my favorite news aggregator on the right, and the Tom’s Guide home page on the center one. This allowed me to work on a shared document, keep tabs on what stories were going live on Tom’s Guide, and look for new security stories, all while chatting with my co-workers on my laptop.

The Triple Aero 15.6 Pro Max’s displays have an anti-glare coating that worked quite well outdoors. However, since I was powering all three displays from my laptop, I couldn’t quite turn up the brightness all the way. If there had been an outlet nearby, I could have plugged the Triple Aero in and used it to keep my laptop charged, as its full-featured USB-C port can reverse-charge whatever device you have connected.

Still, after having to use multiple USB-C cables with that laptop screen extender I’ve tested, it was nice to have a portable triple monitor setup with a single cable connection. The Triple Aero’s built-in stand also lifts all three displays to eye level, making it a more ergonomic solution where you don’t have to crane your neck down.

Portable but not practical (for me)

Although I like the idea of having a triple-monitor setup I can bring with me, I don’t think Aura’s Triple Aero 15.6 Pro Max will replace my current portable monitor anytime soon. While it's a very well-made device that you can connect with a single USB-C cable, its three displays extend to a full 41 inches wide when angled towards you.

Also, at a hefty seven pounds with a much larger footprint than a typical portable monitor, it’s also on the bulky side — I even had to switch to a different backpack just to bring it with me. I don’t think I could pull off a setup like this at a coffee shop unless I was a well-tipping regular, but there is one situation where I could absolutely see myself bringing it: for an extended hotel stay. For a trip where I’m working for a week, coming back to a full triple-monitor setup in my hotel room would be great.

Compared to the laptop screen extender I tested though, the Triple Aero is a massive improvement. I don't have to worry about plugging in multiple cables and attaching separate monitors to either side of my laptop each time I want to use it.

So should you get a Triple Aero 15.6 Pro Max for yourself? It really depends on your workflow. This could be incredibly useful for someone who wants a triple-monitor setup but lives in a small space, or for someone who does the majority of their work from a laptop at the kitchen table.

Overall, I’m still impressed with what Aura has managed to achieve with the Triple Aero, and I look forward to seeing what improvements the company will make with the follow-up to this one-of-a-kind portable monitor.

More from Tom's Guide

• I turned an old monitor into a digital dashboard and it's a game changer
• I put 3 stacked monitor setups to the test and this is the one I’m sticking with
• I just tested this budget 32-inch 4K gaming monitor and it's the perfect upgrade for your PS5 and Xbox Series X

Acer has officially joined the race to deliver the fast gaming monitor around, as it's now pushing refresh rates to a whopping 720Hz in its latest Predator monitor — and it's OLED, too.

During IFA 2025, Acer announced its new Predator X27U F8 gaming monitor, featuring a dual-resolution 26.5-inch OLED display with up to a 720Hz refresh rate. Made for competitive gaming, you can also expect an ultra-fast 0.01ms response time for virtually instant reaction speeds.

So far, we've seen LG Display deliver a similar 720Hz OLED monitor, along with a 610Hz gaming monitor from Asus and, as we said on TikTok, even the fastest 750Hz screen we've seen. Now, Acer is joining the party, but don't expect a high resolution when cranking up that refresh rate.

The Acer Predator X27U F8 is set to launch in early 2026 in the U.S., starting at $1,299. It will also be available in Europe in Q2 2026, available from €1,199. Will it be the next gaming monitor for you? Let's dive into the details.

Acer Predator X27U F8: Specs

Acer Predator X27U F8: What you need to know

Even the best gaming monitors we've seen on the market top out at 360Hz (looking at you, LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B), but the Predator X27U F8 takes it all up a notch.

Its 26.5-inch OLED doesn't look to compromise on display quality, but still brings the speeds for fast-paced competitive games like Counter-Strike 2, Valorant and more. However, to get those 720Hz speeds, it takes a hit on display resolution, as it's only available when at 1280 x 720 resolution.

This is expected, and many pro-level gamers will be used to lower resolutions to gain the fastest reaction speeds from a display possible. In this display mode, though, the monitor offers a 0.01ms response time, which is ridiculously snappy.

However, with the Predator X27U F8's Dynamic Frequency Resolution (DFR), it's able to switch to a WQHD (2560 x 1440) resolution with a still ultra-fast 540Hz refresh rate. Now that's handy for all gamers.

Along with its DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification and 99% DCI-P3 color gamut for those deep blacks and colors that pop (hopefully), the Predator monitor also comes with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support for tear-free gameplay.

Playing games and seeing this screen with my own eyes will demonstrate the Acer Predator X27U F8's true capabilities. I mean, what gamer doesn't want to see what a 720Hz refresh rate looks like?

According to Lenovo, 4K at 240Hz is “no longer a future concept,” and Acer is proving that point with its next-gen (and speedy) Predator X27U F8.

More from Tom's Guide

• I switched a gaming monitor for an OLED TV — and playing on this Samsung S90D opened my eyes
• The Corsair Xeneon Edge is one of the most unique touch displays I’ve seen — here’s what it can do
• I test gaming monitors for a living — here’s what I think of Reddit’s top recommendations

I review the best gaming monitors for a living, so I was curious to see which ones the folks on Reddit recommended. That’s because a couple of weeks ago, I searched the popular website for Reddit's recommendations for the best laptops and the best gaming laptops. Since I found their choices insightful and informative, I wanted to see which gaming monitors the community liked. As before, I was not disappointed.

I referenced this post from two months ago, which is the latest on gaming monitors I could find on Reddit. However, I also perused some of the other posts that showed up on Google when I searched for “best gaming monitors Reddit.” Not surprisingly, the community praised and recommended gaming monitors from the likes of Alienware, LG, and Samsung, many of which I’ve reviewed and scored highly.

So, which specific gaming monitors does Reddit think are the best, and what do I think of said recommendations? Read on to find out!

LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B

Based on the post linked above the gaming monitor Reddit brought up most is the LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B. Given all of this monitor’s features, I’m not surprised that many community members either recommended it to others or wanted one for themselves.

As I wrote in my LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B review, this gaming monitor has two display modes: 5K at 165Hz and 2K at 330Hz. The former is ideal for cinematic games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, while the latter is tailor-made for competitive games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Toss in its immersive curved 45-inch OLED panel that delivers bright and colorful images, and you have a winner.

“Most would say peak atm is the 5K2K monitor with its 4k ultrawide and OLED,” said user Zoduk. User eire323 replied to that post, saying, “I agree the LG 5K2K OLED looks insane. Would need a beefy GPU to power it [though].”

Some users said they wanted one, and if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say the steep $1,999 asking price is likely why they haven't purchased this monitor. JohnsonBurnerr said, “I'm hoping to buy the 5K2K if it gets any cheaper within the next year or two.”

$2,000 isn’t cheap, but as I said in my review, if you can afford it, you’re getting your money’s worth given all the features the LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B has to offer. And as I also wrote, this monitor is not just great for gaming, but it’s also a game-changer for productivity, thanks to that expansive 45-inch curved panel.

Price aside, the LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B is one of the most impressive gaming monitors I’ve tested. Switching between its two display modes is easy, and its 45-inch curved OLED panel makes games feel more immersive, and it can also boost your productivity. This is an excellent recommendation from Reddit.

Alienware AW3425DW

This next recommendation is none other than the Alienware AW3423DWF, which is a gaming monitor I’ve championed for years. Reddit also recommends the Alienware AW3425DW, which is an updated version of the former. While the new model has better features, you won’t go wrong with either, as they both deliver a phenomenal gaming experience.

Both the Alienware AW3423DWF and AW3425DW have a 34-inch QD-OLED curved panel with a 1440p resolution. Each offers bright and colorful image quality that helps draw you into whatever game you’re playing. The AW3425DW has a smoother 240Hz refresh rate and a lower 0.03ms response time, along with a smaller stand and slimmer design. Both make fine additions to anyone’s gamer room.

“Alienware AW3423DWF or AW3425DW are top of the line for me,” said user EJNorth. User xstangx said, “I have the Alienware AW3425DW. I don’t know if it’s the best, but damn it’s good. Best monitor I’ve seen so far!”

Right now, these Alienware monitors are relatively affordable, with the current AW3425DW costing $769, for example. User JohnsonBurner said, “wondering if I should play around with cheaper options first, like the Alienware AW3423DWF and see if that satisfies my itch.”

While the Alienware monitors in question don’t have 4K resolution, they make up for that with excellent picture quality and fast performance. Of these two, I recommend the newer AW3425W since it’s a better version of its predecessor and only costs $769.

Bottom line

More from Tom's Guide

• I put 3 stacked monitor setups to the test
• I ditched my ultrawide display for this dual-monitor setup
• Buying a monitor? Here are 3 underrated features I look for

Corsair has just released a unique display called the Xeneon Edge. Though you can certainly use it as a second (or third) monitor, this device is more versatile than it appears.

The Corsair Xeneon Edge is a 14.5-inch LCD built for various purposes. For instance, you can insert it into your PC anywhere you can mount a row of three 120mm fans. Since it’s thinner than a standard case fan, you should be able to find room for the display. This area points straight out of your PC’s side panel, so if you have a transparent side panel, you’ll have a clear view of the Xeneon Edge’s display to view CPU and GPU metrics (among other things).

More from Tom's Guide

• I put 3 stacked monitor setups to the test
• I ditched my ultrawide display for this dual-monitor setup
• Buying a monitor? Here are 3 underrated features I look for

This year, I’ve been on the hunt for the fastest refresh rate gaming monitors. It started with Zowie’s 600Hz panel, moved up to 610 Hz from Asus, and then we pixel peeped a 750Hz screen. But all of these have one flaw — IPS.

Not to say it’s a bad display technology, but they’re not so bright and not very colorful or immersive. OLED is the answer to this, and LG Display just debuted a new monitor that can run at a buttery smooth 720Hz. But that’s only half the story.

Smoothness without compromising the picture

So like I said, a lot of these esports-tier screens are usually low on the resolution side (typically 1080p) and come with a rather dim IPS display with poor color production. LG has just blown all those expectations out of the water at its K-Display event in Seoul.

For reference, this isn’t the first time we’ve actually heard about LG’s 4th Gen Tandem OLED panel, as SDC teased a monitor sporting it and shared some specs that we’ll get into here (thanks, VideoCardz).

This is a tandem OLED panel, so brightness is no problem at up to a 1,500-nit peak, and of course you’re getting that inky contrast ratio and a flash flood of color here too (a 99.5% DCI-P3 color reproduction). Plus, you’re getting a 1440p resolution too at 540Hz.

But while LG gives with one hand with display quality, it takes away with a compromise to get that big number. It can be pushed to 720Hz using Dynamic Frequency & Resolution (DFR) technology, but you have to be prepared for a resolution downscale to 720p to make it work.

Definitely for the pros

More from Tom's Guide

• I just tested this 45-inch OLED gaming monitor — and it's so good it could be your next TV
• 4K at 240Hz is “no longer a future concept” — Lenovo exec says the future of gaming monitors is already shifting
• I tested the Framework Desktop — and it made me rethink everything I knew about mini PCs

No matter if you need a powerful laptop for creative work, a lightweight 2-in-1 for on-the-go productivity, or a gaming laptop with crisp graphics and high frame rates, the world of computing has never looked brighter.

From AI-powered laptops with extra processing power and dual-mode monitors that support multiple resolutions, to blazing fast Wi-Fi 7 routers for lightning-fast downloads and security software designed to help keep you safe online, you have loads of different options for your next upgrade. We've tried the best computing and home office gear you can get.

Our team of experts has tested and reviewed all of the latest laptops, tablets, monitors, accessories and networking gear for the Tom’s Guide Awards 2025. Below, we highlight our favorite computers, displays and essential gear from the last 12 months which have made doing our own jobs a bit easier.

Best laptop

M4 MacBook Air

The latest 13-inch MacBook Air M4 is the best MacBook for most people. Though it retains the same design as its two immediate predecessors, this thin and lightweight laptop delivers astonishing performance and long-lasting battery life. The fact that it starts at $999, which is $100 cheaper than before, makes the MacBook Air M4 a no-brainer choice.

As before, the 13-inch MacBook Air 13-inch M4 features a 13.6-inch Retina display that’s ideal for everyday work, watching videos and playing games. The M4 chip inside has more than enough power to handle whatever you throw at it. Apple’s silicon also allows the laptop to last for nearly 15 hours on a single charge. On top of that, you get a responsive keyboard and MagSafe charging in an elegant ultraportable design.

Thanks to everything it offers, the MacBook Air M4 is still the MacBook to beat and easily earns its award for best laptop of 2025.

Best AI laptop

MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo

The MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo is an excellent Windows ultraportable with AI features that are actually useful in day-to-day work. The model we reviewed came with a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU inside, and while its NPU (Neural Processing Unit) can’t match the power of Apple silicon or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips it’s more than capable of helping out with AI tasks.

That frees up the CPU and Intel Arc GPU for other tasks and helps you cut down on battery usage, especially if you enable the AI Engine feature that automatically adjusts the laptop’s settings to help you achieve peak battery life. Additional AI features like noise cancellation, Windows Studio Effects and the AI Lan Manager (which automatically analyzes your network traffic and tries to reduce latency) integrate seamlessly into your work day without distracting you, giving us the first real taste of how an AI laptop should work.

Plus, it’s just a nice laptop. The 16-inch 1600p display gives you plenty of screen real estate, and the spacious full keyboard is comfy to type on. It’s also surprisingly light and easy to carry (for a 16-inch laptop) at just 3.5 pounds and 0.7 inches thin. The Wi-Fi 7 support and useful port array are nice to have, as is the 15+ hours of (tested) battery life we recorded in our testing lab. So while the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo might not put AI features front and center, the subtle integration of them into this already excellent laptop make it the best AI laptop we’ve tested all year.

Best keyboard

ZSA Moonlander

The ZSA Moonlander looks a little odd at first, but once you get to grips with how it works you’ll appreciate what a smartly designed keyboard this is—especially if you like to tinker and fine-tune your desk setup.

We think it’s the best keyboard we’ve reviewed all year because of its one-two punch of great ergonomic design and robust customization software. The Moonlander is modular and customizable, so you can push one side away and use only the left half when PC gaming or use the built-in legs to tent each half off the desk so it feels comfortable under your hands. The mechanical switches are easy to swap out, too thanks to the fact that ZSA includes a keypuller (as well as a carrying case) with every keyboard.

The Moonlander also has a pair of unique “Meh” and “Hyper” keys that trigger complicated key combos when pressed (pressing Meh defaults to Ctrl + Shift + Alt, for example, while pressing Hyper triggers Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Windows/Command), so you can use them to easily build your own unique keyboard shortcuts using ZSA’s Keymapp software. This software is the best we’ve ever seen for a keyboard, as it allows you to not only rebind any key on the keyboard but also create custom layers of commands for each key that can be further customized based on whichever app you happen to be using. You can even use the software to see heat maps of which keys you use most and run through typing drills to test your new configuration, making this a keyboard you can easily fine-tune to your exact needs. Oh, and did we mention there’s a modding community?

For all of these reasons and more, the ZSA Moonlander is the best keyboard we’ve tested this year.

Best gaming laptop

Alienware Area-51

The Alienware Area-51 lives up to its name thanks to its otherworldly design. It demands a steep asking price, but it’s worth every penny thanks to the incredible gaming performance it delivers. If you’re looking for a beast of a gaming laptop, this is the one.

This gaming laptop’s Liquid Teal anodized aluminum chassis gives it a distinctive iridescent sheen that shifts colors when viewed under different lighting conditions. The RGB lighting on the back mimics the motion of the aurora borealis, which adds to the alien-like flair. The clear Gorilla Glass window on the bottom lets you see inside the laptop, which is also fancy.

Inside, the Alienware Area-51 packs a fast Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU and up to a powerful RTX 5090 GPU. Toss in up to 64GB of RAM, and you have a powerful gaming rig that can deftly handle the most graphically demanding games, especially with DLSS 4 enabled. And of course, said games look astonishing on the laptop’s 16-inch 240Hz display.

Best 2-in-1 laptop

Asus ROG Flow Z13

PC gaming has been dominated for decades by one thing — dedicated GPUs. They have been the driving force behind gaming laptops for ages now, but something fascinating is starting to happen. Bit by bit, integrated graphics are no longer becoming a dirty word, but rather a great way to play games while being more power efficient.

And the Asus ROG Flow Z13 is the pinnacle of this in 2025, and easily the best 2-in-1 of the year. With AMD Ryzen AI Max inside, you’re getting up to the same performance as a whole RTX 4070 without the additional power drain of a dedicated GPU.

Throw in a gorgeous display, slimline construction, an impressive battery life and the best keyboard I’ve ever used on a 2-in-1, and you’re onto a winner for gaming on-the-go.

Best monitor

LG 5K2K ultrawide

While the LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B is a gaming monitor, we actually think it’s one of the best monitors for productivity. That’s because of its 45-inch ultrawide 21:9 curved display that allows you to easily have multiple windows open across the screen. If you want to boost your productivity, this giant monitor will help you.

For gaming, this monitor’s main draw is that it has two display modes: 5K resolution at 165Hz and 2K resolution at 330Hz. The former is ideal for cinematic games, while the latter is made for competitive games. The OLED panel also delivers fantastic contrast and vivid colors. Though big and expensive, this is one of the best monitors for productivity.

Best AR Glasses

Xreal One Pro

If you want the absolute best of the best in AR glasses, the clear option is Xreal One Pro. The price may be a little steep compared to its competition (and the Xreal One), but the technology here is a generational leap forward.

AR glasses experts like me have been looking for two key things to happen — make the display bigger with a wider field of view, and make said display tech smaller. Up until this point, we’ve dealt with what are called “bird baths” in the industry: the giant glass prisms you see behind the lenses of specs that project the image into your eyes.

Xreal has managed to drastically reduce the size of these with their own flat prism tech, which makes this pair of glasses a lot more inconspicuous on the face. And on top of that, the company has packed a giant 1080p display with great color reproduction and a 57-degree field of view.

But the real magic here is that X1 chip built into the glasses. For all of the fancy spatial computing tricks so far like creating multiple monitors through your specs of 3DoF tracking, you normally have to rely on software to do it. That brings compatibility issues and potential latency between software and glasses.

On Xreal One Pro, however, you’ve got all of this done through silicon via this one-of-a-kind chip — which can project an ultrawide display perfectly tracked to the back of an airplane seat wherever you want.

Best webcam

Insta360 Link 2C

The Insta360 Link 2C is the only webcam we’ve ever awarded a 5-star rating too, and that’s thanks to its ability to capture sharp and detailed stills, next-gen AI subject tracking and autofocus. It’s one of the most premium snappers on the market, utilizing a combination of plastic and metal to deliver a sturdy webcam.

What we love most about the Link 2C is just how many details it captures with its 1/2-inch sensor. We could see fine details in our faces when we tested it, and really appreciated its ability to record and transmit 4K/30fps and 1080P/60fps video. It’s also equipped with AI features such as hand tracking and gestures, as well as product prioritization which puts the object closest to the lens in focus.

There really isn’t a better professional webcam out there — at least not one that makes you look like you’re dressed to the nines at such a low price tag.

Best tablet

iPad Air M3

It's hard to improve on excellence, but the iPad Air M3 manages to do it anyway. It's not a revolutionary jump over its predecessor, the iPad Air M2, but with the might of Apple's M3 chip onboard, not only does it deliver helpful Apple Intelligence features, but also a way to breeze through demanding apps and even play AAA titles at a steady frame rate. All in that minimalist, lightweight design with an incredibly vivid display? That's a tablet that deserves praise.

Apple has found something magical in putting full-blown MacBook chips into its tablets, and the latest iPad Air never fails to impress in terms of bringing speedy performance to a tablet. With an updated Magic Keyboard (albeit pricey) boasting a 14-key function row and larger touchpad, this tablet can easily be a laptop alternative, and that already says a lot. Throw in its usual sharp 11-inch (2360 x 1640) Liquid Retina display, good near 10-hour battery life and thin, portable design, and the iPad Air M3 shows why Apple's tablets still wear the crown.

Best router

Netgear Nighthawk RS600

Upgrading to a Wi-Fi 7-powered router used to cost a fortune but that’s no longer the case as the latest wireless standard is inching closer to becoming mainstream. While still on the expensive side, the $500 Netgear Nighthawk RS600 gives you blazing fast speeds and all of Wi-Fi 7’s best features at a much lower price than the company’s RS700 router from a few years ago.

The Nighthawk RS600 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router that comes in a much smaller package than the top-of-the-line RS700. Thanks to its 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) input port, this router is ideal for multi-gig internet plans and in our testing, it reached speeds of 1.4 Gbps at close range. However, it was at middle distances where other routers often fall short that the RS600 really excelled. If you’re after a high-performance Wi-Fi 7 router that isn’t priced like one, Netgear’s Nighthawk RS600 delivers and then some.

Best mesh router

Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro

The main thing that sets Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7-powered routers apart from previous Wi-Fi generations is support for the faster 6 GHz band. Well, with the ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro, Asus doubled down on this to achieve some of the fastest speeds we’ve seen yet from a mesh Wi-Fi system. During our testing, it reached a max speed of 2.6 Gbps, making it one of if not the fastest router we’ve tested yet. The reason for this is that the ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro is a quad-band mesh router with dual 6 GHz bands.

Besides its blazing fast speeds, we also really appreciate how Asus includes its built-in AiProtection security software for free while other companies require a monthly subscription for similar solutions. Likewise, thanks to the USB port on the back of the ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro, you can also connect your phone and use its mobile hotspot to keep your home network running during an internet outage. This mesh Wi-Fi system also features not one but two 10 Gbps Ethernet ports so you can take full advantage of even the fastest internet speeds.

If you want a mesh Wi-Fi system that’s as fast as it is capable, the Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro is easy to recommend.

Best antivirus

Norton 360 Deluxe

Norton 360 Deluxe has a lot to offer those in need of a security suite – and we mean a lot. In addition to excellent real-time malware protection against everything from botnets and brute force attacks it adds a long list of additional features that protect you and your devices while you’re online. Apps can be started in sandbox mode, your webcam access can be blocked, and Safe Search can show you a warning if you navigate over to any websites that might be shady. There’s a rescue disk that will give you an ISO (digital copy) to protect your data in case of a ransomware attack, and you still get dark web scanning, a software check that scans for outdated programs, cloud backup, parental controls, a password manager, a VPN and a firewall. That’s an awful lot all under a single subscription, and Norton’s fee will cover five devices annually.

During testing, we appreciated the multiple scan options which were all speedy and didn’t make a dent in overall performance, as well as a familiar and easy to navigate interface that made it easy to find functions and advanced features alike. In independent testing, Norton performed well in blocking general and targeted virus attacks, but did produce a high rate of false positives. We recommend Norton as our best features pick for obvious reasons, but it’s also a good choice for anyone who has multiple devices to cover and doesn’t want to pay extra for features to stay safe online.

Best VPN

NordVPN

NordVPN is practically a household name at this point – and for good reason. In our reivew, it sailed through our privacy checks with flying colors, and multiple independent audits back up its solid no-logs policy. NordVPN is also seriously powerful when it comes to unblocking regional libraries on sites like Netflix and Disney Plus – earning it a spot on our guide to the best VPNs for streaming.

With apps for almost every platform imaginable, it's a great choice whether you're an occasional VPN user looking to unblock streaming content and improve your online privacy, or a journalist working in a dangerous, restrictive country.

Additional features like Meshnet and Threat Protection Pro – the latter independently rated as the best VPN-bundled malware protection by AV-TEST – add to NordVPN's impressive package of privacy tech. Overall, no VPN can match NordVPN completeness as a privacy suite, and excellent pricing is the icing on the cake.

With new GPUs, gaming monitors always take an evolutionary step forward — that much was obvious with the launch of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series cards and the adoption of 4K 240Hz panels. But what if I told you that gaming panels are evolving even further beyond this?

I spoke to George Toh, Vice President and GM of the Visuals Business at Lenovo, and while some of these future trends are clear to see (OLED gaming monitors, for example), some surprised me. A simple one being that gamers are done tweaking settings, and that displays should adapt to them with AI.

Now, as a D1 settings tweaker myself, I felt a little personally attacked (sarcasm), but in all seriousness, this makes a world of sense — having a monitor that learns to adapt to you, and not just be the screen you have to work around to get just right.

And then there’s the question of catering to more ways that people play. Gaming handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go S have exploded in popularity, and as gaming laptops go from strength to strength, the need for versatile portable gaming panels is going to grow stronger looking ahead.

So, what does the future of gaming monitors look like? Well, this is what Lenovo thinks.

OLED, Mini LED, or something else — what display technologies do you see leading the next generation of gaming monitors, and why?

Gamers today demand more than just speed or colors or brightness—they want immersion, precision and a visual experience that keeps pace with the speed of today’s titles.

As we look at the next generation of gaming monitors, both OLED and Mini LED will play critical roles in the evolution of gaming monitors. OLED continues to impress with its incredible contrast ratios, depth of color and fast response times, making it ideal for immersive single-player experiences and content consumption.

Mini LED, on the other hand, offers high peak brightness and excellent HDR performance while mitigating some of the burn-in concerns associated with OLED, which is valuable for long hours of competitive play.

One could make a case for either OLED or Mini LED, but based on industry shipments, we are currently seeing a preference for OLED gaming monitors. I believe we’ll also see hybrid innovations — displays that integrate the strengths of multiple technologies — along with advances in panel control and pixel-level tuning. Whatever the technology is, the end goal is very simple: giving gamers more choice and more control over how they experience their games.

With gaming laptops and handhelds becoming more powerful (like the Legion Go 2 lineup), do you see a future where portable or hybrid gaming monitors become mainstream?

Absolutely. As devices like the Legion Go 2 redefine what’s possible in portable gaming, there’s a growing demand for monitors that can match that flexibility without compromising performance.

We’re already seeing increased interest in lightweight, USB-C-powered displays that deliver high refresh rates and vibrant visuals — and this is just the beginning. I see hybrid and portable gaming monitors becoming a much more mainstream category, especially for gamers who want a secondary screen for on-the-go setups, LAN parties, or even creative work.

We are constantly exploring ways to bring new experiences to life, and portable or hybrid gaming monitors will perfectly complement our broader Legion ecosystem.

How is Lenovo approaching the balance between high refresh rates and high resolution, especially as 4K 240Hz displays enter the market?

Balancing refresh rate and resolution is one of the biggest technical challenges and opportunities in the gaming display space right now. Gamers want the best of both worlds: incredibly sharp visuals and smooth gameplay, but factors such as economics often play a role.

We’re investing heavily in panels that can deliver both, as well as in technologies like VRR (variable refresh rate) and advanced overdrive tuning to ensure the experience lives up to the spec.

We’ve also taken a holistic approach — pairing high-performance displays with GPU and thermal innovations across our Legion devices to make sure the full system can support high frame rates at high resolutions. 4K at 240Hz was novel before, but is no longer a future concept; it’s something we’re actively testing and optimizing for real-world gaming use cases.

How do you see AI and software optimization playing a role in the future of gaming displays — whether it’s latency reduction, adaptive tuning or visual enhancement?

AI and software optimization are rapidly becoming foundational to the future of gaming displays. From dynamic backlight control to real-time upscaling and latency reduction, we’re seeing smarter systems that adapt to the user, the content and even ambient lighting conditions.

I’m particularly excited about how AI can personalize the visual experience — whether it’s through auto-calibration, scene-based color tuning or adaptive refresh management.

These aren’t just enhancements — they’re tools that let gamers focus more on their performance and immersion, and less on manual settings. We're already integrating AI capabilities into our Legion products, and you can expect to see even more intelligent display features in our upcoming lineup.

More from Tom's Guide

• Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED review: A gorgeous ultra-wide that’s perfect for immersive gaming
• I just tested this 45-inch OLED gaming monitor — and it's so good it could be your next TV
• I tested this $159 gaming monitor thinking it was a joke — but it's now my favorite budget display

The Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED gaming monitor is an ultra-wide curved QHD display, designed for serious gamers who need a balance of high-speed performance and widescreen immersion.

With its 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms GTG (I’ll explain this more later), it’s perfectly capable of competitive FPS gaming. Plus, its gorgeous curved OLED panel and ultra-wide aspect ratio could make it one of the best gaming monitors for immersive gaming in RPGs or strategy games.

I’ve tested this premium monitor for a few months now, and aside from a slightly steep (albeit not outrageous) price, I’m struggling to say much against it. Whether it’s gaming, work or production, the Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED had me well and truly covered throughout testing. I’m just sad to be giving it back.

Anyway, for the complete lowdown, keep reading to see my full Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED gaming monitor review.

Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A curved ultra-wide OLED gaming monitor with 1440p (QHD) resolution
• Who is it for? Gamers wanting a premium, immersive OLED display
• What does it cost? The MSRP is $1,199 at Amazon or Lenovo, although you can find it cheaper
• What’s good? The color, contrast, gaming performance and that beautiful ultra-wide curve
• What isn’t? It’s a little pricey versus QD-OLED rivals and its peak brightness isn’t great

Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED review: Specs

Lenovo Legion Pro 34WD-10 OLED review: The ups

A crisp OLED panel, vibrant color, speedy performance and enough real estate to rear cattle, all wrapped up with typical Lenovo build quality — this monitor is a consummate all-rounder.

Stunning visuals

Alrighty, let’s get into the most important stuff first. Paramount (for me at least) when testing any monitor are the subjective visuals. The 34WD-10 features a 1440p ultra-wide OLED panel, and it’s gorgeous to behold.

1440p (or QHD) is the sweet spot in my opinion, at least on 27-34-inch monitors, giving you the perfect blend of resolution and detail without proving too taxing on your system. My rig uses a Radeon RX6900XT graphics card, which is capable of 4K UHD, but I’ve been able to run even intensive games at Ultra settings thanks to the lower QHD res.

That isn’t to say it looks bad at all. At 34 inches, 1440p still looks fantastic, especially when we’re talking about OLED. With OLED displays each pixel can turn itself off, giving super-dark blacks and rich contrast. I played a lot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, a very dark and moody game, complemented superbly by the Lenovo’s heavy blacks.

Colors are also rich and vibrant, even in Standard mode. I played Total War: Rome II and Valheim, both games with highly saturated, warm palettes, and they looked brilliant on the 34WD-10. The neon lights of Cyberpunk 2077, meanwhile, looked particularly fetching in the HDR Game modes, and the Warm sRGB SDR preset.

Lab testing analysis: Color

In addition to our subjective testing, we also run objective tests for color. You can see the results in the Lab Test tables below. We run these tests using our own calibrated color spectrophotometers.

• Delta-E: Lower = Better
• sRGB: Higher = Better
• DCI-P3: Higher = Better