Best Gaming Monitors You Can Actually Buy Right Now [Feb 2021]

[Music] welcome back to hardware unbox if you've been struggling to buy any sort of pc hardware lately then you are not alone there is quite a supply shortage right now with sky high demand as i'm sure many of you are aware of at this point monitors haven't been as affected as some other components take graphics cards for example but still right now a number of the monitors we typically recommend are out of stock and quite hard to find so i thought it would be worth making a video for people wanting to buy a monitor right now what are the best gaming monitors you can buy on the market that are actually in stock and available to be purchased at a reasonable price we'll be going through all of that in just a minute with our usual recommendations backed mostly by our wealth of testing data but a quick disclaimer first this video was produced yesterday so if you're watching this video when it goes live then it's been a little over 24 hours since we researched and gathered the data for which monitors are in stock and which aren't this means there is a chance that some of the products that we talked about in this video that we say are in stock are actually out of stock by the time you look into buying one if that's the case we're sorry but nothing much we can do about it unless you want to sign up to floatplane and get videos like this before they go live on youtube i will be trying my best to recommend several products in each category though so you'll be able to go through and hopefully find a suitable option that you can buy and that could also be helpful in other countries where the products that are in stock may be different so let's get into it i'm going to start this one with a look at 1440p monitors the most popular category for new monitor buyers based on our previous surveys and there's quite a bit of good news here most of the monitors that we regularly recommend for buyers are in stock and ready for shipping that's not true at all for the other categories but at least for 1440p displays it seems that the wealth of high quality options available these days and strong manufacturing from the power suppliers is keeping most monitors in stock at least for now starting from the high end if you want a 1440p 240hz monitor then it should be relatively easy to purchase one at this point our usual pick in this category the samsung odyssey g7 seems to be available in both sizes while the alienware aw 2721d that we're set to review shortly is also in stock my guess here is that their relatively high price tag starting at 700 us dollars is keeping them out of reach of more mainstream buyers the samsung odyssey g7 offers an excellent response time experience going toe-to-toe with some of the best monitors we've reviewed in terms of clarity input latency and overall motion experience despite being a va panel there is no dark level smearing here to speak of plus consistent response times that are held throughout the refresh range when combined with that high 240hz maximum refresh the odyssey g7 is a great choice for those after a variable refresh rate gaming experience along with a good contrast ratio and decent enough color performance one of the g7's main weaknesses on release were flickering issues although that has since been corrected through a firmware update i'm also not a huge fan of the aggressive 1000r curve or the weak uniformity and not that spectacular contrast for a va panel however on the balance of things the odyssey g7 remains a great choice for high-end buyers the alienware aw 2721d is also a product to look out for which offers a 1440p 240hz experience but with a flat ips panel instead we're still in the process of evaluating what this display offers but it's something high-end buyers should be on the lookout for if you're after a more mid-range 1440p display then i was surprised to see that basically all the products we usually recommend here are still available this includes the lg 27 gl850 the dell s2721 dgf and the msi mag 274 qrf-qd the latter of which wasn't actually available at the time we reviewed it last year based on our performance testing of these options and their current prices i'd personally opt for the msi monitor it has the best response times of the three i just mentioned and does so with an au optronics panel that delivers elite coverage of both the adobe rgb and dci p3 color spaces which makes it very well suited as a dual use monitor for gamers and content creators as it uses au optronics technology instead of lg's nano ips found on the dell and lg options it maintains a higher contrast ratio too with similar viewing angles the fact that the mag274 qrf-qd has come down in price from a launch msrp of 550 to just 450 makes it very competitive in the market today and actually cheaper than both the dell and lg options anyway although it is only slightly cheaper than the s2721 dgf given the msi model is in stock it gets my recommendation here although the dell monitor still holds up very well and is a great second choice if the msi monitor goes out of stock on the lg side i wouldn't recommend the 27 g850 at this point as the 500 asking price is too high relative to the other options today however i would consider the lg 27gl83a if you're interested in similar response time performance but don't care about wide color gamut at 380 dollars it's cheaper than the msi option i'll be it for a t below in performance but it's in stock and it's something to consider in the entry level 1440p market i would also still be considering ips monitors given that there are some great buys available today for around the 300 mark the monitor i've been most impressed with in this market over the last six months has been the gigabyte m27q which i would easily recommend for 330 dollars given the performance and features it offers the m27q isn't a perfect display in that response time performance isn't as good as some of the other more premium monitors that i've been talking about but what it does offer is a five millisecond average response time across the refresh range which is only one to two milliseconds slower than the best 144 to 165hz displays on the market given that this option also pushes up to 170 hertz packs a wide color gamut height adjustable stand and a kvm i think gigabyte have hit the nail on the head from a value perspective the main downside here is a bgr sub pixel array which should be fine for most windows users if you're on the clear type utility but isn't as compatible with other devices that are expecting the more common rgb array if the m27q slips out of stock there are several other options i'd be considering right now the gigabyte g27q is similar to the m27q but uses a slightly different ips panel and doesn't feature the built-in kvm it is however nine percent cheaper than the m27q so something worth considering on a tighter budget although generally i would opt for the m27q instead if the g27q isn't in stock then the viewsonic vx27582kp mhd is still available and priced at just 300 these days which is an excellent value proposition for a 1440p 144hz ips monitor while outstanding at the time of its launch this viewsonic model isn't quite as strong compared to its modern competition but is still something to consider below that price point we're in va territory and it's unlikely you'll be able to find as good performance here but if you want a 1440p display for around the 250 mark then i'd be considering the aoc cq27g2 which is available right now and offers solid performance for an entry-level product dark level smearing will be a concern but response times otherwise are fine and it's priced well considering what it offers recommending a 1080p monitor right now is more difficult as most of the go-to options i usually recommend are out of stock and in high demand while i probably wouldn't recommend the aoc 24 g2 at this point since they swapped out the panel quietly for a supposedly inferior one without telling anyone you can't buy one anyway so it's a bit of a moot point there's also the benq ex2510 which otherwise would be my go-to and delivers great performance with an a electronics panel but it too is fall and fail of supply issues several other options i might consider especially in the 1080p 144 hertz range are totally unavailable as well so after researching the 1080p monitor market these are my recommendations if you're after something that's just going to offer a basic 1080p 144hz gaming experience then my pick of what is available right now is the msi g242 my understanding is that this display uses the same panel as found in the aoc 24g2 a 23.8 inch ips unit from panda boe which based on our performance testing is quite solid there's a bit of uncertainty here around exactly how it will perform given each oem likes to tweak the overdrive settings to their liking however what i'd be expecting in general is a classic five millisecond response time experience which is pretty good for this sort of panel msi's option also offers a wide color gamut adaptive sync support 250 in its brightness and a 1000 to 1 contrast ratio so all the same baseline specs as the 24 g2 the downside here is that msi are only offering a tilt adjustable stand unlike the height adjustment you get with the 24 g2 which i guess is why i would normally recommend that monitor however at 190 dollars and actually available to buy the msi monitor sits at a great price for what should ultimately be a very solid performance another option particularly for those in the us is the pixio px248 prime s a brand new monitor from pixia that offers a 1080p 165hz ips panel 24 inches in size for just 180 us this is another monitor i have but have yet to put through the paces on our test bench but i wouldn't expect anything too different to other monitors in this class that use either the panda or auo panel options i've been quite impressed with pixel monitors in the past so definitely one to consider if you're after a 27 inch 1080p monitor a category i don't normally recommend due to the pixel density issue then i'd look at the gigabyte g27f which is quite similar to the options i've just been discussing just in a larger format at 220 which is a great price again these are some of the very few half decent looking 1080p monitors that are actually in stock and available right now so quite a small collection to choose from in the 1080p 240hz market it also seems like demand is high and or supply is low as a lot of products are currently unavailable but one option that we have reviewed and that i was impressed with is the asus tough gaming vg259qm and its larger brother the vg279qm these displays go up to a 280 hertz refresh rate use ips technology and in my testing delivered excellent response time numbers from the ao electronics panel as srgb only displays asus also do a very solid job of factory calibration so you're getting a great color experience too albeit with no wide gamut functionality both sizes 24 and 27 inches are currently in stock at prices that i think are quite reasonable and lower than their launch pricing the vg259qm is clearly the better buy here at just 320 dollars although the 27 incher is also available for 400 in the ultrawide market once again a lot of the options i'd normally recommend here are unavailable the gigabyte g34 wqc is probably the go-to choice right now but has been extremely popular since release and currently sits out of stock at all major retailers higher-end models have fed the same fate as well including the lg 34g and 850 that we've reviewed last year and found to perform very well the good news is that while the g34wqc is out of stock there are several other options available at a similar price point that use the same 3440x1440 144hz va panel from samsung while not all models will perform identically as they will all use variations of the overdrive algorithm i've tested this range of samsung panels several times now and the basic performance characteristics are always roughly the same based on my test data the monitor i'd recommend in place of the g34wqc is the viotek gnv 34dbe for the same 400 us price you're getting the same panel just from a different oem that has packaged it differently personally i don't think the viatech model is as versatile in terms of height adjustability or built-in features but as an entry level to mid-range ultra wide i'd pick this at its lower price over more expensive contenders that offer a largely similar experience in the aoc g2x and nixius nx edg 34s both of those options are over 500 right now and harder to come by which just doesn't make sense when this biotech is available for more than 100 less generally speaking these samsung va panels deliver a six to nine millisecond average response time experience depending on the overdrive level which is fine for the price point these are coming in at you also will see some dark level smearing a common problem with va panels however these sorts of monitors are great for gaming in a dark room thanks to a high contrast ratio of around three thousand to one i've generally found the color performance to be decent as well plus i feel the 1500 r curve does assist with gaming on a 21 9 aspect ratio display of this size another option i'd consider if it's available in your region is the xiaomi mi curve 34. these are still available in australia and other regions and often you can get them at a very competitive price particularly as the viatech model may not be available again expect an entry level to mid-range experience which is what we discovered in our review but that's hard to beat at this price range for the ips fans out there there aren't a ton of options right now but here's a few to consider in the entry level range the acer nitro xv 340ck might be one to look at which is priced at 450 dollars it's a bit of an oddball with a flat panel and it's one i do want to review at some point however we haven't tested it yet or anything like it so my recommendation in this video does come with that sort of caveat in the higher end range with the lg 34 gn850 sold out there isn't a lot that i would recommend buying right now at least for 3440 by 1440 buyers the 34 gk950f the prior model to the 34g 850 is still available but for 900 dollars i don't think it's a compelling buy as the 34g and 850 is better and should be the same price i'd only consider the 34gk gk950f if you are desperate there are also 3840x1600 monitors to consider like the alienware aw 3821dw and super ultrawides like the samsung odyssey g9 although both being higher end products are unlikely to suffer as much stock volatility and finally we come to 4k monitors unfortunately if you are interested in a 4k display right now at least one with a high refresh rate suitable for modern gaming you are totally out of luck all of the options that i'd personally consider at this point and there aren't many of them are they're all out of stock my first choice the lg 27 gn 950 is totally unavailable and my backup in the nixius nx edg 274k is also quite hard to come by and not as good value as the 27 g950 when it is available beyond that there is a serious lack of high quality 4k 144 hertz high refresh rate options on the market at a suitable price point older models like the acer xb273k don't support display extreme compression so they are unable to hit 144hz over a single displayport cable the viotek gfi 27qxa is available but did not perform well in our review and should be avoided the asus xg27uq is another 4k monitor that is available right now does support 4k 144hz with dse but is priced at well over a thousand dollars which in my opinion is poor value if you're really desperate to game at 4k high refresh right now your best bet is to buy a tv something like an lg cx 48 inch oled for 1500 is actually better value and probably cheaper than most dedicated monitors with similar capabilities right now the downside here though is 4k 120hz tvs require hdmi 2.1 to be run at 120 hertz and for that you'll need a modern gpu either from the nvidia geforce rtx 30 series or amd radeon rx 6000 series and both of those types of gpus are basically impossible to come by so overall you might be totally out of luck on the 4k gaming display front unless you want to throw exorbitant amounts of cash towards a purchase throughout this year we are set to get a large wave of new 4k monitors in both 27 inch and 32 inch sizes with and without hdr so it could be worth holding off either for those new products to become available or for genuine quality products like the 27g 950 to come back in stock at its msrp after researching all these monitors and current stock levels right now it's a bit of a mishmash i'm very glad that at least you can buy some quality display so not everything is out of stock but the 1080p market has been hit quite hard and some of the most popular products in other categories are also hard to come by right now i'd be sticking to 1440p monitor purchases if possible given this category seems to have the most competition and best stock levels right now despite also having some of the overall most popular monitors if you're after a monitor that is out of stock say a gigabyte g34wqc or lg 27g 950 it is somewhat of a better situation than the gpu market in that you won't need to have your finger on the trigger for the second they go in stock many retailers are currently accepting back orders for out-of-stock monitors or have listed them for sale with the date several weeks or months into the future so that gives you some clarity on when you may get the monitor in your hands unlike the uncertainty with some other pc components and it seems that monitor production remains fairly consistent so products that are out of stock now should come back in stock over time at a fairly consistent rate anyway that's it for this yeah i guess roundup of monitors that you can actually buy at this point in 2021 we times we're currently facing where we have to make videos like this but hopefully it does improve into the future in a couple of days you will see some updates from us from our monitor testing you'll see a video that goes through all of our improvements that we're making to our monitor test week for 2021 which will kick off some of the reviews that we're planning to do shortly like the alienware monitor we talked about earlier in this review and several others so stay tuned for that lots of exciting monitor testing stuff coming up on the channel soon if you're interested in supporting us of course patreon floatplane both of those are in the description below links to that is if you're interested in supporting us and that's it thanks for watching i'll catch you in the next one [Music] you

Channel: Hardware Unboxed

Views: 336,411

Keywords: hardware unboxed

Id: leaDHuKlke8

Length: 18min 38sec (1118 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 09 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/DMD-Father]

Got a Dell S2721DGF last Year for 399€. But it feels like they sold like 3 Copies on all of Europe and nowadays its not available anymore. When I ordered it I could not even find a real Review for it.

[u/fuelter]

Why are monitors so cheap in the US? In europe they all cost at least 30% more (even when adding salex tax to the US price).

[u/danhoyuen]

I just bought the Samsung G7 32"

no complain so far but I might need to buy a deeper desk because I am sitting too close.

Also, for some reason the display ports keep saying no signal but it could be because I was using a cheap mdp to dp cable (which was kinda spotty for my last monitor already)

[u/animeboy12]

I feel like this is the 3rd or 4th time they've recommended the lg cx yet they won't do a full review for it.

[u/ToiletBomber]

Cool Mustache.

[u/jjyiss]

glad i was able to snag the AOC 24G2 late Sept 2020 for $200USD total with the original panda panel type.

[u/sashakee]

gigabyte m27q is a nice monitor, love that the 'picture mode' is a suitable choice across all the refresh rates and I don't have to adjust overdrive mode on a game to game basis.

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I read through a couple of thread complaining about the monitors BGR subpixel layout and how it makes reading text in windows awkward/more difficult/gives it greyish chromatic abrassions and honestly speaking, I don't notice it.

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Glad I was able to get one at the start of january cuz I did notice a lot of monitors were going out of stock