If you’re on your computer only once or twice a day to check email and read the news, you don’t need to buy any of the monitors in this guide—our budget monitor picks are great for the basics and cost half as much.
But if you spend hours every day staring at a screen for work (or for fun), a 27-inch monitor’s extra size and usable space are worth the money. The Asus ProArt Display PA278CV offers the best all-around combination of picture quality, ports, and price, along with a fully adjustable stand and a great three-year warranty.
Our pick
Asus ProArt Display PA278CV
If you don’t need a 4K monitor, the PA278CV is a 2560×1440 model with good color accuracy, an adjustable stand, and all the ports most people need.
Resolution: 2560×1440 | Refresh rate: 75 Hz with FreeSync | Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort in, DisplayPort out, USB-C | USB-C charging: 65 W | USB hub: four USB 3.0 Type-A ports
The Asus ProArt Display PA278CV has a great-looking screen with good enough color accuracy for most people and all the ports you need to hook up desktop or laptop PCs. The PA278CV’s stand can tilt, swivel, and pivot the screen and raise and lower its height, its USB-C port can provide enough power to charge most 13-inch laptops, and it comes with a three-year warranty and a good dead-pixel policy. Its QHD resolution (2560×1440) means it isn’t as sharp as a 4K screen, but it’s also hundreds of dollars cheaper than comparable 4K monitors.
Upgrade pick
Dell UltraSharp U2723QE
This 4K Dell monitor offers a top-notch contrast, a sharp display, and all the ports you could need.
Resolution: 3840×2160 | Refresh rate: 60 Hz | Ports: one USB-C, one HDMI, one DisplayPort 1.4 in, one DisplayPort 1.4 out, Gigabit Ethernet | USB-C charging: 90 W | USB hub: one USB-C port with 15 W charging, five USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports
The Dell UltraSharp U2723QE has a higher 4K resolution than our top pick, meaning text and images will look much sharper. It also has a new technology that doubles its contrast compared to standard IPS monitors, so its 2000:1 contrast ratio looks great when displaying movies, TV shows, and pictures. This monitor also looked great when used with Mac machines, something we can’t say for most lower-resolution 1440p monitors, so if you’re looking for a high-resolution 27-inch display, this is the best one we’ve tested.
