Best 4K Monitors of 2025

Whether you create, consume content, or game, a 4K monitor delivers a sharp as a razor image and detailed visuals. Ready for a 4K upgrade? If the answer’s affirmative, check out our handpicked recommendations and upgrade your monitor to a 4K one.

When shopping for a new and shiny 4K monitor, the first thing you should get out of the way is the size. The two most common 4K monitor diagonals are 27-inch and 32-inch. Both offer sharp-as-a-razor images, but 32-inch monitors take considerably more space than 27-inch models, so make sure you have enough room on your desk before pulling the trigger on a 32-incher.

Other 4K monitor diagonals include 42-inch, 43-inch, and 48-inch, but monitors that large are much less common than their smaller brethren. Regarding ultrawide options, you’ve got the 4K ultrawide resolution (5120 x 2160), also known as 5K2K, and 38-inch and 40-inch diagonals.

Next, you have to consider what you’ll use the monitor for. Office 4K monitors usually have neat extra features such as USB hubs, built-in KVM switches, USB-C ports with DisplayPort Alt and USB Power Delivery capabilities, excellent factory calibration, and wide color gamut. On the flip side, a vast majority of office-focused 4K monitors are limited to only 60Hz, which is unfortunate to see in this day and age where even budget TVs and phones feature high-refresh-rate displays.

Gaming 4K monitors, on the other hand, feature high-refresh-rate panels that start at 144Hz and get faster as the price increases. The fastest 4K gaming monitors can achieve a 240Hz refresh rate at 4K, with a couple of models also supporting a 1080p@480Hz mode. They offer fewer office-friendly features, but you can find a good number of models that provide built-in KVM switches and USB hubs.

Next, we’ve got the panel type. Nowadays, you can choose between IPS, VA, and OLED panels. The first is the dominant panel type found in all price brackets. The high-end options usually feature Mini-LED backlight with full-array local dimming, while mid-range and budget 4K IPS monitors are edge-lit. IPS panels typically come with solid max brightness and response time, great colors, excellent color accuracy out-of-the-box, and wide viewing angles, but they also feature poor-to-average contrast ratios.

VA panels are found on some high-end Samsung models and budget offerings. However, I advise against getting a budget 4K monitor with a VA panel because, aside from high-end Samsung VA monitors, VA panels have poor response times, resulting in visible ghosting and poor viewing angles. On the flip side, they can have excellent colors and usually come with high contrast ratios with deep blacks.

Lastly, we’ve got 4K OLED monitors. They’re perfect for gaming and consuming HDR content thanks to their fantastic colors, high peak brightness when displaying HDR content, and infinite contrast ratio. However, they’re less than ideal for office use because of their unusual subpixel layouts that don’t work well with Windows. This causes text fringing, particularly noticeable on dark text against a bright background. That said, due to their high pixel density, text fringing is virtually impossible to spot on 4K OLED monitors, but it’s still there.

Another reason 4K OLED monitors aren’t great for office work is their tendency to burn in, especially when used for tasks with many static elements. This includes most work-related scenarios such as text editing, working in Excel and similar apps, photo and video editing, and so on.

Manufacturers have been implementing various techniques to combat burn-in, such as pixel shifting, pixel refreshing, auto brightness dimming, and so on. Still, using an OLED monitor for tasks with many static elements will eventually develop burn-in. At the end of the day, nothing prevents you from using an OLED for work as long as you know the burn-in risk.

Other things to be aware of include the stand ergonomics, port selection, and max brightness in SDR and HDR for monitors that support HDR. If you need a color-accurate monitor, you might also want to look out for factory-calibrated monitors with ΔE value—a measure of how much a displayed color differs from the input color values—lower than 2 or 1 and Calman-validated models. Want more advice? Check out our guide on how to pick the right monitor for your needs.

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The Dell UltraSharp U2723QE is a fantastic monitor, even if you don’t plan to use it for gaming. It has excellent color accuracy out-of-the-box, a very high contrast ratio for an IPS panel that comes close to 2000:1, a max brightness value of almost 350 nits, and okay motion performance.

Ports-wise, you’re getting a single HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort connector, five USB-A ports, and three USB-C ports, one of which supports DP Alt mode and 90W USB Power Delivery. There’s also a built-in KVM switch, making the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE a perfect monitor for a laptop or multiple machines simultaneously.

The IPS panel features edge-lit backlighting. While the monitor supports HDR on paper, its HDR experience is subpar thanks to the lack of full-array local dimming and the max HDR brightness of only 400-ish nits. On the other hand, the stand is phenomenal, and it supports a wide range of ergonomic features, including height adjustment and tilt, and allows the monitor to be used in portrait mode.

Aside from the poor HDR implementation, the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE is limited to 60Hz, making it a poor choice for gaming. On the other hand, this is a fantastic monitor for office usage that excels in all kinds of productivity workloads, including photo and video editing.

If you’d like something more substantial, the Dell UltraSharp U3223QE is a 32-inch carbon copy of the U2723QE. If you’re shopping for a high-end option, photo and video professionals might also check the ASUS ProArt PA279CRV or the ASUS ProArt PA32DC. If you’re a Mac user searching for a quality 4K monitor, the BenQ PD2725U and the BenQ PD3225U are great choices. If you’re a gamer, jump to our 4K gaming recommendation.

Budget 4K monitors have come a long way from their pricey roots, and nowadays, you can snag a pretty solid 4K monitor for work for less than $200. The Sceptre U275W-UPT is such a monitor, characterized by an excellent IPS panel with solid response time and a max refresh rate of 70Hz, making it a decent option for work and gaming.

The max brightness is around 350 nits, which is high enough to use the monitor in brightly lit rooms. The contrast is excellent for an IPS but poor compared to, let’s say, a VA panel. On the back, you can find a single DisplayPort connector that allows a max refresh rate of 70Hz at 4K resolution, a single HDMI port capable of delivering 60Hz at 4K, and two HDMI ports that are pretty much unusable since they only offer 30Hz at 4K.

The colors are great, and the monitor offers complete coverage of the sRGB color space. While this isn’t the most color-accurate monitor, it’s good enough for watching movies and TV shows and doing light photo editing.

On the flip side, the stand is pretty basic and quite wobbly, and you shouldn’t expect extra features such as VRR support, a USB hub, or a built-in KVM switch. The Acer Nitro KG272K Lbmiipx is another solid budget monitor well suited for office work that costs less than $200 and nails the basics but doesn’t provide many extra features. The Dell S2722QC is also a great budget pick with a capable stand, USB hub, and a USB-C port with DP Alt and 60W USB PD, but this one costs north of $300.

If you’re a gamer looking for a budget 4K gaming monitor, consider the GIGABYTE M27UA. It features a 160Hz refresh rate, VRR, a KVM switch, and great motion performance. The GIGABYTE M28U offers similar specs but with a max refresh rate of 144Hz and a 28-inch diagonal.

There are a ton of 4K OLED gaming monitors that offer 240Hz refresh rates, but the MSI MPG321URX is the best of the bunch thanks to its competitive price and rich collection of features. You’re looking at an astounding gaming monitor featuring superb motion performance, infinite contrast, impressive HDR, a wide color gamut, excellent factory color calibration, and almost zero text fringing due to its high pixel density.

The maximum brightness reaches about 1,000 nits in HDR, but you can also choose DisplayHDR 400 True Black if that’s too high for your taste. Port-wise, you’re getting two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, one USB-C with DP Alt and 60W USB PD, and a USB hub with two USB-A 2.0 ports. There’s also a built-in KVM switch, which is a valuable bonus.

The stand is great and very compact compared to most other 32-inch monitors. It supports tilt, swivel, and height adjustment but no vertical pivot. At least you’re getting a VESA 100×100 wall mount. A neat trick up the MSI MPG321URX’s sleeve is that it doesn’t come with a fan like most other OLED monitors but instead features a large heatsink used for heat dissipation, making it completely silent.

We also like that this model has less noticeable VRR flicker than most other OLED gaming monitors. VRR flicker is still present, but it’s only noticeable during loading screens and instantaneous drastic FPS drops. The only significant issue here is inherent to the QD-OLED panel used, which doesn’t have a polarizing layer, making blacks look like grays or purples in brightly lit environments. Besides that, this is a terrific 4K OLED gaming monitor that’s also great for any type of work, as long as you know its proneness for burn-in.

If the MSI MPG321URX isn’t available where you live, check out the SAMSUNG Odyssey OLED G8 and Alienware AW3225QF, which pack the same QD-OLED panel from Samsung. And if you’re a competitive gamer who also likes to enjoy single-player games in 4K, the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP and the LG 32GS95UE offer 4K@240Hz and 1080p@480Hz modes, the latter of which is perfect for fast-paced online shooters. Lastly, if you’d like a high-end 4K HDR gaming monitor that’s not OLED, the INNOCN 27M2V is an IPS monitor with a Mini-LED backlight and excellent HDR.

The Alienware AW3225QF is king of the curved 4K monitor market. This 32-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor excels in virtually everything. Vivid and accurate colors, superb motion performance, brilliant HDR, infinite contrast ratio, a max refresh rate of 240Hz with VRR support, and exceptionally low input lag.

The maximum brightness can reach almost 1,000 nits in HDR. However, the AW3225QF can deliver a serviceable max brightness of around 250 nits, even in SDR, which is a solid result for an OLED monitor.

The monitor’s got a relatively gentle 1700R curve that improves immersion but doesn’t go too far. The stand is quite wide, but it’s very stable, and it supports height adjustment, swivel, and tilt, but no vertical pivot. On the back, you can find a 100×100 VESA mount along with two HDMI 2.1 ports, a single DisplayPort 1.4 connector, two USB-A 5Gbps ports, a single USB-C 5Gbps port with 15W USB PD, and a single USB-B upstream port needed for the built-in USB hub to function.

Regarding OLED VRR flicker, the Alienware AW3225QF isn’t that great. VRR flicker is noticeable, especially in darker scenes. But if you can maintain a consistent frame rate in games or have a PC powerful enough to consistently deliver 100 FPS or higher to the monitor, VRR flicker should be hard to notice. Another issue is that, due to the QD-OLED panel, blacks can look like grays or purples in bright environments.

If you’re after a budget-conscious curved 4K monitor for work, check out the Dell S3221QS. The GIGABYTE M32UC is another solid budget 4K monitor for work and gaming, but its VA panel has pretty disappointing motion performance. The SAMSUNG Odyssey Neo G8 is a high-end curved gaming 4K monitor with excellent specs for gamers looking for a high-end curved gaming monitor but don’t want an OLED. Lastly, the Dell UltraSharp U4025QW is the ultimate ultrawide productivity beast, featuring a 40-inch panel with 5K2K (‎5120×2160) resolution that’s perfect for productivity but also a solid choice for mixed, work and gaming, use.

FAQ

Are 4K monitors worth it?

For work, yes, they’re definitely worth it. 4K resolution offers a ton of workspace, which is especially handy if you’re working in Excel and similar programs, in text editors, or if you’re a programmer. For gaming, it depends. If you prefer high refresh rates over image clarity, you should think about getting a 1440p monitor instead. If you put image quality in front of everything else and have a powerful PC that can deliver 60 FPS or higher at 4K, go for it.

Can a 4K monitor run 1440p?

Yes, it can.

How do I know if a monitor is using 4K resolution?

You can check your active resolution in your OS (operating system) settings. This varies depending on your OS, but the resolution option should be somewhere in the system or display settings.

How do I clean my monitor?

The best way to clean your monitor is to use a clean, dry microfiber cloth.