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In this video Paul guides you through the five best gaming monitors of 2026, including displays for every budget and play style. Upgrading your gaming displays can be one of the fastest ways to enhancing your gaming setup, and new technologies are revolutionizing high performance monitors, like next gen RGB Stripe OLED panels, ultra fast refresh rates 240Hz and higher, and productivity enhancing Picture by Picture and KVM features.
Whether you’re looking for an ultrawide OLED or the best value in gaming displays, this buying guide will have you covered.
What to expect:
Monitors at a range of sizes and resolutions
The latest gaming monitors from Asus, Alienware, and MSI
Productivity features for home office and creative work
Detailed specs for each display
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We've tested five of the best gaming displays that you can get today to help you find the perfect match for your setup
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So whether you're on a tighter budget and need the fastest refresh rates or a large gaming monitor that's also great for productivity
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this buying guide has got something for every gamer and you'll find all the best deals linked down below
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If you're looking for the best overall gaming display, our new favorite pick is the ASUS ROG Swift 34-inch OLED
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We first saw this monitor at CES where it won our best display in show, and it's not hard to see why
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It's got a great balance of size, speed, and display quality. It uses a next-gen 21x9 360Hz OLED panel
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It uses this RGB stripe with RGB subpixels that improves text clarity and reduces color fringing
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making it one of the most visually impressive OLED monitors that we've tested
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ASUS has even added black shield film, which makes this OLED panel more scratch resistant and adds to its contrast ratio
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There's also a proximity motion sensor, which automatically gives the OLED panel a rest whenever you leave your desk
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a feature I'd love to see more on other OLED display to help prevent burn-in
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I also think the ASUS Swift's 34-inch ultrawide panel gives you that added immersion and productivity boost
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without taking up much more desk space than a traditional 27-inch monitor
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Its 3K resolution may not be quite as sharp as 4K, but it does help you hit those higher frame rates a little bit more easily
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On the back, you'll find a ton of ports, including DisplayPort 2.1 and Optical Audio Port HDMI 2.1
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USB hub with built-in KVM switch, handy if you use this monitor with two computers hooked up
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There's also a bunch of really cool lighting, both on the back of the panel and underneath
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The previous gen Asus ROG Swift retail for around $1,000, so you can expect similar pricing here
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which, yes, is expensive, but this has the specs a lot of gamers are looking for right now
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But if price is a concern, you can get our next pick for much less. This is the Alienware AW2525HM
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and it's one of the fastest budget gaming displays they can get for around $200. No fancy RGB lighting
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here, but I think that helps it fit into a home office really well if you want it. It's even got
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this unique blue color that lets it stand out from the sea of black displays out there but it still got lightning quick 320 hertz refresh rate and 0 millisecond response time so it definitely fast enough for competitive gaming
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It's 1080p resolution might seem a little bit low, but it does mean that your PC will have a much
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easier time hitting the high refresh rates that this monitor can push out. While you miss out on
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things like built-in speakers, check this out. You have a built-in headphone holder. Pretty handy
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This also supports HDR, which is a rarity on budget monitors, and it has really great color accuracy, outperforming many competing models at the same price point
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Sure, it's not as feature-packed as our other monitors on this list, but the Alienware AW2525HM is an excellent value pick if you want a fast gaming display
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Now, if you're a fan of console gaming from your desk, then you need to check out our pick for the best 4K gaming display
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This is the MSI MPG321URXW. This uses a 31.5 inch 240 hertz QD OLED display
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which looks absolutely gorgeous. And it has very impressive HDR and contrast ratio
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The only thing I'm not a fan of is that it's pretty reflective. So keep that in mind if you plan to use this in a sunny room
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Besides its specs though, this is one of the sleekest monitors I have ever tested
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You've got subtle RGB lighting on the back. you can either get it in its black or white color like we have here. And check this out. This is
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super thin. It keeps the weight down and makes this one of the easiest monitors at this size to
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mount or move around. Its USB-C port offers one cable connectivity for your laptop with 90 watt
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PD power delivery. And it also has a built-in KVM switch, which lets you control multiple
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connected devices using the same keyboard and mouse. And like I said, this is also a great
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choice for console gaming. Playing your games from your desks means you're a lot closer to the
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display compared to a TV. So that 4K resolution on a smaller display when you're sitting closer
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looks much sharper. And because this is using a standard 16 by 9 aspect ratio, you're not going
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to have the black bars on the side when you're playing on Xbox, PS5, or Switch 2 like you would
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with an ultra monitor But the other reason I really like this for consoles is that the MSI MPG 32 can connect up to four devices at the same time two of which being consoles over HDMI But look I get it at this is more expensive than
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many TVs, but if you're looking to get the best quality 4K display for your desk that is also a
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great way to play your console games, we definitely recommend the MSI MPG32 1URXW
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But for a lot of PC gamers, playing at 2K resolution is actually the sweet spot, and we think this is the best gaming monitor for playing games at 1440p, the Alienware AW2725D
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For around $500, this monitor is about double the price of our budget Alienware pick, but you're getting that higher resolution, a much larger display, and most importantly, an OLED panel
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If you didn't know already, the reason gamers love 1440p so much is that it's 77% sharper than 1080p without the extreme high-cost performance demands of 4K
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This 27-inch OLED runs at a fast 280Hz and 0.03ms response time
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You can obviously find non-OLED models with similar specs here for a lot less, but trust me, if you can stretch your budget a bit, OLED makes a huge difference for gaming
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It provides vivid colors, excellent contrast, and get this, this is one of the brightest OLED
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monitors that we have tested to date. The design here is very similar to our budget pick, but a
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couple key differences. One, the alien on the back lights up, and two, unfortunately, we do lose out
6:04
on the headphone holder. But this design still works really well for most desk setups. The only
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thing really missing here are built-in speakers, but that is not going to be a deal breaker for
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most gamers. If you've never had a chance to play your games on an OLED, this monitor is a fantastic
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starting point, which is why it is our top choice for best 2K gaming display. Finally, if you're
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after maximum screen size, you have to check out the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 5SD, our pick for the
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best ultra-wide gaming display you can get today. This 49-inch beast has an immersive 32 by 9 aspect
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ratio and a ridiculous 1800R curve that provides one of the most immersive single monitor gaming
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experiences you can get Your vision is completely surrounded by this screen even if you sitting a few feet away and its combination of a 240 hertz refresh rate and QD OLED makes this an incredible choice for gaming and without a doubt this should
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definitely be on the short list for any fan of sim racing. Now if you've seen my desktop setup
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video from 2026 you might recognize this monitor sibling the G91SD which can be had for around
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$1,000 less, but uses a micro LED panel instead and isn't quite as curved. I definitely think the
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OLED model here looks more punchy, and if I had the extra cash, I would definitely be making that
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upgrade. Personally, the reason I've been recommending the Samsung G9 series for so many
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years is that it's like having two 27-inch 16x9 monitors side by side, but without that annoying
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bezel in the middle. Perfect for multitasking or when you want to have one really long video
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timeline if you're an editor like me, and its picture-by-picture mode also lets you have two
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different inputs displayed at the same time, which I really like when I'm running my Mac
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and gaming combo setup at the same time. It's also got really cool integrated RGB lighting on the bag
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which can be programmed to match what's on screen. Now, get ready for some sticker shock. Samsung MSRP
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here is $1,900, but it's not too hard to find it for as low as $1,300 when it's on sale
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And for what it's worth, it's got better than average internal speakers, Wi-Fi, remote control, and a ton of built-in streaming apps, making this basically a curved smart TV, too
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So, if you've got the desk space, the budget, and really want one of the best monitors for immersion and productivity, then few monitors match what the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SD offer
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So, that's all the monitors for this guide. But if you're interested in picking up any of these, you can check out the links down
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below for the best deals. But did I miss your favorite model or do you have anything that I should test out for next time
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Let me know in the comments. Stay subscribed for more buying guides and follow me to see what other cool tech I'm testing
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And until the next one, I'll catch you later
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Thank you
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