Upgrade Your Workstation With The Best Computer Monitors For Work

Size: 32-inch | Type: IPS | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Refresh rate: 75Hz | Response time: 5ms | Curvature: None

Pros:

• High quality 4K screen with lots of space
• Wide array of ports with charging options
• Built in KVM switch

Cons:

• Expensive
• Limited HDR brightness

The Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ gives you a crisp 4K resolution across its expansive 32 inches of screen space, and it has a 75Hz refresh rate, so feels a bit smoother and more responsive than your typical office monitor. Its response time is fast, too, so you needn’t fear ghosting when you move the mouse quickly, and it has strong SDR brightness in the 400 nits range, which is impressive. Its HDR brightness isn’t much higher, but then this isn’t a monitor for watching movies and TV shows.

It offers excellent color representation and accuracy, making this a great monitor for photo and video editing. It also has a built-in KVM switch, so you can jump between devices or peripherals with ease. Port-wise, it runs the gamut, including HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C and a full-size USB hub with a range of additional USB-C and USB-A ports, many of which support USB Power Delivery for charging connected devices like laptops, tablets and smartphones at up to 90W. The build quality is excellent, with a strong and sturdy stand that doesn’t wobble, and the ability to tilt, angle and height adjust this monitor by enough to get it right where you want it.

Size: 22-inch | Type: VA |Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Refresh rate: 75Hz | Response time: 4ms | Curvature: None

Pros:

• Very affordable
• Higher than average refresh rate
• Supports adaptive sync and EasyRead modes

Cons:

• Lacks contrast and vibrancy of better quality panel technology
• Not very bright

If you just need a new monitor for your home office and you mostly work on white-screen documents in Word or Google Docs, then you don’t need to spend much to get a perfectly viable option. The Philips 221V8LN might not have many extra features, but its refresh rate and response time are still faster than the Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ, which costs more than ten times as much. Its 22-inch display is plenty for working on documents, and it’s much bigger than even the biggest laptop screens if you’re looking to add more screen real estate. The 75Hz refresh rate makes your mouse movements feel smoother, too, which is a nice touch. If you do dabble in some casual gaming in your off hours, it makes the games look smoother as well.

It supports adaptive sync, so you don’t get screen tearing if you do game, and EasyRead mode gives the screen less glare to make it more comfortable for reading documents and long websites. Its colors and contrast aren’t the best, but if you’re focused on work documents, that’s not something you’ll notice often, and for this price, you get a lot for your money.

Size: 45-inch | Type: VA |Resolution: 5120 x 1440 | Refresh rate: 165Hz | Response time: 3ms | Curvature: 1500R

Pros:

• Massive screen space
• Ultra high resolution looks crisp and clear
• Impressive port selection, including Gigabit Ethernet

Cons:

• Requires a lot of desk space
• VA panel lacks the color and contrast of IPS or OLED

With the HP E45c G5 DQHD, you can finally ditch that dual-monitor setup with big bezels in the middle or massively expand your single screen setup, whether it’s a desktop or laptop computer. With 45 inches of screen space and an ultra 1440p resolution, this is the equivalent of two large work monitors side-by-side. It uses a VA panel, which is more known for its speed than quality, but this display still offers excellent color support, with 98% of the DCI-P3 spectrum supported. It gets bright at up to 400 nits, and the response time of just 3ms means there isn’t any ghosting on this screen, no matter what you’re working on.

The fast 165Hz refresh rate makes this monitor feel smooth and responsive, and if you do dabble in some after-hours gaming, you can make the games look buttery smooth at higher frame rates. There’s plenty of connectivity options with this monitor, with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 options as well as a range of USB-C and USB-A ports. You get a 65W power delivery for charging external devices or daisy chaining additional displays. It also has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port.

Size: 32-inch | Type: VA | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Response time: 5ms

Pros:

• Affordable price tag
• 4K resolution looks crisp at 32 inches
• Strong color accuracy

Cons:

• Slow response time and refresh rate aren’t great for gaming

For professional tasks for which you need high color accuracy, a crisp picture and lots of screen space, the Samsung ViewFinity S80UD is a great all-rounder. Its 4K resolution across 32 inches of screen space give you lots of display to work with, easily taking the place of multi-monitor setups and giving you all the detail you need to work on high resolution images, video or just really big spreadsheets. The price tag is relatively affordable at around $500 (when not on sale), making it not too expensive to upgrade your home office—or kit out a larger office space for multiple employees. This isn’t the best display for gaming, so look elsewhere if you want a monitor for work and play.

For video editors, photo editors or anyone completing detailed design work, color accuracy can be incredibly important, and the ViewFinity S80UD is a great example of a monitor ready for that task. With wide color gamut support and impressive color accuracy, it has the specs to go toe-to-toe with more expensive, creator-focused displays.

Size: 31-inch | Type: IPS |Resolution: 4096 x 2160 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Response time: 9ms | Curvature: None

Pros:

• Incredible color accuracy
• Amazing color support
• Supports DCI 4K standard

Cons:

• Very expensive
• Dated design

If you want the best monitor for professional photo and video editing, you can get it—at a very high price. While the Eizo Coloredge CG319X is expensive, it offers 99% support of the AdobeRGB gamut, 100% Rec.709, and 98% support for DCI-P3, putting ahead of most other professional monitors out there. Its wide “4K” resolution conforms to the DCI 4K standard used by some professional studios, and has incredible color accuracy. It’s well-calibrated out of the box, though you can improve it further with in-house calibration if you prefer.

It’s not the most cutting-edge monitor, so it does lack some nice-to-have features, and the bezels are a little chunky for 2024, but there’s still no beating this monitor on its color accuracy, vibrancy and its full 10-bit color support. With full HDR support and impressive brightness, whether you’re editing 8K video or looking to tweak your latest round of photos, it makes the cut as the top pick for photo and video editors.

Size: 27-inch | Type: LCD |Resolution: 5120 x 2880 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Response time: 12ms | Curvature: None

Pros:

• High quality picture at 5K resolution
• Bright and vibrant colors
• Incredible color accuracy

Cons:

• Expensive
• Lacks support for Thunderbolt 4
• Poor response time

While the Apple Pro Display XDR offers plenty of impressive features, its more affordable sibling, the Apple Studio Display, makes the cut here. It has a massive 5K resolution—far beyond what most other big screen displays offer—and features incredible brightness and punchy colors, too. It’s only 27 inches, so it’s not the biggest screen out there, but that gives it fantastic pixel density and incredible detail when photo and video editing. Its response time and refresh rate aren’t standouts either, so don’t expect to use it as a monitor for gaming, but it’s very well-suited for office tasks. Its color accuracy is some of the best in the business, too, so if you need to edit photos or videos to a high standard, this is an excellent monitor for the job.

It has great color support, with excellent DCI-P3 color gamut support, and the built-in 12MP webcam is a useful addition for busy professionals who don’t want to mess around with third-party solutions. It has USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 support and comes with a sleek stand, too.

Size: 15.6-inch | Type: TFT LCD |Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Response time: 25ms

Pros:

• Superior 4K resolution
• Multiple connectivity ports and options
• Built-in stereo speakers

Cons:

• Expensive
• Not good for gaming

The SideTrak Solo 4K is a free-standing portable monitor that features a super high resolution and is impressively bright, making it possible to use outside in daylight. It has a 60Hz refresh rate and a sluggish 25ms response time, which means you can expect to see ghosting while playing games (you can get much better portable monitors for gaming), but that’s not what this monitor is designed for. For creative individuals and businesses looking to keep a high-fidelity touch screen display with you at all times, it connects to your computer using a single cable and also has a built-in blue light filter to help reduce eyestrain.

In his detailed review for Forbes Vetted, tech expert Jason R. Rich says, “Because this monitor offers a 15.6-inch screen, you get plenty of onscreen real estate to run multiple apps and multitask. It’s big enough that I could clearly read what was on the screen without having to zoom in on text. This monitor consistently displayed sharp text and graphics in my tes