While I’m no officially qualified optometrist with some silly four-year accredited degree in eye-stuff science and all that General Optical Council approval nonsense that has to go with it, I am a man with his own ideas and opinions on what is good for the old peepers.
Basically, it goes like this: small screens = bad, big screens = good (well, better). Afterall, how often do you find yourself squinting at a relatively diminutive display like that of a smartphone? Yes, me too. But by contrast, have you ever seen anyone unnecessarily straining their orbs to find focus on sensible sized screens like those at the cinema? Exactly. QED.
The same applies to computer monitors; whether you’re working or gaming, the more comfortably sized the visual display unit (as I’m pretty sure nobody calls them anymore), the greater the clarity and the less need to strain your eyes.
As such, and without bothering to attempt to provide even a scrap of evidence to back any of that up, I have taken the opportunity to cast my own baby blues over a stunning septet of separate computer screens to suit a variety of requirements at a variety of prices.
Herein you’ll find style, scale and actual, factual specs, so ditch the small stuff for the (still unproven) sake of your eyes and upscale to a more meaty monitor…
Best computer monitors at a glance:
- Best for curvy all-round compatability: MSI G274CV - £169, Very
- Best for gamers with a much bigger budget: Sony Inzone M9 - £999, Amazon
- Best for going home and going big: Samsung Odyssey NEO G7 - £899, Currys
- Best for Apple notifcations: Apple Studio Display - £1903, AO
- Best for small spaces, great expectations: Samsung LS24AM506N - £209, AO
- Best for ultra-portable second screen shenanigans: ESR Portable Kickstand - £152.29, Amazon
- Best for busy buisness-types: Dell C2722DE - £358, Dell
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MSI G274CV
Best for: Curvy all-round compatibility
Gaming is often an essential escape from the everyday horrors of the modern world, but the problem with gaming is that you really have to pay to play. Consoles and gaming capable computers can cost a king’s ransom these days and then there’s all the peripheral kit also needed to kick things off.
One of the largest additional outlays will be on a monitor that can not only play nice with as many gaming options as possible, but which has the resolution, refresh rate, response time and tech chops to deliver lag-free, stutterless, fast-flowing gameplay for a much smaller amount of moolah than most monitors of this manner would command. Reader, I give you the G274CV from MSI.
Ready to hook up with all current consoles, Windows- and MacOS- powered computers and smartphones to boot, this sleekly curved, perfectly proportioned 27-incher costs under £170 and yet gives you a Full HD resolution, refresh rate of 75Hz, response time of 1-millisecond and AMD FreeSync which matches refresh rate with the GPU of whatever its connected too for gaming smoother than visual velvet.
With a wide colour gamut, images look vibrant and realistic, a contrast ratio of 4000:1 makes blacks nicely detailed, and if you’re using it for something other than gaming, like writing this very review, then the balanced brightness of the MSI G274CV makes for the perfect paper-white canvas.
In the case of either use, the inclusion of blue light reduction assists in eye-fatigue, while MSI Anti-Flicker technology also prevents all the nasty blurred vision and headaches associated with lesser monitors.
Beautifully built with an almost bezel-free and any buttons hidden around the back, the MSI G274CV is, without doubt, an absolute bargain.
Tech Spec
Size: 27-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Refresh rate: 75Hz
Response time: 1ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: No
Compatibility: PC, Mac, PS5, PS4, Xbox, smartphone and notebook
Input: HDMI
Height: 43.8cm
Buy now £169.00, Very
Sony INZONE M9
Best for: Gamers with a much bigger budget
Did I say gaming gear was expensive? I think I did. However, there are also plenty of people out there for whom money is only a minor object and who can afford to fork out more of their accrued fortune on the fun stuff. For those gilded gamers there is the – let’s face it – incredibly looking – Sony INZONE M9, a display that couldn’t look like it belonged with the PS5 anymore if it tried.
At 27-inches in size (which I think is the ‘sweet-spot’ for desktop size), the made-to-play M9 gives gamers a killer 4K display, with a full-on next-gen console 144Hz refresh rate and a response time of 1-millisecond for gaming glory so seamless that you won’t be simply ‘immersed’ but utterly, utterly lost in it.
A CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2023 Awards Honoree, the experts at Sony have gone all-out on the M9, imbuing it with an Ultra HD, IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel that is capable of creating colours so rich Elon Musk is envious, devilishly detailed darks thanks to Full Array Local Dimming, and images so sharp they could take your eye out, all regardless of how oddly you sit thanks to the 178° x 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles.
Upping your gaming advantage beyond already being able to see better in the shadows than any opponent lurking in them, 1ms GtG (Grey to Grey) response speed eliminate ghosting and/or blurring, leaving you with eyes-wide-open on-screen to tear your online enemies a fresh one over and again.
Featuring a customisable rear light that makes the M9 even more aesthetically akin to its console sibling, despite dressing the same as the PS5, the INZIONE M9 also comes compatible with PCs, Macs, the PS4, the Xbox and smartphones alike, thanks to an incredibly generous array of inputs, so don’t imagine this monitor marvel will tie you just a Sony system.
The first 4K gaming monitor from the Japanese tech giants – nailed it.
Tech Spec
Size: 27-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (4K)
Refresh rate: DisplayPort: 24Hz - 144Hz, HDMI: 24Hz - 120Hz
Response time: 1ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: 2x 2W
Compatibility: Windows, MacOS, PS5, PS4, Xbox, smartphone
Input: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort, 1x USB-C, 1x USB-B, 3x USB-A
Height: 47.9cm
Buy now £999.00, Amazon
Samsung Odyssey Neo G7
Best for: Going home and going big
A Quantum Mini-LED monitor model from Samsung that’s not only enormous and more than a bit good for gaming, but which is also a Tizen OS-powered Smart TV with TV Plus, Bixby assistant and Microsoft 365 web service and Google Meet all stacked up inside, the Odyssey Neo G7 has all home-use bases absolutely covered.
With an Ultra HD resolution and that Mini-LED with its 12-bit backlight creating perfect picture quality, colours are beautifully crisp and realistic, brightness and contrast perfectly controlled and the overall spectacle utterly brilliant to behold.
Spec-wise, you’re looking a 144Hz refresh rate which, combined with 2x HDMI 2.1 ports, a response time of 1ms and Samsung Gaming Hub on-tap, next-gen gamers are going to have an absolute blast and then some whether console or cloud.
Smart TV apps allow instant access to those after a more leisurely/even lazier pursuit in all that Full HD finery, and built-in speakers with Adaptive Sound deliver adequate audio, but film fans and hardcore gamers alike will probably want to beef it up with something more resembling surround sound.
Now, can you use it for work? Well, yes, you can. But at 43-inches in size, you may find it a bit too much of a beast to deal with for basic word processing, so best to use the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 as it was intended and just sit back and revel in the masterful media-manipulating majesty of it all.
Tech Spec
Size: 43-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (4K)
Refresh rate: 144Hz
Response time: 1ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: No
Compatibility: Windows, Mac, PS5, PS4, Xbox, smartphone
Input: 1x DisplayPort, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x LAN, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2
Height: 66.7cm
Buy now £899.00, Currys
Apple Studio Display
Best for: Apple afficionados
Because not everyone is into Windows or gaming but would rather just get resolutely stuck into the business of creative productivity, there is the Apple Studio Display and the myriad advantages that brings.
Standing 27-inches top left to bottom right corner, the Apple offers an eye-popping 5K screen resolution, 600-nits brightness, support for one billion (say it like Dr Evil) colours and P3 wide colour (DCI-P3 being a standardised set of colours defined by Digital Cinema Initiatives to bring uniformity to the TV and movie world), meaning work and watching on this fruity beauty will be a near religious experience.
And this being an Apple, it’s not just about display aesthetics, but rather with a 12MP Ultra-Wide camera with Centre Stage (keeps you in frame when you move around) built in, paired with a studio-quality three-mic array and a staggering six speaker sound system, not only are video calls like speaking face to face, but streamed music and/or accompanying soundtracks are delivered with the kind of impressive oomph you’ll be hard-pressed to hear from any other monitor.
Enjoying Apple’s usual appetite for sharp, minimalist design too, if perfect Mac productivity app-peels (poor Apple-based pun right there), the Studio Display is made for you.
Tech Spec
Size: 27-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 5120 x 2880 (5K)
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 12ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: x6
Compatibility: MacOS
Input: 4x USB-C (1x Thunderbolt 3)
Height: 36.2cm
Buy now £1903.00, AO
Samsung LS24AM506N
Best for: Small spaces, great expectations
Taking the whopping great Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 I was drooling over earlier and packing it all down into a much more petite and far less pricier package, the 24-inch LS24AM506N may lack many of the bells and whistles of its sizier sibling, but what it brings to your desktop party is a Full HD display with a 60Hz refresh rate and a 14ms response time, meaning that, compatible with Windows, Mac and (thanks to the inclusion of Airplay 2) other assorted Apple products, alongside built it Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth and even a speaker, this Sammy is hybrid of half monitor and half TV.
An LED panel, colours are bright and contrast at 1000:1 is decent, while that forementioned fresh rate keeps stuff flicker-free when you are using it for entertainment purposes rather than cracking on with that presentation you’ve put off too many times.
With Tizen inside, there are apps aplenty you can play with too, and all this comes in at just over £200… which seemed to me like some kind of terrible error that would see someone at AO.com getting fired at first, but I have double-checked and, remarkably, it is correct.
Tech Spec
Size: 24-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 14ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: x1
Compatibility: Windows, MacOS and other Apple products
Input: 2x HDMI 2.0, USB hub, AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 5
Height: 32.6cm
Buy now £209.00, AO
ESR Portable Kickstand
Best for: Ultra-portable second screen shenanigans
Now this is a clever bit of kit. For many years I was hauling around a notebook computer that still weighed what eventually felt like carrying the world. Worst still, the keyboard was cramped and the screen small lacking in resolution. But that was back in the dark old days, the dark old days before the ESR Portable Kickstand Monitor.
Weighing in at just 750g and super-slim when collapsed, the ESR is a true take anywhere option that unfurls into a glorious HDR-packing, Full HD, 15.5-inch display with a16:9 aspect ratio, that plays nice with PCs on Windows 7 or later, MacOS and iPadOS, Android, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, TV boxes and even cameras to operate a secondary screen wherever you need it. Furthermore, thanks to the Kickstand so prominent in the name, it can display all the data on all those devices in either landscape or portrait mode.
Featuring a refresh rate of slick 60Hz and a 5ms response rate, video and games look great too, so this has got to be an out-and-out no-brainer buy for gamers on the go sick of small screens and, thanks to the now wonderful world of highly compact Bluetooth keyboards, hooking up smartphone, keyboard and ESR makes for a marvellously light mobile office set-up that can be assembled in mere moments.
With 250-nit brightness you don; have to worry about glare, while low blur light mode takes good care of your corneas. And, speaking of eyes, it is also undeniably easy on them, thanks to it svelte design, silver finish and barely-there bezel.
Impressive, cunningly engineered and efficient in operation, the ESR Portable Kickstand could well be an essential for tech-tethered trippers.
Tech Spec
Size: 15.5-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: No
Compatibility: Windows 7 or later, Android, MacOS/iPadOS, Android, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, TV boxes and cameras
Input: 1x HDMI, mini HDMI, 3x USB-C
Height: 13.5cm
Buy now £152.29, Amazon
Dell C2722DE
Best for: Busy business-types
Not all monitors are designed with merriment in mind, indeed, some are conceived and built with business firmly at the fore. Such is the C722DE from Dell, or to give it it’s full name, the Dell 27 Video Conferencing Monitor - C2722DE.
As you may have gathered from that reveal, this 27-inch alternative to staring at a tiny screen full of tiny faces is aimed at helping industrious types improve productivity, by not only giving them a luscious WQHD screen (2560 x 1440 resolution) complete with 60Hz refresh rate and 8ms response time to gaze loving at. The Dell also sees to the rest of the video conferencing package with dual 5W speakers, an integrated pop-up IR camera, noise cancelling mic and, wait for it, a dedicated Teams button that lets you launch, join meetings and respond to notifications in an instant. No messing about here.
Always-on ComfortView Plus reduces blue light to keep you safe from eye strain, because we all know how will-to-live-losingly long some of those Teams meetings can drag on for, while facial recognition gives you finger-free sign in. And if that hands-off approach floats your fancy, you’ll be beside yourself with delight to hear that Cortana is also present to take your verbal commands like an invisible tech secretary (techretary?).
Compatible with Windows 10- and 11-toting PCs, plus Macs too, ports aplenty see to all other needs, the Dell 27 Video Conferencing Monitor is the business and does the business, quickly, seamlessly and securely.
Tech Spec
Size: 27-inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (WQHD)
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 8ms
Viewing angle: 178°
Speakers: 2x 5W
Compatibility: Windows 10 and 11, MacOS
Input: 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 2x USB-C, 3x USB-A, 1x RJ-45
Height: 44.6cm
Buy now £358.00, Dell
