There's something of a sweet spot in gaming monitors, and it's 27 inches. At the typical distances you'll find yourself from a monitor on a desk, a 27-inch display does a good job providing plenty of space without completely overtaking your field of view. And, when you pair that display area with a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, you can get a strong balance of size and clarity. In smaller rooms, a 27-inch monitor can even make a decent substitute for a TV when you pair it with a good set of speakers.
The existence of that sweet spot is probably part of the reason there are so many 27-inch, 1440p monitors on the market. You'll find high-speed models that can let you game with buttery-smooth frame rates and variable refresh rates as well as some models that support HDR. There are budget gaming monitor options with TN panels and premium models with speedy IPS panels – even QLED technology is on the table.
We've rounded up our top picks to make your selection process easier. Whether you want an affordable contender or the best of the best, you'll find it here — or click here to find them in the UK.
TL;DR: These are the Best 27-inch Gaming Monitors
- LG 27GP850-B UltraGear
- HP X27Q
- Samsung Odyssey G7
- ViewSonic Elite XG271QG
- Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A
- Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor (AW2723DF)
- NZXT Canvas 27F
- Gigabyte M27Q
- Sony Inzone M9
LG 27GP850-B UltraGear
Best 27-inch Gaming Monitor
If you’re looking for an incredibly well-rounded gaming monitor, the LG 27GP850-B UltraGear is a brilliant example of just how good a 27-inch option can be. The plenty big, bright screen handles reflections with ease and fits seamlessly on almost any desk in even the brightest of rooms. There’s also a highly adjustable stand that ensures you can take a close look at your game's visuals, whether that’s high-res textures or enemies in the distance.
The LG 27GP850-B is a fast Nano IPS display that gives you exceptional color and low pixel response times, and it's reasonably sharp at 1440p. That makes for gorgeous visuals that stay pretty even while elements on screen are moving — no ugly coronas or ghosting. With a 165Hz refresh rate that can overclock to 180Hz, you get smooth gameplay visuals to keep up with the fast-paced action, and you’re getting G-Sync and FreeSync compatibility to prevent tearing. By sticking with 27 inches, all that’s on offer is available for a very reasonable price.
HP X27Q
Best Budget 27-inch Gaming Monitor
For under $300, you can’t go wrong with the HP X27Q. It comes with a 27-inch display that handles reflections like a champ and gets plenty bright for easy viewing, even in brighter spaces. The visuals are crisp and vibrant thanks to a 1440p resolution. Though similar to other IPS panels, the contrast ratio isn’t the best, so when viewing in darker spaces, some blacks look gray.
If you’re into fast-paced games, you’ll welcome the screen’s 1ms response time and 165Hz refresh rate. You even get support for AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, ensuring games remain smooth with ample motion fidelity. The monitor doesn’t come with tons of ports, but the HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.4 should suffice for connecting to your gaming PC.
Samsung Odyssey G7
Best FreeSync 27-inch Gaming Monitor
27-inch gaming monitors get some of the most love from manufacturers, and that's as true as ever with the Samsung Odyssey G7. This display is excellent for gamers in need of FreeSync support as it offers both a high resolution of 1440p and an astronomical refresh rate of 240Hz. Even on higher-end rigs, getting 240fps at 1440p will likely prove challenging in modern games, so FreeSync helps smooth out any frame rate dips and peaks. Better yet, you have the option to switch over to G-Sync in the future without needing a new monitor, so you won't be locked into an AMD platform if a new Nvidia GPU strikes your fancy.
Samsung ensures you get a stunning picture out of each frame by including powerful enough backlights to hit 600 nits and an IPS panel that supports a 10-bit color depth. This means you can enjoy some HDR content with rich colors, strong contrast, and brilliant highlights. It’s also a curved gaming monitor giving you some extra immersion when you're close to the screen. The Odyssey G7 has a few neat extras as well, like two USB 3.0 pass-through ports and Infinity Core Lighting to keep things organized and stylish.
ViewSonic Elite XG271QG
Best G-Sync 27-inch Gaming Monitor
Go bigger, go brighter, go sharper, and go faster — these are all things the ViewSonic Elite XG271QG can do over a more baseline gaming display. It bumps up from a 1080p resolution to 1440p to keep visuals crisp while managing an insane 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Motion fidelity is maintained at 240fps thanks to G-Sync support, so you’ll enjoy an experience free of screen tearing or stutter.
The ViewSonic Elite XG271QG puts a sizable 27-inch display on your desk, making it that much easier to spot enemies in the distance or smaller details that might have been lost on a 24-inch gaming monitor. For the HDR era, it’s also offering a bright IPS panel that can hit 400 nits while providing a 10-bit color depth for a more vibrant experience from your games. That 98% coverage of the cinematic DCI-P3 color space means you’re getting near-perfect color accuracy in everything from your games or shows you’re streaming. The visual fidelity of this gaming monitor is second to none.
Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A
Best G-Sync Compatible 27-inch Gaming Monitor
The Asus TUF Gaming VG72AQL1A gives you an upgrade in just about every department over what you'd see from a traditional 1080p gaming monitor. This bad boy features a 1440p display with an IPS panel that can support both FreeSync and G-Sync, giving PC and console gamers alike something to take advantage of.
This monitor doesn't settle for a 120Hz or even a 144Hz refresh rate either. Instead, it can cruise at up to 170Hz. And, while a lot of monitors that focus on speed can fail to emphasize visual quality in other areas, the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A actually goes the extra mile to display a 10-bit color depth and shine with a 470-nit peak brightness. That combination will let you enjoy a hint of HDR in your games. So, if you want sharpness, speed, HDR, rich color, and variable refresh rate, you can't go wrong with this monitor, especially as it costs less than $500.
Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor (AW2723DF)
Best 27-inch, 240Hz Gaming Monitor
A 1440p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate offers an excellent balance of high clarity in motion and resolution, but the latest graphics cards push even faster frame rates, barely breaking a sweat. So, it's time to get a monitor that can keep up, like the Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor (AW2723DF), with its 27-inch, 1440p panel offering a blisteringly fast 240Hz refresh rate, which you can overclock a bit higher. If you’re worried about screen tearing with such speedy frames, Free-Sync support, and G-Sync compatibility ensure your display and GPU play nicely.
Not only are you getting a super-fast IPS panel with excellent motion handling and low input lag, but you're also getting a high peak brightness of 600 nits alongside 95% DCI-P3 color coverage for further immersion into the action. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the best native contrast ratio, so when playing in darker spaces, you won’t get the deep blacks that many VA panels offer. Though, we love the robust, highly-adjustable stand that ensures a solid viewing angle from just about anywhere.
NZXT Canvas 27F
Best 1080p 27-inch Gaming Monitor
NZXT’s Canvas 27F delivers a spacious 27-inch display but sticks to a 1080p resolution to hit insanely speedy frames at 240Hz. Hopefully, you’ve got a graphics card that can keep up, though adaptive sync technology helps action remain insanely smooth and smear-free. The 1ms response time and low input lag further improve your gaming experience, while NZXT’s CAM software lets you adjust that speed and other settings, like enabling FreeSync or changing contrast and brightness.
You are sacrificing resolution for speed, but even so, the NZXT Canvas 27F offers bright, colorful visuals on its thin bezel 27-inch display. Its IPS panel hits a 400-nit peak brightness and totes a DisplayHDR 400 certification, though if you’re looking for HDR performance, you shouldn’t invest in this display. Finally, the build is second to none, being both sturdy and sleek, but you will have to drop an extra $40 for a stand.
Gigabyte M27Q
Best 27-inch 1440p Gaming Monitor
If you want a modest 27-inch monitor that will stay particularly sharp thanks to a 1440p resolution while also being easier to run at high frame rates than a 4K display, then you're going to want the Gigabyte M27Q. This gaming monitor is competent all around. It may not be as stunning as some of the other 1440p monitors on this list, but it pairs commendable specs with an enticing price point.
You get a colorful IPS panel with a decent brightness level and support for HDR. You also get a solid uptick in speed over the typical 144Hz monitors you'll find, as the Gigabyte M27Q can actually hit a 170Hz refresh rate. It also delivers a 0.5ms response time. Gigabyte supports FreeSync Premium on this monitor, so tearing won't be an issue. You'll also get connectivity for three display sources, two over HDMI and one over DisplayPort. At this price, it's also surprising to see USB passthrough with two USB-A ports and even a USB-C port.
Sony Inzone M9
Best 27-inch 4K Gaming Monitor
We know we said 1440p is the sweet spot, but if you're rocking a computer that just has too much muscle and you need to flex it, you can make the jump up to 4K with the Sony Inzone M9 and not miss out on speed. This HDMI 2.1-ready 4K gaming monitor delivers up a 144Hz refresh rate, so you can game right along with the best of your 1440p-bound compatriots. It even offers up VRR and G-Sync compatibility to ensure your gaming experience is free from tearing, which could be a risk since not a lot of computers can hit a constant 144fps at 4K.
The Sony Inzone M9 has beefed up visuals thanks to an impressive backlighting system with full-array local dimming and 96 lighting zones. You’ll find this gives the display excellent contrast for punchy highlights and more details in the shadows while eliminating pretty much any haloing, making it easier to spot enemies lurking in the dark. Beyond that, a 600-nit peak brightness and over 95% coverage of the DCI-P3 spectrum helps this monitor serve up HDR visuals. And if you’re looking to use this monitor with your PS5, Auto HDR Tonemapping will automatically set your display to the ideal HDR settings.
Where to Get the Best 27-Inch Gaming Monitor in the UK
What to Look For in a 27-inch Gaming Monitor
If you're already set on buying a 27-inch gaming monitor, you've already settled the big question of how large of a display is right for you. With that in mind, the biggest thing you need to consider is what resolution is right for you. At this screen size, it's worth looking only into displays that are sharper than 1080p as the pixel you get from a Full HD resolution panel are starting to spread out too far on a display this large.
Once you get into 27-inch monitors, it's best to start looking at displays with at least a 2,560 x 1,440 or Quad HD resolution. 4K isn't exactly necessary with a display this large, but it's also not necessarily a waste as the 3,840 x 2,160 resolution will still look sharper. Just be aware as you go up in resolution so will the price of the gaming monitors you look at.
Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
