A 4K gaming monitor is the ultimate way to experience your favorite PC games. The enhanced resolution provides incredible sharpness that brings out details you’d miss at a lower resolution. Distant objects that were once a blurry mess become clear as day because these displays are showing four times the resolution of a 1080p gaming monitor.
Buying a 4K gaming monitor is an investment, however, as most models are at least $500. You may spend several times that for a high-refresh display that supports both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync. We’ve compared dozens of options to find the best 4K gaming monitors available right now – and click here to find them in the UK.
TL;DR – These are the Best 4K Gaming Monitors:
- LG UltraGear 27GN95B-B
- Acer Nitro XV282K
- Gigabyte M28U
- Sony Inzone M9
- Asus ROG Strix XG32UQ
- Samsung Odyssey Neo G7
- LG UltraGear 48GQ900
LG UltraGear 27GN95B-B
Best 4K Gaming Monitor
It’s hard not to fall for the LG UltraGear 27GN95B-B. This monitor lets you game in 4K at 144Hz without breaking a sweat or the bank. You’ll enjoy those super smooth, stutter-free frames thanks to both G-Sync compatibility and FreeSync Premium Pro support, while a 1ms response time further improves motion fidelity. To make the most of this monitor, you can hook up your PC or next-gen console to the DisplayPort 1.4, as the two HDMI inputs only support 4K/60Hz.
While gaming, you’ll enjoy watching the action on the perfectly sized 27-inch monitor with an IPS panel that offers solid viewing angles. The LG UltraGear 27GN95B-B isn’t the brightest monitor around, but with DisplayHDR 600 and a 750 nit peak brightness, you’ll get decent contrast and deep blacks to uncover enemies hiding in the shadows. The display’s color performance and clarity are also top-notch, ensuring you can make the most of your games.
Acer Nitro XV282K
Best Budget 4K Gaming Monitor
The Acer Nitro XV282K is an easy recommendation among the current crop of 4K gaming monitors. It hits a value sweet spot by providing a high maximum refresh rate, multiple HDMI 2.1 ports, and great image quality for less than $1,000. This is an IPS monitor with a refresh rate that can overclock up to 170Hz. Motion clarity is excellent and AMD FreeSync is supported. G-Sync support is not official, though we tested the monitor with G-Sync and found it worked without flaw.
The monitor’s contrast ratio is high for an IPS panel. A wide color gamut and great color accuracy provide a vivid, lifelike picture. It’s a bright display, as well, with a sustained peak of 400 nits. Most games look stunning. Build quality is modest, though fine. The stand looks unimpressive but adjusts for height and keeps the display stable. Around back you’ll find two HDMI 2.1 ports and DisplayPort, while USB-A ports are available for adding wired peripherals.
Gigabyte M28U
Best Ultra-Cheap 4K Gaming Monitor
The Gigabyte M28U is perfect for gamers who don’t have a ton of cash but still want a 4K monitor with a high refresh rate, as it offers both at price far lower than most alternatives. The 144Hz refresh rate and Free Sync support hold up in fast-paced games. It even supports multiple HDMI 2.1 inputs to hook up a PS5 and Xbox Series X, while a USB-C and three USB-A ports are handy for other peripherals.
You’ll enjoy a colorful, accurate image with excellent sharpness on this ultra-cheap monitor. The catch? Brightness. At 300 nits sustained, the M28U could seem dim when used in a bright room. While the overall build quality is inoffensive and basic though you do get an adjustable stand for better viewing.
Sony Inzone M9
Best 4K FreeSync Gaming Monitor
The Sony Inzone M9 might be the brand's first monitor in years, but delivers some of the best HDR gaming we’ve ever seen. Not only does it feature a 600-nit peak brightness that's higher than most of its competition, but it also features 96 lighting zones to help drive better contrast so you can see pure darkness right next to blinding light. This gaming monitor can even self-tune its HDR capabilities when connected to a PS5 thanks to its Auto HDR Tonemapping feature.
This screen also has everything you want including a 4K resolution, 144Hz maximum refresh rate, FreeSync and VRR support, plus one DisplayPort and two HDMI 2.1 ports. It also looks as good as the picture it delivers with a modern white and black design that’s clean and maybe a bit PS5-inspired. For $900, this 4K gaming monitor delivers in every way and the only thing it lacks is video cables in the box.
Asus ROG Strix XG32UQ
Best 4K G-Sync Gaming Monitor
The Asus ROG Strix XG32UQ rocks G-Sync compatibility for a variable refresh rate between 48-144Hz to keep your Nvidia graphics card playing nicely with the monitor. Motion clarity is further enhanced thanks to super quick response time. You can even overclock the monitor, letting it hit 160Hz on the DisplayPort, which is perfect for hooking up a PC. It also has two HDMI 2.1 ports on board to take advantage of the 120Hz/4K capabilities of the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
With 32 inches of screen real estate, the Asus ROG Strix XG32UQ delivers crisp details and stunning color performance perfect for gaming. Its IPS panel hits up to 600 nits and offers HDR support. Though with only edge-lit dimming, it won’t be as striking as other HDR monitors. It also doesn’t have the best contrast, but for the sub $1,000 price tag, this monitor is hard to beat.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G7
Best 4K HDR Gaming Monitor
For unbeatable HDR performance, grab the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7. With its Quantum Mini-LED backlight, the monitor offers good local dimming and a high native contrast ratio. Its VA panel can even hit a wild 2,000 nit peak brightness in HDR mode, blowing the majority of other gaming monitors out of the water. A wide color gamut and excellent accuracy cement this monitor as one of the best options for HDR gaming.
The greatness of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 doesn’t stop there, as it offers a high 165Hz refresh rate when gaming in 4K. Of course, you also get all the typical bells and whistles like VRR support and a quick response time for smooth motion alongside low input lag for superb responsiveness. This monitor also happens to have a slight curvature for even more immersion in your game’s action.
LG UltraGear 48GQ900
Best Big Screen 4K Gaming Monitor
The LG UltraGear 48GQ900 is essentially everything we love about the latest LG C2, but turned into an oversized gaming monitor. Of course, with an OLED panel, you get all the benefits of true blacks, infinite contrast, and eye-popping color. That OLED panel also lends you plenty of gaming benefits including an incredibly low 0.1ms response time while displaying incredibly smooth motion.
Unlike its gaming TV equivalent, the LG UltraGear 48GQ900 comes with a narrower monitor stand, an anti-reflective finish, and a handy remote for changing inputs and settings. Lastly it features a refresh rate of 120Hz (or 138Hz while overclocked), and it supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync compatibility.
Where to Get the Best 4K Gaming Monitor in the UK
What you need to look for in a 4K Gaming Monitor
4K is pushing the limit of what’s possible on a typical gaming PC, so 4K gaming monitors don’t support some features found at other resolutions. For example, you won’t find any 360Hz or 240Hz gaming monitors that output at Quad HD. Most models aren’t great at HDR, either, with a few exceptions noted on this list.
All 4K monitors produce a sharp image, so you’re pretty much free to choose a screen size as big as you want and your budget will warrant. Because the pixel density is so tight you generally want to pick a display that’s at least 27 to 32 inches. And if you really want to go big, we generally feel that you can’t see the individual pixels of a 4K screen until you get up to a 65 inch.
Conversely though, sharpness generally improves as the size of a display decreases. The same number of pixels are packed in a smaller space. A 27-inch or 28-inch 4K monitor will be sharper than a 32-inch monitor, which will appear sharper than a 43-inch or 48-inch alternative. The difference is minor but worth considering if image clarity is your top priority.
Most 4K monitors use an IPS display panel that offer a lackluster contrast ratio. The good news is they also sport high brightness, great motion clarity, and accurate color. A rare few alternatives use a VA panel. This type of display boosts contrast ratio and retains good color performance, though often at the cost of motion clarity in dark scenes.
Gamers should keep an eye out for new models with a Mini-LED backlight. This pairs an IPS panel with an array of LED dimming zones to improve contrast. Mini-LED monitors deliver eye-searing HDR, as well. So far, there’s only a handful of Mini-LEDs options on the market, but they’ll become more common in the near future.
OLED is mostly exclusive to the television market for now. A few 4K OLED monitors are available, such as the LG 32EP950-B, but they’re extremely expensive and target professional media production instead of gaming.
Most 4K gaming monitors max out at a 144Hz refresh rate, though some slightly exceed that with an overclocking mode. This might seem disappointing at a glance. 4K gaming places a heavy load on a gaming PC, however, so many games will fail to constantly hit 144 frames per second, nevermind 240 FPS or more.
All the monitors on this list support AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync, and some support both. Nvidia fans should note that monitors which do not officially support Nvidia G-Sync may still work with Nvidia video cards. If you want a monitor with a G-Sync module, however, check out our round-up of the best G-Sync monitors.
