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How to pick
Size and resolution go together and most people get the pairing wrong. At normal desk distance, 24 inch suits 1080p and 27 inch wants 1440p. A 27 inch screen at 1080p looks coarse, which is why cheap big monitors disappoint people. Go above that only if you have a reason: 4K is worth it for photo work or if you sit close, and largely wasted otherwise. Two practical things. Check the connection matches your computer, which for most machines means HDMI, and for a modern laptop USB-C is worth paying for because one cable carries the picture and charges the machine. And check the stand adjusts for height, because a screen at the wrong height causes more neck ache than anything else on a desk.
What I recommend
Everyday
Size and resolution go together and most people get the pairing wrong. At normal desk distance 24 inch suits 1080p and 27 inch wants 1440p. A 27 inch screen at 1080p looks coarse, which is why cheap big monitors disappoint people.
24 inch 1080p monitor
At 24 inches, 1080p looks perfectly sharp at normal desk distance. This is the sensible cheap monitor and there is nothing wrong with it. Check the stand adjusts for height, because plenty at this price do not.
- Genuinely sharp at this size
- Cheap enough to buy two
- Low power draw
- Many at this price have fixed stands
- Built in speakers are usually poor
- Not enough room for two documents side by side
- Size and resolution
- 24 inch suits 1080p
- Check
- Stand adjusts for height
- Panel
- IPS for better colour and angles
- Skip
- Anything bigger at this resolution
27 inch 1440p monitor
The sweet spot. Big enough for two things side by side, sharp enough that text looks clean, and not so expensive that you think about it. If you are replacing an old screen and are not sure, get this.
- The best balance of size, sharpness and price
- Room for two windows side by side
- Text is noticeably cleaner than 1080p
- Needs a reasonably modern computer to drive well
- Cheaper models still have poor stands
- Colour accuracy varies a lot at this price
- The sweet spot
- 27 inch with 1440p
- Room for
- Two windows side by side
- Panel
- IPS
- Check
- Height adjustable stand
For a laptop
If the computer is a laptop that lives on a desk, the connection matters as much as the panel.
Portable monitor
A second screen that folds flat and runs off one USB-C cable. Genuinely useful from hotels or a kitchen table. Not a replacement for a real monitor at home.
- Folds flat and weighs very little
- Runs off one cable
- Doubles your screen anywhere
- Dimmer than a desk monitor
- Flimsy stands on cheaper models
- Some need two USB ports to run
- Runs off
- One USB-C cable
- Size
- 15 inch is the common one
- Good for
- Hotels, kitchen tables, client sites
- Not
- A replacement for a desk monitor
USB-C monitor
Carries the picture and charges the laptop down the same cable, so docking is one plug. Check it supports power delivery of at least 65W, or the laptop slowly runs down while you work.
- One cable for picture and power
- Often includes a USB hub
- Tidiest possible laptop setup
- Costs more than an HDMI equivalent
- Power delivery wattage varies, check it
- Not every laptop supports video over USB-C
- One cable
- Picture and charging together
- Power delivery
- 65W or more
- Size
- 27 inch is the sweet spot
- Resolution
- 1440p at that size
Bigger and sharper
Worth it for specific reasons, not by default.
Ultrawide monitor
One wide screen rather than two with a bezel down the middle. Better for anything you keep side by side. Check your computer can drive the resolution, and measure the desk, because these are wide.
- No bezel down the middle
- Excellent for spreadsheets and editing
- One cable instead of two
- Physically very wide, measure first
- Some software handles the shape badly
- Films show black bars anyway
- Replaces
- Two screens, without the bezel
- Size
- 34 inch is the usual
- Check
- Your computer can drive it
- Measure
- The desk, these are wide
4K monitor
Worth it for photo or video work, or if you sit unusually close. At 27 inches, 1440p already looks sharp and 4K mostly costs money and makes text small until you scale it back up.
- Genuinely sharper for detailed work
- Future proof for a long time
- You will scale text back up, losing the benefit
- Needs a capable computer to drive
- Overkill for documents and browsing
- Costs considerably more
- Worth it for
- Photo and video work
- Or if
- You sit unusually close
- Otherwise
- 1440p already looks sharp at 27 inch
- Note
- You will scale text back up
Related reading
Two screens and no idea how to set them up?
Getting a second monitor arranged the right way round, at the right height, with the right cable, is a twenty minute job I do often.