The Best Printers for 2022
Inkjet or laser? Need only printing, or scanning and copying, too? Seeking low-cost ink, or a low-cost printer? Here’s how to choose the right printer for home or work, backed by our top lab-tested picks.
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OUR TOP TESTED PRODUCTS
HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e All-in-One Printer
Canon Maxify GX5020
Brother MFC-J4335DW
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Canon imageClass MF452dw
HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202w
Brother HL-L9310CDW
Lexmark MS431dw
Brother MFC-J6945DW INKvestment Tank Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer
Epson SureColor P900 17-Inch Photo Printer
Canon Selphy CP1500 Wireless Compact Photo Printer
Brother PocketJet PJ883
Epson LabelWorks LW-PX900PCD Deluxe Kit
Rollo Wireless Printer X1040
The Best Printer Deals This Week*
- Canon Pixma MG3620 Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer (Opens in a new window) — $69.99(List Price $99.99)
- HP Envy Inspire 7958e Wireless Color All-in-One Printer (Opens in a new window) — $174.05(List Price $189.99)
- Canon Pixma TS9521C Wireless All-in-One inkjet Printer (Opens in a new window) — $229.99(List Price $299.99)
- Canon Pixma MegaTank G7020 Wireless All-in-One Printer (Opens in a new window) — $319.99(List Price $379.99)
- HP LaserJet MFP M234dwe Wireless Mono All-in-One Printer (Opens in a new window) — $119.00(List Price $219)
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Choosing a printer may sound easy. But once you start diving into all the available features, making a choice can quickly get daunting. Do you need a basic printer just to print, or do you want to scan and copy as well? And what about faxing, or scanning to and printing from the cloud, or even scanning and sending an email? How do you choose between inkjet and laser technology? What’s the real difference between a $200 model and a $500 model?
Don’t fret: We’ve got you covered on all fronts. PC Labs tests dozens of printers every year, across everyday consumer models, big business machines, pocket-size photo printers, and more. Scroll down for our top tested picks across all these categories, then read on for a comprehensive guide to how to buy a printer.
Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test. (Opens in a new window)
HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e All-in-One Printer
Best Everyday Printer for Most Users
Why We Picked It
"Best Everyday Printer for Most Users" is quite a title, so our pick had to check a lot of boxes: good print quality; color instead of monochrome to add pop to presentations and reports; an all-in-one (AIO) rather than single-function model for those times it’d be handy to make a few quick copies or scan a document; an automatic document feeder (ADF) to spare you the hassle of putting pages on the glass one at a time. HP’s OfficeJet Pro 9015e has all that, especially text output that is near laser quality, and it’s both faster and has a higher duty cycle than most of its competitors.
Who It’s For
The 9015e is eligible for HP’s Instant Ink subscription plan, which can drive its operating costs down to as little as 3.5 cents per page—any page, whether double-spaced black text or a letter-size borderless photo. That makes Instant Ink ideal for families that print plenty of pics, but the OfficeJet Pro lives up to its name as ideal for home or micro offices that need both great-looking text and colorful marketing materials.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $289.99 | $289.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| HP | $289.99 | $289.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Newegg | $269.99 | $269.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Canon Maxify GX5020
A Solid Print-Only Alternative to the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e
Why We Picked It
Non-AIO inkjets are uncommon items these days. But if all you want to do is print documents and, perhaps, glossy-paper photos en masse, and maximize your savings on ink while doing it, look into this Maxify model. Cheap ink is its biggest selling point: You won’t get a classic AIO scanning or copy function (though Canon offers a sort-of copy workaround, letting you shoot a document with your phone’s camera and print it in one step), but you will get a bulk-ink design that takes refills from bottled ink. Our math based on Canon’s yield claims and bottle costs works out to 0.5 cent per monochrome black page and 0.7 cent per color page. And that’s before you factor in Canon’s full-size ink bottles bundled with the printer. (Plus, before we forget to mention: The output looks very good.)
Who It’s For
The Maxify is geared toward home offices, but it can serve the needs of a heavy-printing family, too. It’s all about printing enough, day in and day out, to leverage the low ink costs, since the printer itself, like most bulk-ink/bottle-refill models, is priced on the high side for the feature set. But if you have a home business, plus a family that hits a printer hard for schoolwork or hobbies, it’s an excellent longer-term money-saver.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $399.99 | $359.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Brother MFC-J4335DW
Best Inkjet All-in-One Printer for Homes and Small Offices
Why We Picked It
Shoppers with less than $200 to spend can choose from a number of all-in-one inkjets that don’t take much desk space, but the Brother MFC-J4335DW goes beyond that with duplex printing, faxing (either as a standalone fax machine or from almost any app on your PC), a 20-page automatic document feeder, and low running costs of under a penny per black page and under a nickel per color page. The ADF doesn’t handle double-sided pages, but you have to sacrifice something in this price range.
Who It’s For
Both homes and small (to be honest, very small) offices can readily make room for this Brother printer. You won’t use its fax capability often, but you never know when you might need it, and its competent paper handling joins its more-than-adequate text and better-than-adequate graphics quality.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $179.99 | $179.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850
Best Inkjet All-in-One Printer for Businesses
Why We Picked It
A Best of the Year winner in 2020, Epson’s EcoTank Pro ET-5850 no longer comes with the two years’ supply of free ink it was introduced with, but it’s still a great deal for high-volume office printing. This all-in-one boasts a 50-page ADF with single-pass auto duplexing, an ample 550-sheet paper capacity, and near-typeset-quality output for text (and impressive graphics, too). It’s as fast as any of its inkjet and several of its laser competitors, and it’ll cost you only about 2 cents per page for both monochrome output and, more impressively, color.
Who It’s For
Assuming you stick to letter- and legal-size paper instead of the wide-format media supported by its EcoTank Pro ET-16650 sibling, the ET-5850 is virtually ideal for small businesses and workgroups that crank out 3,000 to 4,000 pages per month. It was arguably the first successful office implementation of the bulk-ink concept that slashed consumer printers’ page costs—to under a penny for black and white—but those printers don’t have the chops for busy office duty. This one does.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $899.99 | $899.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Office Depot® & OfficeMax® | $949.99 | $949.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Dell Technologies | $949.99 | $949.99 | Check Stock (Opens in a new window) |
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Best Color Laser All-in-One Printer
Why We Picked It
Midrange color laser all-in-ones are neither cheap (this one’s $879.99 MSRP) nor compact (about 50 pounds), but the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f is a worthy workhorse with a recommended monthly usage of about 5,000 pages. It has a 50-sheet automatic document feeder, a ditto multipurpose tray, and a 250-sheet paper drawer. (A 550-sheet second cassette is $195.) It bolsters the usual Ethernet and Wi-Fi office network membership with versatile connectivity for mobile devices. And its output quality is exceptional.
Who It’s For
It says "Enterprise" right in the name, and its fleet-management features back that up. But the MFP M480f will also tempt midsize businesses with its rock-solid performance and competitive running costs (about 2.3 cents for monochrome and 14.1 cents for color pages).
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $1,599.00 | $1,599.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| B&H Photo Video | $989.00 | $989.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Canon imageClass MF452dw
Best Mono Laser All-in-One Printer
Why We Picked It
Photo-perfect color inkjets get all the attention, but compact, low-cost monochrome laser printers will never die for small offices and workgroups that mostly crank out black-and-white text documents. Heavy-printing families can use them too, especially if they have a student or students who print lots of worksheets or report drafts. For these uses, Canon’s imageClass MF452dw is the mono laser AIO of the moment that others will have to beat, and the pricing is aggressive, too. It’s part of an imageClass line with slight feature variations, and this model adds faxing if you need it. A big, easy-to-use touch panel and flexible paper handing for both printing and scanning make it a great utility player, and the mono output quality is excellent.
Who It’s For
Small offices and workgroups will benefit from the AIO features the most, but don’t discount this model for a heavy-printing home. You won’t use it for photo or image printing, but for raw document input and output, it’s a super deal.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $329.00 | $219.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202w
A Solid Alternative to the Canon imageClass MF452dw
Why We Picked It
A very able monochrome document churner, the HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202w also features convenient copying and scanning, albeit strictly entry-level. (It has no automatic document feeder to handle a stack of sheets or a multipage document.) Its key bit of appeal, versus the Canon model above? An innovative toner-refill system makes its operating costs puny—as low as 0.6 cent per page, an incredible one-fifth or one-sixth the expense of laser printers that use traditional toner cartridges. (It’s the rough equivalent of a "bulk ink tank" inkjet in the laser-printer world.)
Who It’s For
If you need top-quality graphics and photos, the Neverstop isn’t for you, but neither is any other mono laser. But if your home or small office needs to print around 2,500 black-and-white pages per month on a rock-bottom budget, with occasional copy and scan jobs thrown in, this MFP is a godsend.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Depot® & OfficeMax® | $399.99 | $399.99 | Check Stock (Opens in a new window) |
| Amazon | $399.99 | $399.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Brother HL-L9310CDW
Best Color Laser (Print-Only)
Why We Picked It
Making copies? There’s a Xerox machine for that. Scanning? Bah humbug! The Brother HL-L9310CDW is a single-function laser printer, period. It’s ready to crank out page after page (up to 6,000 each month) with flawless, vividly colorful Excel and PowerPoint graphics and typesetter-quality text, at speeds only the most expensive enterprise printers can beat. It offers plenty of connectivity and expansion options, plus extensive fleet security features.
Who It’s For
Midsize and large offices and workgroups will embrace the HL-L9310CDW with open arms, enjoying everything from its color touch-screen control panel to its competitive running costs. Certified for everything from remote computing to electronic medical-records handling, it’s a workhorse with superb output quality and versatility.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $714.00 | $714.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Lexmark MS431dw
Best Mono Laser (Print-Only)
Why We Picked It
The Lexmark MS431dw edged out Canon’s ImageClass LBP226dw by matching its speed, quality, and paper input and expansion options while delivering double the suggested monthly print volume. Except for slightly steep toner cartridge costs if you buy direct from Lexmark (but thoroughly competitive costs if you buy Lexmark cartridges from third parties), it’s the very model of a midrange to high-volume monochrome workhorse.
Who It’s For
The MS431dw fits almost perfectly between desktop or personal mono lasers and enterprise machines, so small and medium-size offices and workgroups that just need solid black-and-white printing without copying or scanning capability will find it right in their wheelhouse. It’s nothing fancy, but its Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and mobile connectivity, alongside its output speed of 40-plus pages per minute, are hard to find fault with.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell | $379.00 | $379.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Amazon | $545.00 | $545.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Adorama | $379.00 | $379.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Brother MFC-J6945DW INKvestment Tank Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer
Best Wide-Format Office Printer
Why We Picked It
Small offices need wide printouts, too. Brother’s MFC-J6945DW is one of the company’s INKvestment Tank color inkjets, combining high-capacity cartridges with internal tanks to drive operating costs down to a penny per monochrome page and a nickel per color page. That’s not unique, but it’s also a wide-format model that fits tabloid (11-by-17-inch) as well as letter- and legal-size paper. It can copy, scan, and fax (as well as print) big pages, and it offers a handy 50-sheet, single-pass-duplexing automatic document feeder. And its 600-sheet paper capacity and 2,000-page recommended monthly print volume top the competition.
Who It’s For
It lacks support for Bluetooth wireless connectivity (but it has both Wi-Fi Direct and NFC), and it stops short of super-tabloid (13-by-19-inch) media. But the Brother delivers admirable convenience and print quality for small businesses that produce their own marketing materials. It’s fast enough for light to medium duty in almost any office setting.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $1,832.43 | $1,832.43 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Office Depot® & OfficeMax® | $379.99 | $379.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Epson SureColor P900 17-Inch Photo Printer
Best Wide-Format Dedicated Photo Printer
Why We Picked It
Epson has long offered exceptional wide-format art printers for professional photographers, and the SureColor P900 is a fine example. Printing on cut sheets up to 17 by 22 inches and paper rolls for panoramas up to 17 by 129 inches, it uses 10 premium high-definition inks to produce breathtaking banners and photos. It automatically switches between photo-black and matte-black inks and makes the most of Epson’s extensive, expensive variety of photo and art paper.
Plus, its operating costs are in line with its competitors’, and its touch-screen control panel—which lets you configure print jobs in ways that previously required advanced software from Epson or Adobe—is superior.
Who It’s For
You’d have to be in the habit of burning money by the bucket to buy the SureColor P900 just to print family snapshots or text documents, but no imaging pro or very serious hobbyist should overlook it for museum-quality photos, artwork, and banners. Its output is exquisite.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $1,189.00 | $1,189.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Dell | $1,349.00 | $1,349.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Canon Selphy CP1500 Wireless Compact Photo Printer
Best Snapshot Photo Printer
Why We Picked It
We’re suckers for jokes or memes that say "You had one job!" The Canon Selphy CP1500 sure does: It delivers great-looking photo prints, period. It comes from a venerable line of Selphy dye-sublimation printers that deliver snapshot-size output using "print packs" that bundle the paper and dye-ribbon cartridges in one box, good for a fixed number of prints. This model stands out for its support for up to four different print sizes, some with adhesive backing and some without. (Supporting smaller than the default 4-by-6-inch size requires a cheap adapter tray.) It’s relatively fast and produces high-quality prints at very competitive running costs. You’ll find the software geared more toward printing from mobile devices than PCs, but it will do a creditable job whatever the photo source.
Who It’s For
Families, especially ones with a scrapbooker or genealogy buff in the house, will find the Selphy handy. If you need a quick, compact, and affordable way to turn your family’s smartphone images into good-looking photos and stickers, the Selphy will do the job, and you’ll have no doubt where you stand with consumables. There’s no guesswork how much "ink" is left.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $139.99 | $139.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Best Buy | $139.99 | $139.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Walmart | $139.00 | $139.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Brother PocketJet PJ883
Best Portable Document Printer
Why We Picked It
The printer market is flush with portable printers that can print snapshot-size or Instagram-style square photo prints, but much less common are truly portable printers that can churn out letter-size documents in a pinch. Brother’s line of PocketJet printers has been doing that for many years. Our latest fave is the PJ883, a thermal-printing model that uses fax-style thermal paper stock to print without ink. It’s not cheap, the thermal paper has a limited life without fading, and the output is strictly monochrome, but the connection flexibility and extreme portability (it weighs just 1.34 pounds, including its battery) make this model a winner for this very specific usage case. Note that Brother offers a host of slight-variant PocketJet models that differ according to print resolution, battery inclusion, and connectivity.
Who It’s For
This is a niche printer, mind you. Portable models like this one are commonly used for applications that require printing in a vehicle—say, receipts in a delivery truck or tickets in a police car. But their lightness and compactness also suit them for everything from printing a roofing proposal at a potential customer’s kitchen table to churning out invoices or info at a street fair. It’s all about the business you are in. You’ll need to keep a cache of the special paper, but you’ll never have to fuss with ink tanks.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brother Mobile Solutions | $630.00 | $630.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Epson LabelWorks LW-PX900PCD Deluxe Kit
Best Label Printer for General/Industrial Labeling
Why We Picked It
Industrial labeling is all about versatility—you might be printing labels from your PC or carrying the printer itself at a job site, you might be printing on reflective tape or heat-shrink tubes for cables, you might need a variety of label sizes. Epson’s LabelWorks LW-PX900 is a serious piece of equipment ($299 alone, or $379 for Epson’s deluxe kit with rechargeable battery and hard-shell carrying case). It prints on 150 different kinds of tape cartridges, from standard polyester strips to specialty tapes in widths from 4mm to 36mm (0.16 inch to 1.42 inches). It only works with Windows, not macOS (there aren’t many Macs on factory floors), and its 2.8-pound weight is unwieldy for thumb typing, but it’ll get the job done.
Who It’s For
Overkill for sticking labels on a few storage bins in the garage, the LW-PX900 is ready to organize the busiest construction, electrical, or engineering workplace. It has the speed and flexibility for most bulk label jobs. (It can cut labels without cutting the backing, giving you a continuous strip to apply labels from.) And it has stamina—it can shrug off a four-foot drop.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $399.00 | $380.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Epson | $379.00 | $379.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Rollo Wireless Printer X1040
Best Label Printer for Shipping Labels
Why We Picked It
The Rollo X1040 isn’t the only printer that specializes in 4-by-6-inch shipping labels for small businesses that push out a lot of packages. But this $279.99-MSRP device adds extra convenience by taking advantage of a Wi-Fi connection instead of a USB or Ethernet tether. It works with almost any die-cut thermal paper roll or stack, automatically finding gaps between labels and determining the label size to position itself for printing. Better yet, it works with the cloud-based Rollo Ship Manager that, for 5 cents per label after your free first 200, gives you a unified interface for USPS, UPS, and 13 online shopping platforms. Plus, it gives you access to significant discounts for the Post Office and UPS. (The company says FedEx is coming soon.)
Who It’s For
Stores, shops, and Etsy entrepreneurs can use all the help with shipping that they can get. If you send enough packages to be thinking about a label printer, the Rollo is a first-class (well, parcel post) choice.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $299.99 | $299.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Rollo | $279.99 | $279.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Printers vary widely based on whether they’re for home use or business use (or dual use in a home and home office), what you intend to print with them, and whether you need color printing or just monochrome. In particular, text, graphics, and photos each require different capabilities to print at high quality. Even if you print just one kind of output most of the time, you also may want a printer that can do other things well. So be clear on the full scope of your printing needs before you buy.
Most printers are designed with either business (usually office) or home use in mind. Generally, business models are geared toward outputting text if they are mono printers, and both text and graphics if they are color models. Home printers (typically inkjets) favor photos and often graphics, as well.
Special-purpose options include label printers, portable printers, and dedicated and near-dedicated photo printers. (Even among specialty printers, 3D printers are a special case, and beyond the scope of this discussion.)
Should I Get an All-in-One Printer, or a Single-Function Model?
Most printers today add extra functions beyond printing. The additions always include scanning, which can be convenient and economical if you have light- to moderate-duty scanning needs. If you don’t need scanning or related features like copying and faxing at all, however, or your scanning needs are heavy-duty, you might be better off with a single-function printer and a separate scanner.
Most lasers, and some inkjets, with extra functions include "multifunction printer" or "MFP" in the name, while most inkjets, and some lasers, use "all-in-one" or "AIO." The two terms, and their acronyms, are interchangeable. Along with scanning, the additional functions almost always include some combination of standalone copying, standalone faxing, faxing from your PC, standalone emailing, emailing through your PC, and standalone copying to and printing from online systems.
Office MFPs typically include an automatic document feeder (ADF) to handle multipage documents and legal-size pages. Many ADFs can handle two-sided documents—either by scanning one side and flipping the page over to scan the other side, or by employing two sensors to scan both sides of the page in a single pass. Some single-sided ADFs let you scan one side of a stack of pages, flip the stack manually to scan the other side, and then automatically interfile the pages in the right order.
Some inkjet AIOs offer additional printing options, including printing on optical discs. Many let you print documents and images from, and scan to, mobile devices. Some models let you email documents to the printer from anywhere in the world, then print them out. Our roundup of the best all-in-one printers will help you sift through the many options out there.
What Are the Most Common Types of Printer?
Generally, business models use laser or similar technology (more on that shortly) and are geared toward text, or text and graphics, while home printers are generally inkjets and favor photos and graphics. Within each printer category, quality for each kind of output varies widely. Some business printers can handle all three types well enough for in-house printing of brochures and other marketing materials, for example.
The two most common technologies, laser and inkjet, increasingly overlap in capabilities, but there are still differences. Most lasers and LED printers (which are identical to lasers other than using LEDs for a light source) print higher-quality text than most inkjets, and almost any inkjet prints higher-quality photos than most lasers. However, some inkjets today print text that’s nearly laser quality, except for a tendency to smudge if they get wet, while some lasers print photos at what’s known as business quality, which translates to good enough for a trifold brochure.
Beyond questions of technology and output type, there are several more finely grained categories of printer.
Home printers (approximate price range: $50 to $250) are almost exclusively inkjets (with the exception of some small-format dedicated photo printers). They are built for low-volume printing, tend to be slow, and also tend to have high ink costs. They typically print photos better than text, and may or may not print graphics well. Almost all of them are all-in-ones. If your budget is tight, and you want a single printer for text, graphics, and photos that handles photos reasonably well, this is where to start looking for an inexpensive printer.
Home-office printers ($100 to $400) are largely inkjets or inexpensive mono lasers, and are built for low- to mid-volume printing. Most inkjets in this category are all-in-one printers, geared primarily toward text and graphics printing, though some also handle photos well, while most lasers are printers only. Paper capacity starts at about 100 sheets, though higher-end models can hold up to 500 sheets. Most of these printers are also suitable for micro offices (with up to five people), and many are perfectly fine choices for households, especially for students printing a lot of documents for school.
Home-office printers are a subset of business printers ($100 to $2,500 or more), which range from compact models for low-volume use to gigantic floor-standing units that can anchor a department. Most business printers are lasers (though inkjets have been making inroads into that market for years), and many are monochrome, intended primarily for text rather than graphics and photos. Most are multifunction devices. For many businesses, speed and paper capacity are paramount, and security is important as well, which is why many business printers offer security features such as password-protected printing. Some even employ accessories such as an encrypted hard drive or an ID card reader to limit access to documents.
Regardless of which home or business category a printer is in, cost can be a key factor. In general, the more expensive the printer, the lower its per-page printing costs, while the lower the ink price, the more expensive the printer will be. Whether you’ll save more with a low-cost printer or low-cost ink depends on how much you print (more on this later). Some printer makers also offer ink subscription programs that can lower running costs, particularly if you print close to the number of pages included in the plan.
Near-dedicated photo printers ($400 to $2,000) are designed for professional photographers and photo enthusiasts, but almost all of these photo printers are just as useful for graphic artists, since they also print high-quality graphics. Some are wide-format printers designed to print on paper as large as supertabloid size (13 by 19 inches), and many can print on paper rolls as well. For precision color, they use up to a dozen ink cartridges. With these, ink cost per page is much higher than for office printers, due to the amount of ink they use. Total cost per page is higher still, because their inks are designed to print on a range of expensive, high-quality papers, each of which can give the image a somewhat different look.
Small-format photo printers ($80 to $250) are dedicated devices built strictly to. you guessed it, print photos, especially from smartphones. Print sizes can range from wallet-size to 5 by 7 inches, and many models can print only a single size. Most are highly portable, and either come with a battery or accommodate one that you can buy separately.
Tabloid- and supertabloid-size, printers ($150 desktop printers to multi-thousand-dollar floor-standing beasts) are another subset of business printers. These wide-format machines come in all the same potential variations as other office printers, from mono-only or color-capable, to printer-only or MFP, to inkjet or laser. The difference is they can handle printing on up to tabloid (11-by-17-inch) or supertabloid (13-by-19-inch) size paper. Note that the least expensive in this group are limited to accepting only one large sheet at a time, making them useful for printing at this size in small quantities only, and only occasionally.
Label printers are built to churn out paper or plastic labels. Some include label-design software and connect to your computer, while others are standalone devices, letting you design and print labels using a small, built-in keyboard. Manufacturers of either kind of label printer typically offer a variety of label colors, types, and sizes.
Portable business printers aren’t common, but they can be useful for applications like printing a proposal for a potential customer while sitting in their office or at their kitchen table, or printing the latest version of a handout for a potential client while sitting in your car, just before a meeting. Typical models in the portable printer category are compact and light, and use inkjet or thermal technologies to print. And most come with a rechargeable battery.
How Much Do You Plan to Print?
If you print only a few pages a day, you don’t have to worry about how much a printer is designed to print, as defined by its recommended (not maximum) monthly duty cycle. https://jiji.ng/ To define those terms? Maximum duty cycle is the absolute most a printer should be allowed to print per month without affecting the maximum number of pages it can print in its lifetime. The recommended duty cycle is usually how much it can handle on a regular basis and still last as many years as it was designed for. It may also be based on the paper capacity and how frequently you can conveniently refill the trays.
If you print enough for the duty cycle to matter, don’t buy a printer that doesn’t include that information in its specifications. Figure out how much you print by how often you buy paper and in what amounts. If you usually print on both sides of the paper, count each sheet as two pages in your calculations. Then pick a printer designed to print at least that much.
What Paper Types and Sizes Do You Print On?
Be sure to consider the minimum and maximum paper size you print on, paper thickness, and whether you need a duplexer to print on both sides of the page. If you often print on more than one type of paper—switching to envelopes, checks, or letterhead for example—look for a printer with multiple drawers, or at least a single-sheet bypass tray, so you don’t need to constantly unload regular paper and load your specialty media then reload the regular paper. You’ll also want a paper capacity that won’t require adding paper more often than feels comfortable. A good rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t have to refill paper more than once a week, on average.
How Much Will a Printer’s Total Cost of Ownership Be?
The high cost of printer ink is a traditional sore spot for both home and business customers, which has led to the major manufacturers introducing ways that users can lower their per-page ink costs. But the companies are also preserving their own revenues, which means you need to think in terms of the total cost of ownership —the initial cost plus the total cost of ink over the printer’s lifetime—to know which printer will be less expensive in the long run.
Depending on how many pages you print, paying a high cost per page for a low-cost printer can actually be the less expensive choice. (Our primer How to Save Money on Your Next Printer shows how to calculate the total cost of ownership for inkjets. The same logic works for any printer.)
If you print enough to make a high-cost printer with low-cost ink the more economical choice, note that Epson’s EcoTank and SuperTank printers, Canon’s MegaTank printers, and HP’s Smart Tank Plus printers use inexpensive bottled ink that you pour into internal tanks, while Brother’s INKvestment models ship with high-capacity ink cartridges—in some cases, several sets of them—that offload ink into reservoirs within the printer. HP’s Neverstop laser printers offer a similar approach, just with bulk laser toner. With any of these models, you’ll pay extra up front for the printer, but the included ink will last a long time, and additional bottles or cartridges are notable for their low price. (See more about how to save on printer ink.)
Ink subscription programs are another way to lower ink costs. HP Instant Ink is the big one here, along with Brother Refresh EZ Print and Canon Pixma Print Plan. All offer owners of select printers the option to pay a monthly fee for printing up to a certain number of pages. The same fee applies for either black or color printing, and each company automatically sends you more ink when you run low. These programs can save you a considerable amount of money, particularly if you print mostly in color and print close to the number of pages included in the plan.
How Fast Do You Need to Print?
If you print only one or two pages at a time, you don’t need a speed demon. In fact, most home printers are not built for speed, and most lasers with high page per minute (ppm) claims leave out the first page when calculating the rating, giving the much slower first-page-out (FPO) time separately. If you print a lot of longer documents, however, the fast speed starting with page 2 is more important, which means you probably want a laser printer.
As a rule, laser printers will be close to their claimed speeds for text documents, which don’t need much processing time. Inkjets often claim faster speeds than more expensive lasers, but they usually don’t live up to these claims. However, inkjet printers have been getting faster, and a few recent high-end models (sometimes dubbed "laser alternative" inkjets) can hold their own against comparably priced lasers for speed. (See how we test printers.)
How Are You Going to Connect Your Printer?
USB ports remain ubiquitous on printers. Most office printers, and an increasing number of home printers, also include an Ethernet jack, Wi-Fi wireless connectivity support, or both, which let you to share the printer with your home or office network. (If you’re having trouble with this feature on your current printer, here’s how to troubleshoot your printer’s Wi-Fi connection.) Printers that offer Wi-Fi Direct (a peer-to-peer protocol that sometimes masquerades under a different name) can connect directly to most Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
The Best Monitors for 2022
Make the most of your work, games, or movies with the right monitor. Here’s how to shop for a new display, plus the best productivity and gaming panels we’ve tested, backed by hundreds of deep-dive reviews.
Since 2004, I have worked on PCMag’s hardware team, covering at various times printers, scanners, projectors, storage, and monitors. I currently focus my testing efforts on 3D printers, pro and productivity displays, and drives and SSDs of all sorts.
- RELATED:
OUR TOP TESTED PRODUCTS
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K USB-C Hub Monitor (U2723QE)
HP E27m G4 QHD USB-C Conferencing Monitor
Philips 329P1H
HP 24mh 23.8-Inch Display
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K PremierColor (UP2720Q)
ViewSonic Elite XG270QG
Dell 27 Curved Gaming Monitor (S2721HGF)
Alienware 34 QD-OLED (AW3423DW)
Samsung Odyssey Ark
Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ
Apple Pro Display XDR
Lenovo ThinkVision M14
The Best Monitor Deals This Week*
- Alienware AW2521HFL 25" 1080p 240Hz IPS Monitor (Opens in a new window) — $199.99(List Price $349.99)
- Samsung Odyssey G32A 27" 1080p 165Hz FreeSync Monitor (Opens in a new window) — $199.99(List Price $279.99)
- LG UltraGear 24GN650-B 24" 1080p 144Hz IPS Monitor (Opens in a new window) — $166.99(List Price $249.99)
- Samsung Odyssey G9 49" QHD QLED Curved Monitor (Opens in a new window) — $899.99(List Price $1,399.99)
- Dell UltraSharp U2722D 27" 1440p IPS Monitor (Refurbished) (Opens in a new window) — $223.51 with code 644817U24
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Computer monitors come in variety of sizes, from 12-inch portable displays (the smallest we’ve reviewed) up to 65-inch panels that bridge the gap between monitors and TVs. Between the two extremes, though, we group most desktop displays into two general categories: business monitors, and entertainment monitors.
Business (aka productivity) monitors include professional monitors with high (usually 4K) native resolution and image quality geared to graphic artists, photographers, and videographers. Also in this class: general-purpose workaday monitors, and home-office monitors. The latter may be equipped with videoconferencing features and/or a port selection that makes them a good substitute for a laptop’s docking station. Entertainment panels, meanwhile, comprise the vast range of gaming monitors, as well as some for content creation and consumption. (The lines can get fuzzy among these panels.)
We’ve outlined below our top picks among home and office monitors we’ve tested. Read on for our labs-tested favorites, followed by the buying basics you should know when buying a monitor. Also note: At the very end of this article is a detailed spec breakout of our top choices.
Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test. (Opens in a new window)
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K USB-C Hub Monitor (U2723QE)
Best Overall Business Monitor
Why We Picked It
With a list price north of $600, the Dell U2723QE is not the cheapest monitor around, but it has a prodigious feature set: a full range of ergonomic adjustments, and all the ports we would expect from a so-called "USB hub" or "docking-station" monitor. It can charge a laptop over its USB-C display connection, and it even provides Ethernet connectivity should you be in an office with spotty Wi-Fi. What’s more, it has a 27-inch 4K (UHD) screen with a high pixel density and wide color gamut. All that, plus it’s one of the first two monitors to incorporate IPS Black, LG’s latest flavor of in-plane switching (IPS) technology. It provides far better contrast than standard IPS displays. About the only common business feature it is missing is a webcam, but only a select few desktop displays have one.
Who It’s For
The U2723QE sells at a high enough price that you’re not likely to outfit a whole office with them. It would be a good choice for meeting-heavy managers (or other critical workers), especially ones involved in dealing with creative content as one aspect of their job. It’s not a full-on graphic-arts monitor, but it is fine for photo and video work in a pinch, and it’s an easy attach/detach for a frequently toted laptop.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell | $584.99 | $584.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
HP E27m G4 QHD USB-C Conferencing Monitor
Best Business Monitor for Teleconferencing
Why We Picked It
The HP E27m G4 is built for the age of Zoom and Google Meet. Its hi-res webcam, powerful speakers, and dual microphones provide a better teleconferencing experience than what you’ll get from most laptops. In addition, it has the ability to power or charge a laptop over a USB-C connection. It adds Ethernet connectivity, multiple video ports, and a quartet of USB-A downstream ports to which you can connect a keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals. In short, it has all the connection choices you’d expect from a laptop’s docking station, and that’s before you even get to the screen.
The E27m G4’s 27-inch QHD screen effectively covers the full sRGB color space, and its contrast was slightly better than its rating would indicate. It has all the essential ergonomic features as well. Its main downside is the small and inconveniently placed buttons for navigating the onscreen display (OSD).
Who It’s For
The E27m G4 is a great choice for anyone involved in videoconferencing—and who isn’t, these days? It’s especially good if you have problems being heard or seen in teleconferences. (Personally, my next monitor is likely to be a conferencing model such as this one to ensure that I am well seen and heard, and that my colleagues are, too.) It’s a fine general-purpose office monitor as well. If you’re cramped for space, HP has the 1080p HP E24m G4 FHD USB-C Conferencing Monitor, which has all the teleconferencing features of its larger sibling.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP | $549.00 | $549.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Amazon | $527.35 | $527.35 | Check Stock (Opens in a new window) |
Philips 329P1H
Best Overall Home-Office Productivity Monitor
Why We Picked It
With a 32-inch 4K UHD IPS screen providing superior brightness, contrast, and color accuracy, the Philips 329P1H is great choice as a productivity monitor and is particularly good for workers who edit photos and the like. Its generous port selection also makes it an excellent docking station. You can connect to a laptop through a single USB-C port, which supports up to 90 watts for powering and charging the computer, and supports data and video transfer as well. It also has four USB-A downstream ports for adding a keyboard, mouse, external drive, or other peripherals. One DisplayPort connector, two HDMI ports, and an RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet jack round out the connectivity picture. Its stand supports the full range of ergonomic features, and the back of the cabinet has holes for a VESA bracket should you want to wall-mount it instead.
Who It’s For
The Philips 329P1H is a good choice as a home-office monitor, although it would work equally well in a small to midsize office. It’s good for web designers and other creative workers. Its teleconferencing features make it appealing to people who have trouble hearing or being heard at videoconferences. It is moderately priced for its feature set, and it carries the generous Philips four-year warranty.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $570.83 | $570.83 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
HP 24mh 23.8-Inch Display
Best Budget Home-Office Monitor
Why We Picked It
You’ll find plenty of under-$200 business and general-purpose monitors with screens in the 24-inch range. As a rule, they have very basic features and limited port selections. The HP 24mh offers more than most, adding a DisplayPort connector to the usual HDMI and VGA ports found on similar machines. While most budget monitors offer tilt adjustment, the 24mh adds both height and pivot control.
Like most of its ilk, the 24mh has a 1080p IPS panel, not a 4K UHD one, but it makes up for that with impressive sRGB coverage and a contrast ratio well above its rating. It has a pair of built-in 2-watt speakers—not exactly high-fidelity, but many budget monitors don’t include speakers at all.
Who It’s For
The HP 24mh is for cash-strapped individuals looking for a monitor that’s a good value and will fit on a small desk. It’s a good option for households, home offices, and dorms. Its sRGB color coverage is great, so it’s good for photo viewing or basic editing. Users who can afford one should opt for a more full-featured monitor, but the HP 24mh offers more than you’d typically get for its bargain-basement price.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $159.99 | $149.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K PremierColor (UP2720Q)
Best Professional Graphics Monitor
Why We Picked It
The Dell UP2720Q has a 27-inch IPS panel with 3,840-by-2,160-pixel 4K (a.k.a. UHD) resolution, and a very healthy pixel density of 163 pixels per inch (ppi). What sets it apart is that it is the only professional monitor in its price range that has a built-in colorimeter. You can use it not only to measure the monitor’s color accuracy in a range of color modes, but to calibrate the monitor itself. To this end, the colorimeter seamlessly integrates with Portrait Displays’ CalMAN display-calibration software. From the monitor’s settings menu, you can schedule regular calibrations to ensure that the monitor retains its excellent color accuracy.
The UP2720Q has the full complement of ergonomic features, and a wide range of ports that include two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one of which supports up to 90 watts of power delivery to charge an attached laptop. The real draw of this panel, though, is its colorimeter and calibration ability.
Who It’s For
The UP2720Q is geared to professional photographers, as well as photo enthusiasts who want to up their game. It should be especially appealing to users who already have CalMAN software (which isn’t included), and photo buffs who don’t already own a calibration tool (or ones who like the easy integration of the built-in colorimeter and software). That said, you pay a significant premium for the colorimeter, so if you don’t need it, there are plenty of pro monitors with great color accuracy that won’t set you back as much.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell | $2,029.99 | $1,624.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
ViewSonic Elite XG270QG
Best Overall Gaming Monitor
Why We Picked It
Although it’s a bit on the pricey side, the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is a monitor without any notable flaws. It’s a superior gaming machine, with a 27-inch 1440p screen that boasts a maximum 165Hz refresh rate, fast response times, and low input lag. Bright, with stunning color fidelity in the DCI-P3 color space and a high contrast ratio, the XG270QG is equally good for movie watching.
Although it earned our Editors’ Choice award as a gaming monitor, the XG270QG is a great example of an all-around entertainment monitor, too. It adds an often-lacking depth of color and beauty to games, and when the swordplay and shoot-‘em-ups are done, the XG270QC is ready to do double duty on movie night.
Who It’s For
The XG270QG lets gamers better appreciate the aesthetics of gameplay, thanks to its superb color quality, while also providing fast pixel response and low input lag. The full coverage of the DCI-P3 color space—which was designed for digital video—coupled with a bright, high-contrast panel, makes this a great choice for movie watching as well. Other, more recent panels may serve you better if you demand dizzyingly low refresh rates, but the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG does a stellar job at both gaming and displaying videos.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $799.99 | $499.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Dell 27 Curved Gaming Monitor (S2721HGF)
Best Budget Gaming Monitor
Why We Picked It
The Dell 27 S2721HGF may have just a middle-range screen size (27 inches on the diagonal) for a gaming-oriented panel, but it includes many of the other elements that gamers seek, including a graceful curve, at a great price. A VA panel with 1080p resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate, it is both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatible. It serves up very good gaming performance for the money, and showed very little ghosting or screen tearing during our testing.
Who It’s For
This Dell is laser-focused on the cash-strapped gaming set. Its contrast ratio is only so-so, and the cabinet and stand lack frills, but those are standard issues with monitors in this price range. Colors are balanced and natural, motion playback is smooth, and measured input lag is extremely low. It ticks all the boxes for a satisfying and very affordable gaming monitor.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell | $179.99 | $179.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Alienware 34 QD-OLED (AW3423DW)
Best Curved-Screen Gaming Monitor
Why We Picked It
The Alienware 34 QD-OLED, an ultrawide panel, is one of the best gaming monitors incorporating an OLED screen that we have come across, and it’s decently priced, too. (It uses Samsung’s quantum dot OLED technology, aka QD-OLED.) Its 34-inch panel has a rated 144Hz refresh rate but can be overclocked to 175Hz. The 1800R-curvature panel has a 3,440-by-1,440-pixel native resolution. While its input lag is nothing special compared with gaming panels in general, it is a giant leap forward for OLED screens.
The cabinet is relatively lightweight and looks sleek, yet feels rock-stable. Its stand supports height, tilt, swivel, and (surprisingly for an ultrawide) pivot adjustment. Great color coverage and a 2.0 Delta E measure make it a good choice for content creators as well as gamers.
Who It’s For
The AW3423DW is for gamers ready to try their first OLED-based panel, and it is relatively affordable as such. Its color coverage and accuracy also make it a solid choice for content creators. too. If you’re a graphic artist, and you game in your spare time, it’s a near-perfect fit.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell | $1,299.99 | $1,299.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Samsung Odyssey Ark
Best Cost-No-Object Giant Gaming Monitor
Why We Picked It
With a price north of three grand, the Odyssey Ark is not for everybody, but for the money, gamers can get a monitor with massive (55-inch) 4K curved VA panel that rests on a sturdy L-shaped stand. Gaming enthusiasts, flight-sim addicts, and assorted multitaskers will also appreciate the screen’s ability to be pivoted from horizontal to vertical (aka "Cockpit") mode, an unheard-of ability in such a ginormous panel.
Out of the box, the Ark covers the full sRGB color space and 92.9% of the DCI-P3 digital video space. Two central woofers and four corner-mounted, forward-firing speakers combine to create a magnificent soundscape. The Ark can be controlled (and split into multiple virtual screens) with either a standard remote or Samsung’s Ark Dial solar-powered remote. Through the Samsung Game Hub, you can access a variety of cloud gaming services. The Ark supports up to a 165Hz refresh rate, and employs FreeSync Premium Pro, which eliminated any noticeable ghosting or screen tearing.
Who It’s For
The Samsung Odyssey Ark is for well-heeled gaming enthusiasts looking for something a bit different. You won’t want to move it around much, so its role is to anchor a den or game room. With its gigantic 16:9 screen, it’s good for movies as well as gaming, and between its color coverage and excellent sound system, provides an excellent multimedia experience.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $2,749.99 | $2,749.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Walmart | $3,499.99 | $2,799.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Best Buy | $3,499.99 | $2,799.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ
Best Ultrawide Monitor
Why We Picked It
You pay a lot for the Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ, but you get a lot in return: top-notch color accuracy and beautiful HDR, a 35-inch ultrawide screen with 3,440-by-1,440-pixel resolution, a 200Hz refresh rate, and low input lag. It’s good for gaming as well as content creation, and fortunately, its unusually low DCI-P3 scores didn’t seem to affect its video quality. Its moving images were incredibly vivid in HDR, where it turned in a peak brightness of 1,017 nits.
The PG35VQ is a heavy puppy, weighing 45 pounds including the stand. It lacks the ability to pivot between landscape and portrait mode, though that’s not unusual for an ultrawide monitor.
Who It’s For
Deep-pocketed gamers seeking a killer ultrawide monitor will want to take a look at the PG35VQ, and all the more so if they have photos to edit. Despite a low DCI-P3 score, video quality was magnificent. It hits the spot for gaming, content creation, and video watching. You just need to find a way to afford it.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newegg Business | $2,699.99 | $2,699.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Walmart | $2,499.00 | $2,007.15 | Check Stock (Opens in a new window) |
| Amazon | $2,299.00 | $2,299.00 | Check Stock (Opens in a new window) |
Apple Pro Display XDR
Best Mac Monitor
Why We Picked It
Apple’s Pro Display XDR provides exceptional color accuracy and build quality at a price that’s competitive compared with reference-grade pro monitors, though beyond the budget of typical users. (The stand alone costs an extra grand!) It has no buttons, and ports are limited to USB-C and Thunderbolt. Don’t even bother to connect a non-Mac computer to it.
So why buy it? It covers nearly the full DCI-P3 color space, designed for digital video. In HDR testing, we recorded a peak burst brightness of 1,561 nits, while its peak SDR brightness was a "mere" 499 nits. Color accuracy was amazing; its Delta E result in each of the three color modes we test—sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3—was less than 1.0. Its LED-backlit screen makes use of a technology called full-array local dimming (FALD), which allows the monitor to dim individual screen areas as needed instead of doing it globally.
Who It’s For
With its stratospheric price tag, 6K resolution, and standout color accuracy, the Pro Display XDR has a very specific target market: professional Mac-based content creators. In fact, it only officially works with Apple devices. If you’re a Mac creator and don’t have the small fortune needed for the XDR, look to the Apple Studio Display, which is still pricey but a pittance compared with the XDR. Windows-based creators should look to the likes of the Asus ProArt PA34VC Professional Curved Monitor instead.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $5,699.00 | $5,699.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
| Best Buy | $4,999.99 | $4,999.99 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Lenovo ThinkVision M14
Best Portable Monitor
Why We Picked It
The Lenovo ThinkVision M14 doesn’t have the range of controls of some other portable displays, and its 14-inch screen isn’t the largest among portable monitors. But it’s bright, features high color fidelity, can be tilted to a wide range of angles, and is very light and easy to transport. Its color accuracy (97% of sRGB) is much better than that of most portable panels we have reviewed. The screen cabinet rests on a hinged base on which the ports and controls reside, and you can tilt the screen away from you at any angle you desire, down to flat. Connectors include two USB-C ports, including one that supports USB Power Delivery as well as DisplayPort over USB-C.
Who It’s For
The Lenovo M14 is a good pick for anyone looking for a secondary monitor for home or travel use. (For the latter, Lenovo includes a soft traveling sleeve.) It is particularly good if you want reasonably good color fidelity for photo viewing and editing or movie watching. It’s also aimed at people who want simplicity, since the attached, hinged stand is much easier to use than the folding, "origami-style" stands commonly found on portable monitors.
| Sold By | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $251.00 | $251.00 | See It (Opens in a new window) |
Ready to get started shopping? Regardless of the type of monitor you’re eyeing, some general factors are worth considering. Here’s a rundown of key areas to keep in mind.
What Are the Price Ranges for Different Monitor Types?
Monitor prices depend on the target audience, screen size, and the features of the display. You can pick up a no-frills 22-inch or 23-inch display for $100 or less, but don’t expect such a monitor to provide niceties such as a wide variety of ports and a height-adjustable stand. Even so, such panels today do feature LED backlighting, draw little power, and are often bright enough for everyday applications. Performance is adequate for most entertainment or basic business and productivity purposes, but not well suited to tasks where color accuracy is key.
At the other end of the spectrum are high-end monitors geared toward graphic design professionals and photographers. Most of these are 27-inch to 38-inch panels that support 4K resolution (usually 3,840 by 2,160 pixels), capable of displaying four times the resolution of a typical full HD or 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) monitor. Moreover, they offer such features as highly adjustable stands, a range of ports including HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB (often including USB-C), and a wealth of advanced image settings, sometimes including color calibration hardware and software.
You can expect to pay $1,000 or more for a fully loaded, high-performance 4K or ultra-high-definition (UHD) monitor. Top-of-the-line professional monitors, some packing up to 6K resolution (around 6,000 horizontal pixels), generally cost between $2,000 and $6,000. The Apple Pro Display XDR is the quintessential example of this category.
If you’re serious about PC or console gaming, you can find gaming monitors at just about every price point you can imagine. A few budget models go as low as $99, while ultra-premium offerings like the $3,999 Alienware 55 OLED come closer than ever to merging the worlds of "gaming monitor" and "HDTV." Of all the display categories, gaming monitors encompass the broadest spectrum of prices and feature sets, all serving slightly different markets.
Bottom line? Be prepared to pay for extras, but don’t overspend on features you’ll never use.
What Size Monitor Do I Need?
Desktop computer monitors generally fall between 19 and 38 inches measured diagonally, although users with extra-large desks can choose among ultrawide displays in sizes up to 49 inches. Some displays are smaller than 19 inches; they’re either specialty panels (such as those intended for use with a Raspberry Pi) or USB-connected portable displays meant to be carried alongside laptops.
While it’s always nice to have as large a viewing area as possible, a jumbo monitor may not be practical given your desktop-space constraints. Besides, the bigger the screen, the more you can expect to pay. A 24-inch monitor is a good choice if you wish to view multipage documents or watch streaming video but have limited desk space and a tight budget. But there’s nothing like watching a movie or playing a game on a big screen, so if you have room on your desk, a 27-inch or 32-inch display delivers a superior viewing experience for a reasonable price. If space is not an issue, consider a massive curved monitor to bring a true movie-theater experience to your desktop.
If you’re looking to replace a dual-monitor setup with a single display, check out one of the ultrawide models. These are available in panel sizes ranging from 29 to 49 inches in both curved and flat varieties, feature aspect ratios of 21:9 or 32:9 instead of the familiar 16:9, and come in a variety of resolutions including 4K/UHD and Wide Quad High-Definition (WQHD, or 2,560 by 1,440 pixels). Some of these are built for productivity apps, while others are gaming-oriented. (More on the latter later.)
Do I Need a Low Pixel Response Rate?
Measured in milliseconds (ms), pixel response rate is the time it takes for a display pixel to change from black to white (black-to-white response time) or to transition from one shade of gray to another (gray-to-gray response time). The faster the pixel response rate, the better the monitor will be at displaying video without showing artifacts such as ghosting or blurring of moving images. Monitors with a fast 1ms gray-to-gray response are ideal for gaming, but even monitors rated at a 6ms gray-to-gray pixel response can show games without much blurring or ghosting.
Most users won’t notice input lag, which is the time it takes for the display to react to a command, but hardcore gamers consider it a key factor and typically seek out the fastest models (lowest lag time) available. The fastest monitor we’ve seen has an input lag of less than a millisecond, but for everyday apps you can get by with 20ms to 25ms before lag becomes a noticeable problem.
Which Monitor Resolution and Aspect Ratio Is Best for What I Do?
These two factors are always intertwined but carry different considerations.
Resolution
A monitor’s native resolution is the maximum number of pixels it can display, both horizontally and vertically. For example, a monitor with a 1,920-by-1,080-pixel native resolution shows 1,920 pixels across the width of the screen and 1,080 from top to bottom. The higher the resolution, the more information can be displayed on the screen.
These days, many monitors in the 22-to-27-inch range have a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels and are referred to as full HD or 1080p displays. You’ll also see plenty of displays from 24 to 32 inches that offer WQHD (2,560-by-1,440-pixel or 1440p) native resolution. Stepping up to a UHD or 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) monitor usually means a 27-inch or larger screen, although we’ve seen a few 24-inch models. UHD monitors are ideal for viewing highly detailed images or looking at multiple pages in a tiled or side-by-side format.
The next generation will be 8K monitors (and televisions). These do exist, but even in 2022 they’re so far out on the bleeding edge that they barely deserve mention. If you’re the kind of imaging professional who already knows what an 8K display is good for, you don’t need us telling you about them here. Stay tuned as the panels come down in price and up in availability over the next few years, however.
Aspect Ratio
The best aspect ratio for your monitor depends on how you intend to use it most. For people who want the ultimate productivity panel or an immersive gaming experience unlike any other, extreme options like the Samsung Odyssey G9, a 32:9 super-wide gaming monitor, might be perfect.
For digital content creators, a 16:10 ratio might be preferable (offering a bit extra vertical space for toolbars and such). But the 16:9 aspect ratio of 1080p and 4K screens is by far the most common among desktop monitors, though that dominance has been chipped away in recent years by the ultrawide formats.
As ultrawide panels have reached the top of the wish lists of both gamers (especially simulation gamers) and productivity users, monitor manufacturers have responded in kind. What used to be a fringe aspect ratio, the more cinematic 21:9, is becoming increasingly popular, while a new fringe of 32:9 is causing even old-school enthusiasts to ask themselves, "How wide is too wide?"
Which Major Features Should I Look for in a Monitor?
If you have to share a display with a coworker or family members, consider a model with an ergonomic stand that lets you position the screen for your most comfortable viewing angle. A fully adjustable stand offers tilt, swivel, and height adjustments, and lets you pivot or rotate the screen between landscape and portrait (horizontal and vertical) orientation. If you tend to attach and detach USB devices often, look for a monitor with built-in USB ports. Ideally, at least two of these ports will be mounted on the side of the cabinet, making it easy to plug in flash drives and other USB peripherals.
Many monitors come with built-in speakers that are adequate for everyday use but lack the volume and bass response to satisfy music aficionados and gamers. If audio output is important, look for speakers with a minimum rating of 2 watts per speaker. As a general rule, the higher the power rating, the more volume you can expect, so if you want a monitor with a little extra audio pop, check the specs. Some monitors lack speakers altogether, but you can add external speakers that may give you better sound than typical monitor speakers.
Finally, glossy-surfaced screens can provide very bright, crisp colors, but they may also be too reflective for some users. If possible, compare a glossy screen to a matte screen before you buy to decide which works best for you.
Do I Need High Dynamic Range (HDR)?
Many monitors released in 2022 will come with a feature known as high dynamic range or HDR, which can drastically boost the vividness and contrast of a display depending on the rating. Here’s how the rating system (established by VESA (Opens in a new window) ) breaks out as of 2022:
HDR has been creeping into more and more PC gaming and content creation monitors over the past few years. While we’ve found that many of them would be better off not including it at all (anything below HDR 600 rarely passes muster), the HDR adoption rate in monitors resembles that of HDR televisions starting in 2017. Theoretically, once similar panel-scale economics kick in, monitors with higher HDR ratings could also come down in price.
Until then, if HDR matters to you, we recommend buying monitors only with an HDR 600 rating or above to give you an experience comparable to that of a modern HDR-rated TV. An HDR certification will always add to a monitor’s MSRP, so unless you really want the feature and are ready to pay for a proper rating, that money could be better saved for upgrades to your PC or added features such as a higher refresh rate for a gaming display.
What Are the Different Kinds of Monitor Panels?
With cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) long since replaced by flat panels, the key panel types used in desktop displays are twisted nematic (TN), in-plane switching (IPS) and iterations such as Fast IPS, vertical alignment (VA), and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) plus variations such as QD-OLED.
Until not long ago, most desktop displays used TN technology. It’s the least expensive panel type to manufacture and it offers superior motion-handling performance. But affordable IPS monitors are out in force; today’s 27-inch IPS displays start at under $150 and offer very good color quality and wide viewing angles. VA monitors also offer robust colors, but their viewing angles, though wider than those of a typical TN panel, aren’t quite as broad as IPS technology offers.
Most recently, we’ve seen a growing trend of what’s colloquially called Fast IPS (or Rapid IPS or Nano IPS). These displays combine the vivid colors of IPS tech with the fast pixel response times and low input lag of TN and VA displays. They offer the best of both worlds. They were premium options for most of 2021, but production scaling has lowered prices now that we’re in 2022.
Today, you’d be hard pressed to find a desktop monitor that doesn’t deliver at least full HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio). Graphic design pros who demand a high degree of image detail should be looking further up the resolution stack for a WQHD or UHD/4K display.
We’re now seeing monitors that make use of quantum dot technology to offer superior color accuracy, an increased color gamut, and higher peak brightness than you can get with current panel technologies. Another newer technology, Mini LED, uses thousands of tiny light-emitting diodes arranged in a matrix, brightened and dimmed in small groups as the video signal changes. In addition, desktop monitor vendors are following a growing number of laptop makers in adopting organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, which offers ultra-high contrast, super-fast pixel response, and true blacks. (Black OLED pixels are literally turned off, with no backlight bleeding through behind them.) OLEDs have been slow to take hold (we’re just now seeing the first OLED ultrawides) in the monitor market versus the TV arena, largely due to their higher price and propensity for image burn-in.
As mentioned, for laptop users who require dual-screen capabilities a portable monitor might be a better fit than a full-size desktop panel. These lightweight devices use your PC’s USB port (most recent models employ USB-C) as their source for power and in some cases the video signal as well. (Others support HDMI input.) They’re ideal for small-office presentations and for extending your laptop’s screen real estate, and their slim profiles make them easy to travel with. For less than $200, you can get a 15-inch model that will let you double your viewing area while on the road. (See how we test monitors.)
Monitor Ports and Cables: Picking the Right Interface
Next up: how you’ll actually connect your new monitor to your computer or other device. This equation is anything but simple, and often leads to confused buyers spending more than they need on marketing mumbo-jumbo.
For most monitors released in the last five years or so, HDMI is the dominant interface that is used to connect a desktop or laptop PC, streaming device, or gaming console. While both monitors and devices compatible with the rival DisplayPort spec are plentiful, HDMI is the cable and port type that you can depend on to most likely get you hooked up, even if you don’t know what the available ports look like on the back of, say, an Xbox. Monitor and device manufacturers have moved away from the antique VGA and DVI standards, which are still seen on the occasional budget business panel or projector but can’t display the higher resolutions and refresh rates we’ve grown accustomed to.
Let’s pause for more about refresh rate. It means the number of times per second the screen is redrawn, measured in hertz or cycles per second, and is a key factor in interface choice. Until recently, most monitors topped out at 60Hz, and their default bundled cables were up to the task. But with gaming monitors now routinely pushing 144Hz or even 360Hz, and many non-gaming panels able to go above 60Hz, paying attention to the different flavors of HDMI and DisplayPort is more important than ever.
In brief, HDMI 1.4a, 1.4b, 2.0a, and 2.0b will get you at least a 1080p signal at 30Hz. Cables and inputs that work with these standards are not hard to find; you’d have better luck digging a pre-1.4a HDMI cable out of a bin at your local computer salvage shop than from the shelves of any electronics store. This in-depth guide to HDMI flavors by our TV-reviewing colleague Will Greenwald should help to clear things up on cable compatibility, while those interested in using a version of DisplayPort should keep reading here.
DisplayPort 1.4a and 1.4b are the most common cable and interface types used in DisplayPort monitors today, and they’re supported by the largest number of graphics cards and streaming devices. PC gamers and discriminating users who appreciate high refresh rates rely on them for their high bandwidth, as the more bandwidth a cable supports the more pixels it can deliver at a higher refresh rate. DisplayPort 1.4a and 1.4b are capable of transmitting today’s popular video resolutions (1080p, 1440p, and 4K), at up to 165Hz for 4K and a whopping 390Hz for 1080p. By contrast, HDMI 2.0b maxes out at 60Hz for 4K.
HDMI 2.1, a standard that started showing up in modern graphics cards, gaming consoles, monitors, and TVs in 2020, aims to catch up with DisplayPort’s tech advantage. However, with DisplayPort 2.0 just around the corner—and promising support for a staggering 240Hz at 8K resolution—that signal-pushing parity for HDMI may be short-lived.
Finally, there’s something called DisplayPort over USB, most commonly seen in laptops that lack DisplayPort or HDMI connectors. This video-transfer method is most commonly found in a configuration of a USB-C cable that connects a computer to a USB-compatible monitor. This method currently maxes out at 60Hz/8K, though as with the other cable standards we’ve mentioned, we expect those numbers to climb in future.
Before we close out this section, a quick note on Display Stream Compression (DSC). We won’t bore you with the cable-by-cable mathematics of it all, but just know that DSC allows for higher refresh rates without losing visual quality. The main thing is just to keep an eye out for DSC on your next monitor, as it’s always better to have the feature than not (and it doesn’t add much cost). It’s primarily a feature of gaming monitors for now, but you can expect to see it added to creative and productivity displays when 8K resolution becomes more common.
In short (or long, depending on the cable): Cable length, version, output source, input port, and your monitor’s refresh rate can all affect the interface that’s right for your needs. Check the specs on any panel you’re looking at for support for the resolution, refresh rate, and interface you intend to use, make sure the cable you need is bundled, and if you’ll be working or playing at high resolutions and refresh rates on HDMI, hit up the HDMI guide referenced above.