The best monitors to upgrade your work-from-home setup

The Dell U2723QE is designed as a home office monitor and offers a wide range of connectivity to support that. This allows for versatile connections, so it's a great monitor whether you're using it with a PC or a laptop. Setup is simple, as the stand doesn't need any tools to assemble. It clips onto the back and offers spring-loaded height adjustment, as well as swivel, tilt and pivot so it's really easy to position and adjust. It all looks premium, too.

This is a 4K display, but it's the colour quality that's really impressive. The blacks are deep while whites stay bright, with vibrant colours in-between. The on-screen menus are controlled by one clickable directional controller on the rear, but they're logical and easy to navigate.

The connections are what make this monitor really suited to the task: you can power and charge your MacBook Pro from it thanks to the 90W Power Delivery, while there are multiple options for display inputs - as well as the full set of USB connections for all your other accessories.

If you're working from a docked laptop, the Dell U2723QE is an outstanding choice – but note that the 60Hz refresh means it's not the best for gaming. However, for us, we found the slim design and the quality of the image made the Dell monitor one we wanted to keep on our desk.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a monitor, you don’t have to, and the BenQ GW2790 is testament to that. Out of the box, this monitor is simple to set up. You just click the stand into the base and slot the screen onto it – it takes seconds. The downside is that there's no height adjustment in the stand, so to get this monitor at the right height, you might need to raise it. We stood it on a couple of thick books.

Keeping things simple, the monitor offers two HDMI ports and a DisplayPort input, with easy switching via the button on the underside of the monitor. There's a 3.5mm headphone socket, but no other connections to power other devices.

The display ships in power saving mode and switching that off will bring greater brightness out. While this will use more energy, it looks a lot better. This is only a Full HD monitor, but don’t let that put you off – for many people, that will be sufficient detail whether you’re working on documents or streaming a film from Netflix. If you do fancy gaming, it supports refresh rates up to 100Hz, but there’s no support for more advanced gaming functions.

One thing we found really impressive about the BenQ GW2790 was how well the anti-reflective finish worked, which means working with a window behind us was no problem at all.

There are speakers built in, but they are weak, so we’d limit those to system sounds only – if you’re video calling, listening to music or anything else, you’ll want proper speakers. Otherwise, the BenQ GW2790 offers great value for money.

No list of monitors would be complete without the inclusion of the Samsung Odyssey G9, which is where you turn when you want something premium. This 49-inch ultrawide monitor might seem like a silly idea at first glance, but you can effectively get two full 27-inch monitors’ worth of content on the screen. Put another way, if you were thinking about getting two monitors, the Odyssey G9 does it in one. You can actually have two simultaneous inputs sharing the display if you want to.

The advantage is huge screen real estate, but in this instance, you only need one connection to your computer, one power supply (although it’s a sizeable power brick) and the single stand. This all takes up less desk space than it would if you had two monitors. The stand also offers easy spring-loaded height adjustment.

Connections cover DisplayPort and HDMI, joined by a Micro HDMI and a couple of USB-C connections. The Odyssey G9 has its own speakers which are reasonable but easily bettered with computer speakers. The on-screen menus are easy enough to navigate using the clickable button on the rear of the screen.

There’s plenty to entertain gamers here, with 240Hz refresh rate possible and this is an OLED screen, so it provides rich and contrasty visuals, while supporting HDR too, for great impact. But a big part of the appeal here is the drama of its looks. Yes, you’ll need a big desk space for it but if you’re after premium performance and loads of space, the Odyssey G9 has plenty of appeal.

Curved monitors come in a number of forms, from the ultrawide to more reasonable-size models, like this 32-inch model from Gigabyte. The advantage that a curved option brings is that it can feel slightly more immersive, which is one reason why they are popular with gamers. But it can make larger monitors more comfortable to use, too.

While most of the models on this list are a 27-inch size, this 32-inch is great for desk work thanks to the curve. Gigabyte is a gaming brand and as a result, you’ll find faster refresh rates at 165Hz, while there’s also support for Nvidia G Sync and AMD FreeSync for better gaming performance.

This is a Quad HD display so it packs in the detail and the colour is great too. It uses an LED panel and here it’s a VA – vertical alignment – display, which means great contrast. It’s not quite up to the performance of an OLED, but the quality you get for the price is impressive.

The downside of this monitor is that the stand only offers tilt – there’s no height adjustment here. The connectivity offers you HDMI and DisplayPort, along with a headphone socket and that’s it. The menus offer things like different picture modes, with a clickable navigator on the bottom of the screen to make changes.

If you’re looking for a larger single monitor setup then choosing a good quality curved monitor doesn’t have to be expensive, as this Gigabyte proves. The company also offers a curved 27-inch model if you prefer.

The Odyssey G80 is a top OLED monitor. It’s a premium choice, packing in a 4K HDR display with an anti-glare finish and offering up to 240Hz. Paired with very fast response times, it’s a natural choice for gamers – but it’s fully accomplished elsewhere.

This isn’t just a monitor, it’s a smart monitor, so it also offers Samsung’s Tizen interface like its TVs, with access to streaming services like Netflix, making it an ideal one-stop-shop for entertainment. It even has its own remote and speakers, although it doesn’t have the best bass delivery.

But it also comes with a great stand, offering just about the most flexibility you’ll find in any monitor, with the whole thing taking seconds to setup. The screen is lovely and slim with LED lighting on the back, but there’s an external power brick to accommodate under your desk.

The Odyssey G80 offers USB connections so it can act as a hub, and while it’s not as comprehensive as the Dell monitor also on this list, they are useful. The on-screen menus are comprehensive, but a little overbearing if you don’t use the remote. (Hint: use the remote, it’s a lot easier.) DisplayPort and HDMI take care of the visuals, with easy switching between the two.

There’s a lot here, but then there’s a really high price to go with it and in many cases, you could buy two high-quality monitors for the money.

The AOC Q27G3XMN is designed first and foremost as a gaming monitor. That sees it support gaming functions like AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, a fast refresh rate of 180Hz and a 1-millisecond response time.

Setup of this monitor is easy, with the stand clipping into the back and then offering spring-loaded height adjustment, as well as tilt and swivel. The stand has fairly big feet towards the front, while this monitor is a little on the thick side compared to some others, with a pronounced lower bezel. The onscreen menu was a little fiddly to get to grips with.

Connectivity sticks to the essentials, with two HDMI inputs and DisplayPort. There is plenty of brightness and this monitor supports HDR too, alongside that 2K resolution. For gamers, there's plenty to get into, but even if you're just using it for office tasks, this is still a great monitor, if a little on the chunky side.

But you do get quite a lot for your money, so if you want a little more from your display, then choosing a gaming brand like AOC could get you those things.

The LG MyView is all about convergence, giving you more from your display. Framed as a “smart monitor”, it offers full monitor functions while also including its own operating system with a remote control and streaming apps. That makes it ideal for a student room, where you want to be able to work during the day and watch TV in the evening, all on the same device.

It is a 32-inch 4K HDR display, but unlike a TV it still has an anti-glare finish, so you can work by a window without the reflections driving you to distraction. The stand easily fits together and offers spring-loaded height adjustment and the white finish is a little fresher than most black monitors. The screen is also impressively slim, but there’s a separate power brick.

Connectivity includes wifi and Bluetooth, but cable connections are limited to HDMI – there’s no DisplayPort here. There’s a USB-C input (so you could connect to a laptop), as well as two additional USB-C connections, with 65W of power, so you could charge devices when connected. It’s limited to 60Hz and there’s no provision for gamers here, but there’s nothing to stop you from hooking up your Xbox as well as your PC.

The built-in speakers are a little thin and this is the sort of monitor that would benefit from connecting speakers or a soundbar for the full entertainment experience, although supporting Bluetooth means you can connect it to headphones if you prefer.

The remote also means that changing the settings are a breeze; for computer use, we found that the “Vivid” setting gave better brightness, but you can easily switch picture modes when watching movies, for example. The result is that you get a versatile monitor, with apps that are easy to navigate for entertainment, so you can switch off your PC and relax. If this model is too expensive, there’s a Full HD option too.