Best OLED Gaming Monitor 2026 | Budget, 1440p & 4K OLED | Best OLED Gaming Monitor for PC PS5 Xbox — Transcript
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- 0:00OLED gaming monitor prices have crashed
- 0:02in 2026, delivering incredible visuals
- 0:04and instantaneous response times to even
- 0:06more gamers. Welcome back to PC Builder,
- 0:08I'm Jason. In 2026, buying the best OLED
- 0:11gaming monitor, it's more affordable
- 0:13than ever. But, with brand new OLED
- 0:15panel types, confusing terms like DP
- 0:172.1, and crazy high refresh rates,
- 0:19getting the best OLED gaming monitor in
- 0:202026, it's hard. So, we're going to
- 0:22break it all down for you, and we'll
- 0:24make specific product recommendations
- 0:26for every budget level. Whether you want
- 0:27the best budget OLED gaming monitor
- 0:29starting at a $400 or aiming for the
- 0:31absolute top-of-the-line best 1440p OLED
- 0:33gaming monitor or best 4K OLED gaming
- 0:35monitor, we've got the pick for you.
- 0:37Let's jump into it. The most confusing
- 0:39aspect to buying the best OLED gaming
- 0:40monitor in 2026, it's the panel type.
- 0:43We've got third-gen QD-OLED, fourth-gen
- 0:45QD-OLED, tandem W-OLED, tandem
- 0:47RGBW-OLED,
- 0:49and more. So, which one is right for
- 0:51you? Well, first, it's important to
- 0:52point out that LG makes all of the
- 0:55W-OLED panels, and Samsung makes all the
- 0:57QD-OLED panels. Doesn't matter which
- 0:59company names on the monitor itself,
- 1:00like Gigabyte, Asus, or Acer, the
- 1:03underlying panel tech, it's manufactured
- 1:05by one of these two companies. Now, the
- 1:06panel types all start to make sense if
- 1:08we go by budget. The cheapest OLED
- 1:10gaming monitors in 2026 are mostly
- 1:12third-gen QD-OLEDs with a handful of
- 1:15older third-gen W-OLEDs, though those
- 1:17are disappearing from the market. I
- 1:19typically recommend third-gen QD-OLED
- 1:21due to better text clarity and less
- 1:22fringing around the text itself. But,
- 1:25just to add to some confusion, some of
- 1:27the cheapest OLED gaming monitors in
- 1:282026 now using a limited brightness
- 1:31version of the third-gen QD-OLED panel.
- 1:33It's rated for 200 nits of brightness in
- 1:35SDR mode and 400 nits brightness in HDR.
- 1:38That's different from the full
- 1:40brightness third-gen QD-OLEDs that are
- 1:42rated for 250 nits in SDR and 1,000 nits
- 1:45in HDR. While the cheaper but dimmer
- 1:48third-gen QD-OLED panels are far
- 1:50superior to any LCD gaming monitor with
- 1:52infinite contrast, better color, and
- 1:55superior motion handling, you should
- 1:57note that their HDR it's good, but not
- 1:59as amazing as the brighter panels
- 2:01bearing the same third gen QD-OLED name
- 2:03that hit the full 1,000 nits of HDR
- 2:06brightness. Moving up, we got the fourth
- 2:07gen QD-OLEDs, recently renamed tandem
- 2:10QD-OLED. These panels are slightly
- 2:12brighter than the third gen and usually
- 2:14offer some kind of black coating to
- 2:16absorb ambient light, preventing the
- 2:17screen from looking purple or maybe even
- 2:19gray in bright rooms so it can maintain
- 2:22those deep blacks. Different brands call
- 2:23this coating different things, dark
- 2:25armor, black shield, obsidian shield,
- 2:27but it's basically all the same. Then
- 2:29we've got our fourth gen WOLED panels,
- 2:32recently renamed tandem WOLED. These
- 2:35panels are brighter than their QD-OLED
- 2:36counterparts and offer the same black
- 2:38coating as the tandem QD-OLEDs. Their
- 2:41text clarity is also on par with
- 2:42QD-OLEDs with reduced fringing from
- 2:44previous generation WOLED monitors. But,
- 2:47we are seeing some issues specifically
- 2:49with tandem WOLED technology. Some
- 2:52consumers purchasing tandem WOLEDs are
- 2:54reporting gray banding. These are faint
- 2:56vertical streaks, lines, or column
- 2:58patterns that appear most noticeably
- 3:00across dark or near black gray
- 3:02backgrounds. The folks over at TFT
- 3:04Central did a fantastic article on gray
- 3:06banding issues with tandem WOLEDs, so
- 3:09I'm going to link that down in the video
- 3:10description if you want a deeper dive.
- 3:12But, in a nutshell, this is a potential
- 3:14issue for any tandem WOLED monitor due
- 3:17to the electrical design. But, whether
- 3:19or not it's actually noticeable comes
- 3:20down to the luck of the draw, and nobody
- 3:22seems to know how often it happens. LG,
- 3:25who manufactures all WOLED panels, has
- 3:27acknowledged the issue. LG says that
- 3:29they're working on it and that newer
- 3:31production batches have improved. The
- 3:33issue does not affect QD-OLED panels, so
- 3:36out of an abundance of caution, I am
- 3:37putting on hold any of my
- 3:39recommendations for tandem WOLEDs for
- 3:41the rest of 2026. Finally, we have what
- 3:44LG calls RGB stripe on their tandem
- 3:46WOLEDs. Samsung calls this V-stripe on
- 3:49their tandem QD-OLEDs. Now, despite the
- 3:51different names, both these technologies
- 3:53basically offer a better sub-pixel
- 3:54layout to increase text clarity. At the
- 3:57time of filming, these monitors are just
- 3:58starting to hit the market, which means
- 4:00they're hard to find, and they are
- 4:01significantly more expensive. Whether
- 4:03that's worth it for slightly better text
- 4:04clarity in word documents, that's up to
- 4:07you, but my advice would be don't
- 4:09overpay for these as text is pretty good
- 4:11for most third and fourth gen QD-OLEDs
- 4:12already. What about glossy versus matte
- 4:14screen coatings for your OLED gaming
- 4:16monitor? Choosing between a glossy and
- 4:18matte OLED gaming monitor, it basically
- 4:20comes down to your room's lighting
- 4:22conditions. Glossy coatings deliver the
- 4:24deepest blacks and most vibrant colors,
- 4:27but they act like a mirror if you have
- 4:28bright, uncontrolled light sources in
- 4:30the rooms. Matte coatings excel at
- 4:32diffusing harsh glare and reflections,
- 4:34making them superior choice for brightly
- 4:36lit or daytime setups, despite a slight
- 4:39sacrifice in absolute contrast.
- 4:41Honestly, both are great, and I
- 4:42recommend don't overthink this one,
- 4:44especially if you find a deal. All
- 4:46right, let's talk about resolution,
- 4:47refresh rates, and dual mode monitors.
- 4:50OLED gaming monitors, they currently
- 4:51come in 1440p and 4K resolutions, and
- 4:54they typically start at 240 Hz refresh
- 4:56rates and go up. But in 2026, we are
- 4:58seeing some new models hit the market
- 4:59using the lower brightness QD-OLED
- 5:01panels at just 144 Hz, and they're not
- 5:04that much of a price discount, so just
- 5:06be aware of those. We also have dual
- 5:08mode monitors, meaning that with the
- 5:09push of a button, a 240 Hz 4K gaming
- 5:12monitor can switch to a lower
- 5:13resolution, like 1080p, but at a much
- 5:16faster refresh rate up to 480 Hz and
- 5:18beyond. There's also now 5K OLED gaming
- 5:21monitors. They deliver about 165 to 180
- 5:24Hz refresh rates at that resolution, and
- 5:26they dual mode down to 1440p at 330 Hz
- 5:29as well. Remember, Hz, it's just the
- 5:31maximum number of FPS your monitor can
- 5:33display. You still need a graphics card
- 5:35capable of outputting that FPS to get
- 5:37the most out of it. And if you console
- 5:39folks, you're locked to 120 Hz over HDMI
- 5:41on the Xbox Series X and S, PS5 and PS5
- 5:44Pro, so don't overspend for additional
- 5:47refresh rates like 360 or 500 Hz if your
- 5:50gaming hardware just isn't capable of
- 5:52utilizing it. All right, here's a topic
- 5:53that confuses everybody. HDMI 2.1,
- 5:56DisplayPort 1.4, DisplayPort 2.1, which
- 5:59one should you be using for your OLED
- 6:01gaming monitor in 2026? Well, console
- 6:04owners, you've only got the choice of
- 6:05HDMI. You need HDMI 2.1 to hit 4K 120
- 6:09Hz, so that's my recommendation for 4K
- 6:11OLEDs, and at least HDMI 2.0 for 1440p
- 6:15120 Hz at 10-bit color. Make sure your
- 6:17HDMI cable is capable of supporting
- 6:19those speeds. For PC gamers, the short
- 6:21answer is just use the DisplayPort
- 6:23cable. While you could theoretically use
- 6:25HDMI 2.1 for 1440p 240 Hz, because a lot
- 6:29of gaming monitors that advertise HDMI
- 6:312.1 actually use a lower bandwidth cap
- 6:35than the spec allows, I think it's safer
- 6:37just to use the display stream
- 6:38compression over DisplayPort 1.4 to
- 6:41avoid hitting the HDMI bandwidth cap. If
- 6:43you're wondering about DisplayPort 1.4
- 6:45versus 2.1, only the Nvidia RTX 50 and
- 6:49AMD RX 9000 and 7000 series GPUs are
- 6:51even capable of DisplayPort 2.1. For
- 6:54anyone with an RTX 40 series or RX 6000
- 6:57series GPU or older your GPU, you're
- 7:00limited to DisplayPort 1.4. Display
- 7:02stream compression will kick in
- 7:04automatically whenever you exceed 200 Hz
- 7:06at 10-bit color depth using DisplayPort
- 7:081.4, which is what you're going to be
- 7:10using in HDR. The good news here,
- 7:12Display stream compression is a visually
- 7:14lossless technology. There's no penalty
- 7:17for using it. The only bad news is that
- 7:19using Display stream compression
- 7:20specifically on an Nvidia GPU will limit
- 7:23you to two monitors and will disable
- 7:26Nvidia's super sampling. Now, super
- 7:28sampling is where an image is rendered
- 7:30at a higher resolution like 4K and then
- 7:32downsampled to a lower resolution like
- 7:341440p. That is the opposite of
- 7:37upscaling, which Nvidia calls DLSS and
- 7:40AMD calls it
- 7:41So, don't get those two confused. Super
- 7:43sampling is pretty much a niche segment
- 7:45limited to those with like an RTX 5090
- 7:47type GPU. So, for the vast majority of
- 7:50PC gamers using display stream
- 7:51compression over DisplayPort 1.4 is
- 7:54going to be absolutely fine. If you do
- 7:56own an RTX 5090 and you want to do super
- 7:58sampling, then grab a more expensive
- 8:00OLED gaming monitor with DisplayPort 2.1
- 8:03on it. But, beware, the cable lengths
- 8:05for DP 2.1, they are extremely short.
- 8:08For OLED gaming monitor sizes, most
- 8:101440p gaming monitors come in 27-in with
- 8:13ultra-wide at 1440p at 34-in and super
- 8:17ultra-wide at 49-in. 4K OLED gaming
- 8:20monitors come in both 27-in and 32-in
- 8:22sizes for the wide-screen aspect ratio,
- 8:2445-in 47-in ultra-wides, and an insane
- 8:2757-in 4K super ultra-wides like the
- 8:30Samsung Odyssey Neo G9. All right, let's
- 8:33talk about OLED burn-in, the thing that
- 8:34people used to be terrified of. Modern
- 8:36OLEDs feature an aggressive hardware
- 8:38level protection algorithm that
- 8:40automatically prevents static image
- 8:42retention. Various review outlets have
- 8:43been aggressively attempting to burn in
- 8:45their OLEDs for years, and even the
- 8:47older OLED panels seem just fine.
- 8:50Combine that with standard 3-year
- 8:51manufacturer burn-in warranties across
- 8:53major brands, and you can basically buy
- 8:55an OLED as your daily driver with total
- 8:57peace of mind. All right, let's jump
- 8:58into our recommendations for best OLED
- 9:00gaming monitor 2026. Now, everything is
- 9:03linked down in the video description by
- 9:04category. We're going to continue to
- 9:06update that list if something goes out
- 9:07of stock or if new deals pop with I do
- 9:10expect by the end of 2026, so check that
- 9:13list out for the best OLED gaming
- 9:14monitor deals right now. A fire emoji,
- 9:16it means a particularly good deal. Two
- 9:18fire emojis means it's an insane deal,
- 9:20you should buy it right now. All right,
- 9:22let's jump into the best cheap OLED
- 9:23gaming monitor 2026, best budget OLED
- 9:26gaming monitor 2026. What are these?
- 9:28These are 1440p panels that use the
- 9:30reduced brightness third gen QD-OLED
- 9:33panels. They crush LCD gaming monitors,
- 9:35absolutely crush them. But, in terms of
- 9:37the HDR on these, they are not going to
- 9:40be as good as the full brightness third
- 9:42gen or higher QD-OLED panels or any of
- 9:44the WOLED panels. And, let me tell you
- 9:47show you how you basically tell these.
- 9:49Here's a spec page for an MSI one.
- 9:51They're going to be on the brightness
- 9:53down here, they're going to say SDR 200,
- 9:56HDR 400. However,
- 9:58it's really inconsistent what specs you
- 10:00see either on a retailer page or even on
- 10:02the product pages themselves. For
- 10:04instance, this Acer I'm going to show
- 10:05you, which is phenomenal by the way, for
- 10:07$269 as opposed to $400 for the higher
- 10:10brightness panels out there,
- 10:12if you click into this one, you click
- 10:14down here on the view the full
- 10:15specifications, they're only going to
- 10:17give you the HDR brightness 400 nits.
- 10:19So, you're looking for that magic
- 10:20number, 200 nits, 400 nits, that's going
- 10:23to tell you that it's lower brightness
- 10:25panel. The higher brightness ones are
- 10:26250 1,000. All right, starting off with
- 10:29the Acer Nitro VG277UX.
- 10:33Now, I expect we're going to see a
- 10:34number of these monitors continue to be
- 10:36introduced, and they're basically as cut
- 10:37down as they can make them. They're
- 10:39trying to get OLED as cheap as possible
- 10:41right now. If that's what you're looking
- 10:43for, here you go. It's very plasticky
- 10:45and overall monitor. The monitor stand
- 10:47is just basically a plastic stick. It's
- 10:49got tilt only to it, but it does
- 10:51everything else pretty well. Two HDMI
- 10:532.1 ports, one display port 1.4 ports to
- 10:56it. It's overall a good package. It's
- 10:58got a VESA mount on the back as you most
- 11:00gaming monitors that way you can buy a
- 11:02monitor arm if you want better
- 11:04ergonomics to it. And, the panel itself
- 11:06is pretty good. For $269
- 11:09is an insane price to pay for basically
- 11:12crushing any LCD gaming monitor out
- 11:14there and still pretty decent HDR. I'm
- 11:16going to go rapid-fire through some of
- 11:18the other alternatives out there. It's
- 11:19all going to depend on pricing. My
- 11:21recommendation, buy the cheapest unless
- 11:22there's a feature that you want on one
- 11:24of these. This is the Acer Predator
- 11:27X27UW1.
- 11:29The W1 is the important part here,
- 11:31that's the lower brightness panel. There
- 11:32is a version of this that does have
- 11:34higher brightness, it's the X1. $315 has
- 11:37gotten down to $299. The difference
- 11:39between this and the panel that you just
- 11:41saw, slightly better construction on it.
- 11:43It has two HDMI 2.1 ports, two
- 11:46DisplayPort ports as well, and it's got
- 11:49a full height tilt and swivel stand to
- 11:51it. So, you kind of get the whole
- 11:52package here for about 30 or 40 dollars
- 11:55more. You can decide if that's worth it
- 11:56or not. This often does go on sale.
- 11:58Another good alternative here, Asrock
- 12:00Phantom Gaming PGO27QSA-W.
- 12:05The dash W stands for white, they don't
- 12:06sell the black one in the US for some
- 12:08reason. But, if you're looking for
- 12:09something in a white color theme to it,
- 12:11this is a really nice one to get. Again,
- 12:13good performing screen to it. It's got
- 12:16similar ports to the Acer that we just
- 12:18looked at, two HDMI 2.1, two DisplayPort
- 12:211.4 ports to it. Great height tilt and
- 12:23swivel stand to it. If you're looking
- 12:25for something white or if this one gets
- 12:27cheaper than the rest, pick it up. And
- 12:28finally, I'm going to include probably
- 12:30the best of the bunch here, which is the
- 12:32Gigabyte GO27Q24A.
- 12:35Note there's one that's Q24G, that's a
- 12:38WOLED panel for the same price over at
- 12:40Amazon. This is a QD-OLED, so better
- 12:42text clarity to it. However, lower
- 12:44brightness panel. This is the one that
- 12:46started off the $300 craze, but since in
- 12:48the last month or so, it's popped up to
- 12:50349. At this price point, I would
- 12:52recommend going all the way cuz you're
- 12:55almost all the way to the full
- 12:56brightness ones. You're not really
- 12:57saving that much money, that's the whole
- 12:59allure of these cheaper panels. If it
- 13:01does get down to $300 again, I would
- 13:03probably pick this one up over the other
- 13:05ones I've shown you unless there's a
- 13:06significant price difference. All right,
- 13:07let's move into the best 1440p OLED
- 13:09gaming monitors in 2026. Now, these are
- 13:12going to be full brightness panels to
- 13:14them, and they're going to use QD-OLED
- 13:16technology. Remember, I'm not
- 13:17recommending tandem WOLED ones right now
- 13:20because of the gray issues, rewind on
- 13:23into the panel technology for more on
- 13:25that. So, my top picks here, I've got
- 13:28two that honestly identical. I would
- 13:30just pick up the cheaper one unless
- 13:33you're somebody who needs to use
- 13:34multiple devices with the same keyboard
- 13:37and mouse, then I would definitely pick
- 13:39up the Gigabyte M327Q-A.
- 13:42280 Hz, third gen QD-OLED to it. This
- 13:46has a glossy finish and it's got a full
- 13:49KVM switch USB hub. So, what does that
- 13:51mean? Not only do you have a USB hub to
- 13:54it, but if you plug in your keyboard and
- 13:56your mouse to it, you can use the KVM
- 13:58switches on it to to use multiple
- 14:00devices, basically. Also has USB Type-C
- 14:03to plug your laptop in, which is two
- 14:04thumbs up there. Two HDMI 2.1 ports, 1.1
- 14:08DisplayPort 1.4 port. Full height tilt
- 14:11swivel on the stand. Overall, it's an
- 14:13insane package at $399, and this is my
- 14:16top pick. Our equally top pick here,
- 14:18except it just doesn't have the KVM
- 14:20switches. So, if you have multiple
- 14:21devices you want to use the same
- 14:23keyboard and mouse, get the Gigabyte.
- 14:24Otherwise, get this if it's cheaper, the
- 14:26Alienware AW2725D.
- 14:30Now, there's the 2725DF,
- 14:32that's a 360 Hz version I am going to
- 14:35recommend in just a moment for a little
- 14:37bit more money, though. So, if you don't
- 14:38need the extra refresh rate, this is
- 14:40where I would be. Similar to the
- 14:41Gigabyte 27-in it's got a great package
- 14:44to it, really overall good build quality
- 14:46to it. The only fundamental differences
- 14:48here, it does lack the KVM switch.
- 14:50However, it does have a full USB hub.
- 14:52It's got one Type-A and one Type-C to
- 14:54it. Slightly fewer ports, one fewer
- 14:56port, but in terms of its overall
- 14:58connectivity, it's got two HDMI 2.1
- 15:02ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port to it.
- 15:05The full height tilt and swivel to it.
- 15:07It's also a semi-gloss coating, so you
- 15:09get kind of the benefits of everything
- 15:11there. $399, honestly, I would just pick
- 15:13up the cheaper one. Some quick
- 15:14alternatives here. Now, this one is
- 15:16normally priced at $349, and at that
- 15:18price it's a steal, but of course I
- 15:20started recording this and for some
- 15:21reason it up, even though it's been that
- 15:23price for months. So, check this out
- 15:25down in the video description to see
- 15:26what the price is right now. The
- 15:27AG276QZD2.
- 15:31For some reason, Amazon has the older
- 15:33monitor stats in here, so let's just
- 15:35jump to the product page at AOC. This is
- 15:37a 280 Hz 280 Hz refresh rate third gen
- 15:42QD-OLED gaming monitor full brightness
- 15:44to it. It has the full USB hub to it.
- 15:47You can see it right there. It has two
- 15:49HDMI 2.1 ports. The Amazon thing is
- 15:52incorrect. And two DisplayPort 1.4 ports
- 15:56on it. Overall, it's a really good pick
- 15:58up when you can get it at $349. I just
- 16:00wouldn't pick it up at $468. Another
- 16:01good alternative here is the MSI MAG
- 16:03271QP.
- 16:05Notice the X28. Now, the X28 is
- 16:08important. This is the 280 Hz version
- 16:10that's full brightness. The X24 version,
- 16:13I know this is super confusing, is the
- 16:15lower brightness panel. If that's on
- 16:17super sale, you can consider it with the
- 16:19cheap ones, but if you're looking for
- 16:21full brightness panels, pick this one up
- 16:23instead. Now, this basically has many of
- 16:25the features the other ones do. It just
- 16:27lacks that full USB hub to it. And the
- 16:30display here isn't quite as good as the
- 16:32other ones. Let's jump into the best 360
- 16:34Hz 1440p OLED gaming monitors in 2026.
- 16:38And the good news is, prices on these
- 16:40have absolutely plummeted. Look at that,
- 16:42$399. $399. The same price almost as 240
- 16:46Hz ones right now. Just note, if you
- 16:49don't plan to game between 240 Hz and
- 16:51360 Hz, that extra 120 Hz refresh rate,
- 16:54you're not going to get any benefit.
- 16:56These will perform the same at 120 Hz as
- 16:58the old other panels I just showed you
- 17:00at 120 Hz. It's just if you need that
- 17:02extra refresh rate, maybe even in
- 17:04competitive e-sports. So, let me jump
- 17:06into my number one pick right now if
- 17:08you're more on the value end of things.
- 17:09That is the ASRock PG27QFE.
- 17:14ASRock is is making a hardcore push for
- 17:17value.
- 17:18299 third gen QD-OLED. Now, this lacks
- 17:21like a USB hub or anything to it, but it
- 17:23comes with a pretty nice stand, height,
- 17:25tilt, and swivel to it. It's got a great
- 17:26picture to it. Overall, if you're
- 17:28looking to save money and get 360 Hz
- 17:30gaming performance from an OLED, I would
- 17:32pick this up. All right, next up in
- 17:34terms of value is the Q27G40SDE. Now,
- 17:36this monitor
- 17:40is as cut down as you can find for 360
- 17:42Hz. Similar panel, this however does
- 17:45have a glossy finish to it if you're
- 17:46looking for that. It's the only glossy
- 17:48I'm going to show you. Most of the 360
- 17:49Hz are matte out there, but this one hot
- 17:52garbage for the stand. It's just a
- 17:53plastic stick. I would recommend $25
- 17:56monitor arm. I will link one down in the
- 17:58video description if you want to pick
- 17:59this up instead. No USB hub to it, kind
- 18:02of no frills to this one. Typically
- 18:04sells for $449. I don't know what it's
- 18:06doing right now at $464, but you usually
- 18:09will find it under $450. If you want to
- 18:12step up your game a little bit, you can
- 18:15check out the ASUS ROG Strix XG27ACDNG.
- 18:21Now, this is also a 360 Hz QD-OLED
- 18:23panel. So, in terms of the panel, you're
- 18:25not getting that much more. What you're
- 18:27getting is the kind of ASUS packaging to
- 18:29it, the build quality to it, nice stand
- 18:32to it, and it comes with a full USB hub
- 18:35as well.
- 18:36549 a little pricey I think in late
- 18:392026, but if you're like, "Hey, I just
- 18:41want to have something super premium." I
- 18:43would probably take a look at this one.
- 18:44And then here's my former top pick, the
- 18:47Alienware AW2725DF.
- 18:50The problem with this one because I
- 18:52would take this over the ASUS panel, too
- 18:54expensive. $574
- 18:58for what? You're getting pretty much the
- 19:00identical panel, 360 Hz QD-OLED. This is
- 19:03a matte finish as with the ASUS to it.
- 19:05So, it's like what am I really getting?
- 19:07I'm getting a USB hub, I'm getting
- 19:08better build quality to it, I'm getting
- 19:10a more recognizable, you know, brand
- 19:12name in Alienware, but remember they
- 19:14don't make the panel to it. If this
- 19:16comes back down in price to $499 where
- 19:18it's been before, then yes, to me it
- 19:20makes it way more competitive. So, just
- 19:22check those links in the video
- 19:23description. All right, let's jump into
- 19:24the best high refresh rate OLED gaming
- 19:26monitors at 1440p. So, we're looking 500
- 19:29Hz basically, and we don't want to break
- 19:31the bank. I'm going to give you two
- 19:32picks. One is glossy and one is a matte
- 19:35finish. You can just pick whichever one
- 19:36you want or go with the cheaper one. I
- 19:39prefer this one. This is the Acer
- 19:41Predator X27U
- 19:43F5. It's a great overall package to it.
- 19:46There's not a lot of frills. So, the
- 19:48stand is full ergonomic high tilt and
- 19:51swivel to it. Lacks a USB hub, however,
- 19:54it does have USB Type-C connectivity, so
- 19:56you can plug your laptop into it and get
- 19:58a display out there. And it has 65 W of
- 20:00charging to it, which is really nice.
- 20:02Two HDMI 2.1, two DisplayPort 1.4 to it.
- 20:06Overall, it's really, really nice. If
- 20:08you want the glossy finish instead, pick
- 20:10up the Mag 272QPX50. The X50 stands for
- 20:12the refresh rate.
- 20:14Basically,
- 20:16it's the same panel. It's the same
- 20:18panel. Now, this also lacks a full USB
- 20:20hub, however, just like the Acer has a
- 20:22pretty good stand to it and has a USB
- 20:25Type-C. USB Type-C is only a 15 W charge
- 20:28here. So, you know, it's not going to
- 20:30work for every laptop out there, but
- 20:31it's a kind of a minor feature. If you
- 20:33want 500 Hz, that's really what you're
- 20:35buying the monitor for. All right, let's
- 20:36jump into 4K OLED gaming monitors in
- 20:382026. And we're going to start off with
- 20:4032-in. We'll go through 27-in, then
- 20:42we'll jump back to those ultrawides out
- 20:44there. But, I want you to know in 2026
- 20:47at the end of the year here, this
- 20:48monitor has completely changed the game
- 20:50in terms of pricing. I would have told
- 20:51you before this one came out $700, $750
- 20:55up to $1,000 is what you're going to
- 20:57spend. Now, it's more like $600, and I'm
- 20:59going to strongly going to recommend
- 21:00this one, but I will show you some
- 21:02fourth generation panels that are just
- 21:04hitting the market. And a single fifth
- 21:07gen one with the RGB stripe sub pixel
- 21:09layout and your eyes will bleed at the
- 21:11price. So, this is what I would strongly
- 21:13recommend anybody out there if you can
- 21:15get one of these before they sell out,
- 21:17picks up. This is the ASRock PG032UFS.
- 21:224K 240 Hz and it dual modes to 480 Hz at
- 21:27full HD with the push of a button. This
- 21:29is a dual mode monitor. It's got a full
- 21:31USB hub to it. It's got a USB type-C. I
- 21:34believe it's 65 W charging for your
- 21:36laptop folks out there. So, that's
- 21:38absolutely amazing to it. It's basically
- 21:41everything you want in a gaming monitor.
- 21:42It's the stand is full height tilt and
- 21:44swivel to it. It even has an ASRock does
- 21:47a lot on these. It even has an antenna
- 21:50so you can actually plug your antenna
- 21:51from your PC into this and this whole
- 21:54stand becomes an antenna. It's way
- 21:56better than the antenna that that comes
- 21:58built in. So, just a lot of nice to
- 22:00haves and ASRock is getting super
- 22:02aggressive here with the pricing of
- 22:05$596.
- 22:07Really, really insane. Honestly, right
- 22:09now it's my top pick. If you're looking
- 22:11for a 4K 240 Hz glossy finish gaming
- 22:14monitor, check out the Acer Predator
- 22:17X32X. Yes, that's actually the name of
- 22:19it. X32X. It's a curved gaming monitor.
- 22:22Just getting out and out there. But,
- 22:23it's 629. This had been the cheapest 4K
- 22:26240 Hz OLED gaming monitor out there at
- 22:2832 in. And it was well worth the price.
- 22:31At 32 in, I kind of think a little bit
- 22:33of a curve is nice to it. But, you can
- 22:35see that stand is full height tilt and
- 22:37swivel to it which is super nice. Little
- 22:39bit of cable management to it. It has
- 22:41full USB hub to it including it's got a
- 22:43type-C with a 65 W charger on it for
- 22:46your laptop folks that want to plug into
- 22:47it. Again, the monitors I'm showing you
- 22:49are are all going to be DisplayPort 1.4
- 22:52which is what I'm going to recommend for
- 22:54the PC gamers out there and they're all
- 22:56going to have HDMI 2.1 as well for you
- 22:59console folks. This is a pretty good
- 23:01pick up at $629. Again, typically the
- 23:03cheapest. All right, let's jump into
- 23:05some upgrade panels for 4K 32-in
- 23:08OLED gaming monitors. We're going to
- 23:10start with what was previously called
- 23:13fourth-gen QD-OLED and now is just being
- 23:16called tandem QD-OLED. Remember, this is
- 23:18not tandem W-OLED. I'm not recommending
- 23:21those panels at this time due to the
- 23:22whole gray banding thing. But, this is a
- 23:25phenomenal panel. We'll go through the
- 23:26differences between this and what we
- 23:28just looked at. In terms of the, you
- 23:31know, the number of USB ports that like
- 23:33a USB hub to it, the DisplayPort on it,
- 23:36the HDMI ports, no real difference. Has
- 23:39the KVM switches. It's a great package,
- 23:41very similar to what I just showed you,
- 23:43very premium. But, the difference here
- 23:46is a next-generation QD-OLED technology
- 23:49that makes it brighter. This
- 23:52I'd say about a 30% brightness increase
- 23:54overall. Super nice to have if that's
- 23:56what you're looking for. And these
- 23:58panels also call Gigabyte calls this
- 24:00Obsidian Shield. Everybody's got a
- 24:02different name for it. It's basically a
- 24:03coating on the monitor, kind of a sub
- 24:05coating, that helps make the blacks not
- 24:08turn a little bit purple in certain
- 24:10environments in certain environments.
- 24:11So, that's nice as well. If you're
- 24:13looking to spend a little bit more money
- 24:15and get a little bit more of an upgrade
- 24:17panel for 4K, I would pick this one up
- 24:19because $799, it's not only the cheapest
- 24:22one, it's also kind of the best. But,
- 24:23Jason, you say, "I've got all the
- 24:25money's and I want one of those new
- 24:27fifth-gen fifth-gen QD-OLED panels with
- 24:30that new subpixel layout. I want dual
- 24:33mode. I want DisplayPort 2.1. I just
- 24:36want everything and I don't care how
- 24:38much it costs." Which is good because
- 24:41because these are brand new and they
- 24:42just hit the market, they're very
- 24:43expensive right now. This is the ASUS
- 24:46ROG Strix 32-in 4K 240 Hz. Now, they
- 24:50call it tandem RGB-OLED.
- 24:53That is the new subpixel layout that
- 24:55were the text will look crystal clear
- 24:57almost LCD like. LCD is still better,
- 25:00but this is as close as the LCD is
- 25:03possible right now. It's got a proximity
- 25:05sensor to it. It has DisplayPort 2.1.
- 25:08For those of you with an RTX 5090 out
- 25:11there that want to super sample your
- 25:13images from 4K down to 1440p for some
- 25:16reason, the good news is this is also a
- 25:18dual mode for 480 Hz at full HD. You
- 25:21basically get the best of all worlds
- 25:23here for $1,400. That's right, almost
- 25:27double the price that I just showed you.
- 25:29That's what these things cost when they
- 25:30first hit the market. That's the early
- 25:32adopter price, and I don't expect this
- 25:34price to really budge until probably
- 25:36kind of the early part of 2027. All
- 25:38right, let me quickly give you some 4K
- 25:3927-in 27-in 240 Hz OLED gaming monitor
- 25:43panels. And honestly, with the price
- 25:45changes right now 32-in, I feel like
- 25:47these are overpriced. Now, maybe over
- 25:49the holiday shopping season you'll see
- 25:50the prices fall. I'm going to just going
- 25:52to give you two picks because I would
- 25:54recommend 32-in right now. The Acer X27
- 25:57X1 is typically one of the best priced
- 25:58out there. It's technically glossy.
- 26:01However, some people consider it more of
- 26:02a semi-gloss coating to it just because
- 26:04it doesn't look like mirror finish.
- 26:06Pretty good package. It's got full
- 26:07height tilt and swivel to it. Doesn't
- 26:09have a USB hub to it. However, it does
- 26:11have a USB Type-C and it can do
- 26:13DisplayPort over USB Type-C for you
- 26:15laptop folks out there. Has a 65 W
- 26:18charger on it. It's a pretty good
- 26:19package. Again, $579 kind of hard to
- 26:21justify against the 32-in panels. And
- 26:23then the other one, if you're looking
- 26:24for something more of like a mirror
- 26:25gloss to it, the MSI MAG 272 MSI's
- 26:28version of this. Also very good to it.
- 26:31Kind of not a lot
- 26:35of thrills to these 27-in monitors. The
- 26:37whole idea was they were supposed to be
- 26:38cheaper versions of the 32-in
- 26:41monitors, but right now at $629,
- 26:43obviously that's not the case. But check
- 26:44the links down in the video description,
- 26:46see where pricing is when you're
- 26:47watching this. All right, let's jump
- 26:48into the best ultra-wide OLED gaming
- 26:51monitor 2026. Now, honestly, I'm only
- 26:54going to give you 1440p. I don't love
- 26:55any of the 4K ones. We're waiting for
- 26:57the 4K QD-OLED ones to hit. Right now,
- 27:00it's mostly W-OLED from the third gen. I
- 27:02would pick this up at 1440p. It's really
- 27:06the only game in town. Alienware just
- 27:08does it way better than everybody else,
- 27:09and they charge less than everybody
- 27:11else. So, I just don't even know what's
- 27:13going on there. It's 240 Hz, 34-in and
- 27:16it's basically an improvement over the
- 27:18previous generation that was 165 Hz.
- 27:20It's great build quality to it. It's got
- 27:22a USB hub to it. It's a real premium
- 27:25monitor for $699. All right, moving over
- 27:27to super ultra-wide 1440p, then we will
- 27:30do 4K OLED as well. There's only one
- 27:32name in this game, basically, and that
- 27:34is Samsung, who incidentally also makes
- 27:36the QD-OLED panels out there. At 1440p,
- 27:40the OLED G9 is the thing to get. 49-in.
- 27:43Now, there's a couple different
- 27:45sub-versions of this. You see that
- 27:47G93SC.
- 27:49There's also the G95SC.
- 27:51It just basically has some smart TV
- 27:53features and often is like double the
- 27:56price. I don't think it's worth it.
- 27:58I would get this one instead. This is
- 28:00especially if you're into PC gaming,
- 28:02which again, I wouldn't recommend these
- 28:04for console unless you want to dual
- 28:05screen these because they really don't
- 28:08support them quite well. PC gaming is
- 28:10insane on this. $899 is an insane price
- 28:13right now. You will typically find this
- 28:15around $1,100.
- 28:17So, if you don't see it for $899, don't
- 28:19despair. $1,100 is a pretty good price
- 28:21for it, too. Some of the best OLED
- 28:22gaming TV of 2026. I'm focused on gaming
- 28:25here. One of the features that I
- 28:27absolutely love with the new B6 OLED by
- 28:30LG is that it's got a game mode to it.
- 28:33What is that? It basically reduces your
- 28:35latency. People don't realize when they
- 28:37just plug in their console or even a PC
- 28:40into their TV that these have quite a
- 28:42bit more latency than you're used to
- 28:44with a gaming monitor cuz those game
- 28:46monitors are really tuned up. The good
- 28:47news here, it's got a game mode and it's
- 28:49not going to break the bank at $699 for
- 28:51the 48-in. Right now, I don't see a
- 28:5355-in available or a 42-in available. It
- 28:57could just be because these just hit the
- 28:59market. If you're looking for a game
- 29:01room TV for your PS5, PS5 Pro, your
- 29:03console with HDMI 2.1, by the way, make
- 29:06sure your cable's HDMI 2.1, or your PC,
- 29:09this is great for 120 Hz at 4K. All of
- 29:12our best OLED gaming monitor 2026
- 29:14recommendations are linked down in the
- 29:16video description. Check that list out
- 29:17for the current best deals that we're
- 29:19finding on OLED gaming monitors,
- 29:20especially as we get into the holiday
- 29:22shopping season. If you got value out of
- 29:24this video, please do give it a like. It
- 29:25makes a huge difference to the channel.
- 29:27Of course, subscribe for more cool PC
- 29:29content and we'll catch you
- 29:31on the next one.
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