The best monitors for working from home can be an excellent investment for anyone who has a home office or studio, whatever your line of work. They can improve your day-to-day workflow and even your health since they can help avoid hunching over a tiny laptop.
But which one to buy? It depends on your work type, your workload, and your budget. That's why we've picked our favourites for specific users in mind. All of the team on Creative Bloq work from home some of the week, which means we're ideally placed to test out a range of devices in order to choose the best monitors for WFH for different needs.
We've tested the monitors below for general productivity and ergonomics but also colour coverage and accuracy for creative work plus for gaming and entertainment. Whether you need the best 4K monitor, the best monitor for photo editing or the best ultrawide monitor for your home office, you should find an option for you below.
Plenty of ports including 65W USB-C Power Delivery and a RJ45 Ethernet connection make this a great hub for a home office. We loved the 32-inch 4K IPS screen, which delivers 99% sRGB colour space coverage. A solid mid-range option from a reliable brand. Read more below
If your work mainly involves office progams and you don't need colour coverage for creative work, you might prefer a cheaper display. This is very, very cheap but it's slim, looks good, has low blue light tech and is an upgrade from many small laptop displays. Read more below
For those looking to spend on a high-quality 4K monitor for working from home, this beautiful display has excellent colour range, fantastic connectivity and a top-notch in-built webcam for all those Zoom calls. This is our pick for the creative exec's home office. Read more below
For creatives that need excellent colour specs, we think this option is fantastic value for 99% DCI-P3/Adobe RGB and Calman verification for video work. It has USB-C with enough power delivery for a laptop and DisplayPort daisychain support. Read more below
An ultrawide monitor like this bright 34-inch display can be a boon for multitasking, helping you work over multiple windows. We found this did the job with well-placed controls and an easy set up. The HDR10 works well too. Read more below
If you're into gaming outside of office time, we think this well-priced monitor is the best option for resolving both needs: work and play, with great colour and contrast an esport-level refresh rate and a range of ports. Read more below
The best monitors for working from home in full
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Need plenty of connectivity in your home office? This impressive Dell monitor for working from home could provide you with all the ports you need. It's packed with USB ports including 65W USB-C Power Delivery so that you can share your laptop's display while charging, and it even has a RJ45 wired Ethernet connection.
When we reviewed the P3222QE, we found that as well as all its handy ports, it also packed decent image quality. Its 32-inch 4K screen delivers 99% sRGB colour space coverage (although it's not so hot at Adobe RGB), and its IPS screen technology means you'll get accurate colours regardless of your viewing angle. Want to know more? See our full Dell P322QE USB-C Hub Monitor review for complete details, including the results of our lab testing.
A fantastic price for a surprisingly good looking monitor for home working
Our expert review:
Specifications
Screen size: 23.8-inch
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: FHD (1920x1080)
Connectivity: HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA
Reasons to buy
+
Very, very affordable
+
Looks great for this price
+
Comes with an ergonomic stand
Reasons to avoid
-
Display is a bit dim
-
Speakers are mediocre
The HP 24MH is a little older, but with its 1080p resolution, 75Hz refresh rate, and ultra-slim design, it's a great budget option for work-from-home professionals who don't need anything the most impressive visual performance.
The low blue light technology helps when you've been staring at spreadsheets, documents, and emails all day while the micro-edge display ensures you're still getting that extra screen real estate without a massive monitor taking over your desk. It's a clear upgrade from any laptop display, and an incredibly cheap one at that, ideal for anyone with a small setup who needs to perform everyday office productivity tasks.
Overly expensive if you don't need the webcam and 4K resolution
The Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ addresses a vital need amongst work-from-home professionals – having a reliable, high-resolution webcam for their business calls and team meetings. This isn't Dell's first monitor with a built-in camera, but it's certainly the best, which is why it'll also set you back a hefty price.
In our full Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ review, we note that the webcam performs exceptionally well, with FHD resolution and facial tracking that allows the wide-angle lens to lock on precisely to your image. There's also a privacy shutter for peace of mind. As for other areas, our tests found colour coverage and accuracy to be perfectly decent for use as a monitor for home working for most creative workflows, although the 60Hz refresh rate and max HDR at 400 nits, will rule it out for some video and game development pros.
The best monitor for home office monitor for creatives
(Image credit: Asus)
04. Asus ProArt PA279CRV
An excellent home office monitor for creative work
Our expert review:
Specifications
Screen size: 27-inch
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 4K (3840 x 2160)
Connectivity: 1x USB-C (DP Alt Mode), 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB Hub (3x USB-A, 1x USB-C)
Reasons to buy
+
USB-C connectivity with power delivery
+
Great colour accuracy for photo and video editing
+
Great value for these specs
Reasons to avoid
-
Feels a bit plasticky
Creatives working from home will be more exacting when it comes to colour coverage and accuracy. We find the Asus PA279CRV delivers the goods with 99% DCI-P3/Adobe RGB coverage. It's Calman-verified to meet the criteria for video post-production editing and reviewing, with a solid Delta E colour accuracy score of -2 on test.
On top of that, it should meet all the connectivity requirements of the home-working creative with USB-C delivering 96W of power, which should be enough to charge and run a laptop, and DisplayPort daisychain support. Best of all, we think this monitor for creatives working from offers phenomenal value for the specs it offers. Sure the build doesn't look the most premium, but at under $500 for such a quality display we can live with that.
A good value ultrawide that provides extra space for multitasking
Our expert review:
Specifications
Screen size: 34-inch
Aspect ratio: 21:9
Resolution: QHD Wide (3440 x 1440)
Connectivity: HDMI, DisplayPort
Reasons to buy
+
Huge ultrawide screen
+
Good value
Reasons to avoid
-
Not much connectivity
-
Flat but not curved
Working with lots of windows simultaneously? If that describes your typical working setup, an ultrawide monitor can accommodate everything without the need for multiple screens, and we think the LG 34WN750 hits the right balance of features, price and quality.
It's a big, bright 34-inch monitor with HDR10 for punchy colours, and it features both HDMI and DisplayPort connections so you shouldn't have any problems getting your laptop set up with it. The lack of USB-C connection will be a disappointment for MacBook Pro users, but otherwise this a fine choice for anyone who needs a great big slab of screen.
The AOC AGON AG275QZ doesn't come cheap, but its price tag is justified when you take into account its superfast response times, excellent colour range, great contrast, super fast 270Hz refresh rate and range of ports. This monitor is designed for gaming, but that means it works a treat with creative apps, too. We absolutely loved this monitor when we reviewed the AGON AG275QZ and think its ideal for those who want to game by night and work on creative projects by day, or the other way round, of course.
If you're an Apple fan and you use lots of other Apple devices, then you've probably already chosen the best monitor for working from home for you. As we noted when we wrote our initial Apple Studio Display review, this monitor is very competitive for what it delivers, which is 5K resolution plus a built-in webcam for all your work-from-home calls and online meetings.
With only a 60hz refresh rate, no HDR, and no stand included (you have to buy that separately!), it lacks in some areas, but the monitor pairs perfectly with a Mac mini or MacBook Pro and the 5K screen offers great clarity, and we found colour and brightness are consistent.
Even if you're working from home, you might need to work in other places at times, or even just in other rooms. A portable monitor like this can make working outside the office more pleasant, extending the screen on your laptop, and it doesn't take up much space. Asus is the the king of portable monitors, and the Asus ZenScreen Go MB16AWP shows how seriously it's taking the format.
When testing this 15.6-inch display, we were impressed by built-in battery and speakers, the variety of useful inputs and the quality of the image. The drawback is that this is quite a bit more expensive than more generic portable screens of the same size, so you have to want the wireless connection and battery to opt for this.
An excellent 4K, 32-inch display still doesn't come cheap these days, but the BenQ EW3280U is a great deal. This media-focused monitor sits right in the mid-range, which is surprising considering that it's packed with features. Though made for entertainment, it boasts great colour coverage and a Delta-E of 1.20 (post-calibration during our testing) – enough for creative pros to squeeze in some photo and video editing every now and then.
Other features include BenQ’s B.I.+ and HDRi sensors, which detect the intensity of your content and current ambient light, different colour modes, and VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. As we said in our BenQ EW3280U review, we found the two 2W speakers and a 5W woofer a bit lacking in oomph, but they're still useful if you don't want to invest in external speakers.
Another large-screen 4K offering on this list is the Philips 329P1H, a great MacBook Pro-friendly display that boasts bright, sharp, and vibrant picture quality and comes with useful features such as a USB hub. Its colour coverage, as we found in our Philips 329P1H review, isn't as wide so we wouldn't recommend this to creative professionals and content creators.
However, that screen real estate, punchy colours, and decent brightness make it a great choice for work-from-home professionals who just need enough space to spread out and multitask. It isn't the cheapest 4K monitor out there, but it is pretty affordable for its size. Want to squeeze in a quick gaming sesh to unwind after a few hours of crunch time? We found it to be a decent gaming monitor as well.
How to choose the best monitor for working from home
The best work-from-home monitor for you depends on your daily tasks and demands. While any basic monitor would do for everyday office and admin work, if you're in a creative job then you need something that packs a little more in the visual department.
In our guide above, we've picked the best monitors for home offices for various professionals, from regular office workers to programmers and creative pros. We've included budget options that still provide more screen space and better ergonomics than a laptop screen but also options with built-in webcams – ideal if your home working involves a lot of video calls – and options that offer the kind of visual quality and colour reproduction necessary for doing things like photo and video editing at home. Also see our pick of the best monitors for graphics artists if you have more specific needs.
How we tested the best monitors for working from home
We conduct regular reviews of a wide range of tech devices, including monitors. When we review monitors, we conduct lab tests on brightness, contrast, colour coverage and accuracy and we also use them in practical situations for different types of work, including design work and photo and video editing.
In most cases, our reviewers conduct reviews of tech gear in their own homes over several weeks to get a thorough idea of how well the equipment performs. We also compare specs with other products and take feedback from other contributors and customer reviews.
To choose the best monitors for working for home for this guide, we considered different working needs, including general productivity for those whose work involves use of general office apps, but we have also picked some monitors that can serve for creatives working from home and even for those who want to get in some gaming after work.
FAQs
Is it better to use a dedicated monitor for home working?
Ideally, yes. While many people will find it possible to work from home from a laptop alone, laptop screens have two major disadvantages. One is there small size, which is great for portability but less great for viewing your work, especially if you work across several different programs or windows at once.
The second problem is their position. If you put a laptop on your desk the screen will almost certainly be below your natural sightline meaning that you have to look down at it. Over days, months and years spending so much time in that position can be bad for your posture. Using a laptop shelf isn't always an ideal solution either since it often means your keyboard will be too high to type on comfortably.
Using one of the best monitors for working from home helps resolve this by allowing you to keep your laptop on your desk but position an external monitor level with your eyes. For other options to improve your posture when working from home, see our guides to the best office chairs for back pain and the best standing desks.
Los Angeles-based Michelle is a writer and photographer. She regularly writes for TechRadar, Steve's Digicams and Techlicious, and is currently a freelance SEO and Production editor for TechRadar.
