The Best Gaming Monitors - Mid 2025

Great article as usual Tim. I recently upgraded my monitor and wanted an oled. It was a dificult decision for sure. I waited for the Prime day sale and bought the Dell Alienware AW3425DW. My other monitor is a LG 32 inch 180hz curved 1440p VA monitor. I decided to keep both and also bought a dual monitor arm. So far, I am very pleased with the Oled monitor and thanks to you, I was able to finally decide. Again thank you for your review. Hopefully the Alienware oled will last me quite a few years. Especially since I have the luxury of only using it for content and gaming consumption. Cheers from Canada.
 
Hey Tim, I'd like to request something about monitors I have always wanted to know, and I keep hoping this comes up on compilations like these, but it hasn't happened yet.

What I wanted to know is about VA monitors specifically. I already have a decent IPS monitor, now I'd like to get a VA one as a second monitor (so I can choose between better responsiveness/colors of IPS or better contrast of VA at will), but I would like a panel where the black smearing issue isn't too bad. So the question is, how low can I go on price with VA panels and still have a good experience with black smearing? How can I expect the black smearing issue to be at each price point? And is there a stand-out budget (say, below $250) VA monitor that is particularly good in this regard?
 
All the love for QD-OLED, despite the fact that the QD layer seriously reflects back ambient light, thus greatly lowering the contrast in even normally lit rooms. I bought one, and quickly tired of the purplish blacks, returned it and bought a W-OLED - the LG 32GS95UE. Not sure why Tim hates W-OLED.
 
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