Best Budget HDR Monitors 2021

HDR is a great display feature that allows the monitor to display a wider colour gamut and a better range of brightness than standard monitors. This allows bright highlights to really show and for more detail to be visible in darker areas. It is especially noticeable when a single scene has both bright and dark areas simultaneously.

The wider colour gamut is typically measured against the DCI P3 gamut with coverages of 90% or higher being the accepted norm. Similarly, the minimum standard brightness for HDR is 400 nits although more are better as they allow brighter highlights. A key part of brightness, however, is FALD or Full Array Local Dimming, which allows independent control of the backlight brightness for different parts of the screen. Unfortunately, this is very much a premium feature and is only present in more expensive models.

To help you pick a good option we’ve drawn up our list of the best budget HDR monitors in 2021.

The BenQ EW327U is a 32-inch 4K60 monitor that comes with excellent Adobe RGB gamut coverage making it a great option for photo and video editing where this gamut is most common. For HDR content it has 95% coverage of the DCI P3 gamut which is very good. Unfortunately, HDR performance is generally let down by the low brightness of just 275 nits.

For gamers, this monitor has Freesync and is G-Sync Compatible. The variable refresh range is between 40 and 60Hz which isn’t great but at 4K, in a budget monitor isn’t terrible either. The VA panel does mean that the viewing angles are quite narrow.

The LG 32UL599-W is basically the same monitor as the BenQ listed above. Performance-wise it is identical, with a 4K60 32-inch screen with great Adobe RGB gamut coverage. It can also display the same 95% of the DCI P3 HDR gamut and has the same issue with peak brightness.

It offers Freesyc and is G-Sync Compatible for gamers but only in the same 40 to 60Hz range. Again, being a VA panel, the viewing angles are narrow. The stand on this is worse than the BenQ’s but at $70 cheaper in the budget class that’s not much of an issue.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q is a 28-inch 4K60 monitor. While it is slightly smaller than the other entries in this list, and only has 90% coverage of the DCI P3 gamut it is noticeably brighter with a peak brightness of 350 nits that will still less than the standard 400 is perfectly reasonable.

The use of an IPS panel means that this monitor has much wider viewing angles than monitors with VA panels. While this panel does have Freesync for VRR between 40 and 60Hz, it is not officially G-Sync Compatible.

The Gigabyte G27Q is the only non 4K monitor in this list, however, while the 1440p resolution is lower, you do gain a much better 144Hz refresh rate, making this a great option for gamers. Furthering this is the Freesync Premium and G-Sync Compatibility rating with the VRR range from 144Hz to 20Hz.

The 92% DCI P3 gamut coverage and 500 nit peak brightness means that HDR content looks great on this monitor with bright colours really standing out. The use of an IPS panel also means that you’ll get wide viewing angles.

The Dell S3221QS is another 4K 60Hz monitor, however, this one features a 1800R curve. While the curve may not be to everyone’s liking it does somewhat synergise with the use of the VA panel as neither make the screen suitable for wide viewing angles.

The 90% DCI P3 gamut and the 370 nit peak brightness does mean that HDR content looks pretty good, if not quite as vivid as it could be. The monitor officially supports Freesync and while it isn’t officially listed as G-Sync Compatible, users report that it is when using the DisplayPort connector.

Those were our recommendations for the best budget HDR monitors. Have you recently bought a budget class HDR monitor? Which model did you go for and what sold you on it?