A high refresh rate monitor gives you an advantage while gaming, animations appear smoother, and the overall feel is snappy. When you combine this with a huge screen, you’re in for a visual treat! Here are some of the best ultrawide monitors with a high refresh rate that you can buy across various price segments. Before we get to the monitors, though, here are some other articles that may interest you –
If you’re specifically a gamer, take a look at the best ultrawide curved gaming monitors. Want to go the alternate way and get dual monitors instead? Here are some of the best budget monitors for a dual monitor setup. Are you a creative professional? If yes, consider these 4K monitors for photo editing.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the monitors.
1. MSI Optix MAG301RF
Resolution: 2560 x 1080 pixels (30-inch) Refresh Rate: 200Hz Panel: IPS Ports: 2 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 2 x USB-A
The MSI Optix MAG301RF is an excellent choice for an ultrawide monitor for beginners. It has a pocket-friendly price tag but despite that, it doesn’t compromise on important features. The 30-inch panel is a Rapid-IPS display with a response rate of 1ms, which, when coupled with the 200Hz refresh rate and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, makes it perfect for gamers. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it for productivity or multimedia consumption. You get MSI’s Wide Color Gamut technology ensuring that the colors are more realistic but we don’t recommend this to content creators who rely on color accuracy. The monitor also has HDR support but users say it doesn’t make a lot of difference. You get a good selection of ports along with a DisplayPort right inside the box. This is a flat ultrawide monitor but considering the smaller size, it shouldn’t be an issue. The 1080p resolution means your GPU doesn’t have to work that hard to push the pixels. If you are low on desk space and are looking for a compact ultrawide monitor with a high refresh rate, you can’t go wrong with this.
2. Viotek GNV34DBE2
Resolution: 3440 x 1440 pixels (34-inch) Refresh Rate: 144Hz Panel: VA Ports: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x DisplayPort 1.2
If the previous product from MSI was the best budget ultrawide monitor, the Viotek GNV34DBE2 is the best budget curved ultrawide monitor out there. The 1500R curve makes it easy to view all parts of the display from the center which becomes essential given the 34-inch size. This is a VA panel so the contract ratio at 4000:1 is better than that of an IPS display. You get support for both FreeSync and G-Sync for the 144Hz panel so all you gamers out there are covered. The response time is 1ms and the monitor covers 103% of the sRGB color space. While it is HDR-ready, the brightness of the panel isn’t that high so you can’t take advantage of it. This is a good monitor for a lot of people getting their first ultrawide who don’t want to splurge. You can use it for work whether you want to just open a ton of windows and multitask or even edit photos and videos, thanks to the color accuracy. Later in the day, you can hook it up to your gaming rig and fire up some latest titles to enjoy at 144Hz. The display is light, an advantage if you want to use it with a VESA mount.
3. Samsung Odyssey G5
Resolution: 3440 x 1440 pixels (34-inch) Refresh Rate: 165Hz Panel: IPS Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
The Odyssey G5 from Samsung is one of the best budget curved ultrawide monitors for gamers. One look at the monitor and you will instantly know that it’s meant for gamers, thanks to bold accents all around. The 34-inch display is an IPS panel with a 1675Hz refresh rate and support for AMD FreeSync Premium. You get a fast 1ms response time but some users have complained about smearing issues at times. This is one of the cheapest ultrawide monitors to have HDR10 support so the colors are accurate and you can observe important details even in darker scenes. One downside of this monitor is that you only get 1 HDMI port and 1 DisplayPort connector so if you have a PC and a console that connect via HDMI, you will have to constantly keep disconnecting one to plug in the other. Some users have also experienced flickering issues occasionally on this monitor so that’s something to keep in mind. We wouldn’t recommend this monitor to users outside the target audience — gamers — since the display isn’t color-accurate for creative work and the large curvature isn’t ideal for productivity either. Also, note that the stand is pretty big so ensure you have enough space on your desk to rest it.
4. Samsung CRG9
Resolution: 5120 x 1440 pixels (49-inch) Refresh Rate: 120Hz Panel: QLED Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x DisplayPort 1.2, 4 x USB-A
The Samsung CRG9 49-inch monitor is an absolute paradise for productivity. Both the size and the unique aspect ratio are perfect for running multiple apps or instances of the same app at once. This is useful if you’re into trading or you need to have multiple documents or spreadsheets open at the same time. It’s also useful if you edit videos and want to see the entire timeline on the screen without scrolling constantly. You’re getting a QLED panel here with support for up to 120Hz refresh rate along with AMD FreeSync 2 for reduced latency. A big highlight of this monitor is its HDR10 support with a peak brightness of 1000 nits. This makes it an excellent proposition for those who want to enjoy watching content after working hours. Samsung’s unique picture-by-picture mode lets you split the monitor into two via software and run two different devices on either side which is excellent for multitasking. Before you hit that Buy Now button, though, note that this is a huge monitor so ensure you have ample space on your desk. Some users have faced connectivity issues too with the signal dropping randomly and the fix is to disconnect and reconnect the cable. This isn’t frequent but is still worth mentioning, especially considering how expensive the monitor is. If you want a large, and by that we mean a large monitor for productivity, multimedia, and the occasional gaming, this will serve you well. Not recommended for content creators.
5. LG 38WN95C-W
Resolution: 3840 x 1600 pixels (38-inch) Refresh Rate: 144Hz Panel: IPS Ports: 1 x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 2 x USB-A
The LG 38WN95C-W is an excellent ultrawide monitor for MacBook users. This is mainly because you just need a single cable to connect the monitor to your Mac and charge it at the same time, thanks to the Thunderbolt 3 port. The QHD+ resolution coupled with the 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut and VESA DisplayHDR600 makes this a great choice for creative professionals who rely on details and accurate colors. Of course, you can also use this monitor for gaming, thanks to both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro compatibility. The monitor can touch a max refresh rate of 144Hz and has a fast response time of 1ms. You also get two 5W speakers in-built. So, if you’re gaming or editing videos, you don’t need to connect your headphones. You also get a host of multitasking features with LG’s software on the monitor. The 38-inch size is ideal for productivity while not taking up too much desk space. The only annoying aspect of this monitor as pointed out by several users is that it keeps prompting you to switch to the Thunderbolt input even if you haven’t connected any device via that port. It can surely get annoying to receive the prompt repeatedly every day. So, if you’re not primarily going to use the Thunderbolt 3 port, keep this in mind.
Work and Play in Style
An ultrawide monitor with a high refresh rate lets you multitask with ease to get your job done during your working hours. When it’s time to relax, just fire up your favorite games and enjoy smooth gaming on a huge display. Not to forget, the 21:9 aspect ratio is ideal for watching movies too. It’s a win-win situation!
