The best ultrawide monitors provide a great alternative to multi-monitor setups (check out our picks for the best monitors to get started there), providing all the same screen real estate without that frustrating bezel down the middle, not to mention eating up precious desk space. They come in a wide range of (increasingly enormous) sizes with various resolutions and refresh rates, all catering to the your exact needs depending on how much you’re willing to spend.
If you're a gamer who wants to make immersive strategy and flight-sim games look their best, ultrawide monitors are a great way to do that. They're also a great fit for anyone doing video or audio editing, as all that extra screen space lets you have really long timelines for easier navigation and management. Whatever kind of ultrawide monitor you're looking for, on whatever budget, there's something out there for you. Here are the best ultrawide monitors you can buy in 2022.
- Best Ultrawide Monitor Overall: LG UltraGear 38GN950
- Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitor: LG 34GP950G-B
- Best 1440p Ultrawide Monitor: BenQ EX3501R
- Best 1080p Ultrawide Monitor: MSI Optix MAG301CR
- Best 4K Ultrawide Monitor: LG C1 OLED
- Best 49-inch Ultrawide Monitor: Samsung 49-inch Odyssey G9 Neo
- Best Ultrawide Monitor For Professionals: BenQ PD3220Q
- Best Budget Ultrawide Monitor: LG 29WN600-W
Best Ultrawide Monitor Overall
Huge, Fast, and Gorgeous
- Size: 38 inches | Resolution: 3,840 x 1,600 | Refresh rate: 160Hz
LG makes excellent monitors in all shapes and sizes, but this 38-inch UltraGear ultrawide is something special. It's huge, has super-sharp resolution and enjoys a high refresh rate, so is great for both office work and gaming. The huge, 38-inch curved screen is immersive, which is handy for getting into your favorite game or focusing on the task at hand if you're working on a new project.
Both Freesync and G-Sync compatible, this display also offers extremely low input lag, making it excellent for those who like to play games competitively. Whether you want to play, work or just relax with this monitor, everyone can enjoy its sleek design with trim bezels, its gorgeous screen and its mechanical functionality—the stand includes excellent tilt and height controls.
A high brightness and gorgeous array of colors make it pretty good for HDR content too, although the local dimming function could be better. All in all, though, this is one of the best ultrawide monitors you can buy today.
Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitor
Ultra-Fast 1440p Gaming With G-Sync
- Size: 34 inches | Resolution: 3,440 x 1,440 | Refresh rate: 180z
There are a bunch of great gaming ultrawide monitors, but if you don't want to go to the absolute extremes of sizing, this 34-inch LG ultrawide gaming monitor is as good as it gets. At 34 inches with a 3,440 x 1,440 resolution, it has incredible pixel density to deliver an experience that looks close to 4K, while giving you heaps of screen space for immersive gaming.
It has a very low response time and near-zero input lag, making this a great display for competitive play too, and it has full support for Nvidia's G-Sync and AMD's Freesync, so you can enjoy a complete lack of screen tearing and stuttering (as long as whatever kind of graphics card you're running supports it).
Peak brightness, especially on SDR content, is impressive, making this a gaming monitor that's great in both light and dark rooms, and it has fantastic color accuracy, making it gorgeous in and out of games, and particularly good if you want to do some video or photo editing when you aren't gaming.
Best 1440p Ultrawide Monitor
35 Inches of Perfection
- Size: 35 inches | Resolution: 3,440 x 1,440 | Refresh rate: 100Hz
Although this isn't the newest ultrawide monitor out there, it's hard to argue with its strengths; especially at its new, heavily discounted price. At 35 inches, it's a great replacement for a dual monitor setup, and with a high resolution, it doesn't sacrifice clarity to do it.
The 100Hz refresh rate means it won’t be the absolute fastest display for gaming, so if you want an utlrawide monitor just for that, there are better options. But it's responsive enough that gaming and work look just as good on this big screen. It enjoys fantastic color accuracy and solid brightness, so it’s great for watching HDR movies without those annoying black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. It's great for work, too, thanks to its lean bezels and overall understated style that many appreciate about BenQ monitors.
If you're interested in using an ultrawide display like this to extend your laptop's display, then this monitor is a great option as it comes with a USB-C connection option so you can run it from just a single cable and charge your laptop at the same time.
Best 1080p Ultrawide Monitor
An Affordable, Super Fast Ultrawide
- Size: 30 inches | Resolution: 2,560 x 1,080 | Refresh rate: 200Hz
You don't need to pay through the nose for a super high-end, ultra high resolution monitor to get a good ultrawide display. In fact, some of the best entry-level models are extra wide 1080p displays and they still look fantastic. Take this model from MSI, which enjoys a 2,560 x 1,080 resolution and a very quick 200Hz refresh rate. That makes movements on your desktop look incredibly smooth, and if you're a gamer, you can really take advantage of it in high-paced games for better responsiveness and smoother animations.
There's also Freesync support for stutter and tear-free gameplay, and the soft ambient lighting system behind the screen lets you customize the feel of the monitor to your mood or whatever you're playing.
At 30 inches, it's a great size for both work and play, giving you loads of room for looking at big documents and wide video and audio editing timelines, and if you want, you can emulate a multi-monitor setup as if you had two smaller screens side by side—a great help if you're trying to improve your productivity.
If you're a movie fan, you can really enjoy your favorites on this monitor with its 21:9 aspect ratio, which just so happens to be perfect for eliminating black bars in many films.
Best 4K Ultrawide Monitor
LG C1 OLED
- Size: 48-inches | Resolution: 3,840 x 2,160 | Refresh rate: 120Hz
Although technically neither a monitor nor an ultrawide, the latest crop of OLED TVs make for fantastic monitors, and when you're using a 48-inch TV as a monitor, it's hard to call it anything but ultrawide. Ultra big, certainly.
The LG C1 OLED is an absolutely breathtaking display, giving you a rich, contrast-heavy picture in crisp 4K resolution. Thanks to its underlying OLED technology, it offers the best blacks possible on a display, giving you a near-infinite contrast ratio. It's also incredibly responsive, and when combined with a 120Hz refresh rate and variable refresh rate support, this TV makes for a fantastic ultrawide gaming monitor. With HDMI 2.1 ports, you can even plug in new-generation consoles for a complete gaming experience on one high-end display.
With such wide viewing angles, it doesn't matter if you're sitting up close to this display—the colors won't wash out. That makes it great for collaboration too, and the sheer size and gorgeous picture of this display will make it a head turner whether you're working with others or playing local multiplayer games.
If you want an even more capable OLED, the LG G1 is a slightly better screen with about 20% higher brightness, but it's also much more expensive and not necessarily worth the investment at this size and price.
Best 49-inch Ultrawide Monitor
Samsung 49-inch Odyssey G9 Neo
- Size: 49-inches | Resolution: 5,120 x 1,440 | Refresh rate: 240Hz
If you need the absolute biggest ultrawide money can buy without sacrificing any features, the Samsung Odyssey G9 Neo is the ultrawide display for you. The successor to the original G9, the Neo model has all of the same high-end features and then some. It's a monstrous 49 inches from corner to corner and has a resolution of 5,120 x 1,440—slightly fewer overall pixels than a 4K panel, but not by much.
Gamers can enjoy a variety of high-end features including an extremely fast 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time—great for fast-paced competitive games and for buttery smooth animations in more immersive titles. The G9 Neo upgrades the experience with Mini-LEDs too, so this panel gets brighter across larger portions of the screen, and with HDR10 support, it's fantastic for watching movies or playing HDR supporting games.
The deep 1000R curvature means that the screen is never too far from your eyeballs, so the image remains uniform and head turning is minimized even when looking at the extreme edges of the display. That does make it hard to share, so it's not necessarily the best for collaborative work or cooperative play, but the added immersion is worth it.
The only downside to a monitor this big, is that it is that big. Its aspect ratio is 32:9, making it almost impossible to find movies that fit it without black bars. You'll also need to factor in a lot of desk space to handle both the stand and the huge screen itself. Curved displays don't sit as neatly against a wall as more traditional flatscreens do. If you have the space and the budget for the Samsung Odyssey G9 Neo, though, there's nothing quite like it.
Best Ultrawide Monitor For Professionals
No Frills, No Nonsense
- Size: 32inch | Resolution: 3,840 x 2,160 | Refresh Rate: 60Hz
If you're a video editor, creative developer or an office worker in need of a monstrous amount of screen real estate, the BenQ DesignVue PD3220U is a great pick. It's a 4K display with fantastic color accuracy, wide viewing angles and a great uniform look across the entire screen. Its out of the box color calibration is excellent too, so there's no need to spend hours getting it looking just right once you get it all set up.
It's not the brightest display and it doesn't have a high refresh rate, but this isn't a screen designed with HDR movies or gaming in mind. It's a sleek, high-detail slimline display with a professional look and feel.
The Thunderbolt support is a welcome addition for MacBook owners looking to expand their screen space, and you can even daisy chain the setup if you want multiple displays running off the same laptop. At this kind of price, it really undercuts Apple's own professional displays, making this a great professional ultrawide if you have a more restrictive budget.
Best Budget Ultrawide Monitor
Plenty Of Space At A Low Price
- Size: 29-inch | Resolution: 2,560 x 1,080 | Refresh Rate: 75Hz
Ultrawide monitors used to be really expensive, even for entry-level models, but as this 29-inch ultrawide display from LG shows, that's no longer the case. At under $250, it is an absolute steal if you want heaps of screen space without emptying your wallet.
It doesn't pack the grandest of specifications or feature sets, but at 2,560 x 1,080, it has plenty of pixels to look good whether you're working, playing or relaxing with a movie. The 75Hz refresh rate is a nice addition too, making it a bit smoother to game and work on than more traditional 60Hz displays, even if the difference isn't as dramatic as on high refresh rate monitors. At this price, you should feel lucky for the extra bump regardless.
For an affordable display, color accuracy is fairly good and black uniformity is decent too making this a reasonable display for photo and video editing. The ultrawide design is super useful for timeline work no matter the cost, but for this low price, it's a great option for anyone who wants to enjoy the sheer screen space of an ultrawide monitor without having to move mountains in the bank account.
What to Consider While Shopping for an Ultrawide Monitor
How big of an ultrawide should you buy?
Buying an ultrawide monitor is mostly about buying big. But how big is big enough? And how big is too big? These are questions that only you can really answer, but there are some factors to think through.
While the 21:9 aspect ratio of typical ultrawide monitors all the way up to 38-inches is well supported by a number of games and movies, the biggest displays—like the Samsung Odyssey G9 Neo—have a 32:9 ratio, which makes watching films and TV without black bars a rarity. You also need to factor in the physical size of the display and its stand. The largest of screens take up the most amount of space, but those with the deepest curvatures also require more desk depth as they come much further from the back of the stand than traditional flat screen monitors.
To get the true ultrawide experience, 32inches is about the smallest you should go. Unless you really want the 21:9 aspect ratio and can't fit something that size, anything smaller loses the ultrawide effect to some extent and more typical monitors will be more affordable at the same size.
Do you need a high refresh rate?
High refresh rates are mostly beneficial to gamers. While a fast display that has a 120Hz, 144Hz or even 240Hz refresh rate will give you a smoother desktop experience, with less mouse trailing and jittery window movements, gamers will notice the difference the most. If you play fast games, they give you much smoother animations and can lower input lag too, making you more competitive in player versus player titles.
Over 60Hz alternatives, a higher refresh rate is more noticeable than higher resolutions in most gaming ultrawides, but there is a diminishing return. High-level gamers will notice the difference between 120Hz and 240Hz, but more casual gamers won't find it such a tangible benefit.
Should you buy two monitors, or one ultrawide?
The main selling point of ultrawide monitors is that they give you that multi-monitor look and feel, but without the bezels breaking up the screens in the middle. That's important for ultrawide gaming immersion—less so in simulation games, but it still helps—and with one screen there are fewer cables to worry about too, making a neater desktop display.
However, multiple monitor setups enjoy better window snapping features, making it easier to view multiple windows of different content at once. There are applications that can help you do that with ultrawides, but it does take some customization. Multiple monitors also let you gradually upgrade your experience, letting you have a newer model for gaming and an older one for additional screen space, for example. If you're unsure which experience is for you, try to get some hands on time with an ultrawide monitor at a local electronics store to see if it feels right.
