Best Prime Day Monitor Deals for 2021

We’re nearing the end of the first day of Prime Day 2021, and the deals are still going strong. But if you need a new monitor and can’t wait until Black Friday to get one, you need to start thinking seriously about which monitor to get since these Prime Day deals won’t last forever. But don’t feel like you can only shop Amazon’s discounts to get a good price on an awesome monitor. In fact, you might not even need a Prime membership to shop many of these Prime Day deals because other retailers have their own discounts today, too.

These Prime Day monitor sales are offering up huge discounts on some of the best monitors you can buy from Dell, HP, and others, and we’ve done the hard work of rounding them all up for you so you don’t have to waste precious minutes, leaving you time to focus on finding other deals.

Whether all you need is a cheap 1080p desktop monitor for work, or you’re looking to invest in a high-end 4K display for your gaming battle station (but you still want to save some cash, of course), there’s almost certain to be something here that’s a perfect fit. Read on to see the hottest Prime Day monitor deals that are ripe for the picking right now. Also, take a look at these Prime Day PC deals and Prime Day laptop deals if you’re after some more computer bargains.

Best Prime Day monitor deals

Should you buy a new monitor on Prime Day?

The answer to that question is an enthusiastic “yes,” but the key consideration here is: Do you actually need a new monitor? If your existing setup works well for you, only consider an upgrade if you see something among these Prime Day monitor deals that is exactly what you want at a price that’s too good to pass up. If you’re set on buying, which you probably are, then plan ahead with your budget so you know exactly how much you’re willing to spend. It’s very easy to spend hundreds of dollars on a monitor but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to; there are plenty of solid budget-friendly monitors that get marked down during sales like this, too.

Prime Day monitor sales tend to be very good as technology is generally everybody’s main focus during Prime Day, even if Amazon (and other retailers) offer discounts on almost every product category from clothing to appliances. That means that now is far and away one of the best times of the year to shop for deals on pricey gadgets like computers and computer peripherals. Effectively, all the biggest names in monitor technology are keen to discount their products during Prime Day, and if you’re looking for specialist products like a 4K monitor or gaming monitor, these are likely to be the best prices you’ll see before Black Friday arrives.

That’s not to say that you should wait for Black Friday in the hopes of getting a better deal — you probably won’t. Also, unlike last year, when Prime Day and Black Friday were about six weeks apart (due the Amazon’s big sale being delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic), Prime Day is back on its summer schedule this year. That means that you’ll have to wait months to get your new display if you hold off until Black Friday. You also can’t assume that the monitor deal you had your eye on will even go on sale again when Black Friday and Cyber Week roll around. Our advice: Don’t sleep on these Prime Day monitor deals. Now’s the time to shop.

Last year was a bumper year for Prime Day monitor sales, in part due to increasing numbers of people working from home. That meant we saw discounts across the board, encompassing both home office-based monitors and gaming displays. There were discounts for the likes of HP and Dell work monitors but also big price cuts for Alienware curved gaming monitors, so there was something for everybody.

How to choose a new computer monitor on Prime Day

Before you hit that “add to cart” button, you may want to quickly peruse our best monitors roundup, our look at the best 4K monitors, and our guide to the best gaming monitors. Whatever your needs, you should get an idea about what exactly you want before jumping on any of these Prime Day monitor deals, but we can save you a little time with a quick run-down of the most important features to look for along with some terminology to be familiar with.

Perhaps the most important consideration is what size of display you need. Do you simply want to be able to see a little more in your home office or are you looking to have a huge amount of screen real estate so you can keep multiple windows open at all times? This will depend on what your work involves, as well as your entertainment habits if you also use your computer for things like gaming and streaming videos. One advantage of desktop PCs is that you can set up multiple displays, but newer ultrawide 21:9 panels are another viable option.

Then there’s resolution. Full HD 1080p is the standard and Quad HD 1440p is a nice upgrade over that, but you may want to consider upgrading to one of the best 4K monitors as the price of these has come down a bit over the past year or two. If a high resolution is important for you, then the extra cost will be worth it. If you’re simply typing up some documents and designing some presentations, a 4K screen will be overkill. This will relate to size, too; 1080p might look fine on a 21- to 24-inch display but pixelated on a 27- to 32-inch display. For larger displays, you should consider 1440p or even 4K.

If you’re also an avid gamer, then you’ll naturally want one of the best gaming monitors that match those needs. Your computer’s graphics card and other specs will naturally determine what picture output the PC is capable of, but if you have a GPU that can handle 1440p or even 4K gaming, you also want a monitor that can get the most out of that performance. While you’re at it, look for a high refresh rate (at least 120Hz) so that you won’t have to deal with lag and screen-tearing while playing your favorite games. A good general rule of thumb is to get a display with a refresh rate that’s at least twice the frame rate you want to play at — a 120Hz to 144Hz monitor for 60 frames per second or a 240Hz to 300Hz panel for 120 fps, to name two common examples.

Again though, if you just need a monitor for work, a high-end gaming monitor (even when discounted) is probably overkill. If your work simply involves typing up documents, you should be fine with most any monitor that’s a good price and the right size for your desk. If you do a lot of picture-sensitive work like photo editing or video editing, on the other hand, it can be worth checking out picture quality to ensure the monitor you’re considering buying has the best image reproduction. Precise temperature and color controls are vital here, as well as the option to save different color profiles. IPS panels are the most color-accurate and offer the best viewing angles when compared to cheaper TN and VA panels so that’s what we recommend.

Curved monitors may seem appealing because they look cool, but they generally don’t add much functionality for monitors that aren’t ultrawide. Get one if you want one, but there’s no reason to pay extra for this feature on a monitor that has the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Finally, if you want to set up dual monitors, it’s a good idea to buy two of the same model so your display interface looks better overall on your desk. This is doubly true if you’re buying a desk-mounted monitor stand, as two different displays will align differently when installed on the stand’s arms.

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