In a vast sea of curved monitors, which are the best for you to tackle and vanquish all foes? Which ones will help you take your content creation to the next level without breaking your bank? The great thing about curved monitors is that they create the feeling of being immersed within the games you’re playing, the content you’re creating, or the media you’re consuming. Curved monitors have become all the rage with their immersive, palpable visual user experience. Once an oddity, they’re starting to become a selection of choice not only for gamers but for productivity and content creation. Also, let’s be honest here, the curve is sexy, delicious, and inviting.
When someone enters your work area, gaming area, or home, their eyes immediately spot your curvy visual mistress and start asking questions. Design teams at every major company seem to put a little extra into their curved monitor creations.
We recently had a hands-on with the HP P34hc G4 WQHD USB-C Curved Monitor and walked away excited as well look forward to receiving a review unit and share the results with you all. Another Curved monitor we recently got hands-on is the Dell C3433WE 34-inch curved conference monitor, which we will have a review for soon.
However, which is the best-curved monitor for you, for your budget, or for your work? With the help of our lab maniacs, we present to you our picks for the best-curved monitors of 2021.
Why buy a curved monitor?
You may question why you would want or need a curved monitor, especially if you take into consideration some smaller-sized curved monitors that don’t offer many advantages to flat panels. This is why so many curved monitors are 30 inches and above where the curvature makes the most difference. The curvature of these monitors is most advantageous for gamers, graphic artists, and video content creators. Because the entirety of the display faces the user, it grants them a panoramic view of their work, and gaming experience. Also, due to the larger, wider dimensions of most curved monitors, you can use more windows and apps at once. And some OEMs offer software that simultaneously supports different operating systems.
The best-curved monitors you can buy today
The HP S430c brings a lot to the table. With 43.4 inches of bright, vivid, stunning 4k display replacing the need for multiple monitors, you shouldn’t need more. And yet, the monitor has more to give. The HP S430c also adds a pop-up wide-angle HD IR webcam, which uses Windows hello software to provide extra security with facial recognition technology.
The HP S430c also comes with the company’s proprietary device bridge software, allowing you to simultaneously connect a PC or Mac to share the massive screen. That’s a marvel in itself, but HP takes things further and lets you control the two systems with a single cursor and keyboard. You can even transfer data from one to the other using copy/paste or drag-and-drop, and share files, making the HP S430c a multi-taskers dream come true.
See our full HP S430c Curved Monitor review.
The 32-inch Samsung CF391 is our pick for the best budget curved monitor. If you’re looking for a more immersive experience but are on a budget, this is a great entry-level monitor. Although inexpensive, the Samsung does a solid job of offering a 4-millisecond response rate at 1080p thanks to AMD FreeSync technology.
And despite its price, the Samsung CF391 delivers a crystal clear image and solid color reproduction. There are some compromises to contend with, such as only having a 60Hz refresh rate. It’s not meant for super heavy gaming but will do a very nice job as an everyday home office workhorse monitor with the ability to enjoy your everyday multimedia endeavors.
The Dell U3818DW 38-inch monitor is sturdy and known for its color accuracy, solid picture quality, and decent motion handling, making it an office workhorse It also has excellent multitasking capabilities that include picture-in-picture, picture-by-picture, and a USB hub that allows you to connect two computers.
The Dell U3818DW comes with the InfinityEdge design, meaning there is almost no bezel to speak of and with the curvature of the monitor, the display is meant to feel endless. Due to its excellent out-of-the-box color accuracy, it’s a great choice for graphic artists and photographers alike. Adding to the feature set are two 9-watt speakers that reproduce audio solidly.
The gorgeous Acer Predator X34 curved monitor is a well-designed curvaceous beast that you will lose yourself in while either gaming or watching movies. Due to its 1900R curve, it gives you a movie theater vibe even when you’re sitting in your office.
When gaming, the Acer Predator X34’s ability to overclock its refresh rate up to 180Hz means faster, buttery-smooth image reproduction. Covering 98% of the PCI-P3 color gamut means games and video will have accurate color reproduction with nice saturation.
The Predator X34 also comes with a pair of 7-watt speakers that use DTS Sound technology to deliver excellent audio output with a solid amount of bass response. Although you only get two video inputs (DisplayPort and HDMI), the monitor does come with a five-port USB 3.0 hub (4 downstream, 1 upstream) and a headphone jack.
The Acer Predator X34 checks off all the boxes you want in a curved monitor, but you have to be prepared to pay a premium price.
The stylish Alienware AW3420DW 34-inch curved monitor with its beautiful design, RGB lighting, fantastic image quality and color reproduction is definitely a favorite. With a speedy 120Hz refresh rate to go with a 2ms response rate, from gaming to video editing, there will be nary a dropped frame or any screen tearing.
The Alienware 34-inch AW3420DW is one of the best performing curved monitors on the market. Thanks to its 1900R curved display, the AW3420DW provides a fully immersive viewing experience thanks to its 1900R curved display that takes you deeper into the game or whatever project you’re working on.
The screen’s curvature maximizes your field of vision, reducing eye movement, so you can stay comfortably focused on your game or work. This 3440 X 1440 WQHD resolution display delivers sharp, crystal-clear graphics with excellent brightness while covering DCI- P3 98% color gamut.
