Best Gaming Monitor Under $100

Want to buy a good gaming monitor, but your budget is limited? Then you are in the right place. We researched the market and found a few decent deals.

Yes, decent, because we focused on gaming monitors under $100.

What?

100 dollars? Is even possible to find a decent monitor in this price range that is suitable for gaming?

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Simple answer: Yes, it is. But you have to resign on the high refresh rate of 144Hz and above, fast response time or huge screen size. Even G-Sync or FreeSync is missing. Technologies that are designed to smooth out gameplay, reduce input lag, and prevent screen tearing.

All the models we found are between 60Hz-75Hz, so they are not good for competitive gaming, but for gaming as such… why not. By the way, you can check out our article where you can see how huge is the difference between 60Hz, 144Hz, and 240Hz monitors.

Please note, that all the following displays are the best gaming monitors for 100 dollars or less, but the prices may have changed since we wrote this article.

Still, we are speaking about solid, affordable monitors that will work fine for many users, may provide good performance while displaying movies in HD, or decent gameplay. Here is a list of the best gaming monitors under $100.

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Acer SB220Q

First and arguably the best cheap monitor on this list. Acer has been known for developing some of the highly affordable monitors in the market and Acer SB220Q is proof. It is an excellent (for the price) choice for any reason. It offers a high-quality HD resolution of 1920 x 1080, 21.5″ IPS display, 75Hz refresh rate, a good crisp, and visual clarity and as the only monitor we mention in this article, it comes with FreeSync technology.

The name FreeSync is a brand name that refers to AMD’s implementation of adaptive synchronization technology. It essentially allows a display to vary its refresh rate to match the render rate of a graphics processor.

This technology reduces stuttering and screen tearing compared to monitor operating at a fixed refresh rate and gives gamers a much better visual experience while playing fast-moving games.

If you are a gamer on a strict budget, we highly recommended the Acer SB220Q. It´s the essentially unbeatable choice for someone looking for a monitor under $100.

FOR: Sleek design • AMD FreeSync enabled • Inexpensive

AGAINST: No USB ports • Middling color and grayscale performance

HP Pavilion 22CWA

A mediocre design and entirely made of plastic. Why do we mention HP Pavilion 22CWA here? This budget monitor is incredibly popular with 3900+ mostly positive customer reviews. So, what is the reason for the huge popularity?

The HP Pavilion 22CWA is a 21.5″ monitor with an IPS display, full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, and a 60Hz refresh rate. It lacks more advanced features to improve the picture quality and performance, but still performs really well. It has wide viewing angles that help images to remain uniform when viewed from up close.

For competitive gaming, take a look elsewhere. For example, if you are playing CS: GO with a 144Hz refresh rate monitor that has a 1ms response time, you get the advantage of several milliseconds to shoot first if compared to someone who is using the HP Pavilion 22CWA (60Hz, 7ms).

For the average gamer, this monitor is a good deal. It’s hard to find an IPS panel at this price point, let alone one manufactured by a name like HP. Overall, the HP Pavilion 22CWA comes with everything you’d need when looking for a decent monitor for 1080p gaming.

FOR: Elegant design • Bright colors • Crisp pictures

AGAINST: Horrible contrast levels • No USB

ASUS VS228H-P

Also referred to just the ASUS VS228H this budget monitor is a nice surprise for us. To start off this 21.5″ screen is a 1080p LED monitor with a resolution of 1920×1080 and a basic TN panel. It is a great everyday monitor and a decent unit for casual gaming.

The 5ms response time is one of the fastest in this price category and the same can be said about the refresh rate (75Hz). Speaking about visual performance, the ASUS VS228H-P offers exceptionally great colors and image quality considering the low price.

As we already mentioned, this monitor is for everyday work, it isn’t designed for professional designers or advanced photo editing. For people with a low budget who are looking for just decent image quality, HD movie watching, or casual gameplay, the ASUS VS228H-P is a good option.

FOR: Good value • Matte display • Power efficient

AGAINST: Basic TN panel • No built-in gamma correction

Acer G226HQL

Slim design, vivid colors, and low price. These make the Acer G226HQL interesting. Unfortunately, these are all the pros of this model. The low price comes with some compromises, like a basic TN panel, bad viewing angles, and no HDMI input. Although these are negatives, you can still enjoy 16:9 HD digital content with a 21.5″ widescreen LCD with 1920 x 1080 resolution without image distortion.

The mentioned attributes are more than enough at this price point. With all the pros and cons in mind, we still think that the Acer G226HQL is good for budget-conscious users. It is not the best monitor, but gives a solid performance, a fast response time of 5ms for casual gaming, and comes with all the attributes one needs in a standard monitor.

FOR: Good size for the price • Very thin and light • Stylish base

AGAINST: No HDMI ports • Inconsistent backlighting • Wash out colors • Awful viewing angles

Sceptre E225W

What to say about Sceptre E225W? This ultra-thin LED monitor offers good value in terms of size vs price. We are speaking about a 22-inch display with 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution and a 75Hz refresh rate. Pretty good for a monitor under $100.

Unfortunately, the E225W is an average unit, if we speak about color and contrast, but definitely not bad. For watching YouTube videos, streaming movies in standard image quality, or browsing the internet and programming, this cheap monitor is good enough. If you are a gamer or movie fan who needs premium image quality, then move on. The Sceptre E225W is not for you.

FOR: Cost-effective • Size • Good image quality

AGAINST: Worthless built-in speakers

ViewSonic VA2259-SMH

Frameless design, full HD 1080p resolution, and good image quality delivered through IPS panel. The ViewSonic VA2259-SMH is an ideal all-around display for PC, or as a second monitor for your laptop. And a really good deal. You get clear, vivid colors with 1920 x 1080 resolution, decent for multimedia applications.

With SuperClear IPS panel technology, this monitor delivers the same image quality whether you are looking at the screen from above, below, the front, or the side. In short, the ViewSonic VA2259-SMH is an interesting budget monitor with pretty good visual performance and a definitely good deal for the money.

FOR: Two audio inputs • VESA mount • Good image quality

AGAINST: No DVI port • No adjustable stand

What To Expect For Less Than $100

To be clear, you can find a decent gaming monitor in this price range. However, you should expect a screen size between 19 and 22 inches, 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, and refresh rates between 60Hz and 75Hz. Not higher.

Most of these monitors aren’t designed for competitive gaming, their refresh rates and response times aren’t fast enough. But for the casual gamer that doesn’t need a fast response time of around 1 ms, there are few good choices.

The fact is, We found one monitor that is above the rest of the competition in this price range, Acer SB220Q, but if you can push your budget higher, just a little (+$20-$50), it unlocks some much better possibilities.

Few Tips For Buying A Budget Gaming Monitor

Shopping for a gaming monitor under $100 is a challenge. To avoid errors, we prepared a short list of tips you should keep in mind when buying a monitor.

RESOLUTION – A higher resolution leads to a higher pixel count, so you may get better visual detail and higher image clarity. Gaming monitors can have the following resolutions:

1080p (Full HD)
1440p (QHD/2K)
2160p (UHD/4K)

REFRESH RATE – The refresh rate is the speed (rate) at which the image on the screen on the screen can be refreshed per second. It is measured in Hertz (Hz) and the faster the rate is, the more times the image can be updated and the smoother the image looks.

Most monitors have the following refresh rates:

60 Hz
120 Hz
240 Hz

ADAPTIVE SYNC – Adaptive Sync is a technology designed to smooth out gameplay, reduce input lag, and prevent screen tearing. AMD’s FreeSync and Nvidia’s G-Sync technology is a great option for PC gamers. FreeSync for AMD graphics cards, G-Sync for Nvidia.

RESPONSE TIME – Anything below 2ms is good for competitive gaming. The response time means how long this change takes. The higher the monitor response time is, the more problems it could have displaying fast-moving objects.

The Final Word

The truth is, finding a good gaming monitor under $100 isn’t as hard as we think. Yes, you have to resign on the high refresh rate of 144Hz and above, fast response time, or huge screen size. Still… Some of the monitors we mentioned in this article have a lot of features needed for useful gaming, smooth performance, stylish design, crisp image quality, and vibrant colors. We highly recommend the Acer SB220Q, the only monitor that comes with the AMD FreeSync adaptive technology.

More Information

If you enjoyed this best cheap gaming monitor under $100 review, you’ll probably like our other gaming guides as well. Here are some popular resources from the Nechstar:

Main photo by Andreas Palmer

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Our recommendations are honest and we are highlighting only products that are above average at the time of the review.

Best Gaming Monitor Under $100 – The 6 Best Cheap 1080p Monitors