Technologies

Best Monitors We’ve Tested in 2022

Dell, HP, Apple and more hit our top list.

Though money’s tight for a lot of folks right now, the days of desperately hunting for a $200 monitor for every member of a suddenly working-and-schooling-at-home family are long gone.

Now you have time to think about whether that emergency purchase still suits your needs. (Has your isolation-induced interest in gaming or design changed your priorities?) You also have the time to budget for a new model you’re aspiring for.

Read more: How to Buy a Gaming Monitor

Which is the best monitor?

As with many categories of tech products, «best» can be quite subjective regardless of how objective your testing is. For instance, I prioritize color accuracy over thin bezels and sleek curves. So I tend to refer to my top picks as «favorites» (or «top picks») rather than «bests.» And while expensive monitors aren’t necessarily better than cheaper ones, you usually have to spend more or make compromises, especially for more specialized displays for color work or gaming.

With that in mind, my favorite overall monitor from the pool I’ve tested this year is the Alienware 34 QD-OLED. It’s pricey at $1,100, but it has great image quality, excellent color and class-leading gaming performance. It’s also widescreen, which is a perk for work.

A bigger screen but for a lot less is Innocn’s 40-inch 40C1R at $600. It’s not nearly as good, but it’s good enough all around — especially if you can find it when the price dips.

I want you to know that between remote work and a move to new offices, it’s been a slow ramp-up this year for monitor testing and reviews, but you can start expecting a more consistent review schedule and updates to this list.

If you need advice on whether a particular type of monitor is right for you, there are some answers to common questions at the bottom of the list and a lot more guidance available in our general monitor and gaming monitor buying guides.

Other notable monitors

HyperX Armada 27 ($479): HyperX’s first foray into gaming monitors feels a little like a test balloon. Parent company HP already sells an Omen line of gaming monitors, and it seems like a monitor-plus-arm is just an attempt to differentiate. The
Armada 27 is a fine 165Hz, 1440p gaming display and the arm comes with parts for multiple types of mounting, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the arm design and there are better 27-inch 1440p monitors for the money.

Sony InZone M9 ($900): This PlayStation-optimized — but not from Sony’s PlayStation division — monitor is a great HDR experience (DisplayHDR 600 with 96-zone local dimming) and works as advertised with the PS5. If you plan to mount it on an arm or VESA-compatible stand, then bump my opinion up a few notches; over time, I’ve grown to dislike the stand design more and more. Plus, the InZone M9 takes forever to cycle through inputs in auto input select mode on a multimonitor/input system.

Monitor FAQs

Need more guidance? We’ve got more detailed info on what to look for in a general-purpose monitor and more specifically what’s important in a gaming monitor.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 3, #876

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 876 for Monday, Nov. 3.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has some exceptionally long clues. All of them have at least two words. If you need help, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Primary color.

Green group hint: Your lungs also qualify.

Blue group hint: Parents’ nightmare toys.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection in the second word of each phrase.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Things that are red.

Green group: Things filled with air.

Blue group: Things with a lot of pieces.

Purple group: Ending with animals.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that are red. The four answers are clown nose, fire engine, maraschino cherry and stop sign.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is things filled with air. The four answers are balloon animal, bouncy castle, water wings and whoopee cushion.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things with a lot of pieces. The four answers are jigsaw puzzle, Lego set, Lite-Brite and pick-up sticks.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending with animals. The four answers are dark horse, funky chicken, jumbo shrimp and sea monkey.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 3 #610

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 610 for Monday, Nov. 3.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a really fun one that may take you back to your childhood. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Wee wee wee!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Nursery rhyme counted out on a child’s toes.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RANT, TAME, TAMES, NAME, NAMES, RATE, RATED, GORE, SAME, SPRIG, MARK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

WENT, MARKET, STAYED, HOME, ROAST, BEEF, NONE

(Confused? Read this classic nursery rhyme.)

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THISLITTLEPIGGY. To find it, start with a T that’s a bit hard to find. You’ll need to go over three rows from the far left, then count down six letters to find the correct T. Then you wind around and back up (see image above).