3 gaming monitors to avoid on Black Friday (buy these instead)

Gaming monitor sales are a staple of Black Friday, and some of the best gaming monitors are on sale this year. Although some of my personal favorite monitors are marked down this year, I can’t recommend them all — the discounts just aren’t there.

If you’re in the market for other monitors, make sure to bookmark our roundup of the best Black Friday monitor deals.

Asus Tuf Gaming VG249Q (don’t buy)

In the budget realm, the Asus Tuf Gaming VG249Q is marked down by 26%, bringing it to a clean $200. It’s a great 1080p gaming monitor if you’re on a budget, packed with a 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync support, and a 1ms response time.

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Asus ROG Strix XG249CM (buy)

If you can stretch your budget a bit further to $250, though, you’ll get a much better 1080p display. At $250, Asus also has its ROG Strix XG249CM. It’s still a 24-inch 1080p gaming display with FreeSync support and a 1ms response time. It just comes with a 270Hz refresh rate and HDR support. The HDR isn’t great, but it’s at least an option. The VG249Q doesn’t support HDR at all.

The extra refresh rate is great if you play competitive games like Overwatch 2, Valorant, and Rainbow Six Siege, and it’s well worth the $50 upcharge. You’re also getting a much nicer stand and Asus’ signature ROG branding, adding a bit more flare to your setup.

Gigabyte M32U (don’t buy)

If you’re in the market for a 4K gaming monitor, Gigabyte’s M32U is normally a great option. It’s a 32-inch 4K display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and it offers surprisingly good image quality for the price (read my Gigabyte M32U review for more). It’s 28% off for Black Friday, bringing the price down to $578, but there’s a similar 4K gaming display on sale for even less.

Acer Predator X28 (buy)

The Acer Predator X28 has less of a discount than the M32U, but it still comes in cheaper at $500. You’re getting a 28-inch 4K display with a 144Hz refresh rate. The main difference is image quality. Although the Gigabyte model isn’t bad for the price, the wide color gamut on the Predator X28 means you get much more vibrant colors, as you can read in my Acer Predator X28 review — and for nearly $100 less than the M32U, that’s hard to argue with.

Sony InZone M9 (don’t buy)

Up the chain, Sony has its InZone M9 on sale for the first time ever on Black Friday. It’s easily one of the best HDR monitors on the market, as you can read in my Sony InZone M9 review, but the sale this year is pretty disappointing. It’s $100 off, bringing the monitor from $900 down to $800.

Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 (buy)

Contrast that with Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G8, which is on sale for $500 off. It’s the best deal I’ve seen on the monitor so far, going down from $1,500 to $1,000. And the extra $200 over the InZone M9 couldn’t make more of a difference.

You can read all the details in my Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 review, but the short of it is that the Odyssey Neo G8 offers much better image quality than the InZone M9. You’re going from 96 full array local dimming zones on the Sony to 1,196 dimming zones on the Samsung, so you’re getting far superior HDR quality. In addition, the Odyssey Neo G8 comes with a 240Hz refresh as opposed to a 144Hz refresh rate on the InZone M9, and the Odyssey Neo G8 is 32 inches as opposed to 27 inches. The Odyssey Neo G8 might be the craziest monitor deal I’ve seen on Black Friday this year.