Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Should you buy a monitor on Black Friday 2021?

Black Friday deals present the best time to buy a new monitor, and there are already plenty of Black Friday monitor deals going on. You can find great monitor deals throughout the year, but with so many specs to consider, it can be hard to find the monitor you want on sale. Black Friday is a different beast, with discounts on budget home office monitors to high-end gaming displays from major brands.

  • View monitor Black Friday deals at Walmart

Black Friday is the best time to buy a monitor — but shop early deals

Man viewing a Samsung space monitor.
Riley Young/Digital Trends

Black Friday is when you’ll see the steepest discounts on monitors, but there’s no reason to wait for November 26. Many retailers are starting their Black Friday deals early. And some, such as Best Buy, offer a Black Friday guarantee. If the monitor you purchase drops in price between now and November 26, and it has the Black Friday guarantee, you’ll automatically get a refund for the difference.

We’re seeing some great monitor deals already. The Dell S2721QS is an inexpensive 4K monitor that’s already over 40% off. At Amazon, you can pick it up for $320, which is far less than its suggested price of $540. If you’re a gamer or shopping for one, there are a ton of gaming monitor deals to check out. The Razer Raptor — one of the best gaming monitors on the market — is currently $100 off at Amazon.

Some of the deals we’re seeing now probably won’t go lower on Black Friday. The super-fast Asus ROG Swift PG259QNR 360Hz is ideal for any aspiring esports athlete, and it’s $150 off right now at Best Buy. If you’re on a tight budget, you can pick up the Dell S2422HG, which is only $200 right now.

Although Black Friday is as much of an event as the holiday that proceeds it, recent shopping seasons have been more mellow than usual. You can find Black Friday deals at the start of November, so there’s no reason to wait until the end of the month. Issues with supply chains and the chip shortage have increased shipping times, too, so it’s best to shop now if you want your monitor to arrive in time for Christmas.

Why buy a monitor on Black Friday

Acer Predator XB3 Gaming Monitor review
Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Monitors can enhance or cripple your desktop experience, so Black Friday is the time to pick one up if you’ve been waiting to upgrade. There are a lot of options for gamers, which is great in a time when graphics cards are hard to find. A good gaming monitor with a high refresh rate can breathe new life into an aging gaming PC.

The Razer Raptor is our go-to recommendation right now. At list price, it’s just a little too expensive, but the $100 discount makes it an excellent deal. It’s a respectable 1440p monitor with a high refresh rate, and it includes a boatload of RGB lighting, bringing a little extra flair to any gaming rig.

If you want the best computer monitor for your home office, the Dell S2721QS is a great option. We found it to be a great entry point to 4K in our Dell S2721QS review, and with a steep discount it has right now, it’s even more attractive.

We’ve focused mainly on midrange and budget options, but there are some premium monitors on sale right now, too. The BenQ EX3501R is the best ultrawide monitor for video and photo editing, and it’s 23% off right now at Amazon and Walmart . Make sure to read our BenQ EX3501R review if you do any sensitive color work.

Monitors go on sale from time to time, but the biggest discounts come on Black Friday. If you’ve been waiting to upgrade or want to add a second monitor to your desk, now is the time to do it.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
Which RTX 4080 should you buy on release day?
Three RTX 4080s sitting side-by-side.

The RTX 4080 is here, and you can pick up a card now -- if you're quick enough, that is. Although the RTX 4080 will almost certainly sell out like the RTX 4090 did, that doesn't mean you should pick up the first card you find in stock.

I tested three RTX 4080 models to see if there are any major differences in performance, power, and thermals: Nvidia's Founder's Edition design, PNY's XLR8 Verto Epic-X, and MSI's Suprim X. Although there aren't large gaps in performance, more expensive models like the Suprim X can offer slight advantages outside of performance.
RTX 4080 models you can buy today

Read more
You can now buy Alienware’s second QD-OLED gaming monitor
An Alienware + Windows 11 PC gaming setup.

It is all about the curves and features with Alienware's new 34-inch curved Quantum Dot-OLED gaming monitor (AW3423DWF), which is vying to be one of the best immersive gaming displays on the market.

Previous

Read more
New AMD RX 6500 XT: 3 graphics cards you should buy instead
MSI Radeon RX 580 Gaming X+ 8G installed in a computer.

AMD has launched the RX 6500 XT, a $200 graphics card that actually costs around $200 in 2022. Erm, if you can find one, at least. Early signs on the secondhand market show prices closer to $400 due to the GPU shortage, and it looks like AMD made too many concessions with this release to earn a spot among the best 1080p graphics cards.

Hardware Unboxed calls it the worst graphics card release in two decades, and Linus Tech Tips says it's a GPU for the desperate. I'm still waiting on a sample for my own testing, but the benchmarks that are out now paint a clear picture: The RX 6500 XT doesn't look like a good graphics card.

Read more