A 4K gaming monitor (3840 x 2160) is sharp, especially at 27 or 32 inches, but it asks a lot of your graphics card. If you are still choosing a resolution, read our 1080p vs 1440p vs 4K guide first. If you have already decided on 4K, this page matches Tom's Hardware's tested picks to UK prices.
Forge PC has not tested these monitors. The rankings and lab comments below come from Tom's Hardware's 4K gaming monitor guide, last updated 6 October 2026, and from its reviews of the individual screens. UK prices are approximate, from SpecPrice stock-checked listings on 13 November 2026.
Quick picks
Pick | Monitor | Panel | Why Tom's Hardware chose it | Approx. UK price, 13 Nov 2026 |
|---|
Best overall | ASUS ROG Swift PG27UCDM | 26.5-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED | Tom's top 4K pick: 240Hz at 4K in a compact 27-inch-class size | £724 at Scan |
Best value OLED | Dell S3225QC | 32-inch 4K 120Hz OLED | Strong image quality and colour at a lower price; 120Hz is the trade-off | No stock-checked SpecPrice price found |
Best premium dual-mode | ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP | 32-inch 4K 240Hz / 1080p 480Hz OLED | Dual-mode OLED; Tom's recorded very low input lag in 480Hz mode | No stock-checked SpecPrice price found |
Best value IPS | ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCS | 27-inch 4K 160Hz IPS | Cheaper than OLED, with sharp pixel density and solid colour, says Tom's | £299 at Scan |
Best 32-inch dual-mode (also in Tom's 2026 list) | ASUS ROG Strix XG32UCWMG | 32-inch 4K 240Hz / 1080p 480Hz OLED | 32-inch dual-mode OLED, named as a 4K pick in Tom's wider 2026 monitor guide | £674 at Scan and Box |
Best overall: ASUS ROG Swift PG27UCDM
Tom's Hardware's 4K guide names the PG27UCDM as its top overall pick: a 27-inch-class monitor that can run 240Hz at 4K. That combination is the reason it sits at the top. At 27 inches, 4K is very sharp (Tom's notes a similar 27-inch 4K IPS, the XG27UCS, at 163 pixels per inch, versus about 138 ppi on a 32-inch 4K panel). You give up some screen area compared with a 32-inch set.
On 13 November 2026 the PG27UCDM was about £724 at Scan, 4 per cent below its 30-day average and at SpecPrice's shown low for that listing. That is still a lot of money, and 4 per cent is a modest dip, not a deep sale. If you want this panel, use £724 as a reference rather than waiting blindly for Black Friday. Our GPU, CPU and RAM price watch covers other components; monitor prices are in SpecPrice, linked below.
Best value OLED: Dell S3225QC
Tom's Hardware's "best OLED" 4K pick is the Dell S3225QC, a 32-inch 4K OLED limited to 120Hz. The reviewer, Christian Eberle, praised its contrast, colour accuracy out of the box, build quality and unusually capable built-in speakers, including a spatial audio mode. The obvious drawback is the refresh rate: 120Hz, not 240Hz.
Tom's quoted a US MSRP of $699, and argued that many people who want OLED contrast will not have a graphics card that can hold 120fps-plus at 4K anyway. We did not find a stock-checked UK price for the S3225QC on SpecPrice on 13 November 2026, so check current stock before you buy. Do not treat the dollar MSRP as a UK street price.
Best premium dual-mode: ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP
If you want a 32-inch OLED and the option to drop to 1080p for a much higher refresh rate, Tom's premium pick is the PG32UCDP: 240Hz at 4K, or 480Hz at 1080p, with FreeSync and G-Sync certification. Tom's found its 240Hz response and input lag competitive with other 240Hz monitors, and said the 480Hz mode set record-low lag figures in its tests: a 2ms full-white draw time and 11ms total lag, at 1080p. Those are Tom's Hardware's measurements, not ours.
The guide put the US street price around $1,200. We did not find a stock-checked UK price on SpecPrice on 13 November 2026. A related 32-inch dual-mode OLED, the ROG Strix XG32UCWMG, was in stock for about £674 at Scan (£673.99, at SpecPrice's shown low) and at Box (about 1 per cent below its 30-day average). Tom's wider "Best Gaming Monitors 2026" guide also highlights the XG32UCWMG as a 4K pick, with 240Hz at 4K or 480Hz at 1080p. It is a useful UK-priced alternative if the PG32UCDP is hard to find, but it is a different model, and we have not tested either.
Best value: ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCS
Not everyone needs OLED. Tom's value pick is the XG27UCS, a 27-inch 4K Fast IPS screen with a 160Hz refresh rate, FreeSync and G-Sync support, and, according to Tom's, strong colour accuracy without calibration and a 6ms response time in its tests, plus a backlight strobe that can work with Adaptive-Sync. The trade-offs it lists are mediocre contrast, and no speakers or USB ports.
This is the one 4K pick that is clearly cheaper in the UK. On 13 November 2026 it was about £299 at Scan, at its 30-day average. That is a much easier number to live with than a £700-plus OLED, as long as you accept IPS contrast.
What your graphics card needs to do
4K with high refresh rates needs a strong GPU. Tom's 4K guide still mentions older cards in its shopping tips, which is not a useful UK buying test in late 2026. Use a current graphics card guide instead: our best graphics card in 2026 and the mid-range RX 9070 vs RTX 5070 and RX 9070 XT vs RTX 5070 Ti comparisons. If you cannot hold a frame rate you are happy with at 4K, a 1440p monitor is usually the better spend.
Look for HDMI 2.1 if you also want to plug in a current console, and for FreeSync or G-Sync compatibility if you want variable refresh rate. Many of the screens above support both.
Our verdict
The 4K monitor to buy, if your graphics card can feed it and your desk suits a 27-inch panel, is the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UCDM. Tom's Hardware makes it the overall pick for 240Hz 4K in a compact size, and it was about £724 at Scan on 13 November 2026. If you would rather save money, the ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCS at about £299 is Tom's value pick and a much cheaper way to get sharp 27-inch 4K, with IPS contrast rather than OLED. For a 32-inch OLED, Tom's points to the Dell S3225QC (120Hz) or the PG32UCDP (240Hz / 480Hz); UK stock-checked prices for those two were missing on the day we checked, while the related XG32UCWMG was about £674 at Scan and Box. We have not tested these monitors; the picks reflect Tom's Hardware's testing, and UK prices were checked on 13 November 2026.
