Black Friday Monitor Deals UK 2026: What to Buy and What to Skip

Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday 27 November, and Cyber Monday follows on 30 November. Monitors are one of the easier things to buy well in the sales, because most of what matters is printed on the box: size, resolution, refresh rate, panel type and ports. The headline discount tells you none of that. A big cut on the wrong screen is still the wrong screen, and you'll be looking at it every day for years.

Decide which monitor you want before the sales start. A shortlist makes it much easier to ignore discounts on screens that don't suit you, and to spot the spec-sheet tricks that make a cheap one look better than it is. If you want to see what's on offer today, our monitor deals page links straight to Amazon's own monitor deals.

Monitors worth watching this Black Friday

Each monitor below has a full review on our site, and each was in stock and sold new when we put the list together. Stock changes during the sales, so check the listing still says new before you order. Specs come from the Amazon listing unless we say otherwise. We don't print prices on this page, because they change by the hour in the sales: the Amazon link shows today's price, and our monitor deals page links to Amazon's current monitor offers. None of this is a forecast that they'll be reduced. They're where we'd start a shortlist.

For work and home office

• BenQ GW2486TC: if you work from a thin-and-light laptop, this is the simple one. It's a 24-inch 1080p IPS screen with USB-C and 65W power delivery, so a single cable carries the picture and charges the laptop, and at 24 inches 1080p still looks sharp. View on Amazon

Want sharper text for long working days? The BenQ PD2705U further down is a 4K screen with 65W USB-C, and our home office picks cover more 1440p and 4K options. Whatever you choose, check that its USB-C port carries video and power, not just data.

For PC gaming

• AOC 24G4ZR: a cheap way into fast 1080p for shooters. 24 inches, a 260Hz Fast IPS panel quoted at 1ms GtG, G-Sync Compatible, and a height-adjustable stand, with two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4. View on Amazon
• AOC Q27G4XFAD: start here if you want a 27-inch gaming screen. 2560 x 1440 at 180Hz on Fast IPS is a pairing a mid-range graphics card can run at high frame rates in many games, and you get a height-adjustable stand, one HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort 1.4. View on Amazon
• ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML1A: the same size and resolution at a native 240Hz, which the listing says overclocks to 260Hz, with a 1ms GtG response time, ELMB Sync, FreeSync Premium, 100% sRGB and DisplayHDR 400. You'll only see the benefit with a graphics card that can hold very high frame rates at 1440p. View on Amazon
• Gigabyte G34WQCP: an ultrawide for racing games and sims. It's 34 inches at 3440 x 1440 with a 1500R curve, 180Hz, FreeSync Premium and DisplayHDR 400, with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. It uses a VA panel, which means deep blacks, and VA panels as a type are prone to some smearing in fast, dark scenes. View on Amazon

For PS5 and Xbox Series X

• MSI MAG 322URDF E16: a big 4K screen for a console at a desk, and a good 4K PC monitor too. Amazon's listing describes a 32-inch Rapid IPS panel with a dual mode that runs at 4K and 160Hz or at 1080p and 320Hz. MSI's own spec sheet lists two HDMI 2.1 ports rated for 4K at 160Hz, so a PS5 or Xbox Series X can run at 4K and 120Hz on it. View on Amazon

On a smaller budget, both consoles can also output 1440p at 120Hz, which a 1440p gaming monitor's HDMI port can often handle. Check the maker's spec sheet for 120Hz over HDMI before you rely on it, because some monitors only reach their top refresh rate over DisplayPort.

OLED

• Philips Evnia 27M2N6591L: OLED for 1440p gaming. A 27-inch QD-OLED panel at 2560 x 1440 and 240Hz, quoted at 0.03ms GtG, with G-Sync Compatible support, HDR10, a height-adjustable stand, two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 and a USB hub. This listing is the white version. View on Amazon

OLED at 4K costs a lot more, and you need a high-end graphics card to get anywhere near 240Hz at that resolution, so a 1440p OLED like the Philips is the more sensible place for most gaming PCs to start.

For photo, design and Mac users

• BenQ PD2705U: sharp 4K text on a Mac, and factory calibration for photo work. The listing gives 27 inches, 4K IPS, 99% sRGB and 99% Rec. 709, a Delta E of 3 or under, 65W USB-C, HDMI, DisplayPort and a KVM switch for running two computers from one keyboard and mouse. View on Amazon

Not sure what to spend? Start with our guide to what your money buys in a monitor. Gamers will find more choice in the best 1440p gaming monitors, and there are separate picks for working from home, MacBook users, 4K and tight budgets.

When do the Black Friday monitor deals start?

Black Friday itself is on 27 November and Cyber Monday on 30 November. Plenty of retailers don't wait for the Friday, though, and the sale now runs for well over a week in most big shops.

As of 20 October 2026, when we last updated this guide, Amazon hadn't announced the dates of its 2026 Black Friday sale. Going by the last three years, the pattern is fairly settled:

• 2025: Amazon's UK Black Friday Week ran from 20 November to Cyber Monday, 1 December. Amazon announced those dates on 13 November.
• 2024: it ran from 21 November to Cyber Monday, 2 December.
• 2023: deals started on 17 November and ran to Cyber Monday, 27 November.

That points to a start in the week before Black Friday and an end on Cyber Monday, but treat it as a pattern rather than a promise until Amazon confirms 2026. Prime Big Deal Days ran on 6 and 7 October.

Will monitors be cheaper this year?

This is the awkward bit of 2026. Memory chips have shot up in price because AI data centres are buying so much of the world's supply. The Guardian reported in May that laptop and phone makers, including Microsoft, Samsung and Dell, had raised prices and pulled cheaper models, and in July TrendForce said retail laptop prices were expected to rise across the board, with graphics card memory getting dearer too.

A monitor carries very little memory compared with a laptop or a graphics card, so it's less directly exposed to that squeeze. Less exposed isn't the same as cheaper, though. None of these reports says what monitors will cost in November, and nobody can tell you what one model will cost on the day.

Black Friday is no guarantee of the year's best price, either. When Which? tracked 175 home and tech products sold as Black Friday 2024 deals at eight retailers, every one of them was the same price or cheaper at some other point in the six months either side. At Amazon, the Black Friday price was matched or beaten outside the sales period 88% of the time. Which?'s own advice is the right one: if you weren't planning to buy it, it isn't a deal.

To tell a real reduction from a flattering one, compare the exact model's delivered price for a new unit at a few UK retailers, and look up what it has actually sold for recently with a price tracker. A crossed-out RRP on its own doesn't prove a saving. Then set an alert at the price you'd be happy to pay.

Choose the monitor first: size, resolution and refresh rate

Size and resolution go together. Get the pairing wrong and either the text looks soft or you're squinting at tiny menus.

• 24 inches at 1080p is sharp enough and the cheapest way into a decent screen. It's still the size most competitive players choose, because the whole picture sits in your eyeline.
• 27 inches at 1440p keeps text crisp and leaves room for two windows side by side, and a mid-range graphics card can drive it at high frame rates. At 27 inches, 1080p looks noticeably softer at desk distance, which is why we'd steer most people to 1440p at that size.
• 27 to 32 inches at 4K is lovely for photos, video, spreadsheets and anything with fine detail. For gaming at 4K you need a powerful graphics card, or you'll be turning settings down to keep the frame rate up.
• 34-inch ultrawides (usually 3440 x 1440) give you a wide, wrap-around view that suits racing games, flight sims and timelines in video editors. Check that your games support 21:9 before you buy.

Refresh rate is how many times a second the screen redraws. For office work, 60 to 100Hz is fine, and 100 to 120Hz makes scrolling feel smoother. For gaming, 144 to 180Hz is where most people feel the biggest jump, and 240Hz and above mostly matter in fast shooters. A high refresh rate only helps if your PC or console can produce those frames, so match it to the hardware that'll drive it. Current consoles top out at 120Hz.

Panel types in plain English

IPS panels have good colours and wide viewing angles, so they're the safe all-rounder. Their weakness is contrast: blacks look greyish in a dark room, and some show a faint glow in the corners. "Fast IPS" is IPS tuned for quicker response times, which is what you want for gaming.

Watch films or play dark games? VA panels have much deeper blacks, and they're common on cheaper curved monitors. Many show smearing in dark, fast-moving scenes, so a VA screen can look great on a spec sheet and less great in a shooter.

TN panels are now a specialist choice. You'll find them on some very cheap screens and on dedicated esports monitors built purely for speed, but colours are weak and viewing angles narrow, so they make little sense for anyone else.

OLED (including Samsung's QD-OLED and LG's WOLED panels) lights each pixel individually, so blacks are truly black and motion is extremely clear. The trade-offs are price and burn-in: static images left on screen for long periods, such as a taskbar, a game's HUD or a news ticker, can leave a faint permanent ghost. Modern OLED monitors run pixel-refresh routines to reduce the risk, and you can help by hiding the taskbar, using a dark wallpaper and letting the screen sleep when you step away. If you'll mostly use it for work with fixed toolbars all day, IPS is the calmer choice. Before you buy an OLED, check whether the warranty covers burn-in and for how long, because that varies by brand.

Spec-sheet traps that make a cheap monitor look better than it is

Sales pages lean on numbers that sound impressive and mean less than they suggest.

• A "1ms" claim needs a second look. Check whether it's GtG (grey-to-grey) or MPRT. MPRT figures usually rely on a backlight-strobing mode that dims the picture, so a "1ms MPRT" VA panel can still smear. GtG on a Fast IPS or OLED panel means more, but even that's a best case: it says nothing about input lag, or the overshoot halo some fast panels leave behind moving objects. For gaming, read a proper review before trusting the box.
• "HDR10" only tells you the screen accepts an HDR signal. DisplayHDR 400 is the entry badge, and on most LCD monitors it won't look like the HDR you've seen on a good TV, because the backlight can't get bright enough, or dim small areas enough. Real HDR on a monitor generally means OLED or mini-LED.
• When a listing says "180Hz (OC)" or "overclock to 260Hz", the overclock usually works, but the native rate is what the panel is rated for, and the higher figure may need DisplayPort.
• A 4K screen limited to 60Hz is fine for desk work and for consoles at 60 frames per second. It isn't what most PC gamers expect when "gaming" is in the title.
• Around 250 nits is fine in a dim room and a little flat beside a bright window.
• Plenty of cheaper monitors only tilt. If you can't raise the screen to eye level you'll end up stacking it on books or buying a monitor arm, so add that to the cost.
• Last year's model is often where the real cuts are, and it's a good buy if the spec still suits you. Compare it with the current version so you know what you're giving up.

Ports: USB-C, DisplayPort and HDMI

For a laptop, the feature to look for is USB-C with video and power delivery. When a monitor's USB-C input carries both, one cable sends the picture and charges the laptop, and if the monitor also has a USB hub, your keyboard, mouse and webcam can plug into the screen too. Not every USB-C port on a monitor does this: some are data only, so check the maker's spec sheet for DisplayPort Alt Mode (video) and a power delivery wattage on the same port. Then match the wattage to your laptop's charger: 65W covers most thin-and-light laptops, while bigger ones may want 90W or more. The laptop's own USB-C port has to output video too (DisplayPort Alt Mode or Thunderbolt), which most recent ones do.

For a gaming PC, DisplayPort is usually the port to use, because it's the one that reliably carries the highest refresh rates and adaptive sync. HDMI 2.0 is fine for consoles at 60Hz and for desk work, but a PS5 or Xbox Series X needs HDMI 2.1 to run at 4K and 120Hz. If you're buying a monitor for a console, check the HDMI version, not just "HDMI".

"G-Sync Compatible" and "FreeSync" both mean adaptive sync, which matches the screen to your graphics card's frame rate and stops tearing. On a PC monitor sold today you should expect one or the other.

Stands, VESA mounts and desk space

A height-adjustable stand matters more than most spec-sheet features if you sit at a desk all day. The top of the screen should sit roughly at eye level, about an arm's length away. If the monitor has a VESA mount (usually 100 x 100mm), you can fit a monitor arm later and free up the desk. Curved 34-inch ultrawides are deep as well as wide, so measure your desk from front to back before you order one.

When should you buy?

If a monitor on your shortlist is already at a price you're comfortable with, and you need it now, buy it. Black Friday isn't a promise of the best price, and the extra time you get to use the screen has value of its own. If you can wait, set a target price for two or three models, watch them through November, and buy the first one that gets there.

Whenever you buy, check the returns policy. Online purchases in the UK normally come with 14 days to cancel after delivery, so turn the screen on as soon as it arrives and look for dead pixels, backlight bleed and, on a VA panel, smearing, while you're still inside that window. Manufacturers' dead-pixel policies differ, so it's quicker to sort out a fault through the retailer early.