I'm a big fan of budget gaming monitors and for one simple reason: they're just so good these days. It wasn't all that long ago that if you were spending around $150 on a new display, you'd be lucky to get anything better than a small 1080p screen with a low refresh rate. Not any more!
This Lenovo Legion R27qe, for $153 at Newegg, is as basic as it comes, but you're really not missing out on the things that matter in a gaming monitor. With a resolution of 2560 x 1440 in a 27-inch panel, you're getting a decent pixel density for games and work. It is, perhaps, a teeny bit on the low side for digital art but I'm just nit-picking here.
That maximum refresh rate of 180 Hz is backed with VRR support in the form of AMD FreeSync (as well as HDMI VRR), so you can enjoy tear-free gaming until your heart's content. It's an IPS panel, so you know you're going to get rich and accurate colors, though that also means it's not going to have the best contrast or uniformity.
Lenovo states that this monitor is rated to DisplayHDR 400, due to its 450 nits of peak brightness, but as with all such monitors like this, you're better off just leaving it in SDR mode. Some games might look nice in HDR mode but you really need to go down the OLED route to enjoy that mode properly.
As for everything else, well, you get one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1 input sockets, and while they're not the latest spec, they're absolutely fine for 1440p gaming, be it on PC or console. The stand is height, tilt, and swivel adjustable, too, which is a rare thing with budget gaming monitors.
And budget it is, at just $153 bar one cent at Newegg. That's super cheap for such a display. See? Not everything in the world of PC gaming needs to cost a small fortune.
