The 10 Best Frameless Monitors

Editor's Notes

October 23, 2020:

Slowly but surely, display technology is marching forward. We're fortunate now to have a much wider selection of slim-bezel, nearly frameless monitors to choose from, and while all monitors will have at least a small border, we've been careful to stick with those with bezels in the range of about .3" or less.

Of course, it's no surprise that the Dell U2720QM and Dell S3220DGF make an appearance, as Dell appears to be applying their once-heralded "InfinityEdge" technology to a number of their recent releases. On the other hand, both the AOC CQ27G2 and AOC C24G1A are great choices for gamers, from a company that hasn't exactly been on the forefront of ergonomics throughout the past.

Like AOC, the manufacturers of the ViewSonic Elite XG270QC and Aorus FI27Q sometimes dip into gaming displays, and that's where both of these really shine. The ViewSonic is reasonably priced, as many of their are, and the Gigabyte Aorus FI27Q boasts a variety of impressive features, which, again, is generally expected from the performance-oriented brand. A monitor that you might not normally expect to get such a good mention is the Sceptre C355W, and while the brand has been maligned as cheap in the past, its quality is consistently increasing, and this ultrawide model is hard to beat at its price.

However, if all you want is something streamlined for simple tasks at home or work, the BenQ GW2480T is a good choice due to its crisp picture and advanced eye care features, while the HP 24mh is worthwhile because it's so inexpensive, yet doesn't skimp on quality.

June 09, 2019:

Technically, there's no such thing as a legitimately 100% frameless monitor. Even if there isn't a noticeable piece of plastic surrounding the display's edge, there will still be an ever-so-slight border that doesn't produce an image. This is simply a hardware limitation that LED screens have to deal with. But, given how advanced electronics production has become, manufacturers can come pretty close to bezel-free constructions. In the quest to find the sleekest monitors on the market, we've focused mostly on those without thick plastic borders and gravitated towards displays with bezels of just a few millimeters. One thing you will notice, though, is that there just aren't any that don't have a physical border on the bottom. Generally, that's where edge-sourced LED backlighting lives (hend the name edge-lit), and there's really nowhere else to put it.

Because of their almost non-existent bezels, frameless monitors are typically used in multi-monitor setups for a streamlined experience. As such, you'll find a lot of reasonably priced models such as the HP 27w, Acer G276HL, and Philips E9. Slightly more expensive but also considerably better looking are the AOC 27V2H and the Dell S2418HN and P2719HC. The Dells, in particular, are extremely popular choices, just like most of their monitors. They come about as close to being completely free of a bezel as anything out there. The AOC, on the other hand, is focus-built for gaming purposes, as evidenced by its 144-hertz refresh rate which supports G-Sync adaptive technology. Then there's the Asus Designo, which is one of the most finely designed options on the market that's still reasonably affordable.

The Alienware is one of the rare ultrawide frameless models, and its 3440 by 1440 resolution is just about perfect for many games, especially considering it's far more common today than it used to be for titles to have native 21:9 support. It used to take hours of fiddling around with settings to get games to run in the ultrawide format without cropping the screen, but the industry is starting to turn now, because the 21:9 gaming experience can really be something else. Finally, if you need something for professional video or photo editing, the ViewSonic is the one to consider. It has great color accuracy, a 4K resolution, and very good HDR support, which checks a lot of boxes needed by commercial users.