You’ve heard all of the stories about skyrocketing laptop and PC component costs. You’re trying to limit your tech expenses. Is there any way you can improve your workstation in 2026 that’s not completely going to bust your budget?
There is. The one upgrade that you can and should make without hesitation right now your monitor — or monitors. A 27-inch 4K monitor can now cost less than many individual PC upgrades.
You’ve probably heard this argument before: invest in something you’ll use for hours at a time. At night, you should sleep for (hopefully!) eight hours on a comfortable, supportive mattress. During the workday, you constantly touch a keyboard, but you’re always viewing the fruits of your labors on a display or two in front of you. Though some people might still work from just a laptop, I’m betting that the 2020 pandemic prompted you to set up a home office with at least a single external display. Let’s dig into why it’s time to upgrade your monitor.
Welcome to PCWorld’s newsletter, Smart Mode! The focus of this newsletter is productivity: from software to hardware to peripherals, all with the idea to get what you need to get done, efficiently.
I’m your host, Mark Hachman, covering the productivity tips, tools, and trends that you need to know about, both from within PCWorld and beyond. If you want the latest issue in your inbox each week, just sign up right here.
Big is better
You may have heard that more displays equal more productivity; larger displays do, too. A study (funded by NEC) found that 20-inch monitors returned an 18 percent improvement in performing tasks than an 18-inch monitor.
Satechi
And that makes sense, given that a 27-inch 16:9 display has about 3.5 times the display area of a 14-inch 16:10 laptop screen. You can simply see more.
Likewise, an 18-study meta-review in 2021 also found that users uniformly preferred using at least two displays, and there was moderate evidence that they reduced desktop interactions, improving efficiency. So there’s evidence that buying more, larger displays works. A display with a 60Hz refresh rate is standard, but a higher refresh rate is easier on your eyes — if you can afford one, I think they’re worth it.
My workspace includes a pair of Acer 4K 160Hz (XV275K P3) 27-inch displays (provided by Acer) that I use for testing the 4K capabilities of Thunderbolt 5 docks. They’re excellent for testing the high-end capabilities of I/O hardware, but they’re absolutely overkill for the average home office. Even two 27-inch displays can take up a great deal of desk space, which is why I rotate one into a vertical or portrait mode.
New features for the same price?!
So there’s an argument to be made for buying an upgraded display just on the numbers alone…but there’s more to it than just that.
In 2024, IDC found that the average price of a display actually decreased. That was the result of “normal” market forces. Then 2025 arrived, and…display prices were hit again? Absolutely. Because the price of memory and storage skyrocketed, display prices benefited — laptop makers were desperate to find some place to save a buck, and displays were the answer. Panel makers pushed prices down. Obviously rising memory costs overshadowed that, at least for notebooks. However, the cost of IPS panels (and IPS displays) remained relatively flat, according to reports.
Meanwhile, OLED displays entered the picture. In 2023, laptop makers like Samsung started building in self-emissive OLED displays into laptops like the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, amazing everyone (me included) with their high-contrast displays, making video content pop. Quickly, however, they began adding the features IPS display buyers had become used to: higher and higher refresh rates, plus a greater number and diversity of I/O options, such as USB-C/Thunderbolt I/O.
Pexels
Ideally, given what I’ve just recommended (about 27 inches, 4K, 60Hz refresh rate or better) we would simply add OLED to the mix to create what’s approaching (at least for me!) the perfect productivity monitor. We’re not quite there yet, unfortunately. While 4K, high-refresh-rate OLED displays exist, they’re typically considered to be gaming monitors like this Samsung 32-inch Odyssey OLED G7 ($749.99 at Amazon, 32% off at press time). Great display! I’d love to have it! But it’s still a little rich for my blood.
Instead, if you’re willing to drop down a notch, consider this 27-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED or this Acer Predator 26.5-inch 240Hz OLED for $314.99. Both are 1440p displays, rather than true 4K, so there’s an unfortunate compromise. Still, doesn’t that seem a lot more affordable than a new PC?
In my opinion, monitor prices have not only held steady throughout the past year or two, but they’ve shown continual improvement by adding new features and technologies. Something tech-related that’s improved while holding prices constant? Is that actually possible in 2026?
So what should you buy?
Remember, monitors typically fall into one or two categories: gaming and office productivity. I would recommend that you review our recent recommendations for productivity displays to see if in any deals are in effect. We list the current prices, so you’ll be able to check for deals.
If you’re seeing this the day I published it, my colleague Michael Crider recently saw a 27-inch, 240Hz OLED gaming monitor on sale for $300 at Best Buy, at 1440p resolution. Snag it if it’s still there!
Productivity in the news
- Speaking of OLEDs, how about a review of Samsung’s recent 4K Odyssey OLED monitor, too?
- Michael Crider has an app suggestion that straddles productivity and personalization: Wallpaper Engine.
- Here’s a quick way to test your Internet speed — right from your taskbar?
- Two websites one tab: it’s Firefox getting creative, again.
Productivity on camera
- Remember my earlier newsletter in managing OneDrive? This is a more opinionated take. Much more.
- AI transcription is awesome, but expensive. Microsoft Word (yes, Word!) can save you money.
Productivity tip for the week:
AI is such a controversial subject these days, and I generally avoid it in favor of my own knowledge and expertise. But AI tools are certainly tempting, especially for cutting out some of the busy work. Cal Newport reminds me of this report from The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, where using AI tools required constant supervision — and supervision meant a loss of focus. That’s something for both you and me to think about, I think. Feel free to drop me a line on Bluesky or Twitter/X if you have any ideas.
Thanks for reading!
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