When it comes to competitive gaming, the higher the refresh rate of a monitor, the better, as you get lower input latency and smoother motion clarity.
In this guide, we’ve picked the top four monitors with refresh rates between 360Hz and 400Hz for competitive gaming to narrow down your search!
For the best monitors with refresh rates of 480Hz or higher, check out our best 480Hz+ gaming monitors buyer’s guide.
Let’s get started.
| Monitor | Size | Panel | Resolution | VRR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24.1" | TN | 1920x1080 | FreeSync | ||
| 24.1" | TN | 1920x1080 | FreeSync | ||
| 27" | IPS | 2560x1440 | G-SYNC Pulsar | ||
| 27" | OLED | 2560x1440 | FreeSync |
There are many things competitive players should take into account besides the refresh rate.
These include a fast enough pixel response time speed to keep up with such a high refresh rate, variable refresh rate support for tear-free gameplay, backlight strobing for reduced perceived motion blur, and more!
Check out our review summaries below to see what makes these monitors different from each other and to ensure you’re getting the model that’s most suited for your style of gaming!
The Pros:
- Quick response time
- Plenty of features, including VRR and MBR up to 400Hz
- Fully ergonomic stand
The Cons:
- Narrow viewing angles
About The Monitor
The KTC 25M1 is the most affordable 360Hz gaming monitor you can get – luckily, it’s equipped with an eSports-inspired design, quick response time, low latency and even a decent backlight strobing implementation!
Image Quality
The KTC 25M1 uses a TN panel, so its viewing angles are fairly narrow. The image loses contrast and shifts in brightness and color when viewed off-center, but this isn’t an issue if you’re sitting directly in front of the monitor.
Other than that, it has a typical 1,000:1 contrast ratio, a 125% sRGB gamut volume for a bit extra color saturation and a strong peak brightness of over 400-nits.
IPS panels offer wider viewing angles and a more consistent image, but aside from the $600+ G-SYNC Pulsar models, they don’t have fast enough pixel response times to keep up with refresh rates of 360Hz and above.
The KTC 25M1 uses a fast TN panel to eliminate ghosting behind fast-moving objects, making it an excellent choice for fast-paced competitive shooters.
You also get typical gaming features, such as Black Equalize, crosshair overlays, a refresh rate tracker and on-screen timers. In addition, there’s the ‘DAC’ motion blur reduction (MBR) technology, which uses backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of image brightness.
The implementation is excellent, with minimal strobe crosstalk in the center of the screen and only a small brightness penalty, allowing you to maintain roughly 280 – 350 nits depending on the pulse width setting.
However, keep in mind that backlight strobing introduces screen flickering that’s invisible to the human eye, but can cause headaches or eye strain during prolonged use for users who are sensitive to it.
Here’s how the KTC 25M1 compares to some of the best gaming monitors available when it comes to motion clarity.
Check out our in-depth KTC 25M1 review for more details.
Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor offers height adjustment up to 155mm, -5°/35° tilt, +/- 60° swivel, -5°/90° clockwise pivot and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
The screen features a carrying handle, a headset hanger, side shields and a wired controller.
Connectivity options include two DisplayPort 1.4 inputs, two HDMI 2.0 ports (max 240Hz), a headphone jack, an audio line-out port, a USB port for firmware updates, and a mini USB port for the wired controller.
The Pros:
- Quick response time
- Plenty of features, including VRR and MBR up to 400Hz
- Fully ergonomic stand
The Cons:
- Narrow viewing angles
About The Monitor
The BenQ Zowie XL2566X+ is a more premium version of the KTC 25M1.
Image Quality
To start with, you get a bit better DyAc2 backlight strobing implementation with fewer strobe crosstalk artifacts.
Further, you get BenQ’s exclusive features, such as XL Settings To Share (allows you to import picture settings from other players) and highly customizable Black eQualizer and Color Vibrance settings.
The design also has a more premium feel to it. In the end, it’s up to you whether these upgrades are worth the extra $250 to you.
Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is robust and versatile with up to 155mm height adjustment, -5°/35° tilt, +/- 45° swivel and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
Connectivity options include three HDMI 2.0 ports (limited to 240Hz), DisplayPort 1.4 and a headphone jack.
Alternatives
If the XL2566X+ is too expensive for you or you cannot maintain 400FPS in games, there’s a cheaper 280Hz version, the BenQ Zowie XL2546X+, with the same DyAc 2 backlight strobing implementation.
There’s also a 24.5″ 1080p 500Hz G-SYNC IPS gaming monitor, the Dell AW2524H, but we don’t recommend it as it’s expensive and doesn’t have a very fast pixel response time.
BenQ also plans to release the 24.1″ BenQ Zowie XQ2566X and 27″ BenQ Zowie XQ2766X 1440p 360Hz TN models with new DyAc3 for even better backlight strobing performance, though these will be more expensive at $900 and $1050, respectively.
The Pros:
- Quick response time
- Impeccable 60Hz and 120Hz backlight strobing
- Exceptional VRR + strobing performance between 80 and 360Hz
- Fully ergonomic stand
The Cons:
- IPS glow and mediocre contrast ratio (as expected from this panel technology)
About The Monitor
In case you want a monitor that’s great for competitive gaming and graphically oriented games, as well as content consumption and creation, consider the ASUS XG27AQNGV!
Image Quality
The ASUS XG27AQNGV is based on a 27″ 1440p 360Hz IPS panel. The higher screen resolution provides you with sharper details, which is obviously better for graphically oriented games, photo/video editing and other uses, but it’s also beneficial for competitive gaming.
Moreover, the ASUS XG27AQNGV has a wide 90% DCI-P3 color gamut for even more saturated colors that can help enemies stand out more in certain situations.
Now, most competitive players prefer ~24″ sized screens as you get to see more of the screen at once, that is, you don’t have to move your eyes or neck as much as you would on larger displays.
This is why the ASUS XG27AQNGV features the 25″ Mode that puts black borders around the screen and displays a 25″ 2368×1332 (or 1920×1080) image. The 1080p resolution will look blurry, but 2368×1332 is displayed natively, resulting in just as sharp image quality as 1440p!
The monitor has a dedicated G-SYNC Pulsar scaler, which allows for simultaneous performance of backlight strobing and variable refresh rate. This means that you get incredible CRT-like motion clarity without tearing as long as you’re within the support range, from 75Hz up to 360Hz!
You can also use ULMB2 (global flash strobing) at fixed refresh rates of 60Hz and 120Hz for perfect motion clarity.
Other features include Dark Boost (improves visibility in dark scenes), crosshair overlays, on-screen timers, a refresh rate tracker and various picture presets
Check out our in-depth review of the MSI MPG 272QRF X36 for more details. It’s a different model, but also features the G-SYNC Pulsar scaler.
Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is robust and offers height adjustment up to 110mm, +/- 45° swivel, -5°/20° tilt, +/- 90° pivot and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1 ports, a headphone jack and a USB 3.0 hub (three downstream, one Type-B, and one micro-USB for firmware updates)
Alternatives
There are three other G-SYNC Pulsar displays available. They all offer fundamentally the same image quality and performance, so choose the one that best matches your preferences or offers the best pricing in your region.
The Pros:
- High pixel density
- Wide color gamut
- Plenty of gaming features, including VRR and ULMB 2 up to 360Hz
- Fully ergonomic stand, USB hub
The Cons:
- IPS glow and mediocre contrast ratio (as expected from this panel technology)
About The Monitor
The MSI MAG 271QPX uses an OLED panel, which makes it an excellent option for both competitive gaming and graphically oriented games!
Image Quality
OLED panels don’t rely on a backlight to create the image. Instead, each pixel produces its own light and can completely turn off for true blacks, resulting in an infinite contrast ratio without any backlight bleeding, haloing or other visual artifacts related to LED-backlit panels.
Moreover, they have instantaneous pixel response time, so there’s zero ghosting visible behind fast-moving objects, regardless of your refresh/frame rate.
The MSI MAG 271QPX uses Samsung’s QD-OLED panel with an impressive 99.3% DCI-P3 color space coverage for rich and saturated colors. You’ll also find factory-calibrated sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB color presets.
OLED displays cannot get as bright as mini LED displays, so the HDR image won’t be as bright. However, you still get a decent brightness performance with up to 1000-nits for small details < 3% APL (Average Picture Level), 450-nits for 10% APL and 250-nits for 100% APL / SDR brightness.
Another downside is the risk of image burn-in. When displaying an image with bright static elements for too long, those elements (health bars, mini-maps and similar HUD elements) can remain permanently visible as an afterimage.
However, if you play varied content and use the monitor sensibly, it shouldn’t be an issue. MSI even offers a 3-year warranty that covers burn-in, as well as some advanced burn-in prevention features (integrated heatsink, Screen Saver, Pixel Shift, Logo Luminance Adjustment, etc.).
Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is sturdy and offers a good range of ergonomics, including up to 110mm height adjustment, +/- 90° pivot, +/- 30° swivel, -5°/20° tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1 ports, USB-C with DP Alt Mode and 15W Power Delivery and a headphone jack.
Alternatives
For more OLED options, check out our dedicated OLED Monitors article.
Conclusion
That’s it! As you can see, choosing the best 360Hz monitor isn’t that difficult – it all comes down to your budget, PC rig and personal preference.
The ASUS XG27QNGV and the other G-SYNC Pulsar displays offer the best motion clarity and decent image quality.
The MSI MAG 271QPX offers very good (though not as clear) motion clarity thanks to its instantaneous response time, but it also has an amazing HDR image quality thanks to its IPS panel.
Finally, the KTC 25M1 is a great budget option if you’re after a high refresh rate gaming monitor for eSports titles.
Updates +
- July 10, 2026:
– Added the KTC 25M1 and updated review summaries. - November 26, 2025:
– Checked up on the guide to ensure that our picks are still the best options available. - April 18, 2025:
– Checked up on the guide to ensure that our picks are still the best options available. - November 22, 2024:
– Checked up on the guide to ensure that our picks are still the best options available. - July 27, 2024:
– Replaced the Dell AW2725DF with the MSI MAG 271QPX. - January 16, 2024:
– Added the Dell AW2725DF.











