After a new round of testing, the 4K HP Z27 is our new pick for the best 27-inch monitor.
Your guide
The Mac Mini has two ports you can use for connecting it to a screen: Thunderbolt port and an HDMI port. To connect to most computer monitors, which have a VGA port, you can use a MiniDisplayPort to VGA adapter connected to the Thunderbolt port. Whether you are a graphic designer or a hardcore gamer, our lineup of the top 10 monitors for Mac mini 2018 can help you find the best display.
Most people buying a 27-inch monitor should get the HP Z27. It’s color accurate, it has a 4K screen, it offers plenty of useful ports, and it can charge a USB-C laptop. 4K monitors no longer cost much more than good non-4K monitors, and they also look a lot better and work with most modern computers. But if you have an older computer that can’t use a 4K monitor, if you have apps that don’t scale well, or if you want to save (a little) money, HP’s Z27n G2 is your best option.
Our pickHP Z27
The HP Z27 offers great color accuracy, an ergonomic stand, a variety of useful ports—including a USB-C port with DisplayPort and 65 W power delivery—and a three-year warranty.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $544.
The HP Z27 has an ergonomic stand that you can adjust for height as well as tilt, swivel, and pivot, and HP’s three-year warranty and dead-pixel policy are about as good as you can get with any monitor. It also has a USB-C port that can carry the display signal, USB data, and up to 65 W of power over a single cable, more than enough to charge most 13- and 15-inch laptops; it’s a great option if you’re trying to eliminate cable clutter.
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Also greatHP Z27n G2
If your hardware or software can’t use a 4K monitor, the Z27n G2 is a 2560×1440 model with good color accuracy, an adjustable stand, and a port selection that’s almost as good as on the 4K Z27.
Buying Options![]()
*At the time of publishing, the price was $351.
The 2560×1440 (QHD) resolution of the HP Z27n G2 isn’t as sharp as a 4K screen, but this monitor is cheaper, and it’s just as color accurate as our top pick. It also has a nearly identical adjustable stand, three-year warranty, and dead-pixel policy, and it will work great with older computers or apps that can’t scale to 4K. Its USB-C ports don’t put out enough power to charge a laptop, and its default sRGB color preset has image-retention problems, but its Neutral color preset doesn’t have the same issues and is more than accurate enough for most people.
Everything we recommendOur pickBest Monitor For Mac Mini 2016HP Z27
The HP Z27 offers great color accuracy, an ergonomic stand, a variety of useful ports—including a USB-C port with DisplayPort and 65 W power delivery—and a three-year warranty.
Best Monitors For Mac Mini 2012Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $544.
Also greatHP Z27n G2
If your hardware or software can’t use a 4K monitor, the Z27n G2 is a 2560×1440 model with good color accuracy, an adjustable stand, and a port selection that’s almost as good as on the 4K Z27.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $351.
Why you should trust us
Andrew Cunningham spent more than six years testing, reviewing, and otherwise writing about PCs, Macs, and other gadgets for AnandTech and Ars Technica. He has been building, upgrading, and fixing PCs for more than 15 years, and he spent five of those years in IT departments buying and repairing laptops and desktops as well as helping people buy the best tech for their needs.
Our monitor guides benefit from the expert advice of Wirecutter senior staff writer Chris Heinonen—AnandTech’s former monitor guru and the guy a number of other reviewers go to for display-testing advice. He helped us figure out the best hardware and software to use for our testing, and he designed the evaluation process.
Who this is forMacbook Pro Compatible Monitors
If you have room for it on your desk, a 27-inch monitor is an ideal size. If you use lots of apps at once and have good eyesight, a 27-inch monitor fits a lot more information than smaller screens do. If you have poor eyesight, you can scale up the size of text and images and still have a usable amount of desktop space.
Most people buying a new monitor for a computer or graphics card made in 2015 or later should buy a 4K monitor. They make text and images look much sharper, they’re not much more expensive than their non-4K counterparts, they’re much easier to set up and use than before, and operating systems and applications have (mostly) adapted to scale up to the higher resolution. Our full guide to 4K monitors has even more picks for people who need larger, smaller, or higher-resolution screens.
If you have an older computer that doesn’t support DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 2.0, or if you rely on one or more apps that you know don’t scale well on a 4K screen, you should consider a 2560×1440 monitor (also known as a Quad HD or QHD monitor) instead. These monitors aren’t as sharp as 4K screens, but they are often a little cheaper, and it’s still easy to find models with plenty of ports, excellent adjustable stands, and great picture quality.
Neither type of 27-inch monitor is the best fit for everyone. If you don’t have enough space on your desk for a model of this size, one of our 24-inch monitor picks might be better. If you’re a gamer and you want a smoother frame rate and a more responsive screen, we have gaming monitor recommendations for either AMD or Nvidia graphics cards. And if you work with lots of big spreadsheets or databases (or multiple apps side by side) and you don’t want a multi-monitor setup—either because you don’t have the space for them or you want one large, continuous workspace—read our guide to ultrawide monitors.
Not sure what kind of monitor you need?
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December 2020
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