The best touchscreen monitors can offer advantages for certain workflows. Whether it’s for creative use or to improve general productivity tasks, the best touch display can make navigating certain programs more intuitive and more precise, particularly for tasks like making a selection in an image.
They can deliver a seamless, responsive experience that feels like writing with a pen on paper, and an immediacy that you don't get with even the best mice to the best keyboards. But while touch screens now abound in phones and tablet, most monitors don't offer touch. There are some excellent touch displays out there, however. Below, we've made our pick of the best touchscreen monitors after evaluating a range of options for their accuracy and responsiveness, design, extra features and price.
If you prefer a more traditional monitor, possibly with a higher resolution, check out guides to the best monitors for photo editing and the best 4K monitors. If accurate colours are important to you, whether you’re a photographer or video editor, you might want to invest in one of the best monitor calibrator tools. You can also scroll down to the bottom of this article for a bit more info on the best touch displays.
The best touchscreen monitors available now
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With so many options on the market, our choice of the best touchscreen monitors comes down to the details. And detail is something that Dell's P2418HT monitor does brilliantly. This 1080p monitor on a 23.8-inch panel boasts an LCD screen to deliver excellent resolution, contrast, and colour. Moreover, it boasts an anti-glare surface that works beautifully in distracting light conditions as well as ultra-thin bezels that give it a stylish flair and you more screen real estate.
However, it's its ingenious articulating stand that well, stands out here. Dell is no stranger to brilliant stands – its Dell C1422H has one of the best stands we've ever seen on a portable monitor, for example – and we're seeing that again here. This one allows you to extend, swivel, and orient the display up to 60 degrees downwards, giving you versatility and excellent workplace ergonomics. You can go from using it as a regular monitor to sketching on it in mere seconds. This may be slightly more expensive than some of the other touchscreen monitors on this list, but it offers excellent value for money.
Looking for a cheap touchscreen monitor from a reputable brand? The 21.5in Dell P2219H IPS monitor is available at a brilliant price, and it still does an impressive job, making it one of the best touchscreen monitors available for those on a tighter budget.
The stand is nicely adjustable, and the ultrathin bezels provide for a sleek look. With up to 250 nits of brightness, 178-degree viewing angles, and Full HD resolution, the screen is a great performer, although the colours aren’t quite accurate enough for professional photo editing or design work. It uses tech that reduces harmful blue light emissions, making it easier on your eyes during long work sessions.
While creative professionals usually go for larger screens, there’s definitely a place for portable monitors in content creation. Nomadic users in particular can benefit from a portable monitor that’s designed specifically with video editors, designers, and music producers in mind.
The ProArt Display PA148CTV is something of a rarity in the sea of portable monitors with its robust set of features targeted towards creatives. They include the Asus Dial, a physical dial that you can use to make effortless adjustments to your project whether you’re in Lightroom, Premiere Pro, or Photoshop. There’s also the Virtual Control Panel function, which allows you to use the display itself as your touchscreen control panel, simplifying your workflow.
This being a touchscreen monitor for creatives, you get impeccable colour coverage (100% sRGB and 100% Rec.709), excellent colour accuracy of ΔE < 2 out of the box, and Calman Verification. There are a lot more features too, all packed into an incredibly compact 14in form. If you’re looking to expand your screen real estate when travelling or out in the field, this is the best choice there is.
The ViewSonic TD2230 is small, light and portable touchscreen monitor, making it perfect for anyone with limited desk space and/or who needs to travel with their screen. The 22in, Full HD, IPS display offers beautifully sharp image quality and high visual accuracy. The screen is also scratch-poof, and the bookstand design allows it to be tilted and adjusted from 20 to 70 degrees, or rested flat.
The connection ports are all on the side of the monitor, offering easy access. You get HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA and USB connectivity. The monitor offers low power consumption – great for both your pocket and the planet. The colours are a little dull, but overall this is an excellent buy for anyone looking for a portable touchscreen monitor.
The Viewsonic TD1655 is another small, portable option from Viewsonic, and one that comes with a budget price. The 15.6-inch monitor offers 1080p resolution, which is more than enough for a panel this size. It is a little light on special features, but it delivers where it counts.
The picture quality is great, even though its 250-nit brightness might not be enough for some people. And its 10-point projective capacitive touchscreen works smoothly, especially with the stylus pen, which comes included, adding value. Plus, you can easily flip the screen orientation vertically, which is handy if you're working with code or scrolling through documents or online chats. And, thanks to its USB-C port, which delivers up to 60W of power both ways, you can have a minimalist setup.
The Philips 242B9T is another good touchscreen monitor. It might not be the most stylish looking touch monitor but it has an awful lot to offer. For a start, it comes with built-in 2W speakers. Also, you can connect it to a wide range of devices via HDMI, DVI, VGA and DisplayPort.
The Z-type stand allows you to tilt the screen between -5 and 90 degrees. And the IPS panel provides a great picture. Philips’ own SmartContrast technology makes for rich, crisp blacks, and its FlickerFree feature controls brightness and flicker to reduce eye strain.
The Asus VT229H comes with many features you’ll find on most touchscreen monitors, including 10-point multi-touch capacity, 178/178 viewing angles, flicker-free backlighting, and blue light filter to make it easy on the eyes. However, it also boasts a few extras you won’t find on rival displays, and these help make your workflow more seamless.
It lets you toggle between 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios, for one, via the Asus Aspect ratio control so you can use the aspect ratio that feels most comfortable for your current tasks. It has the Asus QuickFit Virtual Scale, which lets you display an alignment grid that comes in handy for making presentations and editing photos. Finally, it boasts the Asus Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, which gives you eight colour preset modes to choose from and toggle on the fly via a designated hotkey.
Want a larger touchscreen monitor? Most touchscreen monitors tend to be on the smaller side, but this 27in offering from Planar offers a relatively large IPS LED-backlit display. While Full HD is a little thin for a 27in display, the screen offers dependable color accuracy and contrast that won't shift depending on where you're looking.
It's a versatile monitor too, with a built-in HD webcam and microphone, making it great for home office working and video conferencing. It boasts 10-point capacitive multi-touch and an ergonomic stand that can take the display from completely flat to a 70-degree tilt.
Is it worth buying a touchscreen monitor?
If you’ve ever used a touchscreen laptop and wished you could do the same at your desk, then the slightly higher price of a touchscreen monitor over its non-touch counterpart is well worth it. After all, there’s no other way to get that kind of nuanced control when navigating various windows and apps. For example, if you want to translate handwriting to text or draw directly on the screen using your finger, one of these panels is the way to do it. And, instead of having to use keyboard shortcuts to carry out a command, you can perform the actual action directly on the screen.
But, you won’t be holding a touchscreen display the way you would a tablet or smartphone. So, consider whether you’re comfortable using your fingers to navigate a screen that’s sitting at eye level for long periods.
What are the disadvantages of a touchscreen monitor?
There are some drawbacks to using a touchscreen monitor. For example, holding your arm up to interact with a touchscreen throughout a day’s worth of work will get tiring no matter how strong you are. And, you’ll have to clean that screen regularly. Otherwise, that buildup of smudges and fingerprints can get in the way of seeing it properly.
You’re also limited in how big a screen you can get since you’ll need it to be within arm’s length to use that touch capability.
Most importantly, however, touchscreen displays are more likely to experience some kind of damage. This is because there’s much more going on under the hood than with non-touch monitors. And, when something goes wrong, it will cost more to fix due to the more complicated design of these panels.
What is a 10-point touchscreen?
A 10-point touchscreen can register 10 distinct points of contact all at once. Not all touchscreen devices and displays utilise this technology. But, having it makes a huge difference in the accuracy of your taps, swipes, and various gestures. With one or two-point touchscreens, any accidental contact like the edge of your palm grazing the screen could confuse the interface and register a tap where it shouldn’t be. Utilising a 10 point touchscreen largely eliminates that kind of accidental interaction. And, it also allows for more complex interactions like typing directly on the screen.
Can I use a touch screen monitor with any computer?
Yes, you can use a touch-sensitive screen with any PC, or even a laptop. provided it has the right ports to connect with your machine. Check what ports your device has, but most touchscreen monitors will have several, including USB and HDMI.
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