If you’re looking for a new 4K resolution monitor to pair up with a great laptop, PC, or Mac, your search will get complicated quickly. All the features and options can be overwhelming, from HDR support to refresh rates and speakers.
One monitor that makes that all easy is the LG UltraFine 32UN650W. It packs in a ton of great features for under $500, like excellent color accuracy, built-in speakers, HDR support, a sleek design, and joystick controls that make the menus easy to navigate. It’s also great for light PC gaming thanks to AMD FreeSync, although it has a low 60Hz refresh rate that might be too limiting for more serious gamers.
If you’re looking for a new budget-friendly 4K monitor, the LG UltraFine 32UN650W will hit the sweet spot. It is one of the best monitors for under $500.
LG UltraFine 32UN650W
Best budget 4K monitor
$350 $450 Save $100
LG UltraFine 32UN650W is one of the best affordable 4K monitors you can buy. It has a really sleek design that features joystick buttons for menu controls, great color accuracy, and even HDR support. The only weakness is that despite supporting AMD FreeSync for basic PC gaming, it maxes out at a 60Hz refresh rate.
- Resolution
- 3840 x 2160
- Refresh Rate
- 60Hz
- Screen Size
- 31.5 inches
- Ports
- 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 3.5mm headphone out
- Display Technology
- IPS
- Aspect Ratio
- 16:9
- Screen Brightness
- 370 nits (standard) 1,000 nits HDR
- Display Size
- 28.1 x 20.6 x 8.9 inches
- Display Weight
- 18.1 pounds
- Mounting Options
- VESA compatible
- Sound
- 2x 5 Watt speakers
- Tilt
- -5~20°
- HDR
- HDR10
- Variable Refresh
- No
Pros
- HDR10 support
- Joystick controls
- Integrated speakers
- Slim stand and design
Cons
- Doesn’t have USB ports
- Maxes out at 60Hz resolution
- No ability to rotate vertically
- White finish can get dirty over time
LG UltraFine 32UN650W: Pricing and availability
The 32-inch LG UltraFine 32UN650W was originally released in 2020 and is still available today. The suggested retail price is $450, which will vary depending on the retailer. At the time of this writing, Amazon has it for $350, and Best Buy has it for $360. The monitor is also available at B&H and Walmart.
Design
Slim and sleek, but still plastic
Many monitors I’ve reviewed, like competing Dell 4K monitors or Lenovo displays, tend to have large, bulky stands. Some examples include the Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q and even the budget-friendly Legion Y25-30. However, LG is thinking differently with the UltraFine 32UN650W, one of the slimmest, sleekest monitors you’ll see for sale, all the way down to the stand. It sports an open design shaped like a semi-circle, giving the monitor a slim look and providing more physical room on your desk to place items under it. The supporting arm on the rear even has an integrated cable clip, so you can route your cables more efficiently.
The monitor itself is all white on the back, with a touch of black on the bottom bezel in the front where the joystick is. I do like that white color choice, as it’s something that Dell has been using on the UltraSharp lineup for a while. It helped the monitor blend in with my setup, but that white finish does tend to get dirty over time, especially during my prolonged period of use.
Another thing that’s cool about the back of the monitor? The ports aren’t tucked away under the back where they’re harder to reach. Rather, the ports are in the middle in the back of the monitor, making it easy to plug and unplug the cables! There are two HDMI 2.0 ports (supporting HDCP 2.2), DisplayPort 1.4, and an audio jack for connection to soundbars and external speakers.
The lack of USB-C and USB ports is a letdown since you can’t use the monitor as an accessory hub for keyboards or mice. But you can convert the DisplayPort to a USB-C video signal with an adapter, which I did for a straight connection to my Surface.
The ports aren’t tucked away under the back where they’re harder to reach
Even the two five-watt speakers are ideally located on the bottom of the monitor facing the user, which created quite a sound show when I listened to my favorite songs on Spotify. It’s always nice to see speakers on a monitor, as it reduces the need to use dedicated speakers, adding a bigger mess of cables and items to a desk. Unlike other monitors, LG includes MaxxAudio, so you can tweak the sound and boost things like bass for a better experience.
As great as all of this is, there are some limits to the LG UltraFine 32UN650W’s design. First, its arm and feet are plastic, unlike the metal on more expensive monitors. This material choice is expected for the sub-$500 price but is not as durable. There are also ergonomic concerns. The monitor can move up and down up to 110mm, but it can’t fully rotate vertically, and it only can slightly tilt to an angle of -5 to 20 degrees. This is a bummer if you’re always on social media and like having your monitors turned vertically. You can only use this monitor vertically with the included stand.
This monitor also uses a proprietary circular power connector that slots into the back of the monitor. It’s not the standard AC prong you’ll see on other HP, Dell, and Lenovo monitors. There’s a chance if this power connector breaks or fails, you’ll have to buy one through LG directly, which isn’t ideal.
Interface and buttons
Easy-to-use joystick controls
When reviewing a monitor, I always spend extra time in the menu system to tweak brightness, contrast, and more. Usually, navigating these menus is a pain, especially on cheap monitors in this price range that might require multiple button presses to complete simple tasks. Thankfully, the LG UltraFine 32UN650W makes menu navigation easy thanks to integrated joystick controls.
The backlit joystick on this monitor is located right in the middle under the bottom chin. You can press the joystick left and right to adjust the volume and press down in the middle to get to the menu system. Press down once and to the left to switch inputs. You’ll even get audio feedback and beeps to let you know you’re pressing the right buttons. Simple as that!
There are so many features here that it would have otherwise been overwhelming to find and navigate without the joystick.
The menu system itself is quite intuitive. There’s a quick setting that gets you brightness, contrast, volume, and color temperate modes. Then, there’s an input menu to switch inputs and aspect ratios. The third menu is for picture settings, where you can change the picture mode and color temperatures, turn AMD FreeSync on or off, optimize the screen for HD content, or adjust the black level stabilizer and response times for gaming. There are so many features here that it would have otherwise been overwhelming to find and navigate without the joystick.
Display
Surprisingly color accurate, but only 60Hz
Considering the budget price, I never expected the LG UltraFine 32UN650W to have excellent color accuracy. When I tested the monitor with my colorimeter, the results were almost close to what I recorded with more expensive displays like the Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20. I tested the monitor configured on default settings at 45% brightness, 70% contrast, standard color temperature, and high black level.
I never expected the LG UltraFine 32UN650W to have excellent color accuracy.
Whatever’s on your screen will look vibrant, and there’s plenty of room to multitask thanks to the 4K resolution. The monitor gets really bright in the HDR mode (up to 1,000 nits, according to my colorimeter) and at a comfortable level in the standard mode (370 nits). It also doesn’t suffer from IPS glow and backlight bleeding problems on cheaper monitors. The contrast hits 1,000:1, exactly as LG suggests, which is about standard for an IPS monitor. Monitors with VA panels pack in higher contrast but are more expensive.
In terms of color accuracy, this monitor put up numbers above the 70% standard we usually look for: 82% AdobeRGB, 98% sRGB, 86% P3, and 77% NTSC. For reference, the Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 hits 86% Adobe RGB, 94% sRGB, 79% P3, and 82% NTSC when in the Adobe RGB mode. Combine those numbers with the HDR certification, which is great for entry-level photography and video editing.
But let’s put those numbers into words. In the standard non-HDR mode, I noticed how bright the XDA homepage looked, with the purple gradient in our homepage popping right out of the screen. Then, when watching nature videos showcasing Costa Rica in 4K, it felt like I had stepped into the jungle myself. The green moss on a sea turtle shell looked shrubby, and the fine grains of sand in beach scenes stuck right out.
There’s just one thing that bothered me about the monitor: the refresh rate. While 60Hz is great for light PC gaming, it’s not the best for console gaming or competitive gaming. I hooked up my Xbox Series X to this monitor, and it didn’t feel as smooth regarding gameplay. For PC gaming, though, there are a lot of great features to boost picture quality. I enjoyed playing Counterstrike: Global Offensive on this monitor, and the AMD FreeSync support and Black Stabilizer helped enhance some darker scenes and made gaming seem smoother. But it is still not as smooth as the 144Hz refresh rate great gaming monitor like the significantly more expensive Dell 32 4K UHD Gaming monitor I use daily.
LG UltraFine 32UN650W: Should you buy?
You should buy the LG UltraFine 32UN650W if:
- You’re on a budget and need a 4K HDR 60 Hz monitor.
- You need a monitor to connect to multiple devices.
- You want a monitor that has integrated speakers.
You shouldn’t buy the LG UltraFine 32UN650W if:
- You’re a serious PC gamer or need a higher refresh rate.
- You need USB ports.
Having it in my home for over a few months, I must say that the LG UltraFine 32UN650W is a great monitor for anyone on a budget. Coming in at under $500, it packs a lot of features that you’d usually only find on more expensive monitors. You get HDR 10, joystick controls on the monitor and many extra menu options that can boost image quality for gaming and beyond. Color accuracy is even in line with that of a more premium monitor, which means this monitor certainly will make whatever you’re working on or looking at more life-like and vibrant.
LG UltraFine 32UN650W
The best budget 4K monitor
$350 $450 Save $100
LG UltraFine 32UN650W is one of the best affordable 4K monitors you can buy. It has a really sleek design that features joystick buttons for menu controls, great color accuracy, and even HDR support. The only weakness is that despite supporting AMD FreeSync for basic PC gaming, it maxes out at a 60Hz refresh rate.