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The most underrated upgrade you can make.
Monitor arms can solve various problems when it comes to desk setups. They can help clear up more space to organize the desktop, move monitors into ergonomic positions, and enable unique setups based on user preference. Using monitor arms also opens up the opportunity for multiple display setups due to the added space.
Gamers use monitor arms for many of these same reasons, but they also buy them to add immersion to their game setups. Monitors with bezel-less designs are often used in daisy-chained display setups, extending the screen across two or more monitors. With the plethora of different monitor arms available, finding one that performs well and looks nice in a setup can be challenging.
These are the seven best monitor arms for PC gaming setups.
Monitor arms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can use gas springs, rotate 360 degrees, and come with more than one arm. Despite all of these options, the most important is that it is compatible with the monitor that users would mount.
The most common form of mount is a VESA, which are the four-screw square plates that attach to the back of the monitor. VESA mounts typically come in either 75 x 75mm or 100 x 100mm sizes, but smaller or larger sizes exist. If your intended monitor isn’t VESA mount compatible, you can buy a suitable adapter.
Durability is another important factor. Depending on the features, size, and materials used, a monitor’s weight can exceed the strength of the arm holding it. When the arm can’t hold it up, the screen can fall, or the arm could fail and possibly damage the screen. Monitor arms on this list all have 75 x 75mm or 100 x 100mm VESA mounts and an average max holding about 20 pounds or around 8 to 9 kilograms.
Other features to consider are the monitor arm’s maximum height and whether it can use a C-clamp or grommet mount. They’re important because desks vary in thickness, and monitor height is a crucial factor in good ergonomics. Incompatibility for either can result in the arm being too short to hold the monitor up or unable to stay firmly clamped on a desk.
The best overall monitor arm on this list is the Amazon Basics Single Monitor Stand. This stand can hold up to 32 inch monitors at a max weight of 25 pounds, higher than the average 19.8-pound weight limit. It features a grommet and C-clamp for various desk thicknesses and comes in an all-black aluminum finish.
The arm can swivel up to 70 degrees backward, five degrees forward, and rotate a full 360 degrees. Amazon doesn’t list the max extension possible of the arm, but based on pictures, the arm seems flexible and tall enough to support a variety of orientations. Although it can support 32 inch screens, Amazon doesn’t say whether or not larger screens will be compatible with portrait setups.
It’s hard to beat the quality users get out of this arm with a price that regularly hovers a little over the $100 mark. Other arms with similar features can easily price above $150. Another added value is that this arm will almost always have Prime shipping available.
The HUANUO single monitor mount is an excellent choice for an inexpensive but effective monitor arm. Rather than a standard articulating arm, this single monitor arm uses a gas spring that helps maintain a set height by the monitor.
Gas springs can be sturdier and extend further than most other monitor arms but tend to be more expensive on average. These types of arms also require a tool to adjust the tension of the spring inside.
This arm can swivel 180 degrees in either direction, tilt down 50 degrees and up 35 degrees, and rotate a full 360 degrees. It can extend a maximum of 18.5 inches and rise to 15.6 inches above the desk. Screens of up to 27 inches and a weight of 14.3 pounds, or 6.4kg, are compatible with this arm.
Dual monitor setups offer more flexibility and productivity than standard single monitor setups. This advantage comes from the increased screen space two monitors allow. For streamers, this means that they can have their chatrooms, web browser and scene switcher on one screen and their game on the other.
The best dual monitor arm available is the VIVO Dual Monitor Desk Mount. Similar in design to its one arm mount, the dual-arm mount can hold two monitors up to 27 inches at 22 pounds per arm. Both arms can tilt 90 degrees in either direction, swivel 180 degrees, and rotate a full 360 degrees.
Along with the arms is a C-clamp and grommet mount compatible with four inch thicknesses. The arms have a clip to run Display Port or HDMI cables for cable management.
The best gas-spring arm on this list is the North Bayou Monitor Desk Mount. Like the HUANUO arm above, this arm makes use of a gas spring that helps increase its stability.
This arm features more range with multiple swivel points at the joints—the VESA mounted joint can swivel 90 degrees left and right, the middle section swivels a full 360 degrees, and the base can swivel 220 degrees.
Along with the swivel, the arm has an upward tilt of 85 degrees, a downward tilt of 30 degrees, rotates 360 degrees, and extends to a maximum of 20.8 inches. It also reaches a height of about 10 inches above the desk.
Its C-clamp and grommet mount is compatible with desktops up to a 3.5 inch thickness. The arm can handle screen sizes up to 30 inches and a max weight of 19.8 pounds. Compared to the HUANUO, this arm is more robust, extends longer, and has more flexibility, making it the best gas spring arm on this list.
Some gamers may not have a desk that can use a C-clamp or grommet mount for the monitor arm. In these cases, they can use a VIVO Single Monitor Desk Stand, which is the best static monitor arm on this list.
Unlike the other arms on this list, desk stand arms can’t extend forward. However, these arms can still swivel, tilt, and rotate like the others, and monitor size will still factor in how much rotation the arm can manage.
The VIVO single monitor desk stand can rotate a full 360 degrees, tilt 15 degrees up and down, and swivel 90 degrees left and right. It can also reach a max height of 18 inches above the desk. The pole-mounted VESA mount can hold screen sizes up to 32 inches that weigh 22 pounds / 9.9kg.
Many gamers prefer to use larger and curved screens in their setups. Due to how these monitors are heavier than smaller screens, a stronger arm is necessary to hold it in position reliably. For these reasons, the Ergotron LX Desk Mount is the best heavy-duty choice on this list for screens up to 34 inches.
This articulating arm doesn’t use a gas spring, but it can hold up to 25 pounds/11.3kg—more than enough for most monitors compatible with it. It has a maximum lift of 13 inches, tilts 70 degrees upward and five degrees down, and rotates 360 degrees. It also has a maximum extension of 25 inches and is compatible with its 2.25 inch grommet or 2.4 inch C-clamp mount. The grommet is available separately for the white model—LX models come in white, black and aluminum finishes.
Ergotron monitor arms are upgradable by installing compatible longer poles to which the arms mount. It is possible to attach a longer pole and one or more arms. Depending on the flexibility of the arms, users can also stack the monitors on top of each other.
Ergotron also makes the best ultrawide monitor arm with its HX Single Ultrawide model. It can hold much larger screens—up to 49 inches—that weigh up to 42 pounds/19kg. Like the LX model above, the HX can add additional arms using the manufacturer’s compatible dual-arm or triple-arm kits.
The HX arm can handle additional VESA mount configurations, including 200 x 100 and 200 x 200 sizes, compatible with 1000R curved screens. The larger mounts enable swivel and tilting of ultrawide monitors, and the HX shares the same tilt and rotational specs of the LX with these mounts attached. The maximum depth of a curved screen for this arm is six to 12 inches.
Additional features 11.5 inches of lift, 25 inches of extension, 360 degrees of swivel on the second articulation joint and 180-degree swivel on the base joint. This arm has three color options like the LX model: black, white, and aluminum grey finishes.
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