We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more›
We’ve updated this guide to include a new budget pick, the HP Envy Move. Gaming Monitor
An all-in-one computer can be a great family PC or a centerpiece for a home office because the all-encompassing design helps you avoid a mess of display, power, and peripheral wires. However, all-in-ones typically cost more than a laptop or a mini PC plus a monitor, so keep in mind that you’re paying more for that streamlined design.
Although the Apple 24-inch iMac is expensive, it offers the best combination of display quality, performance, and design for the price. For a less expensive alternative with a touchscreen, we also recommend the HP Envy Move.
Apple’s 24-inch iMac is fast and silent, and it looks great on a desk.
The 34-inch ultrawide display is this all-in-one’s main attraction, but it also offers a powerful processor, a fast graphics card, and upgradable storage.
This touchscreen desktop is great for families or kids.
Apple’s 24-inch iMac is fast and silent, and it looks great on a desk.
The Apple 24-inch iMac is a streamlined all-in-one computer with a sleek, fanless design that doesn’t sacrifice processing power. Its M3 processor is powerful enough for any general task, including writing documents, surfing the web, streaming media, and even doing some light coding or video editing. It also has a gorgeous, 4.5K-resolution display that’s bright enough for use in any room, even sunny rooms where other screens might seem dark. The iMac comes with the highest-quality mouse and keyboard of any all-in-one we’ve tested by far, and there are seven color options, so you can match your computer to your aesthetic. All of this quality comes at a price, though: The iMac costs hundreds of dollars more than Windows all-in-one options—but you do get what you pay for.
The 34-inch ultrawide display is this all-in-one’s main attraction, but it also offers a powerful processor, a fast graphics card, and upgradable storage.
The HP Envy 34-inch All-in-One has a fantastic 5K ultrawide display, coupled with a strong selection of processor and graphics card options, as well as a terrific webcam. This ultrawide all-in-one is best for the productivity obsessed, coders, or those immersed in media editing because its high-power components (and high price) are overkill for most people. But if you need and want to pay for the extra screen space and processing power, it’s a fantastic all-in-one with a 5K display (which is tough to find even as a standalone ultrawide monitor). We also appreciate that the computer’s RAM and storage are readily accessible and upgradable, making repairs and maintenance easier than on most similar computers.
This touchscreen desktop is great for families or kids.
The HP Envy Move is a unique all-in-one that has a handle and built-in battery that lasts for about four hours, so you can easily move it around and set it up in different places around your home. Even if you don’t use it to switch locations, it’s a quick, solid-performing computer that’s great for families or working from home. The Envy Move has a 1440p touchscreen, which is a higher resolution than many competitors, and touch capability makes it easier to use around the house for watching videos or swiping through websites. It has USB-A, USB-C, and power ports, as well as an HDMI port for using it as a display for another computer or game console.
Dave Gershgorn has reviewed and covered technology since 2015 at publications such as Popular Science, Quartz, Medium, and now Wirecutter. As a senior staff writer, he covers PCs, Macs, and all computer displays for Wirecutter; he is also a certified display calibrator through the Imaging Science Foundation. He has built, repaired, and largely avoided frying his own computers since 2006.
An all-in-one computer combines a PC, monitor, speakers, and webcam into one streamlined device that has fewer cords and is typically a bit more aesthetically pleasing than a traditional desktop. As a result, an all-in-one often works well as a family computer in a kitchen or other shared space, an office computer at reception desks or service desks, or in areas that have limited outlets.
All-in-ones are also the simplest computers available. If you don’t want to make a bunch of purchasing decisions on your computer, monitor, webcam, and peripherals, our top pick is a great computer that includes all of those components.
But if you don’t mind making those purchases separately, it’s more cost-effective to buy a mini PC and a monitor instead of an all-in-one. For instance, Apple’s M2 Mac mini and our top-pick 27-inch monitor would together cost about $900 before tax, and they would provide far better performance than a budget all-in-one. You could even upgrade to a 4K monitor and still spend a few hundred dollars less in total than you would on the Apple iMac. Separate components are also easier to upgrade in the future, because the display or webcam isn’t physically attached to a mini PC as in an all-in-one—though combining separate components involves more unruly wires and requires more power outlets.
Most all-in-ones aren’t repairable, if that’s important to you. Since the computer’s components are packed tightly into the display, these machines are typically held together with glue and other bits of manufacturing trickery that make them difficult to open, clean, and fix.
A good all-in-one PC should have a nice-looking screen that’s colorful and reasonably sharp, and it should be fast enough to handle web browsing, work and school assignments, and some light gaming in a pinch. We use the following criteria while sifting through the dozens of all-in-ones available from Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other PC makers:
To test each computer, we use each one for a couple of days of work. This process includes browsing the web and communicating through email, Slack, and Discord, video-chatting over Zoom and Google Meet, and editing documents and other files. We run performance benchmarks and encode some video files to see how each computer would fare on heavier work, and we play a handful of older or less-demanding games (such as Fortnite, Bioshock Infinite, and Valorant) to get a sense of how each one would handle the sort of casual gaming that a family PC might be called upon to do.
Apple’s 24-inch iMac is fast and silent, and it looks great on a desk.
The Apple 24-inch iMac is a fast, well-designed computer that comes in a bunch of great color options. It runs on a new M3 processor, part of the same line of chips that Apple has put in MacBooks, Mac minis, and iPads for the past three years, so it operates silently without a fan and retains great processor performance. It also has a gorgeous high-resolution display, so text is crisp and clear while you’re working, and it’s great for watching movies or TV shows. And it comes in seven colors: blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange, and purple.
The iMac is more expensive than other all-in-ones, but it offers an outsized value. Many competitors try to build their all-in-ones to compete against budget monitors and budget PCs, which give you low-resolution displays and underpowered processors. Apple’s version of an all-in-one is more expensive, but its combination of a high-resolution display, a quiet processor, and modern design makes it far more pleasurable to use.
The iMac’s screen is incredibly sharp. The iMac’s 24-inch display has a 4.5K resolution, which makes applications, icons, text, images, and video look crisp and clear. The display also gets bright enough for use in sunny rooms or around bright lights, since the screen can emit up to 500 nits of brightness. We’ve typically found Apple displays to be of very high quality, and the iMac’s display is no exception. It’s high-resolution and bright, and it has great contrast. However, with a maximum refresh rate of 60 Hz, this all-in-one computer isn’t meant for serious gaming.
It runs on Apple’s new M3 processor. The iMac is now powered by Apple’s M3 chip, which is powerful enough to handle basic computing tasks such as web browsing, streaming, and light video editing, and it doesn’t generate a lot of heat. As a result, the iMac doesn’t need cooling fans, so it operates silently. If you regularly edit media or compile code, you might be better served by a Mac mini, which offers far more power but lacks a built-in display. For most people, though, the iMac and its M3 processor will get the job done.
You can add more RAM and storage, but the basic package is likely enough. The iMac configuration we recommend includes 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB solid-state drive for storing files. We find that Apple’s M-series chips use RAM efficiently, and 8 GB is enough for most people. However, if your current computer is using more than 150 GB to 200 GB of storage, upgrading to a 512 GB drive or investing in an external hard drive for extra storage would be worthwhile.
The iMac’s built-in webcam is pretty good. It has a 1080p resolution, which is a bit low compared with the higher-quality, 5-megapixel cameras of many competitors. (For reference, a 1080p camera has a resolution of just under 2 megapixels.)
There aren’t a ton of ports, but you likely won’t need them. The base-level iMac offers two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, which you can use to attach peripherals or a second monitor, as well as a headphone jack. You could also plug an inexpensive USB-C hub into one of the ports. For $200 more, you can add two more USB-C ports and an Ethernet port. But if you’re going to use so many wires, we recommend getting a mini PC, such as a Mac mini, instead, because it would be cheaper and more powerful. The 24-inch iMac also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
It ships with premium accessories. The iMac comes with Apple’s Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard, which are by far the best accessories shipped with any all-in-one we’ve tested. Most all-in-one manufacturers bundle in comparatively cheap and dinky peripherals, which we recommend replacing immediately. By contrast, the Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard are high-quality, feel great to use, and will last for years. These accessories certainly factor into the iMac’s high cost, but Apple’s decision to include about $180 worth of peripherals goes a long way toward ensuring that your experience with the computer is great from the first time you boot it up.
It’s expensive. Buying a mini PC and a nice monitor would be cheaper. But if you specifically want a high-quality computer with the aesthetics and simple design of an all-in-one, you don’t have many other great options. Competing all-in-ones generally have far worse screens, processors that require loud fans, and junky peripherals. The exception is our upgrade pick, the HP Envy 34-inch All-in-One, but its ultrawide display is not for everyone.
The 34-inch ultrawide display is this all-in-one’s main attraction, but it also offers a powerful processor, a fast graphics card, and upgradable storage.
The HP Envy 34-inch all-in-one is unique, thanks to an ultrawide monitor—most all-in-ones have a standard-size display. It also offers solid processor and graphics card options, as well as a wealth of ports, so it’s a great PC for multitasking, coding, or media editing.
It’s a great value. It’s priced the same as an expensive ultrawide display, but it comes with a nice bonus computer. The Envy 34 is the most expensive all-in-one in this guide, but the price is fair for what you get, considering the display and computer components it offers. Most high-quality ultrawide monitors have a 3440×1440 resolution, which is in the range of a traditional resolution of 2K or 1440p, just with extra horizontal pixels to make it wider. The Envy 34 is a huge step up in that it provides a resolution of 5220×2160, which is a 4K resolution with extra horizontal pixels. Such displays are sometimes called 5K2K ultrawides (since they have “5K” horizontal pixels and “2K” vertical pixels), and generally they cost about $1,300 to $1,500 on their own. With the Envy 34, by contrast, you get both the high-quality screen, plus a computer with reasonable specs stuffed inside.
It’s also bright enough to use in sunny rooms. The display is very sharp and has deep contrast, and it’s bright enough for any work environment. Because its backlight can reach 520 nits, the screen is easily visible even in bright, sunny rooms. However, the maximum refresh rate of the monitor is only 60 Hz, so it’s not a great fit for those who play a lot of competitive online games.
It can be customized with better hardware. The Envy 34 we tested came equipped with an Intel i5-12400, the least-powerful processor among those offered, and we were happy with its performance. Other variations with the Intel i5-12400 are also available for around $1,500, but these have older Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics cards that launched in 2019. If you aren’t working with any large media files, this might be a great way to save on this all-in-one. Equipped with either processor, plus the included 16 GB of RAM and Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card, the HP Envy 34 is easily able to handle tasks from typical desk work to video editing. Our top pick among laptops for photo and video editing and our upgrade-pick mini PC outperformed the Envy 34 by about 30% in our 4K-video export test, but this all-in-one is still a capable machine that can easily work with 4K footage. As for gaming, we were able to play Fortnite on maximum graphics at 5K resolution at 60 fps, and it ran well enough for us to win a Battle Royale.
If you are buying through HP’s PC customizer, be sure to select the following configuration options: Under Graphics Card, select Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (6 GB GDDR6X dedicated) with LHR Display Connectors: HDMI*1, DP*2. Under Networking, pick the Realtek Wi-Fi 6 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.2 combo (supporting gigabit data rate) option.
You can also upgrade your own storage and RAM. A readily accessible bay in the back of the PC’s display houses the computer’s RAM and M.2 NVMe storage drives, so you can upgrade those components later on or replace them if they malfunction. We’re delighted to see this option on such a streamlined PC.
The Envy 34 is perfect for people who own tons of peripherals. It has six USB-A ports, three USB-C ports (two of which are Thunderbolt 4–compatible), a headphone jack, an Ethernet port, an SD card reader, and an HDMI port. While most of the ports are on the back, two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and the SD card reader are located on the stem of the display’s stand. This location makes it easier for you to plug in flash drives, external hard drives, and SD cards, with no need to awkwardly reach behind the monitor every time you plug something in. It also has a Qi charging pad for portable electronics that support wireless charging.
The Envy 34 comes with a magnetic external webcam. It clips onto any of five magnetic attachment points across the top and side of the display. The 16-megapixel webcam offers a sharp image in good light, as well as pretty solid low-light performance. It has a physical privacy shutter, and its braided-fabric USB cable is the perfect length to reach the computer’s USB ports. The Envy 34 also comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse combo, but they’re truly terrible (the mouse is especially poorly designed, since it constantly gets stuck while clicking). We recommend ditching both peripherals ASAP.
This touchscreen desktop is great for families or kids.
The HP Envy Move puts a fresh spin on the traditional all-in-one computer, with a handle and battery so you can unplug it from the wall, safely pick it up, and use it in a different room for a few hours. It sounds a little gimmicky at first, we found that this really did make the computer more flexible and useful. Even if you don’t move it, we think the Envy Move is a solid budget option due to its display, speakers, and webcam.
It has a sharp and responsive touchscreen display. The Envy Move has a 24-inch 1440p display, while most competitors only offer a 1080p display for a similar price. It can reach 300 nits of brightness, which is bright enough for home use, but won’t look very bright in full, direct sunlight. It’s also a 10-point touchscreen, which we found to be responsive and work well. However, the display has a glossy finish, so you’ll want to keep a microfiber cloth in the computer’s back pocket to wipe it down.
It’s the rare desktop PC that has a battery, which is useful. The built-in battery allows you to unplug the computer from the wall and take it with you into another room for about four hours. We found that the portability was actually pretty helpful in certain situations, like setting it on the coffee table and doing a video call with friends from the couch.
It has a back pocket to hold the included keyboard. The keyboard that comes with the Envy Move has a trackpad built in, and we were comfortable using it at a desk or on the couch. The computer has a large back pocket to hold the keyboard when it’s not in use, and you could also stuff a cable or dongle in there, too.
The unique design features automatically-extending feet. When you pick up the Envy Move, its two feet rotate under the computer to stow themselves. Two small pins extend from the bottom of the computer when the feet are stowed, which get pushed back in by the weight of the computer when you place it down, and deploy the feet. The mechanism works really well on hard surfaces, but it doesn’t work on carpet, as it’s too soft to fully press the pins and deploy the legs. The whole computer tilts backwards a few degrees, but not forward, or far enough that we found it comfortable to use while sitting in front of it on the floor.
It’s powerful enough to get work done. The setup we recommend has an Intel Core i5-1335U processor and 16 GB of RAM, which is more than enough for surfing the web and working on documents, even while taking video calls. It’s also capable of some casual photo and video editing. A 256 GB hard drive will be enough for documents, pictures and some home video, but you’ll want to back anything important up in the cloud or on a portable SSD.
The webcam, microphone, and speakers are all great. HP has upgraded the webcam on nearly all of its computers to 5-megapixel resolution, which looks great in most lighting situations. The webcam also has a physical privacy shutter. And we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Envy Move’s speakers, which are better than most on all-in-ones or monitors. The sound has really nice clarity, as well as discernable bass, mids, and treble–that might not sound impressive, but most monitors we test don’t meet that low threshold.
It’s got a few basic ports. The Envy Move has one USB-C and one USB-A, located on the left side of the computer. They’re a bit cramped in the bottom corner, and bulky accessories might not fit in the space between the port and your desk. But since the keyboard and touchpad are wireless, and what most people will be using most of the time, we don’t think it’s a dealbreaker. There’s an HDMI input and power jack on the right side, along with a button to switch between the internal computer and that HDMI.
Here’s what to look for if you’re shopping for a budget all-in-one.
First, make every effort to see the computer in person. Stores such as Best Buy, Costco, and Walmart have display setups of their computers, so you can see firsthand whether you like the PC. You likely won’t be able to test how fast the PC is or how well games run on it, but you can check other important factors. Look at the screen and determine whether it seems sharp enough for you to read small text. Check if the audio is playing, or if you can play a YouTube video to check the sound: Is it tinny, or does music sound natural to you? See if you can use the computer’s webcam to confirm that it’s sharp enough for you to make a video call; typically you can check the camera by opening the Start menu on Windows and finding the Camera application.
When it comes to specifications, we recommend a midrange 12th- or 13th-generation Intel processor. You can identify a processor by its model number, which should start with “i5” or “i7”; the next number immediately following that should be “12” or “13,” which denotes the 12th or 13th generation. Don’t buy anything with a model number like i5-11500 (an older processor), i5-10500 (an even older processor), or i3-12100 (a current processor, but in a lower range).
The computer should also have at least 8 GB of RAM and at least 256 GB of storage, and the screen resolution should be at least 1080p. The webcam’s resolution should also be 1080p at a minimum.
Generally we didn’t consider all-in-ones with older, 11th-generation Intel processors or models with AMD Ryzen 3000–series laptop processors. We skipped any all-in-ones that lacked SSDs and a handful that omitted webcams. And we decided not to test models with 27-inch 1080p screens because that resolution looks too large and visibly pixelated at that screen size.
The Dell Inspiron 24 All-in-One was previously a budget pick in this guide. We think the HP Envy Move, our new budget pick, is a better, more feature-packed computer, and it’s cheaper than the Dell.
This article was edited by Arthur Gies and Caitlin McGarry.
Dave Gershgorn is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He’s been covering consumer and enterprise technology since 2015, and he just can’t stop buying computers. If this weren’t his job, it would likely be a problem.
by Kimber Streams and Dave Gershgorn
From budget-friendly options to thin-and-light ultrabooks to powerful gaming laptops, we’ve spent hundreds of hours finding the best laptops for most people.
Shopping for an already-built PC, whether for office use or gaming, can be confusing. We’re here to help you figure out the specs to watch for and how much to spend.
We have a range of computer buying advice for parents facing a variety of schooling and budget situations, from used to new, and from laptop to desktop.
A new generation of Intel chips is coming soon, but they’re not necessarily better than last year’s, and they may not be right for you. We can help you decide.
Industrial Touch Monitor Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).