Buying an HDMI cable ought to be easy—however some cables don’t carry out as anticipated, whereas others don’t clearly point out the HDMI specs supported.

If you don’t have time to dig into the main points your self, use this information to seize the best cable on your wants. We’ve sorted it by HDMI specification (also referred to as HDMI model), so yow will discover an on the spot, reasonably priced match. Our picks additionally sidestep the issues you may encounter when searching by yourself, be it cheaply made cables that carry out poorly or overpriced ones that do nothing higher than cheaper alternate options.

Need a cable to make use of with a high-refresh monitor, particularly one above 144Hz? We typically suggest utilizing a DisplayPort cable as a substitute of HDMI—search for one rated for DisplayPort 1.3 or larger. Or seize one among our suggestions for DisplayPort 1.4 cables, that are backward suitable. To study extra about how these two interfaces examine, see our full rundown of HDMI vs. DisplayPort.

Monoprice Certified High Speed HDMI Cable (6 Feet) – Best premium High-Speed HDMI cable

Looking to output at 1080p/240Hz, 1440p/144Hz, or 4K/60Hz? Or you want 10- or 12-bit coloration help for something beneath 4K/60Hz? Grab this Monoprice licensed Premium High-Speed cable. A 6-foot cable prices simply $9 (with a slim cord option accessible), and all lengths have the HDMI Licensing Administrator’s official stamp of approval—so these ought to work with all units that require a Premium High-Speed HDMI cable.

Monoprice 8K Certified Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.1 Cable (6 ft) – Best Ultra High-Speed HDMI cable

Price When Reviewed:

$14.99

Rolling with a setup that may deal with 4K/144Hz, 5K/60Hz, or 8K/30Hz? Or dynamic HDR? We favor Monoprice’s licensed Ultra High-Speed cable to deal with these hefty bandwidth necessities. You’ll pay $14 for a 6-foot cable, and a braided cable variant prices just a bit extra.

You can spend much less on non-certified Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables, however we don’t suggest it, particularly given the quantity of information you’ll possible cross over it. (Ultra High Speed cables have a bandwidth of 48Gbps.) Compared to different established corporations like Belkin, Monoprice provides the very best mixture of affordability and reliability.

Which cable do I would like?

HDMI cables are backward suitable, so you’ll be able to at all times purchase the highest-specification cable accessible and name it a day. Even if it exceeds what your units can help, it might turn out to be useful when upgrading to newer tech.

You don’t must, after all. (Our sister website TechHive explains why on this article addressing the widespread query of “Do you need a 4K HDMI cable?”) You can save just a little money by skipping future-proofing.

To determine the minimal HDMI specification you want on your setup, lookup the spec supported by your output system (PC, streaming system, gaming console, and many others) and your show (monitor, TV). You might even see these listed beneath “HDMI version” within the product data.

If the 2 match, merely purchase an HDMI cable rated for that specification. If they don’t match, you should buy a cable that’s rated for the decrease (older) spec, since your ultimate output will likely be restricted by the system with the decrease HDMI model.

Example: Your monitor is rated for HDMI 1.4b, however your graphics card can help HDMI 2.0. You’ll solely ever get the utmost decision and body charges of HDMI 1.4b, that are 1080p/144fps and 1440p/75Hz, plus as much as 4K/60fps relying on the extent of coloration information compression.

You should buy a cable that matches the upper specification, but it surely’s not crucial. When you exchange the lower-HDMI-version system with a brand-new piece of drugs, you’ll normally get a suitable HDMI cable within the field.