If you are a competitive gamer and shopping for a new monitor, you will want the highest refresh rate and fastest response time. Then, the BenQ ZOWIE XL2740 can meet demands of professional gamers. The Zowie comes with two shields screwed into 2 sides of the monitor. They are supposed to block light sources hitting from the 2 sides and help us concentrate on gaming. The accessories are not really important for me because most gamers have set up their system with controlled lighting conditions. However, the shield might be helpful in Esports environments. Another accessory is the S-Switch control which helps us quickly access monitor menu, switch between 3 saved color profiles, and change the input. BenQ ZOWIE XL2740 27″ 240Hz Esports Gaming Monitor Review
UPDATED ON MAY 28, 2019 BY TUAN DO
If you are a competitive gamer and shopping for a new monitor, you will want the highest refresh rate and fastest response time. Then, the BenQ ZOWIE XL2740 can meet demands of professional gamers. Let’s check it out.
Unboxing Video
Design & Features
The Zowie comes with two shields screwed into 2 sides of the monitor. They are supposed to block light sources hitting from the 2 sides and help us concentrate on gaming. The accessories are not really important for me because most gamers have set up their system with controlled lighting conditions. However, the shield might be helpful in Esports environments. Another accessory is the S-Switch control which helps us quickly access monitor menu, switch between 3 saved color profiles, and change the input. If you want to adjust more monitor settings, you can use the buttons on the lower right of the display to access OSD menu. The XL2740 is equipped with some dedicated features for gamers like Black eQualizer to increase the visibility in dark scenes, some game modes, and 20 levels of Color Vibrance settings. The color reproduction is terrible in those game modes, but they will absolutely help improve your gaming performance. The BenQ monitor has full-HD resolution only, so the image is not crisp and clear as 4K monitors. If you use the monitor to view images, read news, or watch movies, you can recognize the low pixel density when looking at the screen closely. However, the image looks much more acceptable when playing games. I am not aware of any significant pixelated image when gaming. The refresh rate of 240Hz doesn’t have much meaning for normal usage. You can see smooth movement when scrolling websites or moving objects on your screen, and those are all. The only disadvantage of the monitor is the TN panel. It has limited viewing angles, uneven backlighting, and poor color reproduction, however, those are what you have to sacrifice for the 1ms response time and 240Hz refresh rate. Besides, the input lag is measured at just 4ms which is pretty impressive.
Pros
- Refresh rate, resolution, response time and input lag are optimized for gaming
- Fully ergonomic design
- Plenty of gaming features
Cons
- Hefty price tag
- Poor color reproduction and viewing angle