Closer Look:
When I came home and saw this large box I was a bit startled. I knew that a 27″ monitor was coming and I knew it was going to be bigger then my 23″ LG monitor; but I had not expected it to be this big. Not to say I do not like it; on the contrary, I love it.
So the first thing I did was get the camera and open it up since I was really exited to see and work with this screen. On the box you can see some pictures, information and some awards it received. There is not much more to see or tell about that so let us take a look at the contents.
This was the first thing I saw when I opened it up was a big piece of compartmented foam; which is really good to keep all thing in place during transport. Now let us look at what is actually included: First we have the the base and the stand to attach the monitor to. Then we have all the cables and I really like to see this, DVI-D dual link and D-Sub (VGA) a USB cable for the 2 USB ports on the side and the S. Switch to easily switch between different profiles or adjust the settings without pressing on screen buttons. At last we have the quick start guide and some other documentation.
Then here is the screen itself, also packed in a piece of foam. The monitor itself almost takes the space of the whole box.
The monitor itself…
This is something I really liked on this particular monitor, it is marketed as the ultimate esports gaming monitor. And there is a protective cover included what is really handy for transport, on the top there is a little hole where the iron handle comes through. The whole screen is protected and it is relatively easy to trans-port to without it getting wet or dirty. Good job BenQ.
Now it is time to look at the actual monitor itself…
This is the BenQ XL2720Z gaming monitor, regarding the looks it is relatively simple, fully black with some red touches on the stand and on the remote controller. But other then that the casing, and stand are fully black. And in my eyes it looks very professional.
This is the back of the XL2720Z, the base and stand are both made of metal to have enough counterweight to hold the panel in place. It also feels more expensive and premium, I can not complain about the build quality of this screen as it is really well done. the big hole is to keep all the cables together and behind the screen. There are a lot of cables needed and I find this a handy thing, you have the power cable, video cable and the optional USB; but you can also pull your keyboard and mouse cables through it.
In terms of positioning this monitor absolutely rocks! You can adjust the height, turn it 45° left and right, 20° up and 5° down and you can even set it in portrait mode. I really do not know why you should do that on a 27″ screen but yeah it can! The great thing about this is that it just feels good and solid to tilt, twist, and swivel. You do not need to be afraid to break it (I just would not be too violent). The high range of adjustments will please anyone since one person may like his screen at a very high level, where others may want the monitor at lower level or a bit tilted.
Here you see the left side of the monitor and you have 2 USB 2.0 ports and an audio input port. You do need to connect the USB pass-through cable to make use of it though. Plus another cool thing is the red headphone hook, where you can easily hang up your headset or headphone when you are not using it.
The BenQ XL2720Z has a wide array of input ports, for video and optional features. From left to right: S. Switch connector, DisplayPort, VGA, DVI-D Dual link, HDMI (2X), USB hub connector and at last a USB port. As for the video cable I recommend using the DVI-D dual link or the DisplayPort, as you can make use of the 144Hz refresh rate this monitor has. The USB cable and S. Switch cables are optional but if you have a spare USB port on your computer it is handy to plug the USB cable in, you can then use one of the 3 USB ports on the screen to connect a webcam, flash drive,… and for the S. Switch just plug it in too, if you want to change some settings I prefer to do it with the switch then the buttons on screen.
Now let us take a look at the performance of the BenQ XL2720Z…
