Performance
I must say that I was really impressed with the color range of this monitor. In general TN panels have less beautiful colors then their IPS counterparts. In terms of colors, IPS panels are almost always better; but this is one of the few TN panel monitors which has a really good range of colors. The colors on my previous 23″ LG IPS monitor were comparable.
The viewing angle range on most TN panels are just a bit less then the newer IPS counterparts, but again with the BenQ XL2720Z they were very good. When you can sit before them and make the comparison, it is obvious and I found that when I looked at it from an angle it was very decent as well.
Then the option to change the refresh rates between 60, 100, 120 and 144Hz is very nice; although I do not know why you should use 60, 100 or 120Hz when you can set it to 144 Hz. It more then doubles the refresh rate used by most monitors, if you want to play newer games like Battlefield 4 on 1080p and 144Hz you do need a really powerful graphics card if not two.
Verdict
So readers there you have it, now let us touch on a few of the key points of this monitor from BenQ. The new BenQ monitor has great colors; and most certainly in comparison with other TN panels. Of course their IPS counterparts do have better colors and viewing angles but then they do not have a 144Hz refresh rate or 1ms grey to grey response times. The viewing angles were also great for a TN panel. Like I mentioned earlier, IPS panels do have better viewing angels.
Another thing I really love about this monitor are all the options to make adjustments; you can change the height, twist it to both sides, up and down and you can even set it in portrait mode. The best thing about this is that it feels snug and secure, so you will not have to worry that it will break or fall off when you make adjustments to the screen. The monitor feels really solid and the metal base and stand are really strong and have some counterweight to hold the screen itself into place. Around the screen there is a plastic casing but again it does not feel cheap in any way. On the back you have a cool headset hook, where you can obviously hang your headset on when it is not in use.
The 144Hz refresh rate is great and certainly because this is a professional esports monitor, and the pros do not play on 60 FPS no that is too low for them so 120 or 144 is much better as it more then doubles the good playable border of 60 FPS. You do need a beast (or multiple) graphics cards to play recent games like battlefield 4 on 1080p with around 144FPS. Then we also have all the cool gaming oriented extras like: the black equalizer, motion blur reduction, flicker free technology and much more.
On the negative side the biggest downside of this monitor is the price, for 500 Euros it is out of the range of many customers.
Pros:
- Great colors
- Great viewing angles
- lots of adjustment options
- Headset/headphone hook
- 144Hz refresh rate
- Lots of cool gaming oriented extras like: the black equalizer, motion blur reduction, flicker free
Cons:
- Price
Final words:
I absolutely love this monitor. It is bigger, faster, and prettier then my LG 23″ IPS monitor. Maybe the colors and viewing angles are a bit less then my old one but I am really happy with it. If you are a hardcore or (semi) professional gamer and you want to play games with a lot of frames par second (100+) then you do need a 100Hz+ monitor. If you have the hardware to get a lot of frames like that and you like a big screen then I can really recommend this monitor. When this monitor appeals to you but 27″ is a bit too large you can maybe check out its smaller sibling the XL2420Z.
SCORE
9.5/10
I hope you enjoyed reading our review of the BenQ XL2720Z gaming monitor. Thank for reading and have a Funky day!
