BenQ Zowie XL2731 27 inch 144 Hz Gaming Monitor Review

Does having a good gaming monitor matter? It depends on what you play. Whether you’re looking for a competitive advantage, or you’re just trying to make your screen look as good as possible, having a gaming monitor can make a difference. Because you have to remember, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got an amazing PC if your display can’t keep up.

BenQ Zowie XL2731 27 inch 144 Hz Gaming Monitor

当您在娱乐监视器和游戏监视器之间进行选择时，很难发现很大的差异。屏幕是屏幕，对吗？至少在大多数情况下。当您使用电影显示时，您可能不需要超过30fps，因为这几乎需要观看大多数电影。您也不会关心输入滞后，因为差异并不是对您的重大影响。

But when it comes to playing games, you actually do want to go past 30 frames, and you probably do care about input lag. You really do need better response times. And having or not having those features can have a big impact on your experience. The XL2731 is an example of BenQ working to shove a ton of gaming features into one panel, and doing their best to make the price not awful in the process.

Have the succeeded? Well, if you look back a couple of years, a screen like this would’ve cost about one third more than this panel. So if nothing else, the value proposition is there, giving the XL2731 a compelling cost to performance ratio. Will theBenQ Zowie XL2731be the right choice for all gamers? Probably not. However, if you’ve got a modest budget, it certainly is going to be able to offer you a lot of bang for your buck.

Design & Layout

由于屏幕尺寸是测量对角线,XL2731 27-inch Gaming Monitor actually measures around 25 x 22 x 2 inches. And the panel weighs just shy of 17lbs, making it just a little heavy. Moreover, that weight actually goes up to 23lbs after you’ve included the weight of the stand. That initial weight is largely due to the fact that the power brick has been built into the display instead of built into the power cable. That makes this monitor better suited for traveling, and it doesn’t really interfere with your ability to mount it. But it does make it a little bit tougher to carry.

这些天,越来越普遍看监视器rs designed with a very small bezel, or even a bezel that’s so thin that the panel is described as being bezel-free. In this instance you’re looking at a fairly modest bezel, but it’s certainly not invisible compared to some of its contemporaries.

在右下底部附近，面对用户，有六个模拟按钮。值得注意的是，这些是触觉按钮而不是触摸按钮。他们面对的事实意味着您不必在屏幕底部感觉到它们即可找到它们，这非常好。每当您按下它们时，也会发生单击的噪音，因此您不必三思而后行激活该开关。菜单导航也保持平稳，尽管它与以前的Benq显示器没有根本不同。

How about the audio? It’s worth remembering speakers on monitors are almost always terrible. And even when decent speakers are included, for a budget-oriented gaming monitor that is usually a bad thing. Because it means you’re paying for speakers instead of visual performance. That’s why many gaming monitors have opted to go without speakers entirely. That’s the case here with the XL2731, though the inclusion of a headphone jack means you’re not totally without audio options.

监视器站

Aesthetically speaking, the stand is pretty average looking. The base is a large, flat square that doesn’t take up much desk space, and allows you to place objects on the stand as though it were not there. Above the square you’ll find a large hole, which is intended to be used to help route your cables. For instance, if you’re running a wired mouse and keyboard, you might run those cables through the center of the stand for cable management.

XL2731 uses a stand that is height adjustable by about 5.5 inches. Having height adjustability is actually very rare for monitors in this price range. But it’s shockingly valuable for people who haven’t experienced height adjustment before because it allows you to get a much more direct view of your screen. Depending on your posture and sitting distance, it also has some implications for eye strain.

Apart from the height adjustment, the stand is also tilt adjustable, in a range of -5 degrees to 20 degrees. It can be swiveled around 45-degrees, or rotated 90 degrees to take on a portrait orientation. Not happy with the included mount? It’s possible to use the standardized 100x100mm VESA mounting on the backside as an alternative.

Port Options

对于连接，XL2731让您查看单个DisplayPort 1.2 Jack，3.5毫米小型耳机和一对HDMI 2.0端口。不幸的是，没有任何旧港口，例如VGA港口。但是，如果您是计划利用144Hz的人，则无论如何您都需要使用HDMI或DisplayPort。因为这些较旧的格式无法提高刷新率。

虽然不包括传统端口非常容易忽略，但不容易忽略的是排除USB连接。在屏幕的背面或侧面放置几个USB端口越来越普遍。再次，如果您想节省几美元，可以考虑缺乏这些端口的另一种方法。

One more thing worth pointing out is how each of the ports has been cleverly positioned, such that the cords are allowed to run away from the panel in a downward direction, which is preferable for people who are using non-standard mounting for their screen.

视频质量

在1080p内容之前，您可以将一个27英寸的面板伸展多大，不再看起来不错？好吧，对这个主题的看法各不相同。但是，大多数人认为24英寸是1080p含量的完美尺寸，并且在开始对视觉性能损害之前，将27英寸视为27英寸。一旦使用全高清32英寸屏幕，它就会开始看起来更像720p。

What could be improved? Well, the XL2731 was made with a fairly standard twisted neumatic panel. For a very long time, these panels were considered the only appropriate choice for gamers. Quite recently, that’s started to change because alternatives like IPS panels and VA panels are finally starting to be able to achieve the kind of performance as TN panels.

What’s the difference? Well, TN panels tend to have colors that are just a little bit dull compared to the other types. If you were only interested in watching movies and videos, that might make the XL2731 a little subpar. But if you’re primarily concerned with gaming, then it shouldn’t be a grave concern to you. And switching over to a VA panel or IPS panel will still reliably add another $50 or so to the cost of your display, which many gamers might think is a little excessive just to slightly alter the appearance of color.

As we approach the year 2025, it should become more and more common for color standards to improve on gaming panels. We’ll probably even see features like high dynamic range continue to spread into the gaming space. But for now, those features are still grossly expensive, and so were not included with the XL2731. Since this is a TN panel, it shouldn’t be a surprise that you’re also looking at a very ordinary 1:1000 contrast ratio. That contrast ratio livable, and it’s what most people are familiar with seeing on TN panels, but it’s not extraordinary.

Gaming Performance

着眼于其视觉质量，XL2731旨在提供1080p分辨率，通常称为全高清。从技术上讲，1080p仍然是游戏玩家的标准。越来越多的玩家开始采用1440p作为替代方案，但这样做可能具有挑战性。

Because when you’re running 1440p, you’ve got a screen with about 30% more pixels on it, and you need a graphics card that can work about 30% harder just to break-even with the framerates that you can get while playing at 1080p. In other words, you need to be willing to go big on your GPU and also on your monitor, not one or the other.

Moreover, the XL2731 provides a 144Hz refresh rate, an option which has also become increasingly common among gamers. Running 144Hz is much better than going with a half-measure, like the partially boosted 75Hz monitors that have become popular over the past couple of years.

对于从GPU每秒获得接近144帧的玩家，您可以期望屏幕看起来完美光滑。这也使您可以在玩的所有游戏中禁用V-Sync。除了支持AMD freesync外，很容易提供该面板高分的游戏性能。

Another thing worth pointing out is that the XL2731 is capable of delivering a 1ms response time, which precludes problems with ghosting or interlacing while playing your games. Most gamers really don’t care much about response times because they’re actually tough to see, and you can really only spot them in fast paced action games. But for people who do want a gaming monitor that looks as good as possible, lower response times are nice to have.

谁应该选择Benq Zowie XL2731游戏显示器？

It should be pretty clear theBenQ Zowie XL2731具有多个有吸引力的游戏功能。它提供1毫秒的响应时间，144Hz刷新率和自适应同步技术。如今，这几乎是您所需的一切。它还具有一个令人印象深刻的监视器架。

通常，如果您愿意花更多的钱，那么您可能会得到更多。可以再以$ 50或100美元左右的价格改善此屏幕的颜色生动。但是美元的美元，Benq XL2731肯定是一个极好的价值。