Price When Reviewed

$799.99

Best Prices Today: BenQ SW272Q

$799.99

Today’s most alluring screens, like the new QD-OLED, high-refresh displays monitors at CES 2024, are constructed for leisure first. The BenQ SW272Q is totally different. It’s knowledgeable monitor designed for individuals who create or edit images, photos, and paperwork. The SW272Q’s full concentrate on work makes it a distinct segment show, however it fills that area of interest properly.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best home office monitors to find out about competing merchandise.

What are the BenQ SW272Q’s specs and options?

At a look, the BenQ SW272Q’s specs are typical for dozens of mid-range screens. It has a 27-inch panel with 1440p decision and a 60Hz refresh fee. HDR is supported, however the monitor isn’t VESA DisplayHDR licensed. USB-C with video and energy supply is on the market however downstream connectivity is restricted to a few USB-A ports and an SD card reader.

• Display measurement: 27-inch widescreen
• Native decision: 2560×1440
• Panel sort: IPS “fine-coated panel”
• Refresh fee: 60Hz
• Adaptive sync: None
• HDR: Yes, HDR10
• Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 Watts Power Delivery, 1x USB-B upstream, 2x USB-A 3.1 downstream, 3.5mm audio-out
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Speakers: None
• Price: $799.99 MSRP

Which begs the query: Why is that this monitor $800? There are a number of causes for it, as I’ll clarify, and so they outline who this monitor is for.

How is the BenQ SW272Q’s design?

Matt Smith

The BenQ SW272Q ditches the slim, svelte design of client shows for a boxy, industrial look. Slim bezels stay on the edges and prime, however the backside bezel is chunky, and the show panel is thick (although not unusually heavy).

That doesn’t sound spectacular. And but, the SW272Q struck me as engaging. The monitor’s supplies have a nice texture that appears dearer than the toy-like plastic discovered on some. The monitor’s girth additionally provides a utilitarian aptitude.

BenQ ships the monitor with an awfully sturdy ergonomic stand that adjusts for peak, swivel, tilt, and might pivot 90 levels to be used in panorama orientation. It contains as much as 140mm of peak adjustment and 60 levels of swivel, which is a little more than regular (I’d say 110mm of peak and 20 to 40 levels of swivel is typical). A 100x100mm VESA mount is included to be used with a third-party monitor stand or arm.

Further studying: The best monitor arms

The monitor stand’s base is giant, which is generally an issue, however BenQ turns it into a bonus. It retains the bottom slim, at just some millimeters thick, and coats the bulk in a grippy leatherette, which provides to the monitor’s luxurious really feel and supplies an excellent place to relaxation a notepad or smartphone.

BenQ additionally features a hood that snaps over the show and reduces the quantity of ambient gentle that hits the show. The hood has a lure door that makes it doable to make use of a monitor calibration device whereas the hood is put in. It appears to be like a bit clunky, however it’s straightforward to assemble and does the job.

How is the BenQ SW272Q’s connectivity and menu?

Matt Smith

BenQ delivers acceptable however typical connectivity for a monitor in its value vary. It contains two HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 and 90 watts of USB Power Delivery. That’s an excellent vary of video enter that may deal with a variety of gadgets, from tablets and laptops to desktop PCs and streaming sticks.

Downstream USB connectivity is a bit missing, with simply two downstream USB-A ports, however these are paired with a uncommon characteristic helpful for the SW272Q’s supposed viewers: an SD card reader. I can’t keep in mind the final time I noticed a monitor with a built-in reader, however it’s undeniably helpful for photographers or videographers.

The monitor additionally has a USB-B upstream port, which may drive the USB-A ports in case your laptop lacks USB-C, and a 3.5mm audio-out jack.

Matt Smith

The SW272Q’s on-screen menus might be managed by way of a joystick on the underside bezel, which is true of most screens, or by way of BenQ’s wi-fi Hotkey Puck G3. The puck is a small wi-fi controller that may entry all of the monitor’s choices. It’s faster, extra intuitive, and extra comfy than the joystick, which isn’t unhealthy, both.

Monitor customization is intensive, and BenQ’s on-screen menus are glorious. The menus look engaging, reply instantly, and are filled with helpful choices. The monitor has exact choices for each colour temperature and gamma (which means they use particular numerical values, not imprecise labels like “Warm” or “Gamma 1”). It additionally has preset modes for the sRGB, DCI-P3, AdobeRGB, and Rec. 709, Display P3, and DICOM colour requirements.

And that’s simply the tip of the iceberg. BenQ’s choices are so intensive that they frankly tax even my potential to guage them, regardless of the very fact I overview dozens of screens every year, as lots of the monitor’s choices and options goal professionals engaged on tasks that demand colour efficiency calibration to stringent requirements.

The monitor comes with a one-year subscription to Pantone’s Connect Premium cell app, for instance, and can be utilized with a BenQ app known as Paper Color Sync, which is designed to match the monitor’s look to a specific sort of paper.

In reality, most individuals gained’t want such options. I’m one thing of a photographer and videographer myself, since I take images for these evaluations, however the SW272Q’s characteristic set targets the higher echelons of color-critical work. It’s meant for individuals who create images or artwork for print and need their monitor to look as near the ultimate consequence as doable, and it has the picture high quality customization wanted to assist that.

How is the BenQ SW272Q’s SDR picture high quality?

Image high quality is clearly key for the BenQ SW272Q, however the particulars of what it’s making an attempt to attain differ from most client screens. This results in benefits, and downsides, which have a huge impact on how the monitor appears to be like in each day-to-day {and professional} use.

The outcomes under measure the default colour mode (Adobe RGB).

Matt Smith

We begin off with brightness, the place the SW272Q achieves a relatively low most brightness of 244 nits in HDR. That’s not excessive for a contemporary monitor, and it implies the monitor may very well be lower than ultimate to be used in a vibrant room with out gentle management.

But that’s not a lot of a shock. The BenQ SW272Q is explicitly meant for use in a room with gentle management, and the included hood additional reduces glare and the intrusion of ambient gentle. It additionally has an efficient anti-glare coating. Because of this, the monitor seems relatively vibrant in most conditions.

Matt Smith

I recorded a most distinction ratio of 710:1 in SDR which, just like the SW272Q’s brightness, is relatively low. But not like its brightness, which isn’t a problem in real-world use, the monitor’s distinction noticeably degrades its picture high quality. The SW272Q reveals vital “IPS glow,” a problem that causes scenes which ought to be pitch black to as a substitute seem as a foggy, hazy grey.

This is a vital check that ought to give those that don’t want the SW272Q’s superior options pause. Innocn’s 27M2V Mini-LED monitor, which is priced competitively with the SW272Q, delivers a greater sense of depth, immersion, and realism. The SW272Q appears to be like flat and washed-out by comparability.

Matt Smith

The SW272Q’s colour gamut efficiency once more calls for some dialogue. It achieves as much as 98 % of the AdobeRGB colour gamut, as much as 99 % of sRGB, and as much as 94 % of DCI-P3, however not all three on the identical time.

This is each a bonus and an obstacle. Tightly controlling the colour gamut can show helpful for professionals who work inside a selected colour gamut. In common use, nonetheless, the SW272Q’s colour gamut may seem a bit much less vibrant than some options.

Unlike distinction, nonetheless, this can be a nitpick. The SW272Q’s colour efficiency in its Adobe RGB and Custom colour modes, which in my testing had been the widest total, remains to be greater than sufficient to ship a vibrant, punchy picture.

Matt Smith

Next up is colour accuracy, the place the SW272Q’s efficiency is nice, however not unusually so for a contemporary monitor. An common colour error under two is mostly not a problem, and an error under one is great for each informal {and professional} use.

With that mentioned, do not forget that the SW272Q’s on-screen menus present customization not discovered on most screens. That’s necessary, because it means you possibly can tune the colour efficiency to fulfill your particular wants, which may range tremendously relying on the place your work will likely be seen.

The SW272Q scored properly in colour temperature and gamma, because it achieved a default colour temperature of 6200K (barely under the goal of 6500K) and an on-target gamma curve of two.2. The default picture high quality was ever-so-slightly hotter than my goal, however in any other case on level. Again, the vary of choices is necessary: The SW272Q helps colour temperature adjustment in increments of 100 between 5000K and 9300K, in addition to gamma curve settings between 1.6 and a pair of.6.

All of that is properly past what a mean residence workplace person wants, and greater than typical even from high-end productiveness screens just like the Dell U2724DE, but important for individuals who want most management over their monitor.

Sharpness is nice, however not glorious, because the monitor has a show decision of 2560×1440. That works out to 109 pixels per inch. Images and video are likely to look sharp, however will appear gentle if positioned subsequent to a 4K show, and small fonts can look pixelated. 1440p decision additionally makes the SW272Q a nasty alternative for modifying 4K video or very high-resolution images. BenQ provides a high-end model of the SW272Q, the SW272U, with a 4K panel, however it’s twice the value.

There’s one remaining X-factor: the SW272Q’s “fine-coated panel.” It’s a matte panel end designed to attenuate display reflection and simulate the feel of a printed web page. And it really works. I instantly seen a distinction within the reflectivity of the show, which does in actual fact make images, and even Word paperwork, look extra like a printed web page. It’s most helpful for photographers, however writers, editors, and publishers who’ve sturdy opinions on the kind of paper and font utilized by a guide or journal also needs to like what they see.

The BenQ SW272Q’s SDR picture high quality is great for its area of interest however not well-suited for on a regular basis use and leisure. Alternative screens just like the Dell U2724DE and Innocn 27M2V present higher picture high quality at an analogous, or decrease, value level. However, professionals who need a particularly correct, customizable picture will desire the BenQ.

How is the BenQ SW272Q’s HDR picture high quality?

Matt Smith

HDR is on the market on the BenQ SW272Q, however it lacks VESA DisplayHDR certification, and its HDR efficiency isn’t nice.

I measured a most HDR brightness of 343 nits and a distinction ratio of 900:1. Both are enhancements over SDR, however far in need of what’s required for an excellent HDR expertise.

That may be a shock, given the SW272Q’s value, however it suits inside the monitor’s area of interest. Although it may be utilized by videographers, it’s extra firmly targeted on nonetheless photos and print, the place HDR is much less necessary.

How is the BenQ SW272Q’s movement efficiency?

The BenQ SW272Q is a 60Hz monitor with a quoted gray-to-gray response time of 5 milliseconds. It additionally lacks adaptive sync, so it’s not appropriate with AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync.

That’s not nice information for players. Motion blur is a standard companion and might depart aggressive gamers at a major drawback in multiplayer titles. The lack of adaptive sync can be sorely felt. You’ll should depend on V-Sync, which may typically result in stutter, or put up with display tearing.

None of this can be a shock. The SW272Q just isn’t meant for gaming or leisure. However, I’m more and more reluctant to present even skilled screens a go on refresh fee. A 120Hz refresh fee could make a PC really feel extra responsive even on the Windows desktop, and I think these keen-eyed sufficient to care concerning the SW272Q’s nuanced picture high quality may also care about its refresh fee.

To be truthful, the vast majority of BenQ’s rivals additionally keep on with 60Hz. But there are some exceptions, most notably in Asus’ ProArt and Dell Ultrasharp screens, the place refresh charges of 75Hz to 120Hz have gotten widespread.

Is the BenQ SW272Q price it?

The BenQ SW272Q is a superb monitor for folks with particular wants. It supplies a variety of customization, which is simple to entry by way of the included wi-fi puck, alongside a “fine-coated panel” that mimics the look of paper. The monitor additionally scores properly in colour gamut and accuracy. It suffers a mediocre distinction ratio, nonetheless, and it lacks the sharpness, HDR efficiency, and movement readability a typical residence person ought to anticipate from a monitor with a $799.99 price ticket. The SW272Q is an excellent monitor for a really particular viewers.