BenQ EL2870U 28 inch 4K Monitor for Gaming 1ms Response Time, FreeSync, HDR, eye-care, speakers

UPDATE 1-3-19: As mentioned below I had my monitor replaced by BenQ due to an HDR defect. They have some of the best customer service I have experienced in a long time. They helped me out very quickly and with no hassle at all. I've been using their new replacement monitor since my original review date and haven't had any issues. I cant confirm that the firmware was indeed updated and that this was the issue as the monitor does not list the firmware version anywhere for me to compare. The monitor does however work as desired and their 3 year warranty and amazing customer service has warranted me to change my review from 3 to 5 stars. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Read the reviews for this specific monitor, A significant number of people are having repetitive HDR issues. I ordered the product because it had a great review rating, I didn’t even bother to look into them much but wish I would have now. overall my final view of this product is going to based on how BenQ deals with the situation and if the monitor i receive fixes my issues. Had this monitor for 3 months before the issues started. During this time the monitor was pretty great, rich colors and great for gaming, very responsive. The colors were a little off especially with blacks which aren’t very deep. Other than that, the HDR and 4k were very nice, it was nothing much more or less than you’d expect for a $400 gaming monitor until I ran into this issue. The issue came when I turned my monitor on one day and all of a sudden, all the colors that were in HDR mode were washed out and flat. After reading carefully on Amazon and in forums I noticed that a lot of people have this issue with this specific monitor. You don’t see it reflected as much in the reviews because all the BenQ product reviews are twitstered together. This means that the star rating and reviews you see for this product are not all actually for this product, its for all the twistered products together. I contacted Amazon about it and unfortunately as of late at least, their chat customer service is getting increasingly more difficult to deal with and far less helpful than they used to be, every person you talk to gives you different answers and reasons as to why they decided they cant help you. So I contacted BenQ instead and their customer service was pretty Amazing. They had a new monitor being shipped to me within minutes of me contacting them and the monitor has a 3 year warranty. Their service is very good, I was very surprised at how fast they were and how easy they were to work with. Andy L. in their service department was really great and his service changed my mind completely about wanting to keep this product or buy future BenQ products. Ill update this post with any new information after I receive my monitor. BenQ told me that the HDR issue is most often caused by firmware which makes me feel a little better.

*1 Month Update* So after adjusting settings in windows I have to admit this monitor is absolutely beautiful! The auto dimming is "Dynamic Contrast" and I was able to turn it off in Windows Registry Editor. After that and pairing this with a 2080 TI..... WOW! The monitor has been great and given me no problems whatsoever. Beautiful picture, IPS and compatible with Nvidia GSync (Even though its not certified) I can report it DOES work and works great. Right now as of June 2020 you wo t find a better monitor than this for the price. I highly recommend this monitor. I love 4K monitors and that's all I've owned for the past few years. I actually switched from my AW3418DW (Tried 1440P ultrawide for a year) to this for the 4K and "HDR". I was super excited about getting this monitor. I set it up and was immediately super impressed with the picture quality. Set Windows 10 to HDR and set the monitor to HDR and fired up a video. Colors really POP, but I noticed the screen kept getting dimmer and brighter on its own. No settings in windows were on for adaptive lighting. So I went into the monitor settings and when HDR is on none of the settings can be adjusted, no brightness, no contrast or the adaptive lighting. Only sharpness can be adjusted. If HDR is turned off (Whats the point of getting a HDR monitor if its off) the colors are very off and looks horrible with the "Simulated HDR" that comes on. After hours of looking and reading the entire BENQ manual its doing this because of the Ambient Light Sensor built into the bottom of the monitor. There is no way to turn it off when in HDR Mode. This does this when gaming as well. So i fired up a few games (YES This monitor is GSYNC COMPATIBLE) AC Odyssey won't recognize this as a "True HDR* monitor but Forza 4 will. It looks absolutely beautiful when you 1st switch one of the 3 HDR modes on but after a few seconds that Ambient light sensor kicks in and messes with the brightness and makes the picture dark. It goes back and forth and its highly noticeable. I will call BENQ and see if there is a fix but I've spent hours messing with settings to no fix. Overall the picture is amazing, colors are bright, viewing angles are great and the build is superb. The color of the monitor is actually very pleasing too. The speakers actually sound quite nice as well. Overall its very nice, a bit expensive and I wish they made a cheaper version without speakers. I will wait to see what BENQ says but if it continues to get brighter and dimmer when watching YouTube or playing a game I will unfortunately have to return and find myself another 32" 4K IPS display. -PROS -Beautiful IPS Display. -Has FreeSync and works with Nvidia GSync. -Out of the box the colors are amazing. -Has built-in speakers that actually sound quite good. -Has support for 100x100 VESA Mount. -Framless design and monitor outer color (Reddish Copper) is very appealing. -Deep Black's -HDR 400 with 3 HDR Modes. -CONS -Only 60hz (Dont bother me) and if your not playing competitive FPS shooters its not noticeable. -Stand has no adjustments (But I have mine on a monitor arm) - BENQs HDR modes aren't that great. (Display HDR is the best) -Not curved Thats pretty much it. I looked for about a week before deciding on a monitor. Ive had ma y 32" 4K monitors and this one is by gar my favorite. If you are even thinking about this monitor I highly suggest you get it. When i had questions about the dimming, I called BENQ and a live person answered the phone and helped me fix it. When asking about the warranty I was informed I could send it in to BENQ and they would send me a new replacement.

The monitor is very nice, I wish it had more USB-C ports (there is 1 port for video input, and one 15W charger). The speakers were an expected disappointment, with hardly any bass. The worst is that the included USB-C video cable is very cheap and stiff, and requires an immediate replacement. Instructions on pass-through daisy chaining of other monitors is not adequate, but I haven't found a monitor which is clear on this to begin with. The USB-C video cable will charge a laptop with adequate current, so the promise of a two cable desktop (only one power cord for both monitor and laptop, and one video cord) is achieved, very nice. The remote control is a very nice feature, which relieves the user of using the buttons on the bottom of the unit to make adjustments for the most part (though those buttons including the joystick central button are good). The top left remote button permits selection of any one of the 4 video sources very easy (USB-C, or HDMI 1, 2, or 3), but won't recognize a pc that is in sleep mode, so you have to tap on the mouse or keyboard to accept the switch in video feed. Once you figure this out, it isn't so bad. The audio modes lack definition, but there is a User defined mode where you can try to increase the bass (only 5 channels). The USB-C configuration is defaulted to USB 2.0, you have to select USB 3.2, strange choice. All in all, this monitor with active video source switching really cleans up a desktop if you have a work and a personal PC. One less monitor, one less keyboard, one less mouse.

Having used the BENQ GW2760S monitor for over 8 years and enjoying its vibrant color and low blue light control technology, I decided to purchase an additional 27" 2k monitor for photo editing and high-resolution video enjoyment. Opting for a BENQ 27" 2k model with an IPS panel, I found it well built and ideal for web surfing. However, it didn't deliver much noticeable improvement in resolution for both high-pixel pictures and videos comparing to my GW2760S, so I replaced it with this 32-inch 4k version which proved to be a right decision made after a couple of weeks' testing. The 32-inch 4k monitor does outperform the 27" 1080P model, particularly in photo editing, bringing out more details and making some mediocre photos look much more appealing. To ensure accurate color representation, I downloaded color profiles for the monitor from both BENQ and Itings websites and conducted a comparison. While the 32-inch VA 4K monitor meets the needs of most users, those with a more flexible budget might consider an IPS panel for its superior color uniformity and wider viewing angle. In conclusion, I feel 4k resolution is perfect for 32" monitor. I trust the quality of BENQ monitors, and anticipate that this new monitor will continue to serve me well for another 8+ years.

ESTE MONITOR LO RECOMIENDO PARA GENTE COMO YO QUE DESEA VER HASTA EL MÁS MINIMO DETALLE EN LOS JUEGOS, CON UNA BUENA GAMA DE COLORES Y QUE SE CONFORMA CON JUGAR SHOOTERS EN BUENA CLIDAD A 4K A 60FPS - NO ES UN MONITOR PARA JUEGO COMPETITIVO. Llevo un par de semanas jugando en el, específicamente en una SERIES X Y francamente lo único que puedo decir es WOW, lo digo ya que di el salto de una TV55" FULL HD a un monitor 4K con HDR, y estoy fascinado. Empecemos por los colores de monitor, pese a no ser un monitor IPS la representación de colores es exquisita, los juegos con colores vividos y saturados lucen preciosos, toda una delicia al jugar, no te faltara realismo en los colores. El tamaño: Como lo comentaba, de estar jugando en una TV55" el cambio a uno de 32" Fue notable pero para bien, al ser un monitor y trabajar cerca de el no pierdes detalles, no he notado pixeles y aunque lo recomendable en monitores así de grandes es que sean curvos, créanme, no lo necesitaran, las equinas se ven perfectas como el resto del monitor, y no es necesario girar la cabeza para apreciar los detalles presentes en las esquinas del monitor, también por el tamaño lo utilizo como TV ya que esta en mi habitación, y no falla, cumple la función pese a que no sea lo más recomendable. Funciones del monitor: El monitor cuenta con un buen menú para calibrar colores, escoger modos de imagen, en ese aspecto estoy satisfecho Tiene bocinas incluidas las cuales sinceramente no he probado, pase de largo de ellas ya que tengo unas bocinas que decidí conectar directamente a la entrada de audífonos 3.5 que incluye el monitor La función de Eyecare es buenísima, cumple y no te cansa la vista, aunque soy un poco exigente con los colores por lo que de vez en cuando cuando quiero disfrutar de una toma en algún juego, lo desactivo para tener los colores FULL HDR: El monitor viene con una función HDR que emula si es que tu dispositivo no permite HDR, es una función muy buena, el nivel de saturación y contraste son de 10 por lo que recomiendo el monitor pese a no tener un dispositivo que reproduzca contenido HDR Ahora bien, donde creo queda mal es con el SERIES X, al activar la opción de HDR 10 en el XBOX hay algunos juegos como RDR2 el HDR nativo de XBX hace más opaca la imagen, mas grisácea, y podrían decir que es mi error de calibración dentro del juego pero no es así , y hay que sumarle que cuando un dispositivo reproduce HDR nativo, el monitor bloquea las configuraciones y solo puedes mover parámetros como HDR o HDR Cinematográfico, y ya, eso me disgusto un poco Como conclusión: He dejado unas imágenes adjuntas para que vean la diferencia entre usar HDR Nativo o Emulado en el monitor vs estas opciones desactivadas, y la diferencia es abismal, en serio es la noche y el día, no se como pude estar jugando sin HDR, tan solo un juego muy común GTAV se ve asombroso en HDR Emulado pese a no tener ningún tipo de optimización. El monitor Incluye un cable: USB C A USB C un poco porto en mi opinión Alimentación Displayport a DPMini con un tamaño moderado No incluye HDMI Estoy encantado con el, definitivamente la mejor compra 10/10

It was broken

I wanted to swap out two aging monitors for hi-res units. These two supported all the connections I could possibly want in the future at a very attractive price point. I have been very happy with the results. The units have a crisp, stable image for editing, office and for my sound design and music workbench - with colour and responsiveness being important for reviewing audio analysis. Since I do not play games, I cannot report on how well they would function as a gaming monitor. But from what I can see (pun intended) they will probably meet many gamers needs. You do not always need 'the best'... just more than good enough. And these monitors are certainly more than good enough!

Incredible monitor, love the features and functions it's exactly what I need and I'm dazzled. Only thing missing is backlit buttons on the remote which otherwise is excellent if you are constantly adjusting your monitor's brightness, warmth and settings like I do. Sound is pretty excellent, not audiophile good but plenty good for the form and function. I have a more basic 2k BenQ which is also excellent. If you're looking for a high quality brand that is eco friendly BDS safe, eye care function.