BenQ EW3280U 4K monitor review: 32 inches of great picture and sound

Benq Ew3280u Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster/Windows Central

The move to 4K across TVs and monitors over the past several years has brought with it crisp picture quality that tin can enhance the expect of games, movies, and more than. What's arguably more important than 4K, however, is the introduction of loftier dynamic range (HDR), which makes the colors popular and enhances the contrast between the brightest and darkest areas of a screen. When you combine the two, withal, y'all tin get some truly stunning results.

That's what BenQ has done with its new EW3280U monitor, which takes BenQ's solid track record with HDR displays and applies it to a 32-in 4K screen. BenQ has geared this panel every bit "great for entertainment," adding in some extra bells and whistles intended to brand content consumption more pleasant. Even so, all of that comes at a hefty price of $800.

Is information technology worth information technology? Let's dive in.

HDR on brandish

Benq Ew3280u

BenQ EW3280U 4K Monitor

$800 at Amazon

Bottom line: The BenQ EW3280U is an first-class brandish for everything from web browsing to music, video, and gaming. But if yous need a college refresh rate, you might want to look at a QHD monitor.

Pros

Bang-up HDR
Excellent speakers
Premium build
Striking colors

Cons

Crowded cable management
No height adjustment
60hz merely

What you'll similar nearly the BenQ EW3280U 4K Monitor

Benq Ew3280u Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster/Windows Fundamental

BenQ has already established its ability to produce an excellent quality HDR display with previous models, including its EX2780Q gaming monitor. A lot of what makes that monitor appealing applies here besides. BenQ is using the same HDR implementation, an identical (but scaled up) design, and many of the same specs.

The look of the EW3280U is premium and unobtrusive. The display itself is flanked by very sparse bezels and metal dark-brown accents that kind of fade into the background. That's a not bad pattern selection when your main goal is focusing on the content on screen, whether it exist browsing the web, streaming some video, or diving into some games.

BenQ's HDR feels similar it could rival the high-end Sony television in my living room.

Even one of the monitor'due south best features, its frontwards-facing soundbar, avoids attracting attention. The speakers are integrated underneath the display and are covered by a mesh of plastic decked out in the same metallic brown colour as the rest of the monitor. The only exception is the middle portion of the speaker mesh, which contains the sensors for the remote and the monitor'due south automatic brightness adjustment.

Turning attending to the brandish itself, colors are crisp and vibrant right out of the box, even without HDR enabled. Once you lot offset interacting with HDR content, colors and contrast brainstorm to pop fifty-fifty more. When working shut to the screen, equally near of us exercise with monitors, BenQ'due south HDR implementation feels like it could rival the high-end Sony television in my living room.

Category	Spec
Size	32 inches
Resolution	4K (3840x2160)
Refresh rate	60Hz
Response time	5ms (grey to grayness)
PPI	138
Brightness	HDR off 350 nits (typical) HDR on 400 nits (minimum)
Panel	IPS LED backlight
Viewing angles (H/V)	178°/178°
Aspect ratio	16:9
Native contrast	thou:1
Dynamic contrast	20,000,000:ane
Colors	1.07 billion
Color depth	10 scrap
Connectivity	HDMI (2.0) x2, DisplayPort x1, USB Blazon-C X1 (PD10W, DP alt style, data)
Speakers	2W x ii + 5W

Beyond bones HDR, BenQ too has several emulated HDR modes that you tin can bike through. These settings essentially take content displayed in standard dynamic range (SDR) and suit the picture show to emulate information technology as if information technology was HDR content. There are different emulated HDR settings for cinema and games, besides as a brandish HDR mode.

The emulated HDR actually looks really, really good. It manages to make even older games, similar Globe of Warcraft, look more than lifelike with deeper contrasts and brighter colors throughout the screen. As I noted in my review of the EX2780Q, however, it can blow out highlights in some content, so it's non a total replacement for true HDR.

One matter that continues to surprise me is the quality of the speakers on BenQ's monitors. The sound here is supported by two two-watt speakers and a 5-watt woofer. Just put, these continue to be some of the all-time speakers I've heard on a monitor, which is typically a weak point for all displays. Y'all may still wish to use a set of external speakers, but the EW3280U's sound is suitably loud and thumpy for what information technology's working with.

There are a few other little additions that make using the EW3280U a pleasant monitor to use. For gamers, in that location's support for AMD'south FreeSync, and so you can cut downwards on screen tearing with a compatible AMD carte. BenQ has also included several different options to cut down on eye strain, including adjusting the effulgence based on ambient lighting, low bluish light modes, and color weakness filters for those with colour blindness. There's also a unique emulation manner that makes everything on the display deed equally if it's being displayed on an e-ink screen.

What you'll dislike about the BenQ EW3280U 4K Monitor

Benq Ew3280u Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster/Windows Central

If you lot're a gamer, the most significant sticking point with the BenQ EW3280U is that it's limited to a 60Hz refresh charge per unit. In a infinite where it's not uncommon to shoot for monitors with 144Hz refresh rates or higher, that can exist a big pill to swallow. While games expect great, and y'all'll still be able to hit smoothen framerates, 60Hz is a piffling limiting for the price.

That said, y'all'd need an incredibly beefy PC to button games to the signal where you'd demand anything across 60Hz in 4K anyway. QHD (2560x1440) displays are currently the sweetness spot for gaming because information technology's easier to push high frame rates while keeping a suitably crispy picture. Gamers on a budget, meanwhile, volition probable want to stick with a 1080p panel.

Beyond the obvious refresh rate restrictions, my only major gripes with the BenQ EW3280U come downward to its blueprint. While I'one thousand a big fan of the overall expect and feel of the monitor, it has some slight problems when information technology comes to adjustment and cable management.

On the rear of the monitor, you'll detect a cablevision routing tunnel built into the stand, which is fantabulous. Withal, once information technology'due south popped open, it becomes clear that there isn't much room to work with. If you have more than two cables to work about, you'll find the space rapidly getting pretty cramped.

In terms of adaptability, BenQ allows you to tilt the display toward or away from yous, which is always welcome. Withal, that'southward the extent of it. In that location's no acme adjustment, nor can you shift the display side to side or rotate it from a landscape to a vertical orientation. That won't be a dealbreaker for everyone, particularly considering the EW3280U already sits at a pretty comfortable acme, merely it's something to keep in mind.

And so should you buy the BenQ EW3280U 4K Monitor?

Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster/Windows Cardinal

The BenQ EW3280U is an excellent monitor that manages to bring enough value from the combination of 4K and its HDR modes to fit its price. If y'all're mainly concerned with streaming video, browsing the web, and keeping eye fatigue to a minimum, this is an first-class monitor to pick up. Content is crisp, and colors are poppy, and the speakers are merely the ruby on top.

Notwithstanding, $800 could be a prohibitive cost for some, in which case y'all might want to look at other options. If BenQ'southward design and features entreatment to y'all, it'due south worth because an alternative similar the EX2780Q. While information technology's five inches smaller in size, it'due south under $600 and includes a 144Hz brandish. Plus, you lot can access many of the same noteworthy features, like HDR emulation and splendid speakers.

Vibrant gaming

Benq Ew3280u

BenQ EW3280U 4K Monitor

Large and beautiful.

The BenQ EW3280U 4K monitor is a cute display that packs in plenty of extra features that should keep your eyes satisfied. If you need a large panel, 4K, and HDR, it's difficult to exercise much ameliorate.

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