26 JANUARY2021|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE395
MONITORSTYPICALLYRAMPup the
resolutionasthe screensize increases,but
not the BenQ Mobiuz EX2710. Marryinga27in
display with aresolution of 1,920x1,080,AMD
FreeSync support and a144Hz refresh rate,the
EX2710 helps gamers on abudget gain higher
framerates without sacrificing screen size.
Thereis, naturally, an adverseeffect on
pixel densityand thus sharpness, andtextcan
look fuzzy and pixellatedcompared to any
1440pmonitorofthe samesize.However,it
also means you don’tneedmonstrously
powerful –orexpensive–graphics hardware
to getasmoother frames-per-secondcount.
UPSAND DOWNS
TheEX2710 is anice-lookingand well-built
monitor.Slim bezelstothe left, right and top
contributetoaminimalistlook, and the
angular stand cuts adash on any desk. It has a
triangularbase,attractivelytrimmed with a
stripoforange rubber along the inside front
edge,and it benefits from acombination of
height, tilt andswivel adjustment.
It won’tspin fullyaround intoportrait
orientation, but there’s asmall amountof
adjustment youcan make to accountfor a
wonkydesk.You canalso attach any standard
VESA standard stand to the 100x100mm
mounting points on therear.
Connectivity is the EX2710’s weakest point.
There’s no USBhub,just two HDMI inputs
and asingleDisplayPort socket alongside a
3.5mmaudiooutputfor connecting
headphones. These arehidden awayinacubby
hole at the rear,making them tricky to reach.
Youdon’t have to connect headphones
since themonitor has built-in speakers,but
yyoouuwwoonn’ttwwaannttttoolliisstteennttoouusseetthheesseeffoorr
BENQ MobiuzEX2710
★★★★★
£270•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
Colouraccurateandpackedwithfeatures,
theEX2710isagood1080pgamingscreen
FULLHDGAMINGMONITOR
anythingmorethanvideocallsandthe
occasionalpodcast;there’snobassandthey
don’tsoundparticularlyfull-bodied.
On theplus side,the monitorhas abuilt-in
power supply,soyou don’thavethe hassle of
finding somewheretostashapowerbrick.
Theon-screen displayiscontrolled viaa
small,clickable joystick located behind the
screenatthe bottom right-hand corner. It’s
flanked by apower buttonbelow it and a
quick input selector above it,while on the
front there’s an HDRmodeshortcutkey.
Overall, it’sapretty easysystemtoget to
grips with. It’sresponsive,too,although its
proliferationofprofiles and quick settings
can get confusing at times.
KEEPING SIGHT
Image quality is good, however.The resolution
might be on thelow side forcreative tasks
andproductivity,but if youselect the sRGB
colour preset fromthe menu you’llbe
rewardedwith ahigh-quality image.
In this mode,the EX2710 achieved sRGB
coverage of 94.5%, with excellent colour
accuracy;anaverage delta-E of 0.8 is much
better than whatwe’dexpect areasonably
ppriced gaming monitortoachieve.Peak
bbrightnessand contrastratiointhismode are
22 96cd/m2and 913:1respectively.
In themonitor’s Standard mode and the
eemulated HDR modes,you’re lookingata
sslightly widergamutofupto115%ofsRGB
ccoverage and similar brightness andcontrast
nnumbers. That’s not enoughtosaturatethe
DDCI-P3 colourspace used by studiostomaster
mmovies fordigital cinema,but it is enough to
ggive games and movies aniceboostin
vvibrancy and dynamicrange.
EnableHDR modeproper and you’ll see
ppeakbrightness rise to 380cd/m2, whichcould
bbeexpected,and the contrast ratio drops to
77 65:1, which couldn’t. HDRworks, sort of,but
ittisn’t as impactful as it might be on ahalfway
ddecent HDR TV.Colour coverage falls off in
tthismode,too,to92.2%ofsRGB (65.7% of
DCIP3),soifyouwantthemostvibrant
image,we’dadvisestickingtoemulatedHDR
anddisablingWindows’HDRsettingsentirely.
It’sasimilarstorywiththeGameand
CinemaHDRimodes.Theseaddambientlight
detection,adjustingtheoverallbrightness,
contrastandcolourtemperatureaccordingto
the ambient lightinyourroom. It works to a
point, with Game HDRi being themore neutral
profile, but againishamperedinwhat it can
present by its limited peak brightness and
overall fairly low contrast ratio.
The panel handlesmotion well. There’s
very little motion blurat144Hz, and if you
boostAdvanced Motion Accelerator(BenQ’s
term foroverdrive) to itsmaximum setting of
3, you can nearlyeliminateit, at the costofa
smallamount of ghosting. Inputlag is around
8.5ms(at 60Hz)inthe centre of thescreen
with AMA turned right up so it shouldbeable
to keep up with yourreaction times, too. It’s a
responsive,smooth-feelingmonitor, perfectly
suited to high frame-rategaming.
FULLSPEEDAHEAD
All in all,the EX2710 is avery good option for
thosewho want to gameathigh refresh rates
on abiggerscreen,but without the framerate
penalty that 1440p displays impose.
At £270itisn’t theabsolute cheapest
around, but with high buildquality,decent
sRGB colour accuracy and HDR 400
capabilities, it’s an excellent all-rounder.
JonathanBray
SCREEN SIZE27in•RESOLUTION1,980x1,080•SCREEN
TECHNOLOGYTN•REFRESH RATE144Hz•VIDEO
INPUTSHDMI,DisplayPort•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB
- DETAILSwww.benq.eu•PART CODE9H.LJKLA.TBE
SPECIFICATIONS
CONNECTION PORTS
HDMI x2 DisplayPort 3.5mm headphonejack
