BenQ EL2870U 4k HDR Monitor review

A couple of months ago, BenQ was kind enough to send us a 4K HDR gaming monitor to upgrade our setup to enjoy Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V. Its a monitor that is very good for PC and console players looking to upgrade to 4K at a lower cost.

The EL2870U has a screen size of 27.9 inches with a 16.9 ratio. (3840 x 2160 and limited to 60 Hz) It also offers a response time of 1MS which is perfect for casual and hardcore gamers who want to get an advantage when playing competitively. 1MS is also great for if you want to stick Netflix on and watch some movies. It offers a variety of ports, with 2x HDMI 2.0 ports, so you can plug both your console and PC in together, along with having a 3.5mm headphone jack, a display port 1.4 and 2x 2w speakers. The built-in speakers on this monitor are good enough for the casual gamer who doesn’t want to wear any headphones, but of course, like any speakers, don’t expect to hear someone’s footsteps on Call Of Duty from the other side of the map.

The Monitor features High Dynamic Range technology (HDR). This offers perfect brightness when looking at the monitor along with showing all the details which a none HDR monitor would miss out.

The monitor offers low blue light technology, which will filter out blue light to avoid giving you eye irritation, not only that but the monitor is also flicker free. It really does offer as much as possible to avoid anyone hurting their eyes when sitting playing video games for a long period of time. BenQ have also included their B.I + Tech in the monitor. Which is a sensor that’s built into the monitor that will adjust which will detect what the lighting is like in your environment and adjust the settings on the monitor. This can be disabled if you don’t want it.

The Brightness Intelligence Plus Technology (BI+) that BenQ offers, reduces eye strain for anyone playing videogames using the monitor. The Color temperature on the monitor also feels just right which will automatically change along with the ambient light levels with BI+ to suit the environment and lighting you’re in. This is a really great piece of technology that BenQ offers and you can find more info on it here

The monitor comes with a stand so you can place it on your table or desk, the stand does allow you to tilt the monitor forward and back. The monitor also supports wall mounting if a stand isn’t your thing.

As for the size of the monitor in general, some people have referred to it as ‘chunky’ or ‘big.’ For sure the monitor isn’t the slimmest of monitors offered on the market, but we honestly can’t really tell its that chunky once it was set up. Its a decent size for the price.

As someone who plays Grand Theft Auto V on the PC, you can really tell the difference compared to our previous 1080p 2MS BenQ monitor. With how crisp and smooth it runs the game. As for when I’m playing Rainbow Six, I wouldn’t have thought that a 1MS response time would have made much of a difference, but it does.

You can get this monitor from most retailers, priced at less than £300. We highly recommend this monitor. If you want the specs, you can find them below. Links to the monitor will also be available below.

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Specifications