BenQ EW2775ZH 27-Inch 1080p Monitor Review: A Versatile Monitor For The Home And Office
Introduction
Today we will be looking at a monitor from BenQ that's intended to serve as a multi-purpose monitor for the home and office. BenQ has sent us the EW2775ZH which is a 27-inch 60 Hz monitor that retails for $190 on Amazon and comes with 3 years of warranty. It comes with an AMVA+ panel, a max resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a somewhat adjustable stand which we will talk more about in the next page.
At $190, the BenQ EW2775ZH is positioned toward the mid-end of the multi-purpose monitor market and competes with other 60 Hz monitors on the market such as the ASUS VS278Q-P, HP 27er, ASUS Designo MX259H, and ViewSonic VA2759-SMH. These monitors are all 27-inch, come with an IPS display and have a 60 Hz refresh rate, and are priced around $180 to $200. Like the BenQ EW2775ZH, these monitors are also designed to be all-purpose.
Features & Performance
The BenQ EW2775ZH supports features such as Brightness Intelligence Plus Technology which helps reduce eye strain in any lighting environment by detecting your ambient conditions and automatically adjusting brightness, contrast, and color temperature without sacrificing image quality. It features a matte finish which makes it easier to see the screen under bright lights.
Moving on, the BenQ EW2775ZH has a response time of 4 ms and a native refresh rate of 60 Hz. Typically gamers are looking for a 144 Hz refresh rate G-Sync/FreeSync monitor but that does not mean that you can't game on the BenQ EW2775ZH. I tested this monitor by playing GTA V and Hitman (2016) and I had a pretty good gaming experience so I can definitely see this monitor being used for gaming as well.
This is an 8-bit panel so that means it can display 16.7 million colors which is plenty for most and it supports 72% NTSC color gamut which is roughly equivalent to 100% sRGB coverage. BenQ is using an AU Optronics AHVA+ (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle) panel on their EW2775ZH monitor which is a VA type panel that's designed for great color consistency and viewing angles. TN panels on the other hand have washed out colors, the viewing angles are not as good and the color quality is not as accurate as that of an IPS or VA panel.
Specifications
| BenQ EW2775ZH Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacture: | BenQ |
| Model: | EW2775ZH |
| Screen Size: | 27" |
| Panel Type: | AMVA+(E2E) |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 |
| Brightness: | 300 cd/m² |
| Refresh Rate: | 60 Hz |
| Color Bit: | 8 Bit |
| Native Contrast: | 3000:1 |
| Response Time: | 4ms (GtG) |
| Max Resolution: | 1920x1080 |
| Color Depth: | 16.7M |
| Color Gamut: | 72% NTSC |
| DCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio): | 20M:1 |
| Viewing Angles: | 178/178 |
| Technology Features: | Zero Flicker Low Blue Light Plus Brightness Intelligence |
| Audio: | 2 x 2W Built-in Speakers |
| Input/Output Connector: | D-sub/HDMI1.4 x2 |
| Video Bandwidth (MHZ): | 250 MHz |
| Power Supply (90~264 AC): | Adapter |
| Power Consumption (On mode): | 42W |
| Power saving mode: | <0.5W |
| Power Consumption (Off mode): | <0.5W |
| Dimensions(HxWxD mm): | 460.6 x 613.8 x 180.9 (mm) |
| Net Weight (kg): | 4.28 |
| Gross Weight (kg): | 5.97 |
| Dynamic Power Saving (DPS): | Yes |
| Windows® 10/8/7 Compatible: | Yes |
| AMA: | Yes |
| HDCP: | Yes |
| Color Temperature: | Normal / Reddish / Bluish / User Define |
| Tilt (down/up): | -5° ~ 20° |
| K Locker: | Yes |
| Ports: | DisplayPort, HDMI, Speakers |
| Accessories: | HDMI 1.4 cable (1.5m) |
| Warranty: | 3 Years |
| Release Date: | March 2017 |
Packaging
The monitor comes in a simple cardboard box which weighs around 6 kg. The features of the monitor are listed at the bottom-left corner and also on the sides of the box. Looking at the top left corner of the box, we see the name BenQ logo and the 'EW2775' series number next to it. Underneath this, we see 'eye-care' which is the main feature of this monitor.
The included cables are high quality and durable. The components inside are well packaged and everything feels well secured inside the box. Inside you will find the 27” monitor, the stand, power cord with an adapter, 1x HDMI 1.4 cable, and the manual.
The monitor is protected by two high density foams as shock absorbent and plastic wrapping to prevent any accidental damages during shipping. Overall, the packaging is very good and the product arrived to my house in perfect condition.
Design & Build Quality
Visually, the BenQ EW2775ZH sports a minimalistic design that is pleasing to the eyes. Despite having a plastic construction, the stand offers solid stability and is quite sturdy. The stand and base do not come pre-assembled but the installation process is very simple. All you need is a screwdriver to connect the panel to the stand.
What bothers me the most about the stand is that you can basically only tilt the monitor backwards and forwards. It is not capable of adjusting the height, or rotating the screen or even swivel the panel. Moving on, on the back you will find your ports and the BenQ logo. The OSD buttons are located underneath the frame and they are easy to press.
As far as ports go, you get one 3.5mm audio jack, two HDMI 1.4 ports, one VGA port, and no USB ports. USB ports can be quite useful because they can be used to connect your keyboard, mouse, and other devices. There's also a audio line-out port for the headphones or external speakers.
The Brightness Intelligence technology uses a camera that sits under the bottom bezel and detects the environment that you are in and changes the brightness and color temperature of the monitor accordingly. Before a change occurs, an icon appears at the bottom left to inform you that the sensor has detected a change and adjustment is about to happen. BenQ allows you to disable this notification without turning off the Brightness Intelligence feature.
In most monitors you will find some USB 3.0 ports on the side of the monitor but BenQ has decided to keep it simple without any ports on the side.
The base is made entirely of plastic and it doesn't wobble at all even if you move your desk around but it does take up quite a bit of space which I'm not a fan of. I prefer bases that are simple in design such as AOC's Agon gaming monitor series. Typically, large monitors come with a big power supply but the BenQ EW2775ZH uses a small adapter that takes very little space.
On-Screen Display & Panel
The on-screen display buttons are located on the bottom of the monitor and the buttons are quite snappy, and the menu itself is easy to navigate. Now let's go over the OSD setup. From left to right, the first setting is called Low Blue Light Plus, then we have Picture mode, after that comes input mode, and then comes the customizations mode which is where you will spend the majority of the time tweaking different settings.
In the Low Blue Light Plus setting, you can choose between four options, Standard, Entertainment, Office, and Dark Room. I tested each option independently and they all seem to be well calibrated. The monitor ships with the standard mode enabled.
The Picture mode is self-explanatory and you can select between eight options. The monitor ships with the Low Blue Light Plus option as the default option but you can also choose between Cinema, Game, Photo, sRGB, ECO, M-Book, and User.
Moving on to the Input setting, here it will display whether you are using an HDMI or a VGA (D-Sub) connectivity.
Now in the customization mode is where you will be spending most of your time. This is where you will go to play around with settings such as Eye-Care, Picture, Picture-Advanced, Display, Audio, and System. In the Eye-Care section, you can select between Low Blue Light Plus and Bright Intelligence. The Low Blue Light Plus option can be adjusted to reduce the effects of eye strain while the Bright Intelligence will automatically adjust ambient light and on-screen content to protect your eyes.
The Picture section provides control over Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Gamma, Color Temperature, Hue, Saturation, AMA and Reset Color. Most of these settings can be left the way they are but if you find yourself making a lot of changes, you can easily reset all colors to default.
In the Picture Advanced setting, you can tweak Picture Mode, Sensye Demo, Super Resolution, Smart Focus, Dynamic Contrast, Display, Overscan, Color Format, HDMI RGB PC Range. Dynamic contrast is used to allow the monitor to automatically adjusts picture detail and brightness.
In the display section, you can change Auto Adjustment, Input, Horizontal and Vertical position, Pixel Clock and Phase.
The audio setting is pretty self explanatory but I will say that the 2x2W built-in speakers are fairly low-quality and the sound output is low even when it is set to 100%.
In the system section, you can tweak settings such as OSD Settings, CustomKey1, CustomKey2, DDC/CI, HDMI Auto Switch, Auto Power Off, Resolution Notice, Information and Reset All.
The Information option in the System setting displays some basic information such as the resolution, refresh rate, monitor model, and input mode.
In the bottom center bezel is where the BenQ logo is located which stands out the moment you unbox the monitor.
Here's a close up picture of the monitor and you can see that the bezel is quite thin, about 8mm thin based on my measurements. The panel goes all the way to the frame of the monitor and there is not a gap between the screen and the frame.
Backlight Bleed & Viewing Angles
Now we are going to test the backlight bleeding at 0%, 50% and 100% brightness and the testing will be
performed in a dark room. Backlight bleeding is a major concern among enthusiasts and gamers because it is a common issue with IPS panels but not so much with AMVA+ panels.
AMVA+ panels have superior blacks to IPS panels, but IPS panels typically have better colors but other than that, they are pretty similar panels.
Another thing that I want to mention is that AMVA+ panels do not suffer from backlight bleeding whereas IPS panels are known for suffering from backlight bleeding.
The above photo is tested at 0% brightness and you can clearly see that this monitor does not suffer
from backlight bleeding at all.
The above photo is tested at 50% brightness.
Now we are testing at 100% brightness and you can see a slight color variation on both sides but it's nowhere near as bad as an IPS panel.
When it comes to backlight bleeding, it will all depend on how sensitive you are to it but I can tell you from
spending a week testing this monitor, that this monitor has zero issues with backlight bleeding.
Now we are testing the viewing angles at 0%, 50%, and 100% brightness and the testing will be performed in a dark room.
The above photo was tested at 0% brightness and you can clearly see there was little to no color shifting when viewed from an angle.
The above photo is tested at 50% brightness.
Here we are testing at 100% brightness. Overall, the viewing angles and color uniformity are very good.
There was very little color shifting or loss of luminance when viewed from an extreme angle during testing.
The colors for the most part stay true when the screen is viewed from basically any angle without distorting the picture or losing color.
Conclusion
The BenQ EW2775ZH is a great all-purpose monitor that incorporates many modern features such as a thin bezel, high build quality, fantastic image quality and supports technologies such as Brightness Intelligence. The build quality is sleek and elegant and it definitely has a premium feel to it and it also comes with a long three-year limited warranty.
Like I have already mentioned, viewing angles are going to be top-notch with a VA panel and you do not have to worry about backlight bleeding with this monitor. So basically the viewing angles are going to be top-notch regardless of the angle you are looking at the monitor.
The biggest downside to this monitor is the stand and the 2x2W built-in speakers. You can't adjust the stand without adjusting the entire monitor and the built-in speakers are fairly low-quality and even when the volume is set to 100%, the sound output is still too low. I rarely use the built-in speakers so this doesn't affect me but definitely keep that in mind if you are looking for good built-in speakers.
Pros:
+ Great All-Purpose Monitor
+ Fantastic Color Accuracy
+ Aesthetic Design
+ Thin Bezel
+ Good Packaging
Cons:
- 1080p Resolution
- Weak Built-In Speakers
- Not Fully Adjustable Stand
If you are going to be building an all-purpose PC, you should definitely consider the BenQ EW2775ZH monitor.
The 60 Hz refresh rate is good for gaming but if you are into fast-paced gaming, then you should probably look for
a 144 Hz monitor because the difference between 60 Hz and 144 Hz in gaming is pretty big.
But I will say that the BenQ EW2775ZH makes for a fantastic all-purpose monitor with superb color quality and the OSD menu is clear and simple to navigate.
Overall, the BenQ EW2775ZH deserves our recommended award.
Final Score 8.5
