However, with every single component manufacturer offering multiple options in the same size across a variety of price ranges, it becomes harder and harder to differentiate between products and find the one that offers the best value. In such a case, brands can either go the tried and tested route, with safe designs and value-for-money internals that have a proven track record. Or go off the deep end, and create a grab-you-by-the-eyeballs design, with everything but the kitchen sink stuffed inside. Fortunately for us, in the gaming segment, most manufacturers like to go with the latter, and if the MOBIUZ EX2710R is any indication, BenQ is thinking along the same lines.
Design & Build
This gaming monitor is designed to offer a completely immersive experience, with a 1000R curved display that closely matches the surface curves of our eyes. This means that at the right angle and distance, the display fits perfectly in our cone of vision, with the corners simulating the experience of peripheral vision. The display sits in a sturdy housing that comes with a dull metallic finish, which still retains its shine despite the texture. The rear features a couple of tasteful light inserts which divide the back into zones, sprouting off from the central mounting point.
You can either use the two-pronged metal stand for the standard standing look or go for a study VESA mount, considering the monitor itself weighs 4.9 kgs without the base stand. Even with the stand, you will need a sturdy table since the whole setup weighs 7.1 kgs even before you account for the wiring. The stand is pretty versatile, as you get the option to adjust the tilt (down -5˚/ up - 15˚), swivel (left 15˚/ right 15˚), and height (100mm) of the stand.
Like other models from the MOBIUZ series, you get an IO cover to hide the ports in the lower half of the rear. This monitor is suitably equipped for gaming, with 2 HDMI (v2.0) ports, 1 DisplayPort, 1 USB-B, and 2 USB-3.0 ports. There is a pre-cut opening in the IO cover for the wires so that you can benefit from in-built cable management. All this and the display are powered by a standard adapter that draws around 95W at peak performance.
Display
The display itself is decent enough for the price. You get a 27” QHD VESA DisplayHDR 400 VA curved panel with a 1000R curvature, a maximum resolution of 2560x1440, and a 3000:1 native contrast ratio. This translates to amazing picture quality, good viewing angles, and great colour reproduction at 90% P3 colour gamut.
Not all is good, though, as the display loses marks in peak brightness, which is just 400nits, and pixel density, which is barely 109 PPI. However, it makes up for it with a 1ms MPRT response time and 165Hz refresh rate. There is also support for various display technologies, like HDR 10, HDRi, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.
All in all, it’s a great mid-range display that can handle a variety of tasks, from general browsing to fast-paced gaming and even detailed graphics work. You can even tune it further for each of the scenarios, thanks to the presence of a variety of display modes. Such as regular sRGB, DisplayHDR, M-Book, ePaper, and Custom modes, as well as special games modes like FPS, Racing game, and RPG.
There are even smart presets, such as Cinema HDRi and Game HDRi, that uses an ambient light sensor to tailor the brightness and dynamic range of the content to match your surroundings. You can play around with each mode to make it fit the content you are watching. This is what makes the EX2710R an awesome gaming monitor that can appeal to a wider audience than it was designed for.
Sound
Generally, in-built speakers that come with most monitors are nothing more than an afterthought. Something to add to the product to make it seem more finished. Thankfully, the EX2710R takes this aspect a little more seriously. As the model features not only 2.1 ch speakers but also a 5W sub-woofer to even out the soundstage. You even get a DSP that supports multiple audio modes that have been tuned according to the True Sound Audio standards set by treVolo. While this setup will never beat a traditional speaker setup in outright performance, it is still good enough that not having an external setup won’t feel like a loss.
As you can guess by now, this monitor is a jack of all trades but a master of none. But, at a relatively affordable price of AED 1,999, it doesn’t need to be a master because the jacks are good enough.
