HARDWARE REVIEW

BenQ XR3501 Curved Gaming Monitor Review

by Luke Walsh, October 25th, 2016

Made in mind for gamers, the BenQ XR3501 is a massive 35 inch, 2,000R curved radius in a 21:9 aspect ratio format. The screen gives a good overall performance in terms of blacks and is immersive for gamers but could be a better with only being equipped with a 1080p resolution and no USB connectivity.

As you can expect with curved monitors, the first thing you’ll notice is the curve and how huge it is. You’ll really be able to show off your monitor retail space with the XR3501 and with the 2000R curvature the encompassing feeling it evokes when you are sitting in front of it is extremely noticeable. For those who are new to curvature, 2000R means when you connect loads of XR3501’s together to make a complete circle, the radius of the circle will be 2000mm. Bet you didn’t think, you’d be learning maths today reading this review…no thanks needed.

The screen is enclosed in your typical matte black frame with a slight slither of silver to match the chrome based it sits on. The bezel of the screen is impressively thin with only about 1cm being taken up by the ‘non-screen’ part of the whole monitor. As it is exceptionally heavy, the frame is supported by a fairly large V shaped chrome base. It is a shame the height is at a locked position only offering some tilting movement, a lot of other monitors offer height adjustment and for gamers this can be a solid requirement. If you are like me and have a desk which is slightly higher than the chair you are sitting in, it can feel like you are at a cinema looking up at the screen (which is not ergonomically friendly) and would need to get a new desk, chair or booster seat to sit at a better angle.

On the back of the monitor are two HDMI ports, a full sized DisplayPort, a mini DP, one headphone jack, audio out jack and an audio in. You won’t find any USB ports which are normally part of a lot of other high-end monitors which is a shame, considering the amount of money you need to spend to get the XR3501. A simple cable management system is found on the back, through a cover you pull off to expose the different inputs. These have L shaped catches which hold the cable in place and can be passed through a small opening once you attached the cover back onto it. Clearly, aesthetics was a big priority for this monitor and BENQ wanted to make sure things were as neat as possible. This can be useful if you decide to mount it to the wall (which requires a special place for about £30). This could be a solution to the height adjustments but having to spend more money and time to solve it does not gain favour in my books.

On the body of the monitor, you’ll find 6 different buttons which correspondence to your usual functions such as menu controls, brightness, gamma, power etc. Some of the keys also acts as shortcuts to inputs, picture modes and to activate the Black Equalizer mode. The neat thing about the shortcuts is they can actually be programmed to any function you’d like which is great if you use certain functions more than others.

In terms of picture modes, there are nine different presets that you can Standard, Movie, sRGB, Racing, First Person Shooter (FPS)1, FPS2, Photo and two custom profiles to save your own picture setting configurations. There is a wide range of standard picture settings which allow you to alter brightness, contrast gamma etc. On top of those is the more advanced and unique settings to the BENQ range with the Black Equalizer mode, Low Blue Light setting to reduce eye strain and some advanced settings like colour vibrancy and Picture in Picture.

Playing around with the different settings in games, the Black Equalizer was probably the most helpful in FPS games where people can have dark clothes, combined with shadows. It allows you to not have areas of the screen which are too dark removed any detail from the image. Blue Light Mode is based on light we can’t see with the naked eye, playing with the setting on I did not notice any huge difference but long term I expect there would be, by reducing eye fatigue and being able to play games for longer.

Colour performance, the monitor shows a nice sharp clear picture with vibrant colours and deep blacks. Its downside is the level of details it can achieve compared to 4K or other hi-res monitors. Only outputting a max 1080p you’ll notice the huge difference in pixel detail if you put the monitor side by side with a 4K one. If you have never gone beyond 1080p then you’ll love the new vertical space you get with the XR3501, but anyone who uses a high resolution monitor on a regular basis will be able to clearly tell the difference. If you’re looking for a step above the 1080p there are other screens on the market at a similar price which work at 3440 x 1440 giving a better quality image pixels wise.

Out of the box, monitor stock settings produce a decent colour accuracy but it has been known from other tests that is can be off. If you are a graphic designer or someone who needs colour specific work, then it would be best to calibrate the monitor before using it to be on the safe side.

Technical performance, the monitor really stands out for gaming being able to use the 144Hz, it is important though that to get that rate you’ll need to use the mini DisplayPort. HDMI inputs will only support 2560 x 1080 at 60Hz, so to get the full performance remember to use the mini DisplayPort.

In game, the XR3501 made things look fantastic but only at the full 21:9 widescreen if the game in question supported it. Streaming from my Xbox would put any game in standard 16:9 and although it still looked great, black bars appeared on the sides of the screen that was not used. Other games such as Fallout 4 on PC, where only able to support the monitor aspect ratio with mods, whereas Battlefield 4 handled the wider resolution “out of the box”. For a casual games using the XR3501 made the titles feel ultra-realistic with the edges of the screen curving inwards giving a sense of immersion into the battlefield. 144Hz meant that the gameplay was always smooth but from an eSports perspective gamers will probably give this monitor a miss.

Competitive gamers don’t like not being able to see the whole screen clearly without moving their head, other games having parts on the periphery adds to the gameplay but for eSports it could mean missing an enemy. Anything non-competitive that was able to support the widescreen format always never failed to impress, but was a slight shame being stuck at 1080p. Most gamers though that have never gone above that pixel depth will love the curved immersive experience the unit is able to offer. If your game does not support the 21:9 and did revert to 16:9 they would still look fine but you’ll have to put up with not being able to use the whole screen space.

For day to day tasks, I was able to have the one screen but use it like two. As the frame is so long, using it for Windows 10 meant multitasking was just too easy. You’ll have so much space to play with you can set two windows side by side which is great for browsing the web and watching some TV. If you are a developer, you’ll love the ability to code and test on the same screen without having to look over at a second monitor or switching window.

Overall, the BENQ XR3501 is a great monitor for those who are looking to enter into the realms of 21:9 ultra widescreen territory. Its biggest let downs are the price being over £650 and 1080p max resolution when there are other monitors on the market who can offer more for a slightly bigger price. If you are looking to pay a premium for screen space and are not too worried about the slight difference in resolution you’ll probably won’t find a more sexy looking monitor to game on.