BenQ RL2755HM review

BenQ’s RL monitor range is aimed primarily at gamers, with reasonably priced panels that are only slightly more expensive than their non-gaming-branded equivalents. BenQ wants the RL2755HM to tempt console gamers away from their traditional TVs, which are lumbered with relatively lethargic response times.

DESIGN & FEATURES

The 27in RL2755HM is somewhat underwhelming from a technical standpoint, with a mere Full HD resolution and 60Hz refresh rate, although they admittedly match the capabilities of the current console generation. Design is, for the most part, fairly standard stuff too, with textured black plastic on the monitor frame, a glossy material on the back and a few red highlights on the base and rear.

There are a couple of gamer-specific design tweaks too. A flip-out lever on the back left of the monitor can be used as a hangar for headphones, and is big and sturdy enough to hold even the heaviest of gaming headsets. However, there’s no indicator on the monitor bezel how high up the screen the lever actually is, so you might be left scrabbling around the find it at the end of a gaming session.

The angled base is covered with a thin swathe of rubber material, which gives your controllers something to grip onto rather than have them taking up desk space. However, there’s no height adjustment or rotation, which would have been particularly useful for gamers who sometimes sit back when playing and then hunch forward when they’re concentrating.

Physical additions don’t quite hit the mark, then, but the generous array of inputs is welcome. The RL2755HM has two HDMI ports for hooking up multiple consoles, along with DVI and VGA connectors for a desktop PC or laptop. This should be plenty for most users, although the three (or more) button presses required to switch input sources is a little long-winded. There aren’t any USB ports either, which means you’ll have to run cables from your consoles to recharge any wireless controllers.

Perhaps the biggest crime of all are the speakers. Yes, there are 3.5mm audio outputs for headphone users, but you won’t want to have your ears smothered by your headset all the time and a pair of half-decent speakers would have been very welcome. Instead, you get two 2W tweeters that lack bass. For a device that should be able to replace a TV, this feels like a missed opportunity and means you’ll need to spend more money on external speakers.