BenQ GW2265HM review

The BenQ GW2265HM is a 21.5in monitor with a 1,920×1,080 resolution. It uses a VA panel, and also benefits from BenQ’s anti-flicker technology, which is intended to reduce eye strain if you stare at the screen for long periods of time. It has a good range of inputs, too, including HDMI, VGA and DVI-D inputs, as well separate headphone and microphone jacks.

The monitor’s small stand and slim bezel are plain, but this compact monitor certainly won’t take up much room on your desk. It’s not height-adjustable, but there is a small amount of screen tilt to help you find a comfortable viewing angle.

VA panels typically have deeper blacks and a higher contrast ratio than TN panels. This makes VA panels good for the office work, but disadvantages include poor colour accuracy and narrow viewing angles.

Our technical tests followed this pattern, as our colour calibrator showed it was only displaying 89.3 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut at default settings, which is what we expect from a VA panel. Reds were by far the GW2265HM’s weakest area, but the monitor’s colour accuracy increased to 93.2 per cent after calibration. This is good for a VA panel. Calibration strengthened the GW2265HM’s warm colour coverage too, and colours looked richer as a result.

In our subjective image tests, only solid greens looked a few shades paler than our reference monitor, as reds and blues looked just as bright and vibrant compared to our reference monitor side by side. Whites were a little grey, but blacks were very deep, reflecting our superb low black level reading of just 0.08cd/m².

The monitor’s contrast levels were also excellent. Fine shadow detail was particularly well-illuminated in our night shots, and the monitor’s matt finish helped to keep reflections at bay.

The GW2265HM’s viewing angles weren’t great, and the monitor produced a milky white sheen across the screen when we viewed it from the side and above. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem if the monitor is intended for individual use, but it may cause problems if lots of people need to crowd round it to look at documents and presentations.

Viewing angles aside, the BenQ GW2265HM is one of the best budget VA monitors we’ve seen in recent months. It doesn’t have the greatest colour accuracy out of the box, but at this price we wouldn’t expect it too. Its deep blacks and superb contrast more than make up for any colour deficiency, earning it a Budget Buy award.