BenQ ZOWIE XL2430 Review

BENQ have released the XL2430 as part of the Zowie range of serious gaming monitors. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between this and the XL2430T is, if you know, please feel free to comment and let us in on it. On paper they seem to have the same specs and appearance. I’ve had a look round to see if the professional testers have compared the two but have failed to see anything conclusive. This model is newer so perhaps there are some technological enhancements that aren’t immediately obvious.

Either way, the XL2430 is the Zowie branded version. Zowie is BenQ professional e-sports product line so if you are buying into this brand you are supposedly buying into a range that meets the needs of pro gamers. Of course, this might be marketing spin but at least you know you’re buying a gaming monitor.

This 24″ screen comes packed with a tonne of game friendly features and its 144hz refresh rate make it suitable for fast action game players, assuming your GPU can produce enough frames to push it to that maximum. Unfortunately there is no G-Sync or FreeSync here so you may say some image degradation if your graphics card struggles to keep up.

Build Quality

The Zowie looks the part, it has the gaming monitor feel to it thanks to a splash of red colour here and there. Whether this is attractive to you or not will be down to your own preference, arguably this style of build isn’t suitable for an office type environment but you’re probably buying it for home use anyway. The matt black finish prevents it looking cheap and plasticy.

The metallic stand is actually quite stylish and affords a complete range of movement. A novel touch is markings on the stand that allow you to remember and recreate specific positions if you like to change it around from time to time. In keeping with the esports theme, there is a handle at the top making this easy to carry, presumably when entering some pro gaming competition.

Connectivity is more than adequate, there are two HDMI 1.4 ports, DisplayPort 1.2 and even legacy VGA and DVI-D sockets. More than anyone will really need but handy if you are looking to connect up different systems. Headphone socket is also included.

The round disc like object you see on the base is actually a control panel that allows you to manage settings. It’s unusual and perhaps could get in the way but it is effective at allowing easy access to the on screen config. Beats reaching round the back for buttons hidden away.

Performance

Professional testers report back promising results for a TN panel. Of course it won’t match up to alternative technologies such as IPS, especially when it comes to viewing angles. As is typical for TN based panels, the image degrades when viewed side on or from above or below. But don’t let that put you off, modern TN panels are not as bad as they used to be and set up right, colour accuracy compares well with medium to low end IPS screens. It will be good enough for home use but might miss the mark for professionals.

The real attraction is the 144hz refresh rate and assuming your PC rig can output a steady stream at this rate you’ll experience beautifully smooth gaming. Moving up from 60hz will be a real treat for you. Combined with the low lag and high refresh rate of the TN panel this is a responsive panel that will be a pleasure to game on. Just a shame there is no adaptive sync for when the frame rate drops.

There are a tonne of gaming modes to select that promise more comfortable viewing, better blacks, better gaming and all the rest. As I have not had a hands on so I cannot recommend the effectiveness of these but rest assured there are a whole load of ways to set up this monitor using the handy S Switch controller.