We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, with units that we buy completely on our own, without any cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized and custom tools to measure various aspects with objective data-based results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance against the competition, and whether or not it's easy to find.
Our Verdict
The BenQ EW3270U is a good monitor for most uses. It's more suitable for dimmer environments as it can't get very bright, but it can display deep uniform blacks thanks to its VA panel. Its large screen size and 4k resolution are great for productivity and immersive gaming experiences. It can handle reflections well, but unfortunately, its ergonomics are quite bad, making it difficult to adjust to your optimal viewing position. It has a low input lag and its response time is good, resulting in very little motion blur.
- Good dark scene performance.
- Very good gray uniformity.
- 4k resolution is great for multiple windows.
- Can't get bright enough for HDR.
- Image degrades at an angle.
The BenQ EW3270U is a good office monitor. It has an excellent 4k resolution and a large 32 inch screen size, allowing you to work comfortably without having to constantly move windows around. It has okay viewing angles, especially for a VA panel, but the image won't be as accurate when viewed from the side. Unfortunately, its ergonomics are bad, so if you need to share your work regularly, it may be worth VESA-mounting it.
The BenQ EW3270U is a good monitor for playing games. It has a low input lag and it supports FreeSync to reduce screen tearing. It has a large screen size and an excellent 4k resolution that can display every little detail of your game. The refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, but motion handling is good and there's very little motion blur in fast-moving scenes. Unfortunately, there aren't any extra gaming features; however, it does have a flicker-free backlight that can help reduce eye strain on long gaming sessions.
The BenQ EW3270U is a good monitor for media consumption. It has a large screen and a 4k resolution to deliver sharp and detailed images. It has a low input lag and a fast response time, and although it has okay viewing angles, it's not the best for sharing content. Positioning the monitor can be difficult due to its bad ergonomics; however, it handles reflections well.
The BenQ EW3270U is a good monitor for media creation. It's a large monitor with a great 4k resolution, with plenty of space to have multiple windows opened at the same time. However, the ergonomics are bad, so it may be a good idea to VESA mount it for better flexibility. Its 10-bit panel has outstanding gradient performance and doesn't exhibit any signs of color bleed. Gray uniformity is great and it has excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space.
The BenQ EW3270U is decent for HDR gaming. It has a high native contrast ratio and decent black uniformity so it can display deep blacks in a dark room, but lacks a local dimming feature to further improve performance. It also has a low input lag, which makes it very responsive to your actions, and it supports FreeSync as well as being G-SYNC compatible. Unfortunately, the monitor can't get very bright in HDR mode, which is rather disappointing.
Changelog
- Updated Jan 20, 2021: For consistency, we've changed the height adjustment from N/A to '0.0'. The score has been adjusted accordingly.
- Updated Feb 19, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Jan 17, 2019: We tested the monitor's compatibility with NVIDIA's new FreeSync driver. See our full investigation into NVIDIA's FreeSync Drivers here.
- Updated Nov 27, 2018: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the BenQ EW3270U. The EL2870U is a TN-type panel monitor of the same line; however, it doesn't perform as well mainly due to its low contrast ratio, narrow viewing angles, and uniformity issues.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their BenQ EW3270U doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Refresh Rate | Panel Type |
| EW3270U | 32'' | 4k | 60 Hz | VA |
| EL2870U | 28'' | 4k | 60 Hz | TN |
| EW3270ZL | 32" | 1440p | 60 Hz | VA |
Our unit of the EW3270U was manufactured in May 2018.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The BenQ EW3270U is a good monitor overall, but its ergonomics are quite bad when compared to other similar productivity monitors. However, it has one of the best coverage of Adobe RGB, which is great for photo and video editors. For other options, check out our recommendations for the best 32-inch monitors, the best monitors for Mac Mini, the best 4k gaming monitors, and the best 34-49 inch monitors.
The BenQ EW3270U is better than the BenQ EL2870U. The EW3270U has a much better native contrast ratio, and better black uniformity. The EW3270U also has better HDR performance, as it can display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung Smart Monitor M7/M70C S32CM70 and the BenQ EW3270U are both basic 4k, 32-inch monitors. The main advantage of getting the Samsung over the BenQ is because it comes with a built-in smart OS, so you can stream content without a PC.
The Dell S2722QC is a better overall 4k monitor than the BenQ EW3270U. The S2722QC has much better ergonomics, and its IPS panel has wider viewing angles, making it a better choice for sharing your screen with someone else. It's also better for well-lit environments because it gets brighter. The S2722QC has a different selection of inputs including a USB-C input and two USB 3.0 ports, but the EW3270U has a DisplayPort input. As for the EW3270U, it's better for dark room use because its VA panel has a higher contrast ratio.
The Dell U3219Q is better than the BenQ EW3270U for most people. If you care more about dark scene performance, then the BenQ EW3270U is a better choice as it has better contrast and better black uniformity. The BenQ EW3270U is also flicker-free. On the other hand, the Dell U3219Q has much better ergonomics, so you can place it comfortably and much better viewing angles so that the image remains accurate when you view it from the side.
Test Results
The BenQ EW3270U is a simple, professional-looking monitor that fits well in any office. The bezels are fairly thin on three sides, but they protrude from the screen and the bottom bezel is much thicker. The stand has a modern look with sharp angles and it doesn't take up a lot of space.
The stand is plastic and supports the monitor well with only a little bit of wobble when nudged.
Update 01/20/2021: For consistency, we've changed the height adjustment from N/A to '0.0'. The score has been adjusted accordingly.
The BenQ EW3270U has bad ergonomics. It only allows for tilt adjustments and the range is pretty narrow.
The back of the monitor is plastic with a matte finish and it's very plain. There's no cable management.
The bezels are thin and there are vents along the borders of the monitor to dissipate heat.
The monitor is fairly thin and won't take up a lot of space when used with the stand.
The build quality is good. It's almost entirely made of plastic, but it feels sturdy and there aren't any obvious issues with its construction.
The EW3270U has a good contrast ratio. This allows the monitor to produce deep blacks, which is great for dark room viewing. If you want a better contrast ratio and don't mind a monitor with a 1080p resolution, check out the Samsung T55.
The EW3270U doesn't have a local dimming feature. The above video is for reference only. This monitor is edge-lit from the left rather than from the bottom.
SDR peak brightness is decent. It should be fine for most rooms, but in very bright rooms, it may not be bright enough to overcome glare. However, the brightness is remarkably consistent when displaying different content.
HDR peak brightness is sub-par. This means that HDR content won't look much different from SDR content, as it can't get bright enough to bring out highlights. If you want a similar monitor that can get brighter in HDR, take a look at the Dell S3221QS.
For a VA panel, the horizontal viewing angles are okay. Gamma shift happens very quickly when moving off-center, but colors remain fairly accurate until you reach a moderate angle.
If you need a monitor with better viewing angles, check out the Dell UltraSharp U2720Q.
Vertical viewing angles are also okay. If you tend to sit very close, the top and bottom of the screen will look washed out.
The EW3270U has great gray uniformity. There's clouding across much of the screen and some vignetting at the corners, but there's only a little bit of dirty screen effect. In dark scenes, the uniformity is much better, although the backlight bleed is noticeable.
Black uniformity is decent. There's clouding throughout the screen and some backlight bleed as well.
The EW3270U has good out-of-the-box color accuracy. There are some minor inaccuracies with several colors that are hard to spot, but white balance is off. Gamma is nearly perfect and the color temperature is much warmer than our 6500k target, giving the image a reddish tint.
After calibration, the color accuracy is remarkable. Any remaining inaccuracies shouldn't be noticeable to the naked eye. White balance is near perfect and the color temperature is almost right on target.
You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and should not be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model due to manufacturing tolerances.
Exceptional SDR color gamut. This monitor covers the entire sRGB color space used in most content, and it has excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, which is great for professional photo and video editing.
Remarkable SDR color volume. The monitor's only weakness is in displaying saturated greens and rich colors in the dark shades.
The EW3270U has a good HDR color gamut. It covers a good part of the DCI-P3 color space, which is used in most recent movies. However, when it comes to the wider Rec.2020, the coverage is only decent.
The monitor has two HDR modes, the 'HDR' and the 'Cinema HDR'. Cinema HDR is just slightly better due to the better white point, but in general, they perform very similarly since their EOTFs are almost the same
Decent HDR color volume. The color volume is limited by the narrow color gamut.
The EW3270U shows no signs of temporary image retention.
The BenQ EW3270U has excellent gradient performance. You can hardly spot any banding with the naked eye.
There's no color bleed at all on the EW3270U.
Reflection handling is good. The screen has a matte coating that reduces the intensity of reflected light, which is fine for most rooms. However, it may not be enough in very bright rooms with light shining directly on it.
Text clarity is outstanding. Enabling ClearType (top photo) improves clarity slightly by making the lines look thicker and more fleshed out.
| Mode | Response Time Chart | Motion Blur Photo | Response Time Table |
| Off | Chart | Photo | Table |
| High | Chart | Photo | Table |
| Premium | Chart | Photo | Table |
The EW3270U has a good response time. Fast-moving content has only a small blur trail. Most of the blur in the photo is due to 60 fps persistence; only a faint ghosting/smearing trail can be seen following the logo, which is great. We prefer not to use any of the overdrive settings and leave the 'AMA off' since the other two options add noticeable overshoot.
The BenQ EW3270U is flicker-free, as it doesn't use PWM to dim the backlight.
This monitor doesn't have a black frame insertion feature.
Update 01/15/2019: We've tested the EW3270U with NVIDIA's new FreeSync driver, and it worked perfectly over DisplayPort. There were no noticeable issues during our testing, and the full FreeSync range was tear-free.
The EW3270U supports the FreeSync implementation of the variable refresh rate technology. Unfortunately, the VRR range is very narrow. The good news is that FreeSync is supported on both DisplayPort and HDMI ports, which also give the same test results.
The BenQ EW3270U has excellent low input lag. It remains low even when FreeSync is enabled and in HDR mode.
The monitor has a 4k 32 inch screen. The large screen size and high resolution allow you to see more, which is great for multitasking.
Although this monitor has a DisplayPort 1.4 port, there appears to be a compatibility issue with AMD graphics cards which cause it to only support DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidths. AMD is aware of the issue, and they're looking into it. If you want a 4k monitor with a USB hub, then check out the Dell S2722QC.
The monitor has a feature called 'Eye Care' that encompasses the 'Low Blue Light' and 'Brightness Intelligence Plus (B.I.+)' technologies that aim to make working on a monitor in dimmer environments less tiring for the eyes, while at the same time preserving the image quality. Also, just below the brand label on the lower screen bezel, there is a light sensor that controls the auto-brightness of the monitor.
