BenQ XR3501 - Review 2022 - Whiteside Wheark

Designed for gamers, the BenQ XR3501 ($999.99) brings curved screen and ultra-broad panel technology to the desktop for under $one,000. This massive monitor is equipped with a 35-inch, Vertical Alignment (VA) panel with a 2,000R curvature radius and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It delivers practiced greyness-calibration performance and inky blacks, but its color accuracy could exist better, and information technology lacks USB connectivity. Moreover, the console'due south 2,560-past-1,080 resolution pales in comparison to the 3,440-by-i,440 resolution that you lot get with our summit pick for large-screen, ultra-broad gaming monitors, the Acer Predator X34.

Design and Features
The first thing you notice nigh the XR3501 is its massive 35-inch curved panel. Unlike the Acer XR341CK and Predator X34 monitors, which have a 3,800R curvature, the XR3501 has a 2,000R curvature which is more pronounced. (This means that if you a bunch of XR3501 monitors edge to border to create a complete circle, the circle's radius would be 2,000mm.) The screen is housed in a matte-black cabinet with a ring of silver trim around its edges and framed by sparse (0.v-inch) bezels. The 24-pound cabinet is supported by a V-shaped stand up with a shiny chrome cease and a crimson cutout that keeps your cables organized. The stand offers tilt adjustability, but does not allow you adjust the console's meridian.

At the rear of the cabinet facing downward are two HDMI inputs, a total-size DisplayPort input, a mini-DisplayPort input, a headphone jack, an audio-out jack, and an audio-in jack. Missing are the USB ports establish on the Acer XR341CK and Predator X34. In that location are mounting holes for hanging the cabinet on a wall, but you need an optional mounting kit and a special adapter plate ($37) to practice and so.

Beneath the lower bezel are six function buttons and a Ability switch. The buttons are used to access the settings menus and tin also be used as hot keys to select an input source, change the Preset Picture mode, and actuate the Black eQualizer, which enhances nighttime shades of gray for better shadow particular. These keys can besides be programmed to serve equally hot keys for whatever setting.

There are ix Picture Presets, including Standard, Moving picture, sRGB, Racing, Kickoff Person Shooter (FPS)1, FPS2, Photo, and two user-divers Custom settings. Basic picture settings include Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Gamma, and Colour temperature, and avant-garde settings include Black eQualizer, Low Blue Low-cal (to aid ease center strain), Super Resolution, (enhances standard definition images), and Color Vibrance (adjusts color saturation levels). You also get several Motion picture-in-Picture (PIP) and Picture-by-Pic (PBP) settings, besides every bit controls for Dynamic Contrast and Aspect Ratio.

BenQ covers the monitor with a iii-yr warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. It ships with HDMI and DisplayPort cables and a resource CD containing drivers and a User Guide.

Functioning
The XR3501delivers a sharp pic with vibrant colors and inky blacks, but it tin't match the image particular that you lot get from high-resolution monitors similar the Acer Predator X34 and the Dell UltraSharp U3415W, both of which avowal a 3,440-by-1,440 resolution. Colour accuracy is also less than ideal; as shown on the chromaticity chart below, scarlet and green colors (represented past the colored dots) are not aligned with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes). You won't find any oversaturated colors every bit a outcome, but if you plan on using the monitor for color-critical work, you take to calibrate it start.

BenQ XR3501