Benq EX3510IR
Great attempt by Benq to create a perfect all-round monitor, but shortcomings spoil the show.
On paper, the Benq EX3501R seems to tick all the boxes. 35-inches with an 1800R curve and 3440x1440 resolution make for a perfect combination of screen size and pixel density. 100Hz refresh rate with FreeSync support, whilst not the 144Hz gold standard, is more than enough for most people, particularly at this resolution. The EX3501R even supports HDR10 for richer colour in supported applications.
Design wise, the EX3501R is sleek, without the usual adornments a “gaming” monitor brings – but don’t let that fool you, as with FreeSync and 100Hz refresh rate support, this monitor has some proper gaming cred. Full black to white transition is very low for a large curved ultrawide display, at only 11ms. Anyone except the most demanding of gamers will be pleased.
As the EX3501R is a modern display, it supports connecting your computer to it over USB-C, but if you connect a laptop, it will only supply 10W of power. Would it have killed Benq to include a slightly larger power supply to make this feature immensely more useful?
The EX3501R’s support for HDR10 leaves a lot to be desired as the colour gamut it supports isn’t realistically a proper HDR format, achieving only full sRGB coverage (which it does excellently, out of the box), not DCI-P3 or even close to Rec.2020. That doesn’t mean this display is poor, far from it, but if you’re buying it with the intention for HDR fun times, there’s better, albeit more expensive, monitors out there.