BenQ Zowie has announced a new gaming monitor that’s aiming to be the new go-to choice for professional and aspiring professional esports players. With its 400Hz TN 1080p LCD panel, the BenQ Zowie XL2566X+ looks set to deliver blazing-fast images that, thanks to the company’s DyAc 2 backlight strobing technology, also provides “best-in-class motion clarity,” according to BenQ.
While not a screen for those seeking the best gaming monitor for sharpness, contrast, viewing angles, or overall screen size, the 24.5-inch BenQ Zowie XL2566X+ is fine-tuned to deliver tournament-grade speed and consistency, with its use of LCD tech also ensuring there are no concerns over burn-in, brightness variation, or any other distractions that can trouble OLED displays.
The XL2566X+ takes over from the excellent XL2566K, and while most of the upgrades are relatively subtle, they have the potential to add up to make a noticeable difference. For a start, the refresh rate of the XL2566K is 360Hz, whereas the new screen runs at 400Hz. BenQ also mentions the use of a “new fast TN panel technology” that it says has “faster conductivity” for a faster liquid crystal response, although it doesn’t provide any specifics about reduced minimum or average response times.
The screen also uses the new DyAc 2 version of the company’s backlight strobing blur reduction technology. Again, BenQ doesn’t give too many specifics about what improvements DyAc 2 brings over DyAc or DyAc+, though it talks about the use of dual backlights with greater precision control to “achieve a higher level of motion blur reduction and ghosting minimization.” The company also mentions that the dual backlights allow for “softened light output to facilitate eye adaptation.”
While we can’t be sure quite how much of a difference DyAc 2 makes over DyAc or DyAc+, we can vouch for the fact that the tech overall does work very well at improving image clarity during fast motion. In my BenQ Zowie XL2566K review, I found it essentially delivered the best motion clarity I’ve ever experienced in a gaming monitor. In particular, I noted that “you can track micro adjustments of your crosshairs or other player movements in a way that’s just so much more difficult on displays without some sort of backlight strobing/black frame insertion.”
A more obvious physical improvement is the monitor’s stand, which still contains the convenient height markings and carry handle of older models, but now also incorporates “industrial grade height adjustment,” thanks to the inclusion of a bearing system for smoother adjustments.
This display also has the side privacy/distraction wings of several previous BenQ Zowie gaming monitors, which are a feature that we can’t help feel add to the cost of the monitor for little home-user benefit. Yes, for tournaments, these side screens are great, but it feels like they could be added as an optional extra rather than an always-included feature that bumps up the price.
Speaking of cost, BenQ hasn’t released a general MSRP yet, despite pre-orders being available from August 15, 2024. However, given the XL2566K costs $600, we would expect his new model to cost around the same or a little more.
Some of you may balk at the idea of spending that much money on a TN LCD when 360Hz OLED displays exist these days, but there are several downsides to OLEDs that potentially make them less suited to use in more professional gaming situations. As mentioned above, the brightness variance (and other tech such as pixel shifting) that’s needed in OLEDs to stop them from developing burn-in is an inconsistency and distraction that can’t be tolerated at this peak level of gaming performance.
The fact that gamers will be playing the exact same game for hours on end also means the chances of burn-in are increased, as HUD elements start to be burned into the screen. OLED is great for varied and less frequent use, but it isn’t ideal for this sort of scenario.
For some other high refresh rate gaming monitors that are slightly less focused on pure gaming performance, check out our MSI MPG 271QRX review, where we test this 360Hz, 1440p OLED screen, as well as our Dell 2524H review, where we look at this a 360Hz, 1080p IPS panel. They’re both great options at their price points.
