BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review

The BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U advertises itself as part of the “ultimate gaming experience.” Having tested it with a variety of games and platforms, I wouldn’t necessarily go that far — but its mechanical heart is in the right place, at least. The Mobiuz EX3210U is a no-nonsense 4K gaming monitor that’s suitable for both PCs and consoles. It’s a bit expensive, and not every game looks great on it. But with a little legwork, the monitor can handle pretty much any kind of content, from any source.

In its favor, I can say that the Mobiuz EX3210U has a striking design, with a minimally bezeled screen and a clean white chassis. The screen has the potential to be colorful and bright, and some games look excellent on it. On the other hand, the performance is not universally good, which is somewhat damning in such an expensive system — $1,100, to be precise.

While the Mobiuz EX3210U isn’t a perfect display, it’s worth checking out if you’re in the market for a 32-inch, 4K gaming monitor, and have a lot of money to spend on it. Read on for our full BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review.

BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review: Design

With heavy components and tight connections, the BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U is a bit tough to set up. Once it’s in place, though, it makes an excellent centerpiece for a desktop, or a small entertainment center. There’s barely any bezel around the 32-inch screen, and the chassis is a clean, eye-catching white with optional colored LEDs on the back. (I’m not sure why all the LEDs are in a spot where no one can see them, but they could theoretically light up the wall behind the monitor.)

The device’s sleek, almost minimalist design also supports a few handy features. You can move the screen up or down about four inches, tilt it 20 degrees back and forth, and swivel it 30 degrees altogether. However, you can’t orient the screen vertically, which may be a dealbreaker for productivity-minded users.

In terms of ports, the Mobiuz EX3210U is outfitted pretty well, with two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort, four USB-A ports, one USB-B port and one 3.5 mm audio jack.

The HDMI 2.1 ports play nicely with current-gen consoles, while the DisplayPort is suitable for gaming PCs. The lack of USB-C is a bit disappointing, but the back ports are a little hard to access anyway, so perhaps it balances out.

BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review: Screen

The BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U, like many comparable gaming monitors, can look wildly different depending on your presets. Between Standard and HDR modes, the monitor can look either bright or dark, and either colorful or drab. Here are the benchmarks, and then we’ll dive into our qualitative experiences:

The Mobiuz EX3210U’s benchmarks generally matched up with what we observed. While the screen can get pretty bright, it’s generally a little darker than both the Acer Nitro XV282K and the Asus TUF VG28UQLIA. The color spectrum is a bit richer, though. This shines through in some games and applications; other times, however, the screen is simply too dark to appreciate the color distinctions.

Like most other gaming monitors, how good the Mobiuz EX3210U looks comes down almost entirely to which presets you use. One interesting thing about the monitor is that you can’t simply switch HDR on and off. Instead, the device detects whether your source machine has HDR enabled, and reacts accordingly. This is good, since the HDR color palette is much richer, and in my experience, more accurate — particularly when it comes to blues and greens. On the other hand, not being able to swap back and forth at will makes it more difficult to compare settings. This is a pain, since some of the HDR gaming modes are a bit dark, and the Standard brightness actually works better.

The Mobiuz EX3210U does have quite a few different presets, whether you want a screen that’s optimized for first-person shooters, racing games, RPGs, or one of three different HDR types. It’s just a shame that some of them are too dark to be worthwhile — and that the screen has a tendency to automatically shift modes for certain games, such as Doom Eternal. While auto-switching profiles is admittedly an unusual feature in a gaming monitor, a little more control over the preset modes would have been welcome.

BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review: Performance

As the BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U’s benchmarks suggest, it works pretty well, but some games look better than others. I tested the machine with a variety of PC and PS5 games, including Age of Empires IV, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077, Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy XIV and Nioh Remastered. Some of these games looked better on standard settings; some looked better on HDR. But they all ran with smooth frame rates, and played well overall.

On the PC side, Doom Eternal was one of the bigger disappointments. Even though I got it to run at a respectable 85 fps at 4K resolution, the HDR mode made the game incredibly dark, and the colors felt dull as a result. Cyberpunk 2077, on the other hand, was bright and visible in Standard mode at 35 fps, but the blues felt a little washed out. Final Fantasy XIV was simply gorgeous, particularly the bright yellows of my character’s outfit, and Age of Empires IV likewise had sumptuous blues and greens in my villagers’ garb and nearby forests, respectively.

On PS5, the performance also varied considerably, depending on what I was playing. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla looked dark and only somewhat colorful, but the details were sharp. Nioh Remastered, on the other hand, looked great, with the grays of the mountainous levels rendered in nuanced detail. I was also able to run the game in 120 fps mode, thanks to the monitor’s HDMI 2.1 ports.

BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review: Interface

The BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U has a robust menu system, which you can manipulate via either buttons on the bottom of the monitor, or an included remote control. Either way, the interface can be a little convoluted. Each button brings up a slightly different menu system, whether it’s an HDR selector, a volume dial or a more general settings screen. The “menu” and “power” buttons also feel nearly identical, which can lead to some frustrating mishaps.

Once you take the time to figure it out, the menu system is generally intelligible, even if it doesn’t run very fast. The text is also large enough to be legible from a distance, which is a helpful feature if you plan to use the remote control.

BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review: Speakers and remote control

Since the BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U straddles the line between “gaming monitor” and “small gaming TV,” it’s only fitting that the device sports better-than-average speakers. However, better-than-average speakers, by gaming monitor standards, don’t count for a whole lot. 

While the sound is audible and intelligible, it all has a metallic, muddy quality that made me want to plug in a gaming headset after only a few minutes. The speakers can get pretty loud, but you probably won’t want to use them unless your headset needs recharging.

There’s also the remote control to consider, which is fairly robust, as these accessories go. You can adjust volume and brightness, toggle HDR, call up the menu and play with the brightness, among other things. The remote is also fairly responsive, which was a pleasant change of pace after the laggy remote control on the Acer Predator CG437K.

BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U review: Verdict 

Considering that the BenQ Mobiuz EX3210U costs $1,100, it’s probably fair to expect a screen that was a little more consistent, speakers that were a little bit better and lighting that was a little less superfluous. However, when the Mobiuz EX3210U is firing on all cylinders, it looks pretty good, portraying demanding games with rich colors and smooth frame rates.

In the 32-inch range, it’s also worth considering the Dell G3223Q, which costs the same amount of money, but has slightly better design and performance. Still, the Mobiuz EX3210U has a unique look, and that’s worth something if you plan to make it the centerpiece of your gaming space.