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Like Master Chief aiming his sights on an enemy, the BenQ RL2755HM has a very singular focus. This gaming monitor is built to deliver ultimate performance for competitive console players, with fast response times and a variety of modes tailored to various genres. Delivering crisp 1080p images at low latency, the RL2755HM fulfills its purpose dutifully, though those seeking a more cinematic viewing experience might want to look elsewhere.
Design
The BenQ RL2755HM's sleek, black design looks pretty spartan at first glance, but there are some neat features for console gamers hidden throughout.
The monitor's long, triangular base is coated with a strip of rubber at the top, which is designed to keep your controllers in place. While the base seems primarily contoured for the PlayStation 4 controller's rear triggers, I had an easy time resting an Xbox One pad on it, and had plenty of room to dock the two controllers side by side.
On the back, a fold-out flap allows you to store a pair of headphones. Just below, a red stub on the monitor's neck gives you a place to neatly wrap up any wires cluttering your gaming space.
The RL2755HM can be tilted 15 degrees backward or 5 degrees forward — unfortunately, you can't adjust it much beyond that. By comparison, BenQ's highly flexible XL series monitors can be raised, rotated and pivoted in a myriad of ways, though they're considerably more expensive.
At 25.2 x 18.8 x 8.4 inches and 12.2 pounds, the RL2755HM is fairly lightweight and compact for a 27-inch monitor, yet it was sturdy enough to stay firmly on my desk during my playtime.
Ports and Interface
The RL2755HM is designed to accommodate multiple machines at once, sporting two HDMI ports as well as DVI-D and D-Sub inputs. For audio, there's a line-in port, as well as a 3.5-mm headphone jack. The lack of a DisplayPort might turn off PC gamers, but the RL2755HM is very clearly built for the console crowd.
On the monitor's bottom-right edge, you'll find a physical power button, with five clickable navigation buttons above it. Tapping any of the buttons brings up options for switching inputs, choosing a picture mode, adjusting the black equalizer and accessing a deeper main menu that lets you tweak a variety of settings.
I found the RL2755HM's interface easy to navigate, but I wish there were dedicated volume buttons. While I appreciate that the monitor has built-in speakers, it took a total of seven button presses just to reach a menu that let me raise and lower the volume.
Overall Performance
Console games generally look crisp and colorful on the RL2755HM's 27-inch, 1080p display, though after a few days with the monitor, it became clear that this is a screen designed more for competitive gamers than those who want immersive picture quality.
BenQ's monitor proved to be a worthy companion for Xbox One shooters such as Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, both of which played fluidly at 1080p and 60 frames per second. Popping in and out of cover felt fast and responsive in Gears, as did shooting the heads off enemy aliens in Halo.
The monitor did justice to Gears of War's gritty, city-in-ruins aesthetic, with appropriately dreary colors and plenty of details in characters' faces and armor. The same can be said for Halo's colorful sci-fi look, particularly when I was gazing at the realistic water in the distance or zooming in on my squadmates. However, I noticed a good deal of unpleasant jagged edges in both games, particularly around character outlines and certain background details.
Few genres demand fast response times like fighting games do, and I'm happy to report that the RL2755HM didn't get in the way of me beating my opponents senseless. Whether I was playing Killer Instinct on Xbox One, or Injustice: Gods Among Us on PS4, I was able to pull of complex, precise combo inputs with ease.
Visually, the games were a mixed bag. Killer Instinct's colorful action was easy to follow, even in the middle of flashy special moves. The spandex-clad fighters of Injustice, however, looked a bit washed out on many of the display's settings. As with the shooters, both games displayed a bit of jaggedness.
Audio
The RL2755HM's built-in speakers are a nice touch, but don't expect room-filling audio. The sounds of assault rifle fire in Halo and crunching bones in Killer Instinct sounded crisp, but even at max volume, I had to be right near the monitor to hear them well.
Color, Brightness and Latency
The RL2755HM registered an impressive brightness of 280 nits on our White Luminescence test, making it the second-brightest monitor we've tested, behind ViewSonic's VX2452mh.
BenQ's monitor earned similarly high marks in terms of color representation, producing 105.77 percent of the Rec. 709 color gamut. Its color accuracy wasn't quite as spot-on though, with a Delta E rating of 5.76 (closer to 0 is better).
On our lag tester, the BenQ registered a low latency of 11 milliseconds, which is about par for the course among the monitors we've tested.
Modes and Features
The RL2755HM's wealth of picture modes is almost overwhelming — there are dedicated presets for movies, photos, low power consumption, fighting games, first-person shooters and real-time strategy titles, as well as three profiles you can tweak to your liking. While I appreciate the variety, I only found a handful of the modes useful.
FPS mode is the monitor's default setting, and it works pretty well across various games. The setting looks brighter than Standard mode without being too blown out, and was helpful in surveying the arena and spotting enemies in shooters.
The fighting game fanatic in me was thrilled to learn about the monitor's Fighting mode, but I was pretty underwhelmed once I tried it. The mode is designed to put the focus on the two on-screen characters, but in my testing, it appeared to simply make everything look dim and pale. Fighting mode did make some of Killer Instinct's busier backgrounds easier on my eyes, but even as a semicompetitive player, I'd rather have better color.
Overall, I mainly stuck with Standard, Movie and FPS modes. FPS mode was the brightest, Movie mode was the richest and Standard mode was a nice balance between the two. Many of the monitor's modes benefit from BenQ's Black Equalizer, which made it easy for me to illuminate Gears of War's extra-dark areas without overexposing bright sections.
If you don't need all of the real estate the 27-inch monitor provides, you can use its Smart Scaling feature to scale down the display area to as small as 17 inches — something you might find useful for keeping enemies in your peripheral vision at all times.
Bottom Line
The BenQ RL2755HM is exactly what it sets out to be: a highly responsive 1080p monitor with good image quality and a wealth of customization options for a reasonable price tag. Its impressive low latency and highly tweakable settings will satisfy competitive gamers, and its dual HDMI ports and handy controller and headset docks are great extra touches.
Although the RL2755HM is fast and fluid enough for high-level gaming, you will notice some cracks in its picture quality when you're kicking back and taking in a few cutscenes. Still, if you value speed and customization above all else, you'll find that BenQ's console-minded monitor delivers.
