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Writer's pictureAdam Lane

BenQ Ultra-wide Monitor, is it worth the extra space on your desk?

Updated: Feb 28, 2023

Hey everyone, I hope you're all having a great start to 2023 and are ready for an exciting year ahead! To kick the year off, I want to show you this awesome monitor from BenQ which I've been using for the past two months alongside my MacBook. It's a 34” monitor made specifically for Mac, which is one of the main reasons why I like it so much! So let's get into it, is it worth the hype? And most importantly, is it worth £800?


Specs


So let's get the boring part out of the way! It's a 34” ultra wide panel (hence the title), it has a 350 nits typical brightness and a peak of 400 nits (HDR). It's got 1.07 billion colours and an anti-glare coating on the display which is a feature I very much take for granted. And of course, because this monitor is made to work well with Macs, it has a 65W power delivery thunderbolt port, so not only does it give you a picture from your Mac it also keeps it powered and charged up, so I don't have to worry about my MacBook running flat! It also has 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, a display port, a USB A (Type B upstream) and 3 USB A 3.1 (downstream) ports. So your covered for anything!




My usage


So I've been using mine for pretty much everything! From writing reviews just like this one, to editing my photos and videos or even watching too much Netflix. My main machine is a Mac, so the fact that this monitor is utilised for Macs, has definitely made it a lot more enjoyable to use with my MacBook Pro. The main reason it's perfect to use alongside my MacBook is that you only need one cable (which is included in the box)

to connect to the monitor and to keep my Mac juiced up! It also wakes up so fast when I press the spacebar on my keyboard, like it's ready before I am. I've never had any issues with brightness, the screen is always very clear and it's very easy to turn the brightness down with the remote, this is especially handy for those late night sessions. Overall, I'm very impressed with the picture quality too, it's a very sharp looking panel with an overall high quality that I've been enjoying!



The downsides


So there's only one downside that I really found, which isn't really a deal breaker but I still wanted to address it. All of the ports are on the bottom of the monitor, facing right down, and because of them all being black pieces of plastic, they are not particularly easy to see, and it can be a challenge to access them! It's a small gripe I have with the monitor, plugging in a HDMI cable into it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done…


Will I be using it going forward?


Absolutely! Now I'm not even sure if I could go back to a normal monitor for content creation now! It's so handy having all the space to work with and it feels so immersive. Going back to a normal monitor just feels kinda limiting now because you can't have as many tabs open on your screen, which is especially useful when I'm writing up my reviews and I need information about something else up on my screen.


Who should buy one?


If you're a content creator then this is definitely a monitor worth considering! It gives you so much screen estate that can boost your productivity because you're able to get so much done without any hassle, with a few windows open on your screen at the same time. It's also perfect for Mac users that are looking for a decent ultra wide monitor at a decent price, just because of how easy it is to use with a Mac,

it's that well integrated with Mac that it is almost like it's a first party accessory. I wouldn't particularly recommend it for gamers, don't get me wrong, I've plugged my PS5 and Switch into it for fun but it's not really meant for that so it's not the best experience.


To check this awesome monitor out for yourself, use this link: https://bit.ly/3SCBFz0


So all in all, I'm impressed! This is my first ultra wide monitor and I'll definitely be sticking with it for the foreseeable. Thank you all for reading, enjoy the rest of your day!




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