Review on Enhance Your Gaming Experience with BenQ Zowie RL2455T Monitor: Flicker-Free, 1920X1080P and HDMI Connectivity by Chris Galloway

I bought this monitor a little over a week ago and will write about its pros and cons. I have used this monitor on XB1 and PS4. PROS: - Everything worked right out of the box, no dead pixels or anything. All accessories were present. I've seen many people mention this issue on both this model and the older version. I was fine. Upscaling to 1080p from a larger 720p TV was nice. For the most part, the stand is relatively solid and well built; This is generally a problem with most monitors, but this particular monitor excels in this regard. I like the overall shape of the monitor. It doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, but it still has a unique look. The speakers are actually not that bad. In the short time I've owned it, I've mainly used the headset, but during the time I've used the built-in speakers, they've done their job well. The response time and input lag are quite comfortable, especially if you're into competitive gaming. .Minuses: - The color rendering is not very good in my opinion. So much so that I am returning the product because of it. I've fiddled with the settings for hours and just couldn't find anything that looked even half as decent as my old 720p TV I bought 5 years ago. The contrast is terrible. Blacks are all gray unless you want to blur the image even more by trying to darken it - I knew it was a TN panel before I bought it, so it's actually not that bad It's more of what you should know if you don't know, but the viewing angles on this monitor are relatively mediocre. It's not a problem if you're sitting right in front of it, but it's worth considering if you're one of those people who sit awkwardly while gaming. Also note that the monitor tends to tilt down a bit, so keep that in mind when sitting high in the air. Price. I've racked my brains trying to figure out why this monitor costs almost $200. There are dozens of other TN panels with the exact same specs (maybe even better) and built-in speakers for $50 less than this model. You are basically paying for the name as far as I can tell. Personally, if I had known everything I know about this monitor before I bought it, I wouldn't have spent more than $130. If you want a monitor with low response times, just check out some ASUS, Acer, or ViewSonic monitors for about $50 less. Some noticeable halos which I found a bit ironic considering how this monitor is marketed. It didn't really bother me, but I know some people really don't like it. - The menus are a little awkward to navigate, which gets worse when you find yourself spending a lot of time. The menu tries to find the image you like, which you probably won't find, so it's just a chore. FINAL VERDICT: This is both the first review and the first return I have ever submitted to Amazon. I'm not necessarily upset with the purchase, just annoyed that I'm letting all the hype surrounding this monitor get me through all these issues. If you're reading this, you've probably searched the internet for a good monitor to buy, maybe for a console, and you've seen a ton of references about this model. If, like me, you spend a lot of time looking for the right monitor to buy from what's among dozens of monitors, tick this one off your list. It's too big a waste of money for a product that doesn't justify it even if you return it like I did (which I had to pay for by the way). I have no hesitation in recommending it to you if you are a competitive gamer (like Overwatch, CoD, Smite, Battlefield or anything better with a faster responsive monitor) as you probably care less about how it LOOKS and more about it, as it stands, but then again the price. There are several other TN monitors with the same or similar response times and much lower costs. There's just nothing it offers compared to them other than the "BenQ" name, which has been hyped to death in the console world. If, like me, you care much more about sharp, colorful, and clean images, and want to see the beauty of games like The Witcher 3, GTA, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, etc. as you play them, you should probably look at IPS monitors instead. Response times are a bit slower, but you almost certainly won't even notice it, especially if you're watching TV from a TV, which almost always has slower response times than monitors anyway. If you're determined to get this, I recommend waiting for a sale of at least $150 or less.