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Professional FPS players are different from other competitive gamers in many ways, just like racing car drivers are different from people who just like to drive. When it comes to choosing the best gaming monitor for professional use, the need for speed is more important than comfort, looks, and immersion. This type of gamer is the only one for whom BenQ made the Zowie XL2566K. The company has also added some nice bells and whistles.
The 1080p XL2566K comes from BenQ’s “Zowie” skunkworks team, whose mission is to build the best monitor for players of a 10-year-old game using panel technology that the industry has considered dead for even longer. Its purpose is to give players of CS:GO (and similar tournament-level shooters like Overwatch, Apex Legends, Valorant, and Rainbow Six) every possible advantage, or at least remove every possible limit, in games where more than bragging rights are at stake.
BenQ ZOWIE XL2566k specifications
| Screen size | 24.5-inch |
| Resolution | 1,920 x 1,080 |
| Brightness | 320 nits |
| Viewing angle | 170° H, 160° V |
BenQ ZOWIE XL2566K review: Design and Features
The XL2566K is mostly black and has a matte plastic bezel around each of its four sides. The sides and top are both about 14mm, and the bottom is about 18mm. In the picture above, you can see the shading hood attachments on each side. If you don’t want to use them, you can easily take them off.
The back of the screen is also made of black plastic with a matte finish. In the picture above, you can see that the buttons for controlling the OSD and the joystick are on the bottom left. At the top of the stand is a metal handle that makes it easy to move the screen.
At the top left is a headphone hook that can be folded down if you need it. The stand lets you tilt, change the height, swivel, and rotate it to make it more comfortable. All of them are pretty easy to use and smooth, and they have a good range of settings. You can get this monitor fro its official website.
BenQ ZOWIE XL2566K review: Display and Performance
The BenQ Zowie XL2566K has a 24.5-inch TN panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, a refresh rate of up to 360Hz, and a minimum response time of 0.5ms. The backlight has a typical brightness of 320 cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 1000 cd/m2. This monitor doesn’t have any special features. Instead, it has fast response times and uses technologies like DyAc to help it do that.
This size of 1080p monitor is popular because it is still the standard for E-Sports and the professional organisations that run them. It is also easy on the eyes, which makes it easier to read and work with documents. But the best thing about it is that it doesn’t need too much from your GPU, though you will need a powerful CPU and GPU together to get to 360Hz.
BenQ ZOWIE XL2566K review: Image Quality
The panel has been improved since the XL2546K, which is clear when you put the two side by side. The image quality of the XL2546K was already very good, but here they’ve taken it a step further, making for a very pleasant viewing experience. Evenness of the panels is fine, and my unit has almost no backlight bleed. Overall, for a TN panel (again, don’t expect miracles), the image quality here is great.
BenQ ZOWIE XL2566K review: Gaming
There is a difference, and this is the smoothest and clearest screen I’ve ever used for gaming, but the difference is so small that it’s hard to see. Margin that can and will matter to people who take gaming very seriously, but is still small for everyone else. Still, the XL2566K is a very good gaming monitor, and if you want the fastest and most responsive monitor on the market right now, this is it.
Final Words
The BenQ ZOWIE XL2566K is made for gamers, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s great for gaming. It has a very fast refresh rate and a very fast response time, so playing games on it is very clear and there isn’t much blurring behind fast-moving objects.
It also has overdrive settings that can be changed, so it can handle motion as well as possible at any refresh rate. It has a great low input lag and works with FreeSync technology to stop the screen from tearing.
BenQ ZOWIE XL2566k Ratings
Pros
- Superb low input lag.
- Versatile backlight strobing feature.
- Customizable overdrive settings.
Cons
- Poor viewing angles
- Mediocre colours and contrast
FAQs
Is the XL2566K worth it?
The XL2566K is a good choice if you want a screen almost solely for gaming and have decided that you want a smaller, lower-resolution panel for that purpose. Compared to other monitors, it doesn’t have much to offer outside of what it was made for, but it’s great for gaming.
Does the XL2566K have G-Sync?
A 24.5-inch, 1920×1080 (Full HD) TN panel is used, with support for Adaptive-Sync to help technologies like AMD FreeSync and Nvidia’s “G-SYNC Compatible” work. The VRR range is assumed to be between 48 and 360 Hz, and LFC is also included.
What is the response time of a 2566k?
The BenQ Zowie XL2566K has a 24.5-inch TN panel with a Full HD (1920×1080) resolution, a refresh rate that goes up to 360Hz, and a response time of at least 0.5ms.