Review: BenQ's Affordable MA270U 4K Monitor Is Made for MacBooks

[DanneP]

I wouldn't call a 4K 27" monitor as "made for Macs".

Please stop spreading manufacturers' lies. Even a simple old 2K (2560X1440) panel from 15 years ago looks better and uses less GPU power than any 4K 27" display.

This is why I can't decide on which monitor to buy.

Most people seems to prefer 4K but then suddenly, there is someone whose opinion is the complete opposite.

How is this possible? How can some call 4K "miles better", "WAY better", "1440p looks like garbage compared to 4K" while others (like you) states that a 15 years old 1440p looks better than any 4K display? What am I suppose to believe?

It's either 100% this or 100% that.

 

[platinumaqua]

This is why I can't decide on which monitor to buy.

Most people seems to prefer 4K but then suddenly, there is someone whose opinion is the complete opposite.

How is this possible? How can some call 4K "miles better", "WAY better", "1440p looks like garbage compared to 4K" while others (like you) states that a 15 years old 1440p looks better than any 4K display? What am I suppose to believe?

It's either 100% this or 100% that.

meanwhile I'm 16:10 or bust and there's practically no 2560x1600 or 4K 16:10 (3840x2400) options available

 

[mikerally]

No mention of the BenQ PD2730S which is a 5k 27-inch display with Thunderbolt.

 

[UltimaKilo]

60Hz, in 2025 and at that price? No thanks.

 

[jakey rolling]

How was this review considered complete when it didn’t mention the lack of a webcam compared to the Apple display?

Because the Studio Display doesn't have a webcam. It has a "webcam*".

 

[jakey rolling]

Why is it so few non-Apple companies produce a 5K display? What I really want is a 27 inch 5k display with 600 nits of brightness (minimum). Are these too difficult to make?

Because only Apple's customers have been conditioned to think that 5k is appreciably more useful than 4k.

 

[jakey rolling]

meanwhile I'm 16:10 or bust and there's practically no 2560x1600 or 4K 16:10 (3840x2400) options available

There's the BenQ coding monitor (RD280U) - it runs at 3840x2560.

 

[mazz0]

Guys, 4k 27" is absolutely fine. I use 2 32" 4k displays and everything is sharp. I'd say it's just the edge of sharp, I wouldn't want to go any lower at 32", but shrink it down to 27" and it's more than good enough.

What I don't like is the deep recession where the stand attaches to the monitor body - it stops you mounting a vesa mounting plate then sliding on and off your monitor arm (I know because I did this yesterday on a monitor with a similar recessed attachment point).

 

[joecomo]

For that price they should offer 5k+ resolution on monitors these days, 599$ is no small sum.

The Samsung 5K Monitor gets close - as it is always extremely discounted
(not without reason)

 

[Big_D]

Really need bigger size either 32" or 38".

I'm using a 44" LG unit, that is a little to big, I was worried about 32" being too small (I run at 100% scaling, I want to see as much information as possible, not scaled up lower resolutions). 38" would be fine as a compromise, I'd need to see a 32" in the flesh, but the 27" 4Ks we have here aren't really usable at 100%.

 

[Big_D]

I can easily and quickly tell the difference with an iPhone; I carry a work issued SE and my 16 Pro. I don't care in the slightest, but I can see it.......but with a desktop monitor? Nah.

When I hold my iPhone 16 Pro next to the company iPhone 14, I can see the difference, but looking at the 14 in isolation, I don't notice it. Likewise, with the 44" monitor I don't miss it being only 60Hz.

 

[joecomo]

I have an original 27” LG Ultrafine 5K monitor from 2018, and there is still no compelling reason to upgrade. It’s still a better monitor than most of what is available on the market. Apple Display’s only advantage is 100 nits of brightness, and that relatively minor difference doesn’t justify the hefty upgrade cost. Despite the hype, very little has changed in the display market in the last 6 years.

I still have one from 12.2016 - at the time it was available from Apple for 1049 EUR, great deal.

 

[joecomo]

I'm using a 44" LG unit, that is a little to big, I was worried about 32" being too small (I run at 100% scaling, I want to see as much information as possible, not scaled up lower resolutions). 38" would be fine as a compromise, I'd need to see a 32" in the flesh, but the 27" 4Ks we have here aren't really usable at 100%.

indeed I have 43" Dell 4K Monitor - huge and can be used without scaling.

 

[torana355]

I don't understand how someone can use a non-Retina level DPI monitor in 2025. Macbooks, iPhones, and iMacs have super high DPI screens, and anything else just looks grainy and terrible imo.

For a litle more money, you can get a 5K 27-inch from ASUS, which meets 218DPI and is on the level of the Apple Studio Display for half the price. BenQ has a similar one coming out soon.

We had 5k imacs at work and recently upgraded to Mac Studios with Dell 4k monitors and the difference in resolution is negligible. Sure it's not as bright but no complaints with sharpness. People get way to obsessed with 5k. Also Apple Silicon macs handle display scaling with ease.

 

[city_17]

My laptop is 120hz, my phone is 120hz, my desktop monitors (home and work) are 60hz.

I can't tell any difference between the three.

That's just you, most people can definitely tell the difference. Now that I'm used to a 120Hz screen on my Macbook, I can't go back, it's just slow and stuttery to use 60Hz.

 

[Big_D]

I don't understand how someone can use a non-Retina level DPI monitor in 2025. Macbooks, iPhones, and iMacs have super high DPI screens, and anything else just looks grainy and terrible imo.

For a litle more money, you can get a 5K 27-inch from ASUS, which meets 218DPI and is on the level of the Apple Studio Display for half the price. BenQ has a similar one coming out soon.

It depends on what you are working on. I work in a largely text orientated domain and want as much information as possible to be displayed. I use a 44" 4K monitor (38" would probably provide a little less "grain") scaled at 100%. The text looks sharp enough from the 1M distance away that the screen is positioned. The graphics that I have to look at are generally also low fidelity, so pushing them through a "retina" display doesn't really help them that much.

At the end of the day there are monitors for people like you, who want the extra fidelity and there are monitors for people for whom that is not as important, but they want to see more information, or who don't want to pay for pixels they "won't use/see"...

 

[philosopherdog]

Any Mac display at 27 must be 5k for text. Otherwise for me it’s a nonstarter

 

[Maxis]

Cheap BenQ's are killing eyes

 

[Future Dwight]

I prefer 32-inch monitor. I bought the LG Ultrafine 32UN880-B last year for about $415USD ($599CAD).

IPS, Anti-Glare, Contrast 1000:1, 178˚
Brightness is 350nits --> It's actually more like 420 nits in reality
LG Ergo Stand (Extends/Retracts/Swivels/Height/Pivot/Tilt)
DCI-P3 95% Color Gamut with HDR 10
USB Type-C with 60W PD

Changed the scale to 150%. Probably not as sharp as Apple's but for coding it's more than enough.

Edit: The LG 32UP83A-W has the same panel as the 32UN880-B if someone prefers a regular stand instead of the ergo stand.
Review:

 

[joecomo]

I prefer 32-inch monitor. I bought the LG Ultrafine 32UN880-B last year for about $415USD ($599CAD).

IPS, Anti-Glare, Contrast 1000:1, 178˚
Brightness is 350nits --> It's actually more like 420 nits in reality
LG Ergo Stand (Extends/Retracts/Swivels/Height/Pivot/Tilt)
DCI-P3 95% Color Gamut with HDR 10
USB Type-C with 60W PD

Changed the scale to 150%. Probably not as sharp as Apple's but for coding it's more than enough.

Edit: The LG 32UP83A-W has the same panel as the 32UN880-B if someone prefers a regular stand instead of the ergo stand.
Review:

Yes - 2:3 scaling works quite well on a 4K monitor

 

[currocj]

Sorry if it’s obvious but does the USB-C functionality extend to carrying the video itself? Does the USB-C cable connecting the display and the Mac provide power and the image? Or is the HDMI necessary? I don’t do anything intensive so I love cutting down on cables whenever I can.

Yes, via DP over Thunderbolt

 

[joecomo]

I am confused: How does a display do "focus-mode integration"?

 

[Biofreak12]

$300 max for this crap. you can get top of the line oled 32 inch 240hz monitor for ~$700 now.

 

[WilliamG]

Because only Apple's customers have been conditioned to think that 5k is appreciably more useful than 4k.

Not conditioning. I now use a 4K 32” 240hz as my primary but there’s no question that my now-gone 5K scaled perfectly (2560x1440 space), much better and sharper than 4K at whatever scaled non-integer resolution you use. That said, I got tired of 60hz and 27” so… the rest is history.

 

[nathansz]

For that price they should offer 5k+ resolution on monitors these days, 599$ is no small sum.

5k panels barely exist. they are a niche apple resolution

$599 is pretty reasonable for a monitor with a good display panel, don't know that this one is, just saying