BenQ EW3880R Ultrawide Curved Monitor

A lot of money, but is it a lot of monitor?

Ultrawide screen formats and curved panels are both acquired tastes. So, the new BenQ EW3880R isn’t going to be everybody’s bag. But at 38 inches, with a relatively gentle 2300R curve, plus a seriously extreme 21:9 aspect ratio, this is an awful lot of monitor, on paper. And it costs a great deal of money.

Since 2016 the monitor market has moved on dramatically. Arguably, the EW3880R has been slightly left behind. It’s rated at 1,000–to–one for contrast and 230 nits for typical SDR brightness, both underwhelming figures. It does support HDR content, but even in that configuration, it tops out at just 300 nits, which is positively pedestrian.

As for other highlights from the spec list, the 4ms response, 60Hz refresh rate, and 95 percent coverage of the DCI–P3 cinema color space are adequate. There’s better news in terms of connectivity, thanks to the inclusion of USB Type–C complete with 60W of power delivery. In other words, you can hook up most modern MacBooks with a single cable and not only drive the display and charge your portable Mac — you can also connect any peripherals. For the record, HDMI and DisplayPort are also provided, so pretty much every use case is covered.

The EW3880R’s integrated speakers include a notional subwoofer. Overall volume levels are not as impressive as this setup implies. However, there’s a warmth and detail to the sound you rarely find in built-in audio. That’s a nice surprise, even if it’s arguably not enough to warrant the high price tag.

This just leaves the minor matter of how the BenQ EW3880R’s display actually performs. The answer, again, involves the word adequate. Immediately, it’s obvious that this is not a particularly punchy panel. In SDR mode, it lacks vibrancy and zing.

It’s a nice enough IPS panel, to be sure. But in this age of high performance HDR monitors with full–array local dimming, the EW3880R feels a little old school. Enable HDR and the panel does brighten a little. But there are downsides. Some kind of sharpening effect which can’t be disabled is apparent in HDR mode, which isn’t ideal. Moreover, the color balance of SDR content is distorted in HDR mode. So, it’s not really viable to run in HDR mode all the time.

That’s if you actually want to bother, which you may not, given this isn’t a true HDR monitor — not with that low brightness and lack of local dimming. Anyway, it’s worth noting that the 3,840 by 1,600 resolution doesn’t actually make for particularly good pixel density. If you want crispy fonts in macOS, you’d be better off with a smaller, conventional 4K panel.

That latter observation arguably sums up the BenQ EW3880R. In isolation, it’s a spectacular screen. But it’s also flawed and, at this price point, not terribly convincing.

BenQ EW3880R Ultrawide Curved Monitor Features

HDRi, built–in speakers and subwoofer, USB–C one–cable connectivity. In the box: Power Cable(1.8m), HDMI (v2.0) Cable, USB-C Cable, Remote Control, Warranty Card, Quick Start Guide, IO Cover

BenQ EW3880R Ultrawide Curved Monitor Price

$1049.99

Spectacular, but also flawed and expensive.