BenQ SW242Q 24.1" Black

Great color, terrible everything else. The BenQ SW242Q is a color-accurate panel trapped in a budget monitor's body.

The color performance is the one bright spot here. 400 nits of brightness and a 67th percentile color score means this thing can handle sRGB work without embarrassing itself. But the overall performance score sits at 22nd percentile, which tells you the rest of the package is dragging it down hard. The 16:10 aspect ratio at 2560 x 1440 is genuinely useful for creative work, and you don't see that ratio often anymore. But the connectivity situation is rough. Only 7th percentile means you're getting the bare minimum of ports, and for a monitor aimed at creatives who often juggle multiple devices, that's a real problem.

The SW242Q sits in an awkward spot. The ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCDMG and Samsung Odyssey G60SD are gaming-focused, so they're not direct competitors, but they show what you can get for similar money in terms of overall performance. The Dell UltraSharp U4025QW is a much bigger and more expensive monitor, but it's what the SW242Q wants to be when it grows up: a proper creative display with real connectivity and ergonomics. The MSI MPG 271QR QD-OLED X50 is another reminder that OLED is coming down in price, and it makes this BenQ's LCD panel feel dated. If you're serious about creative work, the Dell is the better long-term investment. If you're on a budget, the SW242Q only makes sense if color accuracy is literally the only thing you care about.

At 500 CAD for a refurbished unit, this is a tough sell. You're paying for the BenQ name and the color pedigree, but you're not getting the full BenQ experience. The connectivity and ergonomics are so stripped down that you'll likely need to spend more on a monitor arm and a dock just to make this thing usable in a real workflow. If you can find it cheaper, maybe. But at this price, you're better off looking at a new monitor with better all-around specs.

The BenQ SW242Q is a 24.1-inch QHD monitor aimed at creative types who want solid color without paying for a flagship. It's a 16:10 panel, which is nice for getting a bit more vertical space when you're editing photos or scrolling timelines. But here's the thing: this is a refurbished unit selling for around 500 CAD, and the specs paint a picture of a monitor that's competent at color and not much else. The color score lands at 67th percentile, which is decent, but everything else is pretty rough. Connectivity is dead last at 7th percentile, and ergonomics are a weak 23rd. So you're getting a color-focused panel in a body that feels like an afterthought.

If you need a monitor for gaming, this isn't it. The gaming score is 25.9 out of 100, and there's no high refresh rate or adaptive sync mentioned. Go grab an ASUS ROG Strix or Samsung Odyssey instead. If you need a portable monitor, this is also a terrible choice. The portable score is 7.1 out of 100, which is basically a joke. And if you need to connect multiple devices, look elsewhere. The connectivity is so bad you'll be living that dongle life, and nobody wants that.

The BenQ SW242Q is a one-trick pony, and that trick is color. If you're a photographer or designer on a tight budget who only needs to plug in one device and doesn't mind a basic stand, it's a passable option. But for everyone else, the weak connectivity, limited ergonomics, and refurbished status make this a hard pass. There are better ways to spend 500 CAD.