BenQ MOBIUZ EX321UX 144 Hz gaming monitor review: Bright, colorful and stylish

32-inch 4K IPS gaming monitor with 144 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR1000 and wide gamut color.

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BenQ EX321UX
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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With OLEDs coming to the fore in the gaming monitor genre, it’s harder to recommend Mini LED unless you need a lot of light output. In that category, OLED is lacking with peak levels topping out at around 600 nits. Mini LED will net you at least 1,000 nits with some screens like the Samsung Neo G8 breaking the 2,000-nit barrier. But if 1,200 nits are enough for you, consider the BenQ MOBIUZ EX321UX. It’s very bright, it has great contrast, it has a huge color gamut, and it has one of the best overdrives out there.

BenQ MOBIUZ EX321UX

(Image credit: BenQ)

The EX321UX fits snugly among other premium 32-inch 4K Mini LED panels. Its video processing stands out for sure. Though there is no backlight strobe, it manages blur very well with no artifacts. Gameplay is smooth and responsive with its very low input lag. You’ll want enough video card power to run at the full 144fps though.

The only complaint I had was its management of picture modes. In typical BenQ fashion, you get accurate modes, here called Display P3 and sRGB. They are spot-on in every way. But you can’t use the local dimming, which leaves that extra Mini LED contrast out of the picture. The upside is that you can select an accurate HDR mode, Display HDR, and use local dimming there for almost 43,000:1 contrast. And color is highly saturated with a measured 104% coverage of DCI-P3 and a solid attempt at Rec.2020.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Also of positive note are the wide variety of inputs, all latest versions, DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1 and USB-C. And there’s KVM with more USB ports for charging and peripherals. And though there are no internal speakers, the audio quality through the headphone jack is exceptional with its simulated surround option.

The BenQ MOBIUX EX321UX has a lot to offer with premium game performance and a bright colorful image. It has a few quirks but matches its competition in ability and price. If you’re looking for a large 4K monitor, it’s definitely worth checking out.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • brandonjclark
    Hrmm, it's IPS and not OLED. That's kind of expensive for IPS tech, right?
    Reply
  • DavidLejdar
    brandonjclark said:
    Hrmm, it's IPS and not OLED. That's kind of expensive for IPS tech, right?
    Somewhat, yeah. E.g. the Gigabyte M32U is a lot cheaper, and moreorlees competitive in the posted benchmarks. But where it trails behind, is about HDR, where it comes to "only" HDR400. And that's where the Mini LED of the EX321UX shows, instead of LCD with M32U.

    And when one is looking for high HDR, 32 inch, 4K and FPS, most other screens seems to be at around the same price, except for perhaps the Acer X32QFS.
    Reply
  • truerock
    I would never buy a monitor with speakers in it.
    Reply
  • npyrhone
    This does NOT have DP2.1. Display port is limited to DP1.4. That is a common hoax or loophole with monitors nowadays, that it can be called 2.1 even when the bandwidth limitation is identical to 1.4. This should always be called out!
    Reply
  • joey22
    Hi! Can you share the color settings you landed on with the SciFi HDR mode? I have had this monitor for a few weeks and have struggled to get a good color setting with the "genre" HDR modes and agree that it looks best in DisplayHDR but then you don't get the local dimming and better backlight control.

    I have found "Realistic" to be the best HDR setting for me for gaming but still am not 100% satisfied with it. Overall I'm happy with the monitor, but do wish they would provide some firmware updates as you and other reviewers have suggested. For what it's worth, my usage scenario is 80% productivity / 20% gaming and didn't want to deal with the text clarity or burn in compromises with an OLED.
    Reply
  • maxtraxv3
    "No LED lighting or internal speakers" listed on CON's? huh?
    Reply
  • FoxTread3
    August 18, 2024 - As usual with the Tom's Hardware reviews. There are enough details to make your eyes bleed, and your brain go numb. But that's why we're here.. to get the information. Call me what you like, but I much prefer OLED screens. I have an OLED LG 55" TV, an OLED Samsung Chromebook, and an Alienware 34" OLED monitor. I love all three of them and have no complaints. I also have a seven year old Dell 32" HDR LCD monitor whose model number I'm too lazy to look up now, but is still doing quite well. As I recall I paid well over a thousand dollars for it. As I wrote these comments I did look on Dell's PC monitor page, and see that they have quite an inventory of 4K monitors hundreds of dollars less than the benQ reviewed in this article. It would be interesting see how the less expensive Dell monitors stack up against the benQ. All said and done. I'll stick with OLEDs until the "next best and greatest thing" arrives on the market. :giggle:
    Reply