Is the i1 Studio worthwhile for calibrating a printer? I can’t afford a full blown spectrometer.
IMO yes. I have rented an i1Studio spectrophotometer, and later I bought (used, for $175) its predecessor (maybe twin) the ColorMunki Photo (which even X-Rite recommends you run with the new i1Studio software, see
https://www.xrite.com/service-support/product-support/calibration-solutions/colormunki-photo). Every profile I've made with them was IMO at least as good as, and often better than, the corresponding 'canned' profile. However, I don't doubt that a profile made with an i1 Photo Pro 3 and a 6000 patch set could be better. So it probably depends in part on how demanding you are / what are your expectations.
Also, if you're printing with a reasonably-recent model of Epson or Canon photo printer, the paper manufacturer probably supplies canned profiles for their papers in your printer. In most cases you'll probably find those are fine--again, probably depending in part on how demanding you are / what are your expectations.
I am assuming the i1 Display Pro and i1 Studio will be similar insofar as their quality at calibrating the monitor is concerned - please advise if that is incorrect.
Again, how demanding are you? Lots of people seem to be happy calibrating their monitors with the i1Studio and ColorMunki Photo spectrophotometers. However, some experts / demanding users report that a colorimeter such as the i1 Display Pro (or even a ColorMunki Display) produces better monitor calibration.
I have a BenQ 2700PT monitor. Do you know if I will still use the BenQ Palette Master Element software to calibrate my monitor (Using either the i1 Studio or ColorMunki) or if I will need to do it outside of the BenQ software?
There you need to be careful, because some monitors won't calibrate as designed with some some hardware and/or software. I think you ought to ask both Benq and X-Rite about your 2700PT with specific X-Rite hardware.
AlsoThe suggestion that you buy a ColorMunki
Design, or any i1 Pro spectrophotometer that is not specifically a "Photo" model, ought to be reviewed carefully. AFAIK, these devices will
not work the the X-Rite printer-profiling software. So if you want to use them to profile a printer, then you have to use Argyll CMS--which appears to be a good (arguably excellent) system, but using it is a relatively deep dive for a newbie, and its complexity is far higher than the regular X-Rite software's. It interests me, but it also intimidates me a bit.