Acer Predator XB273U F evaluation: The perfect movement readability, full cease

Value When Reviewed

$1,099

Avid gamers who crave movement readability must be happy with the screens arriving in 2023, and the Acer Predator XB273U F is a primary have a look at what they need to count on. It’s among the many first 27-inch, 1440p screens with a 360Hz refresh charge, and it depends on a brand new panel that guarantees even higher movement readability than older 24-inch 360Hz screens. The monitor’s movement efficiency doesn’t come low-cost however does set a brand new commonplace for readability.

Notice: Go to our roundup of the greatest screens to be taught extra about competing merchandise, what to search for in a monitor, and shopping for suggestions.

Acer Predator XB273U F: The specs

The Acer Predator XB273U F is amongst a brand new breed of 27-inch, 1440p screens with a 360Hz refresh charge. That is the perfect mixture of refresh charge and determination that’s presently obtainable. Just a few screens with a refresh charge as much as 540Hz are introduced, like the Asus’ ROG Swift PRO PG248QP revealed at CES 2023, however they gained’t arrive till summer season of 2023.

• Show dimension: 27-inch
• Native decision: 2560×1440
• Panel kind: IPS
• Refresh charge: 360Hz
• Adaptive-sync: Nvidia G-Sync
• HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 600
• Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 4x USB-A, 1x USB-B, 3.5mm audio out
• Stand adjustment: Peak, tilt, swivel, rotation 
• VESA mount: Sure, 100x100mm
• Audio system: Sure
• Value: $1,099

Refresh charge apart, the Predator XB273U F’s specs are typical for a premium gaming monitor. This can be a show constructed for one goal: velocity.

Acer Predator XB273U F: Design

The Predator XB273U F is an instance of Acer’s commonplace Predator design language. It has a matte black-on-black aesthetic that’s principally refined, although the rear does add some texture and aptitude. Surprisingly, there’s no RGB lighting in any respect, leaving players to deliver their very own. 

Construct high quality is sweet. The monitor’s plastics really feel thick and sturdy. The show has skinny bezels, however a considerably massive backside chin and thick rear panel, which provides to a way of rigidity and sturdiness. 

Acer presents a large, tripod-like stand with an aggressive look and durable metallic ft. It’s heavy, presents important ergonomic adjustment together with top and rotation, and does a superb job of holding the monitor steady. Nonetheless, its broad legs take up important area on a desk. The monitor does embody the same old 100x100mm VESA mount, so a third-party monitor arm or stand may be connected.

Acer Predator XB273U F: Options and menus

You’ll discover three video enter choices round again: one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0. The DisplayPort 1.4 port is the one manner to make use of the monitor’s full 2560×1440 decision at 360Hz. That’s disappointing however appears to be commonplace follow for now. Comparable screens, just like the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQN, share this draw back.

The monitor consists of 4 USB 3 Kind-A ports pushed by one USB Kind-B upstream port, plus audio-out. That’s a wholesome vary of connectivity for a gaming monitor. The USB-A ports aren’t simple to entry, so connecting a USB thumb drive or SDcard adapter isn’t handy.

Matt Smith

Fanatics must be happy by Acer’s joystick-controlled menu system, which presents an enormous vary of customization choices. This consists of 5 gamma modes, 5 colour temperature modes, and six-axis colour calibration. There’s additionally an sRGB mode that may be turned on or off per show enter, fairly than for the show general. A fast be aware: The sRGB mode is turned on by default. There’s no DCI-P3 mode, nevertheless.

Avid gamers even have loads of choices. The monitor helps Nvidia’s G-Sync Reflex Analyzer, which can be utilized to measure whole system enter latency. It additionally presents a built-in intention level, a black equalizer to spice up darkness in shadows, an on-screen refresh charge monitor, and a 25-inch mode (which forces the show right into a 25-inch show area with 1080p decision). All of that is helpful for aggressive players, although I did discover the 25-inch mode a bit finicky (it didn’t all the time correctly detect when my show output was set to 1080p).

On stability, the Acer Predator XB273U F has a fantastic set of menu choices and options worthy of a premium gaming monitor. Although clearly focused at aggressive e-sports gamers, the monitor’s image-quality options make it suited to YouTube and Twitch creators trying to create aggressive gaming content material.

Acer Predator XB273U F: SDR Picture High quality

The Acer Predator XB273U F is supposed for high-refresh, aggressive gaming, however that doesn’t imply it may possibly’t look good doing it. The monitor’s picture high quality is stable in SDR content material.

Matt Smith

Brightness is a perk for the Predator XB273U F, because it comes out swinging with a most brightness of 529 nits. That’s excessive for SDR content material and, generally, the monitor shall be used at a mere fraction of its most brightness. 

This stage of brightness is perhaps helpful if you end up utilizing the monitor in a window-filled room on a sunny day, and it’s in direction of the higher finish of what trendy IPS LCD screens ship.

Matt Smith

The XB273U F presents a most distinction ratio of 980:1, which is merely okay for an IPS LCD monitor in 2023. It’s not the worst, however not the perfect, and the restricted distinction could make darkish scenes look hazy and ill-defined. 

It’s price noting that the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQN, a key competitor, performs equally. The Asus and Acer screens doubtless use the identical show panel, and there’s a robust likelihood different 1440p / 360Hz screens in 2023 will, as effectively. 

Matt Smith

Acer’s colour gamut efficiency is sweet, delivering one hundred pc of sRGB, 95 p.c of DCI-P3, and 89 p.c of Adobe RGB. This vary of colour gamut is just not distinctive amongst premium screens, however nonetheless nice, and gives a vivid, participating look when viewing colourful content material. 

The colour gamut is sweet sufficient to deal with artistic {and professional} duties together with normal picture modifying, YouTube video creation, and digital artwork for viewing on-line. Although meant primarily for gaming, the Acer Predator XB273U F performs about as effectively in skilled content material as a mid-range skilled monitor just like the BenQ PD2720U or Asus ProArt PA279CV (nevertheless, the Acer’s decision is decrease).

Matt Smith

Coloration accuracy reinforces the XB273U F’s stable all-around efficiency with exact colour in a broad vary of conditions. This stage of accuracy is just not the perfect obtainable, however shut, and errors of this diploma are very troublesome to note with the human eye. 

The monitor’s colour accuracy is supported by an affordable default gamma studying of two.3, which is barely off the goal of two.2. Content material may look darker than supposed, however the deviation is sufficiently small that I didn’t discover it subjectively. The default colour temperature was 6400K, only a hair off the goal of 6500K. This implies content material gained’t seem too heat or cool out-of-the-box. Bear in mind, too, that the monitor has many gamma and colour temperature choices to assist homeowners dial of their most well-liked look.

What about sharpness? Unsurprisingly, the XB273U F’s pixel density of 108 pixels per inch can’t compete with 4K options, which have about 163 pixels per inch. Small fonts can seem barely pixelated and video games don’t look fairly as detailed, particularly when viewing noisy textures or extraordinarily skinny objects (like energy traces or a chain-link fence). Nonetheless, 1440p decision presents enough sharpness for a 27-inch show, and its drawback doesn’t leap except in contrast side-by-side with a 4K monitor.

The Acer Predator XB273U F’s general SDR picture high quality is sweet. It has unbelievable brightness, nice colour efficiency, and enough sharpness. Distinction is the apparent draw back, because the monitor’s IPS panel can’t produce a deep, convincing black stage. The monitor’s general picture high quality is just not good worth for cash, given its MSRP of $1,099—however velocity, not picture high quality, is the main target of this monitor.

Acer Predator XB273U F: HDR picture high quality

The Acer Predator XB273U F is VESA DIsplayHDR 600 licensed. It proves to be a robust performer in HDR content material, although it has limits.

Let’s begin with brightness. I recorded a most HDR brightness of 557 nits. That’s not as excessive because the VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification may recommend, however it’s shut. And, maybe extra importantly, the monitor didn’t waver in brightness relying on the quantity of the show displaying brilliant content material. 

The monitor handles tone mapping and colour effectively at default settings, which is sweet information for normal use. Flipping on Home windows 11 HDR doesn’t negatively impression colour accuracy or grayscale. The Home windows desktop seems to be a lot because it does in SDR sRGB mode, however brighter.

Distinction stays an issue. Acer tries to enhance issues with a dynamic backlight mode, which is on by default. That is an edge-lit monitor with only a handful of zones, nevertheless, so the dynamic backlight causes distracting pillars and streaks of sunshine in darkish scenes. It’s higher to show it off in most conditions. That is true of each SDR and HDR, however the dynamic backlight flaws develop into extra apparent in HDR because the monitor’s brightness is elevated.

The monitor’s backlight can also be an issue when displaying brilliant highlights, just like the gleam of chrome in a darkish alley or a area of stars. There’s no manner so as to add brightness to those small slices of the show with out additionally brightening all the show, which robs scenes of pressure and drama. It’s a combination, then. HDR efficiency is okay, however removed from the perfect. A Mini-LED monitor is a greater guess if eye-searing HDR is your aim.

Acer Predator XB273U F: Movement efficiency

Matt Smith

The Acer Predator XB273U F’s sturdy picture high quality is definitely good to have however, as talked about, it’s not the main target. This monitor is among the many first 27-inch, 1440p, 360Hz screens available on the market. Movement fluidity and readability is the aim—and the monitor delivers.

Movement readability at default settings is great. Viewing the basic UFO check exhibits the tiny pupils within the three-eyed alien’s peepers are distinct (albeit simply barely), whereas check photographs from DOTA 2 present that hitpoint bars and hero names are readable. This is a bonus over even 240Hz shows: Hitpoint bars are distinct at 240Hz (particularly with OLED shows), however names are troublesome or unimaginable to learn, relying on their colour relative to the background. 

Avid gamers ought to do not forget that a recreation wants to realize 360 frames per second, or near it, to see the perfect movement readability. Meaning the XB273U F is greatest used with a top-tier video card just like the Nvidia RTX 4080 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. With that stated, movement readability continues to be higher than most IPS shows at decrease refresh charges.

Acer activates an OverDrive mode by default, and it does trigger seen “overshoot.” It seems as an over-sharpened look that surrounds brilliant objects and causes points in detailed textures. Personally, I might advocate turning off this mode for normal use. There’s additionally an Excessive mode that throws warning to the wind and causes main overshoot to realize most readability. It could possibly make effective particulars simpler to see, however seems to be butt-ugly, so I’d steer clear.

The Acer Predator XB273U F’s general movement readability is among the many greatest obtainable on trendy gaming screens (Asus ROG Swift PG27AQN, one other 1440p / 360Hz monitor, performs equally). It’s a step above older 24-inch, 1080p 360Hz screens and superior to 240Hz screens with an OLED panel. Body pacing can also be glorious due to assist for Nvidia G-Sync. If you would like the final phrase in movement readability, look no additional. That is it.

Do you have to purchase the Acer Predator XB273U F?

Acer’s Predator XB273U F is a wonderful monitor for a specific area of interest. 

Priced at $1,099, the monitor’s 1440p decision and IPS panel with edge-lit backlight can’t compete with the standard of equally priced OLED or Mini-LED shows. 

However that’s not the purpose. That is the perfect movement readability obtainable on a contemporary laptop monitor, and it’s more likely to be the perfect obtainable at 1440p decision by the remainder of 2023 (although rivals with the identical panel will doubtless match it). The XB273U F is nice for players who play competitively but stays versatile sufficient to work as a day-to-day monitor and deal with content material creation.