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The XB271HK ($899.99) is the latest addition to Acer’s Predator line of gaming monitors, and like its big brother, the Acer Predator X34($2,399.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), it’s a winner. With a 3,840-by-2,160 27-inch In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel, the XB271HK ($586.46 at Newegg)(Opens in a new window) delivers excellent Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) imagery and ultra-smooth gaming, thanks to Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. It also shares the X34’s good looks and offers a few nice features that will appeal to gamers. At about $900, it doesn’t come cheap, and it only has two video inputs, but it’s still our Editors’ Choice for large-screen gaming monitors.
Design and Features
The XB271HK is a sharp-looking monitor. Its 27-inch IPS panel has a matte coating and is housed in a black, zero-bezel cabinet with a Predator logo etched into the bottom trim. Its V-shaped base is red and black, and its mounting arm and hinge assembly is black with red accents. The stand offers 5.9 inches of height, 40 degrees of tilt, and 30 degrees of swivel adjustability, and it also allows you to pivot the cabinet 90 degrees for Portrait-mode viewing. A quick-release button lets you remove the cabinet from the stand for wall mounting using the VESA-compliant mounting holes and an optional wall mounting kit.
As with the Acer X34, the XB271HK only has two video ports: a full-size DisplayPort input and an HDMI input, both of which are located at the rear of the cabinet, along with an upstream USB 3.0 port, two downstream USB 3.0 ports, and a headphone jack. Two additional USB 3.0 ports are conveniently mounted on the left side of the cabinet. The XB271HK’s 2-watt speakers are nothing to write home about; they get moderately loud, but the lack of bass response makes them sound tinny.
There are five functions buttons and a Power switch on the lower-right side of the cabinet. The function buttons serve as hot keys for toggling between input sources, adjusting speaker volume, and selecting an overdrive mode (Off, Normal, and Extreme) that speeds up the panel’s pixel response to help eliminate motion artifacts. There’s also a Game Mode hot key that lets you choose one of three gaming profiles that you can customize with unique picture settings.
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Picture adjustments include Acer’s eColor Management, which is its name for picture presets and includes Standard, ECO, Graphics, Movie, and User modes. Basic settings include Brightness, Contrast, Blue Light (to reduce eye strain), Dark Boost, and Adaptive Contrast. More advanced settings include Gamma, Color Temperature, Color Saturation (brightness), and 6-Axis Color, which lets you adjust red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow intensity levels. In addition to the Game Mode feature, the XB271HK offers three Aim Point crosshair-aiming targets for first-person-shooter (FPS) games.
Performance
The Acer Predator XB271HK is an impressive performer. Its 4-millisecond pixel response delivered blur-free motion handling and a relatively smooth gaming experience in my Crysis 3 tests. However, as we saw with the Acer XB270HU($314.94 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) and the AOC G2460PG( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), the action appeared noticeably smoother and more fluid with G-Sync enabled. Input lag (the amount of time it takes for the monitor to react to a controller command) measured a negligible 10.2 milliseconds on the Leo Bodnar Video Signal Lag Tester, which means you are more likely to get the drop on your opponent than with the Asus MG279Q, which produced a lag time of 27.4 milliseconds. The BenQ XL2430T($754.62 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) remains our fastest monitor with a lag time of 9.5 milliseconds.
See How We Test MonitorsColor accuracy was very good in our tests. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red, green, and blue colors, represented by the colored dots, are all closely aligned with their ideal coordinates, represented by the boxes. Colors appear vibrant, with no trace of tinting or skewed skin tones while displaying scenes from Marvel’s Antman on Blu-ray. My 4K test images looked incredible on this display, thanks to the IPS panel’s outstanding gray-scale performance, which delivered excellent highlight and shadow detail.
The XB271HK consumed 52 watts in testing while operating in Standard mode and 40 watts while operating in ECO mode. That’s a bit higher than the NEC MultiSync EA275UHD($830.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (43 watts and 34 watts, respectively) and the ViewSonic VP2780-4K($799.99 at Office Depot® & OfficeMax®)(Opens in a new window) (41 watts and 31 watts, respectively).
Conclusion
You’ll pay big bucks for the Acer Predator XB271HK, but its price is still in line with other IPS-based, 27-inch UHD monitors, such as the ViewSonic VP2780-4K and the NEC MultiSync EA275UHD, neither of which support Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. Although you only get two video inputs with this model, and its speakers are underpowered, the XB271HK offers some nice extras, including a fully adjustable stand, a USB hub, and a handful of gamer-friendly settings and features. Most importantly, it delivers highly detailed UHD gaming action with rich, accurate colors and smooth G-Sync motion handling. If you don’t have $900 to spend on a gaming monitor, however, the BenQ XL2730Z($754.62 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is also a top performer that rings up for around $300 less. It supports AMD’s FreeSync technology and offers gamer features, too, but its resolution maxes out at 2,560 by 1,440, and its Twisted Nematic (TN) panel suffers from narrow viewing angles.
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It may be pricey, but the Acer Predator XB271HK is a 27-inch Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) gaming monitor that comes up big in terms of performance, features, and style.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/acer-predator-xb271hk
