Acer’s new monitor makes 4K HDR gaming with G-Sync more affordable

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It's still a pricey monitor, but it has most of the same bells and whistles as the Predator X27 for hundreds of dollars less.

We got our first glimpse of 4K gaming monitors combining a fast 144Hz refresh rate with G-Sync and HDR support all the way back at CES in January 2017. Those displays only recently (and finally) became available, one from Acer (Predator X27) and one from Asus (ROG Swift PG27UQ), both priced at around $2,000. That's not exactly affordable, and neither is Acer's new Predator XB273K with a similar set of features, but it does lower the cost of entry.

It's not two grand, though. Acer set the MSRP at $1,299 (€1,499), and while that's still not affordable territory, it at least makes the desirable collection of features more attainable.

From what we can gather, the biggest difference between the Predator XB273K and pricier Predator X27 (other than price) is the peak brightness rating. It's rated at 400 nits and is DisplayHDR 400 certified, whereas the Predator X27 can hit 1,000 nits and is DisplayHDR 1000 certified. While not mentioned, it probably doesn't boast 384 dynamic LED backlight zones, either.

That means it won't get as bright as its pricier sibling, which is significant; one of the most common HDR standards, HDR10, calls for 1000 nits of brightness. 

That said, it's still based on an IPS panel, and according to Acer, it offers 90 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space for accurate color representation. It also comes with a removable hood, just like its sibling, to keep your focus squarely on the display.

It does have a high native response time, at 14ms. However, this can be reduced to 4ms with overdrive, basically a fast mode that is enabled by using a higher voltage.

Acer says the Predator XB273K will be available in the fourth quarter.

Paul Lilly
Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).