Review on Acer XB323U GPbmiiphzx Display with HDR600, WQHD (2560X1440), 170Hz, IPS Panel by Kevin Staver

Long review, sorry! Wow ok guys I gotta tell you... this Acer Predator XB323U GP monitor is really, really good. Let me give you a little background real quick. I'm replacing my Acer Predator XB271HU and am currently testing a Dell S2721DGF while reviewing this XB323U. So right now I'm comparing two really good monitors, one stays on my desk and the other one comes back. These are my first thoughts after owning this monitor for the last 36-48 hours. Well, XB323U arrived in a huge box by the way. The box weighed about 35 pounds. The monitor is fully assembled when you take it out, which probably explains why it's so big. It comes with a headset holder that you attach to the stand, as well as a DP 1.4 cable, an HDMI 2.0 cable, and a USB cable so you can use the monitor's USB ports. I personally bought an extended DP 1.4 cable to make it easier for me to run cables across my desktop. Here's what's included...no assembly required. The stand is metal, not plastic, and feels very solid. The overall build quality of the monitor definitely feels premium, like buying a really good Lexus versus a base model Honda for comparison. So here are my first impressions of switching it on. Forgive me because in this review I'll be making some comparisons to the Dell S2721DGF and I'm sure most wouldn't mind because it's a great monitor too. This is the XB323U's AHVA IPS panel and it's really good. Dell installs an LG Nano IPS panel. Dell has an extremely vibrant color set and I recommend anyone who buys it to use the custom color settings. My XB323U arrived and appears to be calibrated straight away. With standard color settings, I only increased the brightness to around 75 and the contrast to around 50. I like to use the Eizo Monitor Test Kit to see how well my monitors perform on initial tests. I had perfect template tests as the lines were straight and the colors looked great and faded perfectly. I had no dead or stuck pixels, and one of the most important things was that my panel had virtually no glare from the backlight, minus an almost imperceptible area in the bottom right of the screen. I won't get into that because unless you're in a completely black room with a completely black screen, it's almost unnoticeable. IPS glow is minimal, but only noticeable when the entire screen is black. To be honest, I was really surprised at how well black contrasts on this monitor. For IPS, at least on this one, I get it, the blacks are super on this monitor… Bravo Acer! I've had a few TN and IPS monitors and this is the best I've seen so far. Note that this varies from monitor to monitor. What's important to me is the consistency of black and color across the panel and how well the panel is evenly lit. Without real test equipment I can't see any lighter or darker areas on the monitor and the colors look fantastic. It seems to be one of the best unified panels I've had to date. Also, my gamma was 2.2 with the Eizo Monitor testing package. For productivity with Excel, Word, CAD, Chrome, Edge and more, this screen size is very comfortable and easy on the eyes. Text in any font size is crisp and clear. I like the extra size and space to open multiple windows and switch between them side-by-side. This is not effectively possible on smaller monitors. It is much more pleasant to work with than with the Dell S2721DGF. Additionally, watching YouTube and Netflix videos is a pleasure and should provide a great experience for anyone looking to play media on this monitor. For gaming, this is where the monitor really shines. My gaming rig runs on all cores with 8700k OC up to 4.8GHz, 32GB Corsair Vengeance 3200MHz memory and an EVGA RTX 2080 XC Ultra. I spent a full 8 hours last night testing this monitor in various games that I play a lot such as CS:GO, PUBG, Battlefield 5, Apex, Rogue Company, PGA Tour 2k21, Diablo 3 and League of Legends. I'm an avid CSGO and PUBG player, which is why I remember them the most when testing. I think Acer did the right thing with this panel by capping it at 170Hz as it offers a smooth gaming experience with GSYNC on and off. When you play "off" screen tearing with GSYNC, it's not even noticeable, especially when you hit 160fps+. However, if you're getting lower fps on average, like 100 or so, you'll want to use GSYNC to maximize your experience with this monitor. I don't feel any extra input lag when using GSYNC, but I try to turn it off anyway because I can run at high frame rates. By default, this monitor is set to run at 170Hz automatically when using a DisplayPort 1.4 cable. The monitor has 3 overdrive settings: off, normal, extreme. Normal overdrive is the best setting I've found and there's no ghosting. Input lag and responsiveness are really excellent and will please serious gamers. BTW, there is an option in the OSD called "Ultra Low Latency"...DO NOT DISABLE. It's on by default and it's important that your input lag is low... I'm not sure why anyone would turn it off anyway... just don't touch it! As far as HDR content goes, I'm a bit new to the HDR world. I booted up Battlefield 5 and enabled HDR, things got a little more vibrant and vibrant. HDR is something I'll have to play around with a little more to see how I can get the most out of it, so here are my first thoughts. I'll update this post to HDR later. Note, however, that the maximum brightness is 400 nits with HDR off and 600 nits with HDR on, and some zones are dimmed at the edges, otherwise it might not reach the Vesa HDR600 rating. This is a really fast IPS panel which is definitely an improvement over my old Acer Predator XB271HU (still a great monitor btw!). Comparing my gaming experience to the Dell S2721DGF I reviewed is very similar. I can honestly say that Dell's LG Nano IPS technology is great for FPS gaming on a 27-inch screen, but there's something about the immersive experience I get from this XB323U that sets it apart from the Dell. I think the size, brightness and contrast and the uniformity of the black make it better. However, I will say that Dell has a slightly better Black Equalizer option in the OSD. If 93 PPI bothers you on a 32-inch 1440p monitor, don't worry. I'm sitting a few feet away and can't see any pixels. If you sit facing the monitor, you'll see pixels and likely ruin your eyes. So make sure you sit 3-4 feet or more away and you'll find that the image and pixel density really is perfect. It goes very well with the resolution and size of the monitor. So PPI lovers, relax...this monitor looks amazing. I also know people are dying to get 1440p panels at 240Hz, but please be realistic about what you're asking. Most gamers won't be able to enjoy true gaming at 240Hz and 1440p, and secondly, unless you're in the top 0.5% of gamers who every last one, paying extra money for a barely noticeable difference is nothing millisecond need to keep up professional stage. I'm a fan of monitors and have bought and returned several 1080p 240hz panels over the last year and the feel between 170hz and 240hz is almost imperceptible. It's the XB323U GP and the XB323U GX 240Hz is due out after the 1st of this year...don't forget the GX is meant to be an HDR400 monitor only, so there's a trade-off depending on what you're after search. In conclusion, I would like to say that the Acer Predator XB323U is a truly fantastic monitor. At first I was apprehensive about buying this because it's a brand new version and there weren't any reviews anywhere. So I took a leap of faith and I'm really glad I did. I will be returning the Dell S2721DGF to BestBuy and this XB323U will remain on my desk as my new main monitor. Glad TFTCentral or RTINGS.com are checking this out to see how they rate it. I know everything will be fine. I think this monitor will compete very well with the 32-inch Samsung G7 without all the problems that the G7 has. If anyone has any doubts about this monitor, don't be. This is a premium monitor and the price seems reasonable to me. It's good for productivity, media, and gaming... even for serious gamers. TO UPDATE. I've had more time to play around with HDR on this monitor and I have to say it's a pleasure to watch HDR content on this monitor. It's so exciting and the colors are so vibrant. You almost feel like you can reach and touch everything you've ever seen. The zone dimming on this panel is fantastic and the blacks look really good and go well with the bright colours. Everything is so sharp and clear. As for HDR gaming, I don't think HDR gaming is fully implemented in video games after experimenting with HDR settings in a few games. I've played around with BF5, Shadow of Tomb Raider and No Man's Sky. I just didn't seem to like HDR in these games. Was there an improvement, yes, but not the same as watching HDR videos and movies. It is very important to know that before enabling HDR in the Windows display settings, you must enable HDR in the OSD menu. Otherwise, you won't be able to take full advantage of HDR. I have a profile for gaming with HDR disabled and a profile for HDR, which I switch between on the monitor. I love it, I seriously love this monitor. UPDATE JANUARY 16, 2020: I've been using this monitor for almost 3 months and I love it. I love it so much I'm tempted to grab a second one and upgrade to a dual display. Colors are great, response times are great, games are awesome. This is a great all-around monitor that should fill the void on a big 1440p screen for many people.