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Acer XB270HU monitor review (144Hz 1440p IPS G-sync)

V

ValleyJoe

Neo Member
I just received this monitor on Saturday via Amazon. May '15 batch. I'd been debating ordering it for the last 2 weeks due to the insane amount of QC issues people have been having, but with some people saying the May production had improved considerably I decided to roll the dice. All I can say is WOW! I'm completely blown away by how smooth and gorgeous this display is. 144hz and gsync feels like the single biggest upgrade I've ever made to my pc. Combined with my 980ti, I'm in gaming heaven right now. I'm finding myself going through my entire library and playing things I haven't touched in months just because it all feels so different at this framerate and with no screen tearing.

The monitor itself is nearly perfect from a qc standpoint. 0 dead pixels. Very minor bleed in the bottom right(far less than my LG 34um95). The light bleed actually seems to be lessening as I use it more. I suppose I could be imagining it, but a few other people on various forums have been saying that their light bleed issues have been lessening as the monitor gets broken in /shrug. Overall I'm absolutely thrilled with this thing. I owned the Asus Rog Swift for about 2 days a few months ago and ended up returning it because I just couldn't go back to a TN panel after using the LG for so long. This thing is truly the best of both worlds. I tried to hold out for the Asus version of this panel, but with no concrete date and price I just couldn't do it. I'm glad I pulled the trigger on the Acer. Absolutely amazing monitor.
 
d00d3n

d00d3n

Member
I got mine today. It is the updated model with 120Hz ULMB. No dead pixels. Backlight bleed is a bit worse than what I have seen in reviews and read from gaf impressions though. There is subtle bleed in the upper and lower left corners (not noticeable in games, generally) and substantial bleed in the lower right corner. I think I will keep the screen, but it would have been awesome to have one with less backlight issues. GTAV gsync still feels like a god-level upgrade, irrespective of any quality control issues.
 
R

Rolfgang

Member
d00d3n said:
I got mine today. It is the updated model with 120Hz ULMB. No dead pixels. Backlight bleed is a bit worse than what I have seen in reviews and read from gaf impressions though. There is subtle bleed in the upper and lower left corners (not noticeable in games, generally) and substantial bleed in the lower right corner. I think I will keep the screen, but it would have been awesome to have one with less backlight issues. GTAV gsync still feels like a god-level upgrade, irrespective of any quality control issues.
Click to expand...

It might get less worse over time, a bit faster with light massages. Someone tested it and posted photos.
 
V

Vuze

Member
d00d3n said:
I got mine today. It is the updated model with 120Hz ULMB. No dead pixels. Backlight bleed is a bit worse than what I have seen in reviews and read from gaf impressions though. There is subtle bleed in the upper and lower left corners (not noticeable in games, generally) and substantial bleed in the lower right corner. I think I will keep the screen, but it would have been awesome to have one with less backlight issues. GTAV gsync still feels like a god-level upgrade, irrespective of any quality control issues.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think the lower right corner bleed is present on every single one of the monitors. I might be imagining things, but I think it already got a little bit better for me (1 1/2 weeks in).
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
is there any difference with the "Acer XB270HUbprz"? That is showing on amazon UK for quite a bit less than normal price - around £560, sold from an Italian 3rd party.
 
V

Vuze

Member
mrklaw said:
is there any difference with the "Acer XB270HUbprz"? That is showing on amazon UK for quite a bit less than normal price - around £560, sold from an Italian 3rd party.
Click to expand...
Nah, that's the full name. It's listed as XB270HUbprz everywhere. But if I were you, I wouldn't risk to order it from a 3rd party, let alone from another country.
 
P

pj

Banned
mrklaw said:
is there any difference with the "Acer XB270HUbprz"? That is showing on amazon UK for quite a bit less than normal price - around £560, sold from an Italian 3rd party.
Click to expand...

For that much less than retail I would assume it's a refurb, even if it's not listed as such
 
d00d3n

d00d3n

Member
This is probably a really amateurish question, but I will go ahead anyway: As a person without any color calibration tools, is it a good idea to use the calibrated colors from the tftcentral review or should I leave the colors at default?
 
R

Rolfgang

Member
d00d3n said:
This is probably a really amateurish question, but I will go ahead anyway: As a person without any color calibration tools, is it a good idea to use the calibrated colors from the tftcentral review or should I leave the colors at default?
Click to expand...

I use the icc-profile from tftcentral and I recommend you use those, it's perfect in my eyes.
 
Jibbajabbawockky

Jibbajabbawockky

Member
Vuze said:
Yeah, I think the lower right corner bleed is present on every single one of the monitors. I might be imagining things, but I think it already got a little bit better for me (1 1/2 weeks in).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got my monitor beginning/middle of May and I don't know if its just because I've gotten used to it or not but the backlight bleed in the bottom right doesn't seem as noticable as when I first got it.

But maybe that's just me getting used to it.
 
Xcell Miguel

Xcell Miguel

Gold Member
Remember my post from April, took the same photo with the same settings a few minutes ago, looks like BLB is gone or less visible.
Angle is not the exact same so IPS Glow is different, but it looks like the bottom right BLB is not there anymore.

Post from April :
GSY Miguel said:
I took some photos, screen set in Standard mode, so brightness is set to 100%.
I locked my phone on ISO 400 and 1/20s exposure time to make lighting constant between photos and not to accentuate the effect, even if it's still more visible in photos than in real life.

Front :


So I get a little BLB in the bottom right, not a big deal, only visible on some dark scenes.
IPS glow is almost invisible.
Click to expand...

Now :
 
Xcell Miguel

Xcell Miguel

Gold Member
Durante said:
I wouldn't call it "not there", and it's hard to tell from photos, but it does seem considerably improved.
Click to expand...

Yes it's hard to tell if it's still there or not because of the IPS glow, but it improved for sure.

Hope it's not tied to summer and higher room temperature than in April.
 
O

opticalmace

Member
My local computer shop is bringing in a refurbished model for $649 CAD, no fee on returns so I'm hoping it works out. Would love to upgrade from my old 1920x1200 24" TN panel.
 
R

RenegadeXV8

Banned
Received mine today as well.

May 2015 build date. Zero dead/stuck pixels and only very little backlight bleed in the bottom right corner, honestly completely unnoticeable unless the screen is completely dark. ULMB goes up to 120Hz, which was one of the main reasons I got this monitor.

About the only issue I found were finger smudges on the bottom of the stand, which I thought was weird.
 
D

Darkone

Member
If I don't mind getting no less then 30fps while playing should I go 4K?
I don't know if it is wise to invest so much money on a 1440p monitor at this point when 4K gaming is close.
 
L

Lexxism

Member
With Canadian Dollar keeps on falling, I'm getting really tempted of getting this monitor instead of just waiting the new IPS ROG Swift. I think that monitor might open 1 grand here lol
 
O

opticalmace

Member
Just picked up my refurb XB270HU. It is gorgeous.

It's an insane upgrade over my 6.5-year-old 1200p TN panel, and it seems to work well with my 970.

I'm damn impressed.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
For those holding out for the Asus version, it should be out any day now since I just bought the Acer. :p

On a serious note, it's pretty great. No severe QC issues like I was dreading. Backlight uniformity along the top edge is sub-par but that's it.
 
G

ghibli99

Member
FWIW, I purchased one from B&H a couple weeks ago. I'm in LA, so it took about a week to arrive via UPS Ground. I ended up returning it due to the lower-right backlight going out, dirt specks behind the screen, and a stuck red pixel dead-center. It was a May 2015/120Hz ULMB model. They paid for return shipping and refunded every penny.
 
M

mysocksarepink

Banned
Went and picked up a June 2015 model from my local microcenter. Damn near perfect. No dead pixels or other issues. Very minor BLB glow on the top left of the screen.

I'm in love with this thing. Now I need a 2nd 980ti
 
N

nextgeneration

Member
My ROG Swift just borked. >< How reliable are these? Considering getting one of these, but I'm concerned this will die out on me like my ROG Swift.
 
R

Rimshot

Member
Vuze said:
It's printed on a pretty huge sticker at the outside of the box (where you can also see details like IPS, response time etc).
Click to expand...

Thank you, it seems mine was made in May and it has no BLB at all what I can see so I'm really happy with it.

One issue I noticed though, is that when I have set the refresh rate to 144hz in Nvidia Control Panel my graphics card starts to heat up. When I set it to 120hz it stays as normal. Anyone know why this is?
 
Xcell Miguel

Xcell Miguel

Gold Member
Rimshot said:
Thank you, it seems mine was made in May and it has no BLB at all what I can see so I'm really happy with it.

One issue I noticed though, is that when I have set the refresh rate to 144hz in Nvidia Control Panel my graphics card starts to heat up. When I set it to 120hz it stays as normal. Anyone know why this is?
Click to expand...

Same here, my cards stay at full speed if I set the desktop to 144Hz, I have to set it to 120Hz to let it go to 2D mode.

Games still runs in 144Hz so I keep it that way.
 
R

Rimshot

Member
Do any of you connect your keyboard and mouse to the usb hub on the screen? Or does that result in any input lag as compared to hooking them up directly to the computer? Just thinking of cable management here.
 
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