Acer XB241YU Review
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Overall
When Acer announced its XB1 expansion line of its G-Sync monitors, I was rather skeptical as to how well it would hold up against its predecessors like the X34 and the Z35 monitors. In theory, aggressively knocking down features on any piece of tech that’s loved for, its… well, its features, can’t end well for anyone involved. The XB1 models were created to tackle the mid-section of the gaming monitor market with a more accessible price point of $500. With a feature list that rivals some of the more expensive monitors on the market today, the XB1 has got more than a few surprises up its sleeve.
Acer XB241YU Review – Design
Straight out of the box, this thing impresses. The stance isn’t quite so accented as the original X34 series but sits at a seemingly modest 90 degrees. Marketed as Acer’s “ZeroFrame,” it sits straight up on whatever you fancy propping it up on, with no lean. Once down, it’s as steady as a storm-trooper’s hit rate, thanks to the angled, weight distributing stand and… well, the weight. This thing is heavy, more so than you’d expect. The monitor comes with a swivel joint that connects it to the stand, and the stand itself is mounted with an elevation slider. Adjusting the elevation can be done in a pinch, but mounting the monitor to the stand takes more than a fair share of fidgeting. I find that making sure that everything’s lined up perfectly helps when slotting on the monitor, as you’ll pretty much be doing it blindly. Adjusting the viewing angle is as simple as poking it in the right places. There are also two medium sized speakers hidden inside the casing on the back of the monitor. It can sound decent, but it’s very obvious that it was intended for the back of the monitor to face a wall so that the sound’s bounced around a bit to create some amount of depth.
Connectors
The XB1 comes with both HDMI and DisplayPort options, so you can jam in your preferred cable and pretty much jump right in. It also supports multi-monitor setups, right out of the box, which is nice if you’re into that. There are also four USB ports to help with keeping your cables tidy. And speaking of cables, the monitor has got a little gap in the frame specifically for your disobedient cables. Threading that mess through the little gap will help keep things tidy and hide them from view. Out of sight, out of mind.
Display
This is pretty much the meaty bit of any monitor review. Before we get on with the technical bits, I’d like to point out that the image on this monitor looks great for a TN panel display. Not nearly as great as an 8bit IPS panel, mind you, but it is actually pretty decent compared to one. The TN dropout isn’t noticeable at all at small angle changes, and I’ve really got to lean out of my chair to get hit with that ugly washout. When you’re propped down on a chair, the image is stable and clear, with its full 16.7 million color range showing through. Images are vibrant and have a noticeable level of depth. The display itself is a widescreen WQHD display, which is a resolution of 2560×1440; wide enough to let you appreciate a good landscape, but not so wide as to have you move your head to check out a mini-map or HUD in the corner of the screen.
This next part has got to be my favorite thing about this monitor: a display rate of one hundred and sixty-five Hertz. That’s right, 165 Hz. Gone are the days where 60 Hz was the best you could hope for. At 165 Hz, everything from playing games to spazzing out and dragging windows around your desktop is going to be buttery smooth and nothing but. Keep in mind, though, that to take advantage of this feature, you’re going to need an equally beefy graphics card. To actually see the difference between 60 Hz and 165 Hz, you’re going to need to have a graphics card that can pump out a frame rate close to 165 Hz, at least. And sweet jellybeans is it beautiful. No amount of Youtube videos will do this justice. You’ve got to actually see it to feel it. Gameplay is smoother, incredibly smoother. So smooth in fact, that you start noticing little things that didn’t seem to be there earlier. Your peripheral vision starts picking up on all the little things like a dog in a chew-toy factory. I ran through a round of ‘Counterstrike: Global Offensive’ with this and the amount of things you start to notice is startling; the sort of things that would never grab your attention before. The tiniest movements of shadows of the fine folk (read as twits) who camp the doors on the Dust II map. That odd flash bang (that actually worked.) that was harder to notice before giving you ample time to look away from it. The oddly bobbing tops of the heads of people hiding behind crates. It really is like stepping into a whole new world, coming from 60 Hz.
The monitor works wonders, even with mid-range cards. If you happen to use a Nvidia card, things just get so much better. The monitor packs its own dedicated G-Sync module, which does exactly what you’d think it does. If you don’t, just think V-sync, but without the crappy stuttering and hit to your frame-rate. No extra lag, no screen tearing, and no nausea when running high frame-rates in low light conditions. That last part obviously only applies to a certain folk, of which I happen to be a part of. With G-Sync enabled, your games are going to look as good as they can with your hardware, without you needing to sacrifice performance on V-sync or having to suck it up and deal with screen tearing. Go ahead and couple this with a high frame rate and a great price point; you’ll have a great immersive gaming experience that you can take home with you. There is one rather obvious and terrible downside to G-Sync though, and that is that you need a Nvidia card to fully utilize it as a feature.
Verdict
Marvelous design and orientation options, seductively smooth frames and a dedicated Nvidia G-Sync module power the drive behind this 60.5cm, 2560×1440 WQHD, LED backlit box of magic; the bright, sharp colors and deep contrast add to the steal and would really make this seem like the perfect gaming monitor at its price range, even with that underwhelming TN panel being a small reality check. An easy recommendation at $500 for a sweet 165 Hz gaming monitor, with G-Sync and a strikingly obvious presence that demands attention from even the most jaded glances.