Acer XZ321Q Review -Curved 32 inch 144Hz FreeSync Monitor7 min read

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The first impression you’ll get from the Acer XZ321Q is that it’s unique.This monitor certainly lives in a rarefied space. It’s large enough to be a TV, but its curved design, 144Hz FreeSync refresh rate, and 4ms gray-to-gray response clearly define it as a gaming monitor.

This 32-inch curved gaming monitor is impressively large, and the stand is wide and sturdy. Although the curve of the screen and the design of the stand design ensure that The XZ321Q can fit comfortably on most desks, it still dominates your space and leaves little room for additional peripherals.

I would recommend taking measurements of your gaming space before shelling out for this monitor. If you buy blindly, you may find you don’t have enough space for a large mousepad, or secondary/tertiary monitors.

Review of Acer XZ321Q – The FEATURES

This monitor is built around a 1920×1080 VA screen, as opposed to a TN or IPS. You’ll note that the massive size of this monitor combined with the full HD resolution gives it a pixel density of approximately 70 PPI, which is quite low compared to many other panels on the market.

This monitor’s main claim to fame is its 144hz refresh time. That fabled refresh rate, famed and desired by gamers everywhere, gives you a buttery-smooth gaming experience, especially in FPS games and MOBAs, where one frame can mean the difference between life and death. With AMD FreeSync technology included out-of-the-box, Adaptive Sync can adjust to your framerate even if it falls below max, meaning you’ll experience no screen tearing or stuttering.

Now, depending on your setup, this may not be a problem. If you’re sitting at least 3 feet away from the screen, you’ll hit that magic viewing distance where you can no longer distinguish individual pixels, and you won’t notice any negative effects.

Other vital screen stats include a proprietary anti-glare screen coating, the 4ms above gray-to-gray response time, standard 8-bit 16.7million color support, and a striking 300 Nit max brightness.

Build Notes

This monitor is huge. No doubt about it. But it’s also aesthetically pleasing

The curved design helps mitigate the size of the 32” class screen somewhat, and the small bezels and futuristic, stealth-fighter reminiscent design give it an appealing aesthetic that fits in perfectly with most gaming peripherals. It is still quite heavy and quite large, weighing in at a staggering 23lbs (including the stand). Now, that’s pretty standard for a larger monitor such as this, but for comparison, the 24” ASUS VG248QE, weighs in at a little more than half that: 12.1lb including the stand.

Despite its size and weight, it’s very flexible, even with the built-in stand. It’s is tiltable from -5° to 25°, pivotable to 60°, and adjustable to a height of 120mm.

This monitor is also VESA compatible, but given its large size and heavy weight, I would recommend taking a careful look at your desk and setup before attempting to mount it.

As for connectivity, this monitor comes with the expected complement of digital ports; 2 HDMI (1 with MHL support), one DisplayPort, and one Mini DisplayPort.

Interestingly, there are no DVI ports, despite the resurgence of the Dual Link DVI standard in consumer monitors up to a 2560×1440 resolution.

4 USB 3.0 downstream ports and one 3.5mm audio-out port round out this monitor’s connectivity features, and built-in surround sound speakers round out the screen’s display and audio set, with up to 7 watts of power, giving you decent audio quality if you don’t have any computer speakers, or prefer to mainly use headphones.Power is provided by a standard built-in PSU, and this monitor sips power surprisingly slowly, consuming 0.45 watts when off, 0.5W when in sleep mode, and 31.5W average when powered on. This puts it in the A class of energy

Power is provided by a standard built-in PSU, and this monitor sips power surprisingly slowly, consuming 0.45 watts when off, 0.5W when in sleep mode, and 31.5W average when powered on. This puts it in the A class of energy efficiency and ensures that even extended gaming sessions won’t break the bank (or short out your power strip).

The Good

The display is great, and the 144hz refresh rate gives a smooth buttery picture. The 4ms response time, while slower compared to standard 1ms response times in gaming monitors, is easily enough to give you a snappy picture, even during the most high-octane gaming sessions.

The built-in speakers are high quality and deliver stereo sound. The design and overall aesthetic of this monitor are very pleasing, and it’s a pleasure to look at, which is important if you’re looking at it for hours a day.

The Not So Good

I simply don’t understand who this monitor is for, exactly. It’s very expensive, coming in at approximately £350 not including VAT, and well over £400 with VAT, and its pixel density is low enough that it’s better suited for gaming with a controller than a keyboard and mouse. The question must be asked. Why is this monitor worth it?

Perhaps the main appeal is to gamers who wish to game on their consoles without leaving their desks, but if that’s the case, 144hz is overkill; no console on the market can hope even to come close that framerate and consoles have more input lag, so both the 4ms response time and the 144hz refresh rate are extreme overkill.

The other strange thing about this monitor is despite its titanic size; it’s still only full HD. Now, that’s standard for these sorts of high-refresh rate gaming monitors, but it still gives me pause. If you’re buying a monitor for its huge size and beautiful picture, perhaps you would be better off going to a QHD 1440p monitor or even going up to a 4K screen. You wouldn’t get that 144hz refresh rate or the low 4ms response time, but given the size of this thing, and the purposes I would see it used for, you wouldn’t really need it.

You’d be better off with a lower refresh rate, a bit more input lag, and a much more crisp, future-proof picture.

In my honest opinion, even if you were interested in purchasing this monitor, you would be better off buying a 32 inch TV,  sticking it in your front room, and purchasing a smaller, 24-inch 144hz 1ms response rate gaming monitor for about £200, for your PC gaming setup, instead of dishing out over £400 on this Frankensteinian monitor. The prices would come out about the same, and you’d be much better off.

My verdict

I’m sure by now you’ve sussed out my opinion on this monitor. I will reiterate that this is only my opinion, and you may have a different one. So I do encourage you to read the review above (and other reviews, by other reviewers) and think about the benefits and drawbacks of this monitor as I and others have laid them out for you.

But if you’ve read this far, you must want my opinion. That, or you can’t read, and don’t understand anything on this page. Blah blah blog blah. I’m a 12-year-old space alien who loves eating bugs. That was a test. I know you can read. Sorry, I’ll continue.

In my opinion, you should not buy this monitor. For the price, it’s a huge letdown. It’s too expensive for what it does, and like most products that try to be a jack-of-all-trades, it only approaches mediocrity at best. Save your money; it’s not worth the price of entry.

Thank you for reading my review, and I hope you learned something, even if it was that you disagree with me and believe that I should be set on fire and thrown off the top of a building. We can at least agree on that point.

Until next time, happy shopping and happy gaming. See you online.