The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a good monitor with decent picture quality that has great gaming performance. It has an excellent 4k resolution screen that displays every little detail of your game, a very low input lag, supports G-SYNC, and has a very fast response time that delivers crisp motion. It can display a wide color gamut and can get fairly bright in SDR, which is good for a bright room. HDR brightness is decent for playing games, but not so good for watching HDR movies. Unfortunately, the monitor has an IPS panel; this hurts dark room performance as blacks look like gray. Furthermore, the viewing angles on our unit weren't as good as on other IPS monitors, although still better than most VA panel monitors.
Our Verdict
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a good monitor for mixed usage. It has a 4k resolution that displays great detail, favoring multitasking. The input lag is very low and the monitor feels very responsive and supports G-SYNC to please gamers. Unfortunately, the contrast ratio is low and dark room performance is hurt. It can get fairly bright in SDR and its HDR brightness is decent, but can't make bright highlights show off in HDR movies.
- Very low input lag, great for gaming.
- Excellent 4k resolution.
- Low contrast ratio and bad black uniformity.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a good monitor for office use. The 4k resolution and 27" screen allow you to easily multitask. The viewing angles are not as great as other IPS monitors but nonetheless, you can share your work with your colleagues without issue. It has good gray uniformity, which is great for web browsing and decent ergonomics and won't trouble you to place it comfortably.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a great monitor for playing games. It has a very low input lag and is very responsive, great for even competitive gamers. It supports G-SYNC for nearly tear-free gaming, but unfortunately, the input lag is higher at 60Hz and this might disappoint those with consoles. The response time is very fast and motion looks crisp without much motion blur behind fast-moving content, and the 4k resolution can display more details of your gaming arena.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a good monitor for consuming multimedia. It has an impressive 4k resolution that can display 4k movies at their native format, but unfortunately, the low contrast doesn't favor dark room viewing. The viewing angles are good for watching from the side although other IPS monitors perform better. It has a low input lag, decent reflection handling, and can get fairly bright for a bright room, which is where the monitor performs best.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a good monitor for media creation. It has a good size screen with excellent resolution, so you can put more of your work on it. It has decent ergonomics and, although the viewing angles are not as good as other IPS monitors, you can still share your screen with clients or colleagues.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a decent monitor for HDR gaming. It's limited by the low contrast and bad black uniformity, but it gets decently bright in HDR. It supports G-SYNC for nearly tear-free gaming and has a very low input lag that makes it very responsive. Finally, the 4k resolution will display more of your game on your screen.
Changelog
- Updated Jan 05, 2022: Updated the Backlight comparison in the Local Dimming section.
- Updated Jul 22, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Aug 16, 2019: Review published.
- Updated Aug 14, 2019: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx, which is a 4k IPS gaming monitor. There are many other variants of the Predator lineup, which all support G-SYNC but with different sizes, panel types, resolutions, and refresh rates, a selection of which are listed in the table below.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Model | Size | Panel Type | Resolution | Native Refresh |
| XB273K Pbmiphzx | 27" | IPS | 4k | 120Hz |
| XB271HU bmiprz | 27" | IPS | 1440p | 144Hz |
| XB271HU Abmiprz | 27" | TN | 1440p | 144Hz |
| X27 | 27" | IPS | 4k | 240Hz |
| Z35P | 35" | VA | 3440x1440 | 100Hz |
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx we reviewed was manufactured in January 2019.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is a great gaming monitor, but there are better options available. See our recommendations for the best monitors, the best 27 inch gaming monitors, and the best budget monitors.
The Acer Nitro XV273 Xbmiiprzx is better than the Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx. Though they both have an IPS panel, the Nitro XV273 Xbmiiprzx has a better contrast ratio and significantly better black uniformity, as well as better viewing angles. However, the XB273K Pbmiphzx has a 4k resolution, which is great for multitasking. The XB273K Pbmiphzx supports a wide color gamut, but it can't get as bright as the Nitro XV273 Xbmiiprzx.
Overall, the ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQ is better than the Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx. The ASUS has better ergonomics, higher peak brightness in SDR and HDR, and even though its response time is slower, it has much less overshoot. The Acer has better reflection handling, more USB ports, and a pair of speakers. The ASUS has native Adaptive-Sync support and is compatible with FreeSync and G-SYNC, while the Acer is a native G-SYNC monitor.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx and the BenQ EL2870U have different panels, each with advantages and disadvantages. In this case, however, the Acer is much better in most aspects. The Acer has a faster native refresh rate, better viewing angles, a faster response time that delivers crisper motion, and you can position it to your liking with ease. The BenQ is slightly larger.
The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx is slightly better than the Acer Predator XB271HU Bmiprz. The XB273K has a higher resolution to display more details on your screen and supports HDR, great for HDR gaming. The XB271HU has a higher refresh rate, a BFI feature that helps improve the appearance of motion, and better ergonomics to help position it comfortably.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, all of which we purchase ourselves, without cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized, custom tools to measure various aspects and deliver objective, data-driven results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance compared to the competition, and whether it's easy to find.
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