- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Design
- Picture Quality
- Motion
- Inputs
- Features
- Sizes and Variants
- Compared
- Conclusion
- Discussions
Acer XF251Q
MONITOR REVIEW
- 30% Office
- 30% Multimedia
- 25% Gaming
- 10% Media Creation
- 5% HDR Gaming
- 16% Resolution and Size
- 15% Vertical Viewing Angle
- 12% Horizontal Viewing Angle
- 7% Ergonomics
- 7% Reflections
- 7% Gray Uniformity
- 6% Input Lag
- 5% SDR Color Gamut
- 5% SDR Color Volume
- 4% Black Uniformity
- 4% SDR Peak Brightness
- 4% Gradient
- 2% Motion Blur
- 2% Refresh Rate
- 2% Pre Calibration
- 1% Image Flicker
- 1% Curve radius
- 23% Input Lag
- 14% Resolution and Size
- 13% Motion Blur
- 12% Refresh Rate
- 9% Ergonomics
- 8% Image Flicker
- 6% Reflections
- 3% SDR Peak Brightness
- 2% Contrast
- 2% Gray Uniformity
- 2% Black Uniformity
- 2% Vertical Viewing Angle
- 1% Horizontal Viewing Angle
- 1% Local Dimming
- 1% SDR Color Gamut
- 1% SDR Color Volume
- 17% Resolution and Size
- 10% Input Lag
- 8% Reflections
- 8% Vertical Viewing Angle
- 7% Horizontal Viewing Angle
- 6% Gray Uniformity
- 5% Ergonomics
- 5% Black Uniformity
- 4% Motion Blur
- 4% Refresh Rate
- 4% SDR Color Gamut
- 4% SDR Color Volume
- 3% Gradient
- 3% SDR Peak Brightness
- 2% Contrast
- 2% Image Flicker
- 2% HDR Peak Brightness
- 2% HDR Color Gamut
- 2% HDR Color Volume
- 1% Local Dimming
- 1% Pre Calibration
- 21% Resolution and Size
- 8% Ergonomics
- 7% Vertical Viewing Angle
- 7% Input Lag
- 6% Horizontal Viewing Angle
- 6% Motion Blur
- 6% Refresh Rate
- 5% Reflections
- 5% Gray Uniformity
- 5% Black Uniformity
- 3% Image Flicker
- 3% Gradient
- 3% SDR Color Gamut
- 3% SDR Color Volume
- 2% Contrast
- 2% SDR Peak Brightness
- 2% HDR Peak Brightness
- 2% HDR Color Gamut
- 2% HDR Color Volume
- 1% Pre Calibration
- 1% Local Dimming
- 14% Contrast
- 12% Input Lag
- 9% HDR Peak Brightness
- 9% Resolution and Size
- 8% Black Uniformity
- 7% Local Dimming
- 5% Ergonomics
- 5% Motion Blur
- 5% Refresh Rate
- 5% Gradient
- 5% HDR Color Gamut
- 5% HDR Color Volume
- 3% Horizontal Viewing Angle
- 3% Image Flicker
- 3% Vertical Viewing Angle
- 2% Gray Uniformity
The Acer XF251Q is a decent 1080p TN monitor with some great gaming features. It has a fast response time, low input lag, and it supports AMD's FreeSync VRR technology. It has a good design, with a great stand that can be easily adjusted to an ideal viewing position. Unfortunately, it has poor viewing angles, so the image degrades when viewed at an angle, and it isn't very accurate out of the box.
| Design | 7.5 |
| Picture Quality | 6.1 |
| Motion | 8.4 |
| Inputs | 8.4 |
- Low input lag
- Stand has great ergonomics
- Image degrades when viewed at an angle
- Poor accuracy out of the box
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Design
The Acer XF251Q has a good design. The stand has a large footprint but supports the monitor well. It has great ergonomics, and can easily be adjusted to an optimal viewing position. There is an included headphone bracket that attaches to the stand, which is great. It is mostly made of plastic, but it has a good build quality and there shouldn't be any issues.
- 46% Height Adjustment
- 18% Switch portrait/landscape
- 18% Swivel Range
- 18% Tilt Range
The back is plain with a simple design. There is a small hole in the stand that works well for cable management. There is also a headphone bracket that can be clipped on to the top of the stand.
The monitor has a good build quality. It is mostly made from plastic, but it is solid and seems well built, similar to the ASUS VG245H.
Picture Quality
- 10% Contrast
- 3% Local Dimming
- 9% SDR Peak Brightness
- 3% HDR Peak Brightness
- 10% Horizontal Viewing Angle
- 10% Vertical Viewing Angle
- 9% Gray Uniformity
- 7% Black Uniformity
- 7% Pre Calibration
- 2% Post Calibration
- 5% SDR Color Gamut
- 5% SDR Color Volume
- 2% HDR Color Gamut
- 2% HDR Color Volume
- 2% Image Retention
- 3% Gradient
- 2% Color Bleed
- 9% Reflections
The Acer XF251Q has mediocre picture quality. It has a mediocre native contrast ratio, but decent black uniformity. It has decent peak brightness and very good reflection handling, so it looks great in a bright room. It has a great color gamut and excellent color volume, but the Adobe RGB coverage is too limited for professional photo or video editing. Unfortunately, the image degrades when viewed at an angle, and it has poor accuracy out of the box.
Mediocre contrast ratio, but one of the best TN monitors we've tested so far; only slightly worse than the ASUS VG245H.
There is no local dimming feature on this monitor. The video is for reference only.
The Acer XF251Q has decent peak brightness, with no variation in brightness with different content, which is great. The peak brightness is very similar to the ASUS VG245H.
HDR is not supported on this monitor.
Disappointing horizontal viewing angles typical of TN monitors. The brightness drops by half at about 45°, which is mediocre, but the black levels increase sharply after about 30°, and the colors shift significantly at about the same angle.
Disappointing vertical viewing angles; slightly better than the ASUS VG245H but worse than the ViewSonic XG2402. The XF251Q is definitely best viewed at eye level.
- 40% 50% Std. Dev.
- 40% 50% DSE
- 10% 5% Std. Dev.
- 10% 5% DSE
The Acer XF251Q bmiirx has good gray uniformity. The edges of the screen are quite a bit darker due to the poor vertical viewing angles. The center of the screen is more uniform, and there is very little dirty screen effect (DSE). In near-dark scenes, the uniformity is better, and there is almost no DSE.
- 75% Native Std. Dev.
- 25% Std. Dev. w/ L.D.
Decent black uniformity, one of the best we've ever tested on a monitor. There is some clouding visible across the entire screen, but there is very little flashlighting, which is great.
- 50% White Balance dE
- 50% Color dE
Out of the box, the Acer XF251Q has poor accuracy. The white balance dE and color dE are very high, to the point where we expect most people will notice the errors. The gamma does not follow the target curve at all, but despite the strange look of the curve we don't expect this to be noticeable for most people.
- 50% White Balance dE
- 50% Color dE
After calibration, nearly all of the white balance and color errors were corrected. Gamma follows the target curve nearly perfectly, but some scenes will be too bright. The color temperature is nearly spot-on the 6500 K target. Some colors are still inaccurate, but this shouldn't be noticeable by most people.
You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and should not be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model due to manufacturing tolerances.
- 50% s.RGB xy
- 50% Adobe RGB xy
s.RGB Picture Mode: User (calibrated)Adobe RGB Picture Mode: User
Great SDR color gamut. Excellent s.RGB coverage, but it doesn't quite cover the entire gamut. Coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space isn't as good, and is not ideal for professional photo or video editing.
- 50% s.RGB in ICtCp
- 50% Adobe RGB in ICtCp
s.RGB Picture Mode: UserAdobe RGB Picture Mode: User
Great SDR color volume. It is mainly limited by the native contrast, as it can't produce deep, dark colors very well. Like many monitors, it can't produce very bright blues, but overall it fills out its gamut well in most luminance levels.
- 50% DCI P3 xy
- 50% Rec. 2020 xy
HDR is not supported on this monitor.
- 50% DCI-P3 in ICtCp
- 50% Rec. 2020 in ICtCp
HDR is not supported on this monitor.
There are no signs of temporary image retention, even immediately after displaying our high-contrast static test image for 10 minutes.
The Acer XF251Q has very good gradient reproduction. There is some noticeable banding in darker colors, but this shouldn't be very noticeable under most viewing conditions.
- 50% Pixel row error
- 50% Pixel column error
Perfect color control, as there is no measurable color bleed.
Motion
- 22% Motion Blur
- 11% Image Flicker
- 67% Refresh Rate
The Acer XF251Q has great motion handling. It has an extremely fast response time, so fast moving objects have very little blur trail behind them, but some transitions have significant overshoot that may be distracting to some people. The backlight is flicker-free, but it lacks a BFI feature that could reduce persistence blur. The 75 Hz refresh rate is good, but some gamers may be disappointed. It supports AMD FreeSync, which is great.
- 50% 80% Response Time
- 50% 100% Response Time
Over Drive Off
Over Drive Off Motion Photo
Over Drive Normal
Over Drive Normal Motion Photo
Over Drive Extreme
Over Drive Extreme Motion Photo
The XF251Q has an excellent fast response time, but there is significant overshoot with any Over Drive setting. This causes some noticeable haloing around moving objects, as seen in the above motion photos.
When connected to a FreeSync compatible device, like a PC with an AMD graphics card or an Xbox One S/X, the Over Drive option is locked to 'Normal'. On our test PC it was impossible to change the setting even with FreeSync disabled. On the Xbox On S/X however, disabling FreeSync allowed us to change the Over Drive setting.
The Acer XF251Q is completely flicker-free, as it directly dims the backlight without using PWM. Unfortunately, it does not have an optional black frame insertion feature to reduce persistence blur.
- 50% Native
- 13% Factory Overclock
- 6% Variable Refresh Rate
- 13% VRR Maximum
- 6% VRR Minimum
- 12% VRR Maximum With OC
The Acer XF251Q has a 75 Hz native refresh rate, which while better than a 60 Hz monitor, might not be fast enough for more serious gamers. It supports FreeSync VRR, but has a limited range, and no LFC as the VRR minimum is too close to the native refresh rate. This means that in more intense scenes, there may be tearing if the frame rate drops below 40 fps
Inputs
- 60% Input Lag
- 40% Resolution and Size
The Acer XF251Q has excellent low input lag, great for gaming. It has a 24.5" screen, but it is limited to a 1080p resolution that isn't great for multitasking. It has two HDMI inputs and a VGA input, but it doesn't support DVI or DisplayPort without using adapters.
Lowest input lag possible at the center of the screen, when the monitor is displaying an alternative resolution at its native refresh rate. The non-native resolution tested depends on the native resolution of the monitor, following this pattern unless otherwise specified in the Input Lag text:
| Native Resolution | Non-Native Resolution Tested |
| 4k UHD | QHD |
| QHD | FHD |
| FHD | 1600x900 |
| 3440x1440 | 2560x1080 |
| 2560x1080 | 1920x1080 |
Excellent low input lag, even with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. Non-native resolutions are not properly supported, as they are always upscaled to 1080p without you knowing, and there is no option to disable upscaling.
- 71% Megapixels
- 29% Screen Area
The Acer XF251Q has a 24.5" screen and a 1080p resolution, good for casual use, but many users may find this too small for more serious work.
There are two HDMI inputs and a VGA port, but no DisplayPort or DVI. There is a 3.5mm analog audio out port, it is a headphone port with adjustable volume on the monitor's on screen display.
Features
The Acer XF251Q has a few additional features. It has built-in speakers, but it does not support HDR. There are a few additional features for gamers, but it lacks more advanced image processing features found on more expensive gaming monitors.
There are a few additional additional features on the XF251Q. It has built-in speakers, but does not support HDR.
- Game Modes: There are three preset configurations for Action, Racing, and Sports, and a fourth setting that can be customized to your liking.
- Aim Point: There are three selectable cross-hairs that can be added, good for FPS games that don't have one.
Differences between Sizes and Variants
We tested the 24.5" Acer XF251Q, model number bmiirx. There are other models in the XF series, but beyond FreeSync support they have different specifications.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Acer XF251Q 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 | Resolution | Refresh Rate | Notes |
| XF251Q | 24.5" | 1080p | 75 Hz | FreeSync |
| XFA240 | 24" | 1080p | 144 Hz | FreeSync, DVI |
| XF270H B | 27" | 1080p | 144 Hz | FreeSync |
| XF250Q A | 24.5" | 1080p | 240 Hz | FreeSync, DVI |
| XF250Q B | 24.5" | 1080p | 144 Hz | FreeSync |
| XF250Q C | 24.5" | 1080p | 240 Hz | FreeSync |
The XF251Q we reviewed was manufactured in July 2017
Compared to other Monitors
The Acer XF251Q is a decent entry-level monitor with great gaming performance. See our recommendations for the best monitors under $200.
The Acer XF251Q is slightly better than the ASUS VG245H. Both models are 75 Hz TN monitors, with FreeSync support. Both offer very similar performance, but the XF251Q we reviewed had better black uniformity and much better color volume. The ASUS VG245H is much more accurate out of the box, but a few settings changes on the XF251Q can correct this.
The ViewSonic XG2402 is better than the Acer XF251Q. The XG2402 has much better motion performance, thanks to the faster 144 Hz refresh rate. The XG2402 is also a bit brighter, and has a better color gamut and better color volume.
The Dell S2417DG is better than the Acer XF251Q. The S2417DG has much better motion handling, thanks to a much faster refresh rate, faster response time, and optional black frame insertion feature. The Dell also has slightly less input lag. While the Acer XF251Q supports AMD's FreeSync VRR, the Dell S2417DG supports NVIDIA's G-SYNC instead, so the compatibility with your graphics card should be taken into account when choosing between these two.
The Acer XF251Q is much better than the Acer GN246HL. The GN246HL has a faster 144 Hz refresh rate, but it does not support any variable refresh rate technologies like FreeSync or G-Sync. The XF251Q has a 75 Hz refresh rate, but it supports FreeSync. The Acer GN246HL uses PWM to dim the backlight, and this causes flicker that may bother some people, whereas the XF251Q is flicker-free. Finally, the XF251Q has much less input lag, especially when gaming at 60 Hz.
The Acer XF251Q is a 25" TN monitor, whereas the Samsung CF398 is a VA monitor. The XF251Q has better motion handling, thanks to a faster response time. The XF251Q is a bit brighter, but the CF398 has much better native contrast, so it looks better in a dark room.
