Acer Predator XB323U 32" WQHD Monitor (Open Box)

Long Review, forgive me! Wow, ok guys, I got to tell ya…..this Acer Predator XB323U GP monitor is really really good. Let me give you a little back story really fast though. I am replacing my Acer Predator XB271HU and I am currently testing a Dell S2721DGF at the same time I am testing this XB323U. So I am comparing two really good monitors right now, 1 will stay on my desk and the other goes back. These are my initial thoughts after owning this monitor for the past 36-48 hours. So the XB323U arrived, in a massive box by the way. The box was like 35 pounds or something. The monitor is fully assembled when you take it out and that probably explains why it is so big. It comes with a headset holder that you attach to the stand and it comes with a DP 1.4 cable, HDMI 2.0 cable, and a USB cable so you can use the USB ports on the monitor. I personally bought an extra longer DP 1.4 cable so I could better cable manage around my desk. So that is what comes in the box…..no assembly required. The stand is made of metal, not plastic, and feels very durable. The entire build quality of the monitor definitely feels premium, kind of like buying a really nice Lexus over a base model Honda to compare. So here are my initial impressions upon turning it on. Forgive me because I will make a few comparisons to the Dell S2721DGF throughout this review which I am sure most won’t mind because that is a kick ass monitor too. This is a AHVA IPS panel on the XB323U and it is really good. The Dell has a LG nano IPS panel in it. The Dell has an extremely vibrant color set out of box and I recommend anyone buying one to use custom color settings. My XB323U came and appears to be calibrated out of box. On standard color settings the only thing I did was up the brightness to around 75 and contrast to around 50. I like to use the Eizo Monitor Testing suite to see how well my monitors perform for initial testing. I had a perfect pattern tests as lines were straight and colors looked great and faded perfectly. I had zero dead or stuck pixels and one of the most important things is I had virtually zero back light bleed with my panel minus an almost unnoticeable area on the bottom right side of the screen. I am nit picking here because unless you are in a pitch black room with an all black screen it’s virtually unnoticeable. IPS glow is minimal but only noticeable if the entire screen is black. To be honest, I was extremely surprised at how well the black contrasts on this monitor are. For IPS, at least on this one I got, the blacks are super on this monitor…..bravo Acer! I’ve had my fair share of TN and IPS monitors and this is the best one I’ve seen to date. Keep in mind it varies from monitor to monitor. One important thing for me is black and color uniformity throughout the panel and how well the panel is evenly lit across. Without having actual test equipment, I perceive no lighter or darker areas on the monitor and colors seem fantastic. This seems to be one of the best uniformed panels I have owned to date. Also my gamma seemed to be on point at 2.2 using the Eizo Monitor Testing suite. For productivity work using Excel, Word, CAD, Chrome and Edge, etc. the size of this screen is very enjoyable and easy on the eyes. Text in all font sizes is clear and sharp. I like the extra size and real estate to have multiple windows open and toggle between them side by side. On smaller monitors you can’t really do this effectively. This is much more enjoyable to work on than the Dell S2721DGF. Also, watching videos on YouTube and Netflix was enjoyable and should provide a great experience for anyone wanting to play media on this monitor. For gaming, this is where the monitor really shines. My gaming rig uses a 8700k OC’ed to 4.8ghz on all cores, 32gb 3200mhz Corsair Vengeance memory, and a EVGA RTX 2080 XC Ultra. I spent a solid 8 hours last night putting this monitor through a variety of games I play a lot such as CS:GO, PUBG, Battlefield 5, Apex, Rogue Company, PGA Tour 2k21, Diablo 3, and League of Legends. I am an avid CSGO and PUBG player so those stick out the most to me during my testing. For me, I think Acer did right on this panel to cap it at 170hz as it provides buttery smooth game play, with GSYNC on and off. If you play with GSYNC “off” screen tearing is not even noticeable especially you are pushing 160fps+ however if you are averaging lower fps like around 100 you should be using GSYNC to maximize your experience with this monitor. I can’t perceive any additional input lag while using GSYNC but I tend to keep it off anyways because I can drive high frame rates. Out of box this monitor is configured to run 170hz automatically as long as you use a display port 1.4 cable. The monitor comes with 3 overdrive settings: off, normal, extreme. Normal overdrive is the best setting I found and ghosting is non-existent. The input lag and responsiveness is seriously excellent and will make serious gamers very happy. On a side note, there is a setting in the OSD called “Ultra Low Latency”…..DO NOT turn this off. It is on by default and is important to keep your input lag low…..I am not sure why anyone would turn it off anyways…..just don’t touch it! In regards to HDR content, I am a little new to the HDR world. I did fire up Battlefield 5 and turn HDR on it things seemed a little more vibrant and bright. HDR is something I am going to have to play with a little more to see how to fully utilize it so my initial thoughts here are just that. I will add more to this post later about HDR. Just know that with HDR turned off the maximum brightness is 400nits and with HDR enabled it is 600nits and there is some sort of zone dimming on the edges otherwise this could not have achieved Vesa’s HDR600 rating. This is a really fast IPS panel and is definitely a step up in speed compared to my old Acer Predator XB271HU (still a great monitor btw!). Comparing my gaming experience to the Dell S2721DGF I am testing is so similar. I can honestly say that the Dell using the LG nano IPS technology feels really great for FPS gaming on a 27inch but there is something about the immersive experience I get on this XB323U that makes it stand out above the Dell. I think it’s the size, brightness, and how well the black contrast and uniformity is that makes it seem better. I will say though, the Dell has a little better black equalizer option in the OSD. If you are worried about the 93 PPI on a 32inch 1440p monitor, don’t worry. I sit a few feet away and can not see any pixels. If you sit with your face in the monitor you will see pixels and probably destroy your eyes so make sure you sit 3-4 feet away or more and you’ll notice the image and pixel density is really perfect. It compliments the resolution and size of the monitor very well. So for those PPI nerds out there, chill out…..this monitor looks fabulous. Also, I know people are itching to get 240hz 1440p panels but please be realistic in what you ask for. Most gamers are not going to be able to take advantage of true 240hz 1440p gaming and secondly to pay additional money for an almost unnoticeable difference is a throw away unless you are in the top %0.5 of gamers who need every last millisecond to compete on a professional stage. I am a monitor snob and I have bought and returned a few 1080p 240hz panels over the past year and the feel between 170hz and 240hz is almost imperceivable. This is the XB323U GP and the XB323U GX 240hz is supposed to come out after the 1st of the year….bare in mind that the GX is supposed to only be a HDR400 monitor too so there is a trade off depending on what you seek. In conclusion, the Acer Predator XB323U is really a fantastic monitor. I was worried about buying this at first because this is a brand new release and no reviews were anywhere to be found. So I took a leap of faith and I am really glad I did. I will be returning the Dell S2721DGF to BestBuy and this XB323U will remain on my desk as my new primary monitor. I am excited to see TFTCentral or RTINGS.com do a review on this to see how they rate it. I know it’s going to be good. I think this monitor will compete very well against the Samsung 32inch G7 without all the issues the G7 has. If anyone is on the fence in regards to this monitor, don’t be. It is a premium monitor and it’s price seems justified to me. This will suite you well in productivity, media, and gaming…..even those serious gamers. UPDATE: I have had more time to play around with HDR on this monitor and I must say watching HDR content on this monitor is extremely enjoyable. It's so immersive and the colors are so life like....you almost feel like you could reach out and touch what ever you are viewing. The zone dimming is fantastic on this panel and blacks look very good and mesh well with vibrant colors. Everything is so sharp and crisp. In regards to HDR gaming, after playing around with HDR settings in some games, I don't think HDR gaming is fully there yet in video games. I messed around with BF5, Shadow of Tomb Raider, and No Man's Sky........HDR just didn't seem to pop for me in those games. Was there improvement, yes but not like the experience you get while watching HDR videos and movies. It is very important to know that you need to turn HDR "on" in the screen menu before turning on HDR on in the windows Display Settings......otherwise you won't experience HDR to its fullest. I've set up a profile for gaming with HDR turned off and a profile for HDR that I swap between on the monitor. I love it, seriously love this monitor. 16 JAN 2020 UPDATE: Almost 3 months in using this monitor and I love it. I love it so much that I am tempted to pick up a 2nd one and go dual display. Colors are great, response times are great, gaming on it feels fantastic. This a great all around monitor and should fill the 1440p big screen gap for a lot of folks out there.