Everyone seems to be after higher resolutions these days, and 4K — or UHD — is slowly starting to gain popularity on the TV front. There are also more monitors that are coming out with 4K support, and our Acer Predator XB1 Gaming Monitor review takes a look at a huge 32″ offering from Acer.
Specifications
The Acer Predator XB1 Gaming Monitor (XB321HK) has the following features and specifications:
- Screen Size: 81.3 cm (32″)
- Screen Mode: 4K UHD
- Response Time: 4 ms
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Backlight Technology: LED
- Panel Technology: In-plane Switching (IPS) Technology
- Tilt Angle: -5° to 25°
- Swivel Angle: No
- Maximum Resolution: 3840 x 2160
- Standard Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
- Colour Support: 1.07 Billion Colors
- Contrast Ratio: 100,000,000:1
- Brightness: 350 cd/m²
- Tearing Prevention Technology: G-sync
- Operating Power Consumption: (Energy Star) 56 W
- Standby Power Consumption: 490 mW
- Off-Mode Power Consumption: 470 mW
- Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort, USB Hub, 4x USB 3.0
- Speakers
- Height: 17.1″
- Width: 29.1″
- Depth: 2.4″
- Height with Stand: 22.91″
- Width with Stand: 29.05″
- Depth with Stand: 12.20″
- Weight (Approximate): 17.64 lb
- Weight with Stand (Approximate): 24.91 lb
What’s in the Box
- 1x Acer Predator XB1 XB321HK Gaming Monitor
- 1x Displayport Cable
- Power Cord
- 1x USB 3.0 Cable
Design
Acer’s Predator XB1 gaming monitor has a pretty simple, yet sleek design. The bezels around the 32″ frame are decently thin for a monitor this size, and the Predator icon and word mark are centered in silver with a thin red outline on the bottom bezel. On the lower right hand side of the front of the monitor, you’ll find the power button and 5 menu buttons for controlling the various menu options on the monitor.
The monitor itself isn’t overly thick, and is attached to an adjustable arm which allows you to raise or lower the height of the monitor. The base of the arm attaches to the stand, which features two very slick looking feet that angle out in a v shape. The feet themselves are a matte metallic red metal that are hollowed out in the middle. Underneath the feet are rubber pads so as to not scratch the surface of your desk or workstation. The monitor is also VESA mountable if you’d rather mount it on a wall than have it sit on a desk.
The arm also features an adjustable swivel, which allows you to tilt the monitor down to -5° and up to 25°. With the height and swivel adjustment, you can position the monitor in pretty much the perfect orientation for your use. Unfortunately there is no left to right swivel, which would have been a nice addition in conjunction with the height adjustment and tilt.
The right side of the monitor features two USB 3.0 ports, and underneath the back hump on the right side is the USB port connector, 2 more USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, the HDMI port, and then the DisplayPort port. The left side of the back hump is where you’ll find the master on/off switch and the power cable port.
Display
Simply put, the display on the Acer Predator XB1 Gaming Monitor is incredible. The colours are pretty bang on, and the text on the 4K UHD resolution screen is so crisp and sharp. Adjusting the picture was pretty easy as well using the Menu and Function keys on the monitor. These keys allow you to quickly activate Game Mode, switch inputs, change volume, and overclock the refresh rate, as well as your standard color, gamma, temperature, and brightness adjustments. You can also filter out blue light, activate dark boost, and activate an aim assist function which places an overlay of one of three crosshair icon designs in the middle of your screen to assist your aim in shooting games.
Out of the box, this monitor was really bright, and as I consistently use my computer in a room with reduced lighting later at night, I had to turn the brightness down, and Game Mode helped as well. Once you’ve adjusted the brightness, contrast, and other settings you can save them to one of three custom profiles.
Performance
Gaming on the Acer 32″ Predator monitor was such a treat. Even over HDMI running 4K resolution and 24Hz refresh rate, gameplay was really smooth, I didn’t notice many stutters or tearing, and as previously mentioned the colours were very vibrant. When connecting via the DisplayPort connection and a compatible NVIDIA card, things ran even smoother with G-sync and the 60Hz refresh rate. You can get up to 60Hz on lower resolutions like 1080p without using G-sync, but to be honest you’d be wasting your time with a lower resolution on such a big screen.
The extra USB ports were nice to have as well, and worked flawlessly with keyboard, mouse, and USB keys that I tested.
Speakers/Sound
The speakers on this monitor were better than expected, but lacked a lot of punch on the lower end of the spectrum. While speech, gunfire, and other audio cues like footsteps were clear and crisp, don’t expect booming bass heavy explosions. I’m usually one to game with headphones anyways, so the speakers, while a nice addition, wouldn’t be a deal breaker for lack of bass and are a nice addition for watching a quick video or even listening to some tunes.
Price/Value
With an MSRP of $1299USD ($1699.99CAD), the Acer XB1 isn’t cheap by any means. The display is sharp and crisp, and if your video card supports G-sync and you are looking for a small TV sized monitor, you could do much worse than the Acer 32″ Predator Gaming Monitor.
Wrap-up
There’s no doubt the Acer 32″ Predator XB1 Gaming Monitor is an outstanding monitor when it comes to performance. If you can afford the price tag, you won’t be disappointed.
[rwp-review id=”0″]*We were sent a demo unit of the Acer 32″ Predator XB1 Gaming Monitor for the purposes of this review.
Last Updated on September 13, 2016.
