Acer XB280HK 4K G-SYNC Gaming Monitor Review

Name: Acer XB280HK 4K G-SYNC Gaming Monitor Review
Brand: Acer

by Marco Chiappetta — Friday, September 26, 2014, 01:00 PM EDT

We really like the Acer XB280HK, for a few reasons. First and foremost, we’re big fans of high-resolution displays. There are still some quirks with Windows and many applications that don’t always scale properly on high-DPI displays, but the situation is getting better every day. As someone who has been working on a 4K display daily for a few months now, I can comfortably say the situation isn’t perfect, but it is mostly acceptable at this point. We also like the Acer XB280HK’s understated aesthetics and are fans of NVIDIA’s G-SYNC technology.

The Acer XB280HK 4K G-SYNC Display, Find It At Amazon.Com When Available

Whether or not a display like the Acer XB280HK is right for you, will depend on your particular use case. For gamers, choosing between this display and something like the ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278Q could be tough. The ASUS display has thinner bezels, a much higher refresh rate, and arguably features a somewhat better quality panel—though it is still TN. The Acer XB280HK, however, packs many more pixels and offers much better sharpness and desktop real estate. Pricing on both is $799. If asked to choose, out answer would probably change depending on our mood at the time, but we’d probably lean toward the additional pixels of the Acer XB280HK. Then again, working on a display with a 144Hz refresh rate is just so buttery smooth. But I digress.

Whatever you use case, if you’re a gamer in the market for a 4K display, that’s primed for gaming, the Acer XB280HK is great. We can’t sit here and say $800 for a monitor is affordable, and you’ll obviously need significant GPU horsepower to play the latest games at 3840x2160, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. Ultimately though, seeing a 4K display with G-SYNC support debut at just under $800 is a welcome development. The Acer XB280HK may not be perfect, but it’s a darn good monitor and probably the best choice right now if you want to game at 4K.


High Resolution Fast Response Time Good Looking USB 3.0 Hub Highly Adjustable Stand Affordable 4K	Only a 60Hz Refresh Rate Good, but not great viewing angles. Needs Lots Of GPU Horsepower For Gaming

Tags: Nvidia, LCD, Gaming, Acer, monitor, UHD, 4k, g-sync

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com