Acer Nitro XV272U Pbmiiprzx Review

The Acer Nitro XV272U Pbmiiprzx is a 27-inch IPS panel boasting a QHD resolution with a max refresh rate of 144Hz. It’s part of the recent hot category of 27-inch, 1440p monitors that lately been enhanced by so-called Fast IPS panels that can hit 240 Hz without breaking a sweat. While we have 1080p resolution monitors that can even manage 360hz, 144Hz delivers a lot of that response, often at low input lag for far less money.

With the Nitro XV272U, Acer manages to hit that sweet spot for gamers, whereby price and performance strike an ideal ratio. In addition to the QHD resolution, the Pbmiiprzx model does include Adaptive Sync for tear-free gaming, entry-level HDR, extended color, blur reduction and spot-on out-of-box image accuracy for under $300. Let’s see why it’s the best 27-inch monitor for gaming right now.

Acer Nitro XV272U Specs

Acer Nitro XV272U Pbmiiprzx design

Unlike the MSI Optix MPG341CQR, the Nitro XV272U Pbmiiprzx’s styling is minimal with the only bling being a small Acer logo visible at the bottom-front bezel. Otherwise, the monitor features thin bezels on the top and sides – just 9mm thick. If you’re looking for a monitor that easily fits the bill for multi-monitor setups, this should be it, with a dividing line that’s barely noticeable. The screen has excellent anti-glare properties and delivers clear, grain free images.

Around the back, there’s a joystick on the right for controlling the on-screen display (OSD), three control keys and a power toggle. While tinkering with these buttons, you need to be careful not to turn off the monitor by mistake, since all the buttons have the same feel. There’s a tiny blue LED that indicates power-on status, while standby is indicated by an orange glow.

Ports & Sound

The Acer Pbmiiprzx is one of the few monitors with side-mounted USB ports. This orientation of ports was popular in the past, and it’s just mind boggling they have become hard to find. Other inputs located at the back include two HDMI 2.0 and a DisplayPort 1.2. Also present are two more USB port, and an upstream jack.

There’s a headphone jack whereby you can also plug a headset, perhaps one of the best gaming headsets, or power speakers into the 3.5mm analog input. Otherwise, you can do with 2-watt internal speakers. These speakers deliver reasonably clear sound, with good bass at upper midrange frequencies.

Acer Nitro XV272U performance

We find the Acer XV272U Pbmiiprzx to be completely capable of handling pretty everything you might want to do with your computer. Gaming, work, movie-binging and photo-editing are all easy to get through, backed by a sharp and well saturated picture. Applications that are color-critical will benefit from the selectable gamuts, including sRGB, EBU, and even SMTPE-C.

On the other hand, for the most colorful image, General mode is sufficient as it uses the monitor’s native gamut that covers over 90% of DCI-P3. Though measured contrast is slightly below average, the monitor’s extra color saturation makes up for this. Black levels are deep, making bright and midrange areas to pop nicely. While the Nitro XV272U doesn’t quite hit 200 nits in SDR model, it’s still bright enough for a sunlit office.

Gaming performance

With Acer’s Nitro monitors, gaming is always a pleasure – and that’s something we’ve affirmed with the HDR-enabled Acer Nitro XV2 line. Modern games like Tomb Raider clearly benefit from the extra color, despite being technically an sRGB title. You’ll like the saturation of primary colors that make the image pop with texture and detail. During gameplay, shadow areas are clearly visible, especially at a Black Boost of 5, with highlights that are clear and bright without getting harsh or overblown.

Being an HDR-enabled monitor, it’s possible to switch Windows over and benefit from the HDR400 option available in the Picture menu. In that case, it looks better than the default Auto setting, thanks to fairly brighter highlights. On the XV272U Pbmiiprzx, HDR is completely usable in Windows, but it might be too bright for darker environments.

HDR gaming on HDR titles like Call of Duty: WWII won’t disappoint either. While the Acer XV272U doesn’t meet the standard set by some of the best HDR monitors we’ve reviewed, like the Acer Predator XB273K, HDR looks better than on screens that don’t use any kind of dynamic contrast feature.

On most modern titles, framerates will remain locked at around 144 frames per second (fps) on a GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, whether HDR is on play or not. Similarly, running FreeSync on a Radeon RX 5700 XT-based machine yields between 120 and 130 fps without adaptive refresh problems.

Overall, the Acer Nitro XV272U is a super-fast gaming monitor, and we expect it will be perfectly-suited for more-skilled players or even eSports competitors. At this price, this monitor is poised to succeed in both categories (gaming and work).

The Bottom Line

The Acer Nitro XV272U checks all boxes for budget gamers with a very attractive price/performance ratio. Its specs sheet is easily the equal of more expensive gaming monitors, and it provides almost all the performance you’d find on a premium screen.

To that feature list, add a QHD resolution and lots of pixel density, and it won’t demand a high-end graphics card either. The LG 27GL850-B offers better contrast, Nvidia G-Sync and an ergonomic stand – it remains our Editors’ Choice for value gaming monitors.

That being said, we can’t ignore the Acer Nitro XV272U Pbmiiprzx as a stellar budget gaming monitor, with reference-level performance. The 27-inch gaming monitor category has many monitors at different price points and many levels of performance, but this monitor is an ultimate winner.