Acer’s new 480Hz OLED gaming monitor is luscious 1440p speedster

Super-fast 480Hz gaming monitors have been more the domain of hyper twitchy esports players than casual gamers or streamers up until now, but that’s quickly changing thanks to an influx of luscious, lightning-fast OLED displays this year.

CES 2024 was proof of that with 480Hz OLED displays from both Asus and LG; now Acer joins the super-quick monitor club unveiling a new 480Hz gaming monitor of its own — and at a more affordable starting price of $1199.99 than some rivals, I might add.

Acer’s newest speed demon, the Predator X27U F3, fronts up with a 26.5-inch, 2560 x 1440p resolution that should render graphics in games like Cyberpunk 2077 crisp enough for me to see those blurry details I can never quite make out in 1080p.

Acer also promises the kind of drool-worthy OLED specs that usually leave me staring gaga at my screen. They include DCI-P3 color of 99 percent and a high contrast ratio of 1,500,000:1. A peak brightness of 1300 nits in HDR mode means explosions and stars should be searingly bright against the inky backdrop of space.

I’ve been promised zero screen-tearing in high refresh rate monitors before, but this one might actually deliver thanks to its blisteringly quick 0.01ms response time and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync technologies.

Further reading: The best gaming monitors we’ve tested

For connectivity, the X27U F3 sports 2 x HDMI 2.1 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4, among its other I/O options. The monitor’s audio will be delivered by 2 x 5W stereo speakers. It supports both PC and console play and has a nifty tripod mount socket on its monitor stand that should appeal to streamers with webcams.

This Predator display makes up a team of three new OLEDs announced by Acer that also includes a 31.5-inch 240Hz option with 4K resolution and a 34-inch 240Hz curved offering with UWQHD resolution.All three monitors will ship in Q3 2024.