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So you’re in the market for a new monitor? Do you want to stay on a tight budget without making sacrifices in areas of visual appeal, functionality, and performance? Yeah, don’t we all…

We can certainly dream of a world where the perfect monitor exists at a super cheap price, but I’m here to pull you back into a healthy reality. You should probably start to think practically about which features you are willing to sacrifice on and which are deal breakers for you.

On the bright side, I’ll review the Acer ED273UR Pbidpx with you here and you’ll see that this monitor actually comes pretty close to perfection. This, of course, depends on what features you personally place great importance on.

Are you a sucker for great visual graphics and immersive game play? Are sharp images and high contrast a top priority for you? Or are you dead set on optimal performance with high refresh rates and low input lag?

This particular monitor has great display features as well as decent resolution for its size, refresh rates and response times so if this is what you are looking for, keep reading.

This monitor does not quite reach perfection, though, and it falls a bit short when it comes to I/O ports and brightness. While the perfect monitor may be difficult to find, the Acer ED273 might just be a great option for you.

Technical Specifications

Before we jump into the review, let’s take a quick look at the specs, so we can see how good (or bad) the Acer ED273 looks on the paper:

Size: 27”
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: WQHD (2560×1440)
Panel Type: VA (Vertical Alignment)
Refreshing Rate: 144hz
Response Time: 4ms
Brightness: 270 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
I/O Ports: DVI-in, 3.5mm Audio Jack, HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2
Weight: 3.84 kg
Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com

I have to say, for the money this monitor costs, it actually looks very good. The only thing that worries me is the low brightness of 270 cd/m², but that’s a common thing to see with VA panel monitors.

Design

The design of the Acer ED273UR Pbidpx gives it a really sleek look. It has an 1800r curvature and either a black glossy finish or a grey finish, giving you the option to choose either darker or brighter variant to better match your setup.

You will really enjoy its elegant and sharp appearance. Be aware, though, that there is another color scheme offered in silver and white which is really an appealing look, but not all the same performance functions are offered in both colors.

Most notably is that the silver and white colored monitor has a lower refresh rate of 75Hz as opposed to the 144Hz offered in the black option – make sure to double check on that, since refreshing rate is one of the most deciding factors when it comes to shopping for a gaming monitor.

Some people have said that the black glossy finish is easily scratched or dinged up and doesn’t hide dust very well so be aware of that aspect.

The monitor is super compact and takes up minimal space on your desktop of less than 7 inches of depth so that’s great if you really want to set up dual or even triple monitor display in a desk space that’s not enormous.

Really thin bezels combined with the curved screen make for really wide viewing and great immersion so your gaming experience will be top notch, especially if you’re into atmospheric and visually striking games.

Note that while you can adjust the tilt of the monitor between -5° and 15° you cannot swivel the monitor or adjust the height. Dimensions including the stand are 24.16” x 18.34” x 6.62” so if you think you might need a little more height, you may want to invest in a monitor stand or plan to mount it.

The good news is that this monitor is compatible with VESA mounts to counteract this flaw. The monitor itself with the provided stand does get slightly wobbly when you’re making tilt adjustments so be cautious when you are adjusting.

Display

This 27” monitor really shines in the areas of picture quality and sharpness. With a 1440p resolution you will see some sharp, crisp colors and graphics so your visual experience will be premier.

Besides that, the PPI of the display is at 109, which is more than the recommended value (90-100), meaning your screen will remain sharp, even if you tend to lean in during your gameplay.

However, you will want to make sure your GPU can pull 100+ FPS in the games you play, so you can utilize the high refreshing rate of 144hz.

A 16:9 aspect ratio and the screen’s matte AG treatment for glare reduction make for a good aesthetics as well. With the Vertical Alignment Panel you will also get decent viewing angles which keep the picture quality excellent from wide angles.

This is great if you need to share your screen with someone next to you, especially since the monitor stand doesn’t swivel.

Obviously the monitor size doesn’t make it the most ideal one for general use like watching movies, but if you’re strictly talking about viewing angles and the visibility of the screen from the side, you could probably swing a movie date night if you’re sitting a bit closer to the screen. If you’re into doing Netflix and chill, that is.

With a VA panel, you should see some great color reproduction and high contrast at a 3000:1 contrast ratio and rich, deep black coloring which is what makes for a rich and vibrant colors.

All-in-all the visuals of this monitor are still pretty great, especially if you’re into immersive and visually satisfying gaming. It’s also a great pick if you do a lot of content creation and graphic design, specifically graphic design that is very color critical.

On a visual health note, the Acer brand also boasts its VisionCare technology which promotes reduced eye strain and visual comfort while using.

Performance

Performance is another strong suit of the Acer ED273UR. With a 144Hz refresh rate and a response time of 4ms, you’ll see really minimal lag so this monitor is a fine pick if you are a competitive gamer.

Its FreeSync technology means screen stutter is reduced (as long as you have an AMD graphics card) and the input lag is also pretty low at 14ms. This technology gives the monitor great speed with regards to frames per second so if you play fast paced shooting games, you will notice considerably less nuisance when it comes to distracting elements like ghosting and screen tearing.

There are, however, some occasional issues with small frame drops with very rapidly moving objects in the games, even with the 4ms response time.

Remember as well, the silver and white color option offered in this Acer monitor comes with a lower refresh rate of 75Hz so keep that in mind if you are gravitating toward that lighter, sleek looking color scheme and performance is not an important factor for you.

I/O Ports

This monitor definitely underwhelms when it comes to connectivity options. It comes equipped with very limited connection ports including one DisplayPort 1.2, one HDMI 1.4 port, one DVI, and a 3.5mm Audio Jack.

I/O connections are not very conveniently located either. You’ll find them on a bottom ridge of the monitor and they are wedged between the monitor stand and the bottom inch or so of the monitor.

Be careful when you are connecting to these ports since you’ll have to maneuver quite a bit and, like I said, the set up can be a bit wobbly. A USB-C port is conspicuously missing which may be a deal breaker for you if you want your new monitor to be multifunctional with multiple devices.

With how popular and all-encompassing USB-C connections are becoming nowadays and how seamless they make data transferring and device compatibility, this was definitely a tough sacrifice to make for Acer on this monitor.

Without a USB-C port, you will not have the benefits that come with it like the ability to charge external devices, connecting to USB-C laptops, or the general convenience of data and video transfer.

The monitor does come with 3-watt built in speakers which are optimized when the back of the monitor is against a wall. OSD navigation is accessed by using a multidirectional joystick, but the OSD menu options are minimal and the menu is a bit difficult to navigate in order to make OSD adjustments.

Standard adjustments can be made like gamma, contrast/brightness, volume, color temperature, input source, etc. but there is not much variety. The OSD joystick can be found on the lower corner of the back panel of the monitor and can be reached from the right hand side when facing the monitor.

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Final Verdict

The Acer ED273UR has its pros and cons like any other monitor. It will be up to you to decide which of the positive features will be worth it for you and which of the absent features will be deal breakers for you.

If you’re a casual gamer or even a competitive gamer, this monitor is an excellent choice considering its high refresh rates and overall visual appeal. If you do graphic design work you’ll also find great satisfaction in this monitor due to the great color reproduction and other visual benefits.

One additional note to keep in mind is that a big advantage to this monitor is its price. At a really reasonable price on Amazon, the great visual features and performance that this monitor offers makes this a pretty great deal compared to its comparable counterparts in other brands.

Overall, the Acer ED273UR is an excellent 1440p monitor, especially if you weight the money you spend on it against the features and performance you get. It’s not perfect by any means, but it is definitely worth the money.

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