Acer Nitro XF243Y Review: Reaching The Endline
Purchase Price: $149.00
Buy on Best Buy
In the beginning of 2021, I was in the market for a small monitor to replace my ten year old 24 inch HP display that sits on a secondary desk in my work office. I found the Acer Nitro 23 inch monitor on Slickdeals for $149 which was more than $50 off its MSRP. After months racking up hours viewing this monitor daily, I’ve acquired quite a lot of experience with the Nitro branded device. This is a product often on sale and I see it as a point in technology where we’ve almost reached the endline for 1080p.
First Look
The Nitro XF243Y I have sitting on my desk is a Full HD, 1920x1080p monitor. It’s a standard 16:9 aspect ratio, which for a 23.8 inch IPS display, equates to a relatively compact PPI count. This means that text is clean and legible without pixelation for the most part. After tinkering with the monitor settings and colors, I still have yet to find one that I can adamantly say I appreciate the viewing experience. While the monitor is in no way negative in that category, I also think it is reasonable to receive a slightly better reproduction of color palettes.
Settings & Customization Options
There are a default seven color modes you can cycle through to find a visual that matches your tastes. I personally adjusted my own at first, but kept it on HDR for most of my time instead. The Nitro scores points in its delivery of a near-borderless design. The bottom chin is the only area with any depth on the frame. I would like to see OEMs like Acer remove their logo from the chin and just relegate it to the back of the monitor. If the glossy Acer logo wasn’t there, that chin wouldn’t even be that noticeable as it is now.
On the left side of the monitor, four pressable buttons along with a navigation stick provide operational guidance for the Nitro. This is how you power on and turn off the monitor. It’s also how you change the settings and how you switch between the input source. The actual body of the Nitro is surprisingly bulky though. You don’t notice it in the front view, but it’s definitely shaped with a hump when viewed from the side. It’s not the thickest I’ve seen on a computer monitor, but it’s a bit deceptive viewing from the front as the bezels are so miniscule.
What Else You Should Know
For those of you wondering, yes the monitor is VESA mount compatible. However, a monitor of this price tag normally doesn’t include such a versatile stand like the one the Nitro ships with. It’s what Acer says is an ergonomically-designed stand that allows for vast sets of adjustments. Basically what they’re saying is the tilt, swivel and height are easily adjustable. I actually do want to verify that this stand is pretty impressive when considering I bought this monitor brand new for $149. The base is a hard plastic material, while the arm is constructed from aluminum. It’s pretty sturdy and much better than most plastic mounted stands included with monitors under $500. And yes, I will also verify that adjustments to the viewing angle really are quite simple to make on the fly. I’m not usually a fan of rotating my monitor from horizontal to vertical, but the stand here makes it painless. I can see many people using this for work and play effectively.
The Nitro comes with built in speakers which to some people (like my colleague Seri) is a must-have on their wishlist. Built in speakers are rarely passable and the ones on this monitor are no exception to that trend. They're atrocious. The sound is muffled and there is absolutely no bass at all. Regardless, it’s at least there for emergencies if you really need it. Everyone should just use their own speakers anyway. Two HDMI 2.0 ports accompany one display port to round out the connectivity options on the Acer.
AMD FreeSync contributes to a better gaming experience, especially when it is matched up with a monitor that has 144Hz refresh rate (up to 165Hz overclocked). Performance is exactly as you’d expect for something with these specs. I didn’t come across any motion blur or smearing testing my suite of games on it and a lot of that is attributed to the 0.5ms response time.
Worth It?
1080p monitors with these kinds of specs are becoming abundant, but $149 is still a resistance threshold for many companies producing cheap monitors. For the $220 MSRP price, I’d be more inclined to stretch my budget to $250 where I feel I could go a further distance with my money. At $150 though, this is where I hope the prices for specs like this will settle into these next couple of years. We are at that point in technological advancement where we are reaching the endline. When $150 becomes the new standard for a 1080p monitor like this, that sets a domino effect with the 1440p and 4k market. That’s what we want to see as consumers.
Overall, the Nitro isn’t a bad monitor, especially if it’s someone’s first computer display. This will make a great companion next to a budget PC build. While there isn’t anything revolutionary spec-wise, nor is there anything visually that will take your breath away, that also isn’t the reason this monitor exists. This is a budget monitor that aims to pump up the performance value you receive at this price point. It succeeds relatively well when you buy into this product with that mindset.
Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!