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The refresh rate arms race is getting silly now. Not content with producing monitors that can redraw the screen 540 times a second, manufacturers are now pushing the envelope even further. Acer’s Predator X27U F8, just launched at the IFA technology show in Berlin, is able to refresh at 720Hz.
The new monitor is a flat 26.5in OLED model with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, it has a quoted 99.3% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, VESA DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification and comes with support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.
Acer Predator X27U F8: Specifications
- 2,560 x 1,440 OLED, 540Hz or 1,280 x 720 (DFR) at 720Hz
- Response time 0.01ms / 0.03ms GTG (grey to grey)
- 99% DC-P3 gamut coverage
- 2 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DispayPort 2.1
- USB-C PD (90W), 2 x USB-A 3.2, 3.5mm headphone jack
- 5W stereo speakers
- Price: £1,100
- Availability: December 2025
Features and first impressions
Delve into the specification a bit, though, and you’ll see that the monitor is “only” able to refresh at 540Hz at the screen’s native resolution. The maximum refresh rate only comes into play if you halve the resolution to 1,280 x 720 using dynamic frequency resolution.
However, it certainly commands a special price. If you want the latest in cutting edge gaming technology, you’re going to have to pay for the privilege: the Predator X27U is going to set you back £1,100. That’s not a huge amount in the world of premium gaming monitors, but you’d normally expect to get something rather larger and curved for this sort of money than a humble-looking 27-incher.
Regardless of looks and price, the real question in all of this is whether or not the human optical system is capable of processing all this information in the first place – it’s generally accepted that it is not.
It is, no doubt, incredibly smooth – BUTTERY smooth, dare I say it – like the silk produced by the rarest of Chinese silk worms, woven in remote villages by artisans who have been doing it that way for a thousand years.
But I doubt anyone could tell the difference between 540Hz and 720Hz. Still, if you want to fully justify spending your mortgage-sized gaming rig outlay, this is the monitor you need. And, naturally, the other key gaming specifications are all present and correct here: a response time of 0.03ms (GTG), peak brightness in HDR of up to 1,500 nits, 10-bit colour and the deep inky black level that you’d expect of an OLED panel.
Surprisingly, though, it’s not all about the raw specifications because this monitor is also stuffed with practical features, some of which you wouldn’t necessarily associate with a high-end esports gaming monitor. There’s USB-C video input for a start, which also supports USB power delivery up to 90W – that might not be quite enough to power the most demanding gaming laptops, though.
There’s also a pair of built-in stereo speakers, and plenty of adjustability in the stand. You get 150mm of height adjustment, 20-degrees of lateral swivel, 5- to 25-degrees of tilt and even the ability to pivot the display from landscape into portrait mode. Those are specifications you’d expect of a premium office monitor, not something designed for use in a gaming setup.
To be brutally honest, the ability to run at up to 720Hz feels a little like a specification designed to grab headlines more than something that’s truly beneficial to gamers. You’re unlikely to really be able to tell the difference between 540Hz and 720Hz, and the fact that the highest frame rates are only achievable at half resolution seals it.
Beyond the headlines, and its undeniably impressive gaming capabilities, this is a surprisingly practical monitor that would be just as at home in a workstation setup as it would be hooked up to an RTX-5090-powered gaming rig.
The Predator X27U F8 will be available from around April 2026, so just about enough time to save up a few extra pennies.
