Acer has brought and revealed a slew of new devices to CES 2026 and chief among them is a refresh, or rather a big upgrade, to the base Predator gaming monitor, the XB3, first introduced in 2023 and released in Malaysia in late 2024.
The Predator XB273U F6, successor to the Predator XB273U V3, is a 27-inch 1440p monitor that looks just like the presumably outgoing model. But there’s a big upgrade for this latest version of the monitor, it can normally output 1440p at a whopping 500Hz refresh rate.
It’s not limited to DisplayPort either, this monitor can output 500Hz via HDMI 2.1 as well.
Even wilder, it can be pushed to go double than that, at 1000Hz, a thousand, with the caveat being the resolution has to drop down to a mere 1280×720. This is done through its Dynamic Frequency and Resolution (DFR) mode.
DFR itself is not new, LG introduced it in 2024, but the application to allow a monitor to switch to a ridiculous amount of refresh rate that mere mortals outside of the elite gamers could tell the difference in refresh rate is an astonishing feature, even if it’s not beneficial to most users.
Cool flex aside, the Predator XB273U F6 still has the specs of a solid IPS monitor. It maintains the DCI-P3 95% and sRGB 99% colour gamut of its predecessor, similar port arrangements (2x HDMI ports and 1x DP, 1x audio out), 2 2W speakers, AMD FreeSync Premium support. It’s expected to have 0.5ms GTG response time, too.
The brightness has been toned down, only 350 nits compared to the previous XB273U V3’s 400 nits. But the new XB273U F6 has HDMI 2.1 ports instead of HDMI 2.0, allowing access to features like Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) when hooked to 9th-gen consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Of course, the monitor comes with an ergonomic stand that can tilt, swivel and pivot. Plus, it supports VESA mounting should one choose to use their own custom stand, wall mount or monitor arm.
Lastly, the XB273U F6 comes with one last party trick, a remote control. The Acer Smart Dial lets you adjust the monitor settings from the comfort of your seating position rather than having to reach out at the back of the monitor and fiddle with the four buttons plus a directional nub to navigate the OSD. Now there’s a remote for that, which looks rather similar to one half of a game controller for VR use if it had a trigger and bumper button.
The Predator XB273U F6 monitor will released first in North America and China in Q2 2026. No word on when it will arrive in Southeast Asia or particularly Malaysia, but this one will likely land here soon.
Acer also revealed the Acer Nitro XV270X P (which is curiously priced at the same bracket of the new XB273U F6 but with higher resolution instead of refresh rate) and the Predator X34 F3 curved QD-OLED monitor at CES 2026.