I've had both this Acer G257HU and ASUS PB258Q on my desk at the same time. The Asus at normal price is almost $150 more, but you wouldn't be able to tell looking at the screens.
The color on both is great, as are the viewing angles, and I wasn't able to see any visible light bleed on either. I'm not a professional graphic artist, but I have to say I think the color on both are very good. If you like this sort of thing, the colors on the Acer G257HU pop just a *tiny* bit more and I mean tiny. This though does have to be taken with a grain of salt as monitors in their default settings are designed to look good on a shelf and not be a proper accurate calibration. I messed with the color of both and found adding any additional contrast or brightness to the Acer slightly washed out the image. I will say though that I was extremely pleased with the image quality of both, no complaints. For a budget or mid range PC monitor to be used for games, web browsing and watching movies they are wonderful. If you're a professional graphic artist you'll likely have to spend more on a true 10-bit panel, and while you'll see the difference, I'm not sure the rest of us will.
Response times are rated at 4ms (Acer) and 5ms (Asus), but this difference was imperceptible to me, an absolute draw. Since I'm into games, and coming from a 144hz 1080p monitor the blur and overclocking were very important to me. Both are weirdly a draw here too. The Asus would not overclock for me. Anything about 3hz over the default 60hz would black out the screen. Yours Asus PB258Q might overclock, but mine won't. The Acer overclocked like a champ being stable at 85hz, or so it seemed. I ran the online framskipping test to make sure it was truly achieving 85hz, and it passed, but in games it was garbage. At 70 75 80 and 85 hz multiple games I tested (Project Cars and BF4) the games looked noticeably less smooth. Both games on ultra are around 100-120fps stable on my 980. The image was less smooth and looked like it was actually running at a lower than 60fps at any hz over 60. 70 - 85 all looked the same, and less smooth than 60hz. My unprofessional opinion is that the Acer would functionally not overclock.
Both monitors have about an equal amount of screen tearing. A normal amount for a 60hz monitor. A little annoying but you can live with it. The only solutions are G or Free-sync or 144hz.
Bezels are small and seemed to be equal on both. I like the 25inch screen. The pixel density and higher, and I like the smaller size verses 27" which you often see on 1440p and 4K monitors.
Both have an odd visual choice. The Asus has a ever so slightly visible ruler on the bottom of the frame. In good light you can see it and it is a little weird. So crazy choice by Asus, or crazy like a fox. In the short time I've had the Asus, I've already used the ruled on the bottom of the screen to measure something! The Acer is all black, except the large silver strip on the bottom of the bezel. Not wild about two toned, and the silver made the screen look smaller.
With a retail price about $125-150 more on the Asus, what are you getting? A MUCH better stand. The Acer stand is pretty standard cheap fair. It was easy to assemble and wasn't so flimsy it scared me. I don't think it would fall apart, or jump off your desk if it was touched, but it is cheap and there is no getting around it. The Asus stand is very nice. It was easy to assemble, heavier, sturdier and adjustable. It even pivots 90 degrees if you're into long spreadsheets. Build quality is good; really close to my 144hz BenQ monitor I love.
I decided to keep the Asus PB258Q for three reasons.
1. This monitor is mostly for my wife, and she liked how the Asus looks. Subjective but still.
2. My wife and I liked the adjustability of the stand and thought it would be more comfortable for doing schoolwork.
3. Would I pay the extra $150 for the Asus just to get the better stand, no way, but when I bought it I got a great deal on the Asus. When I purchased them, the price difference was only $70. I was torn, but decided to spend the extra cash on the better strand.
Should you buy the Acer G257HU? Yes, in a heartbeat. It is an absolute steal at $250-$275. This is *the* budget 1440p monitor.
| Standing screen display size | 15.6 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920x1080 Pixels |
| Processor | 5 GHz core_i7 |
| RAM | LPDDR5 |
| Hard Drive | 1 TB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel Iris Xe Graphics |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ax |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 3 |
