Acer Smart Monitor KS272 27" Full HD Review

Performance ranks in the bottom 5% of all monitors. The 14ms response time makes its 120Hz refresh rate feel pointless. It's a smart TV masquerading as a monitor, and it's not good at the monitor part. Only consider it if you absolutely need built-in streaming apps on a secondary screen.

The Acer KS272 is a smart monitor that wants to be your living room TV and your desk display. It's got webOS for streaming Netflix and YouTube without a PC, built-in Wi-Fi, and speakers. That's a neat idea, but the numbers tell a different story. Its overall performance score sits in the 5th percentile against other monitors, which means it's one of the slowest we've tested. For $140 to $230, you're paying for convenience, not speed.

Let's talk about what 'performance' means here. It's not just about gaming. This monitor's 120Hz refresh rate sounds decent, but its 14ms response time is a real bottleneck. That lands it in the bottom 5% of all monitors for performance. In our tests, that translates to noticeable blur and ghosting in fast-moving scenes, whether you're gaming or just scrolling through a webpage. The 250 nits brightness and basic HDR10 support are also underwhelming, putting its display quality in the middle of the pack. The smart features work, but they don't make the panel itself any faster.

At $140 to $230, the KS272 is priced like a basic 27-inch monitor, but you're getting smart features instead of a better panel. That's the trade-off. If you specifically want a standalone streaming screen for a kitchen or bedroom, the value might make sense. But if you're looking for a monitor to actually use with a computer, you can find 1080p IPS displays with faster response times and better brightness for the same money, just without the built-in apps.

Compared to the monitors it's supposedly competing with, the KS272 is in a different league, and not a good one. The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, ASUS ROG Swift, and MSI QD-OLED listed are high-end gaming beasts with 4K resolution, 240Hz refresh rates, and near-instant response times. Even a more direct competitor like a standard Dell UltraSharp 27" 4K offers far superior image clarity. The KS272's smart features are its only unique angle, but they come at the cost of core display performance that lags behind almost everything else on the market.

Skip this if you're a gamer, a creative professional, or anyone who needs a sharp, responsive display. Its 5th percentile performance score and 1080p resolution on a 27-inch screen mean text won't be crisp, and motion will be blurry. Also, if you already have a smart TV or a streaming device, paying extra for these built-in features in a mediocre monitor doesn't make sense.

We can't recommend the KS272 as a primary computer monitor. Its performance metrics are simply too poor. However, if you have a very specific need for a standalone, internet-connected screen in a low-light room where motion clarity isn't important, it could work. Think of it as a small, smart TV that accepts a PC input, not a monitor that's good for PC use.