Curved design first hit the TV scene around two years ago and it doesn’t take long before the trend spill over to monitors. At this moment, plenty of established monitor brands have their own curved offering including Acer which has just launched its brand new XR341CK Curved Monitor in Malaysia earlier this week.
Featuring a 34-inch IPS panel, the new XR341CK Curved Monitor has a 21:9 aspect ratio and offers a native resolution of 3440 x 1440. For those who not familiar with the monitor’s resolution, it is indeed beyond full HD but still lower than 4K resolution. At the same time, the monitor has maximum refresh rate of 75Hz and supports Adaptive-Sync capability which for AMD graphics card owners out there, you might know it as FreeSync.
When it is off, the XR341CK might looked like a frameless monitor but once turned on, there is a visible border between its panel and the monitor’s rather thin bezel. Interestingly, Acer has decided to equipped the monitor with a set of down-firing LED lights on the bottom bezel of the monitor which could be either useful or distracting depending on users’ preferences.
Furthermore, users can choose these lights to be animated. There is also a pair of 7W stereo speakers on the lower bezel of XR341CK complete with audio enhancements by DTS. While the front half of the monitor’s plastic bezel is draped in matte black, the other half together with the whole back area of XR341CK is in glossy finish instead.
Located at the lower area of the monitor’s back, there are also quite a number of I/O ports for users to utilize. They include HDMI for MHL 2.0, HDMI 2.0, mini DisplayPort (DP), DP in, DP out, headphones, and 4-port USB 3.0 hub. Also located in the same area is the power port for the display’s external power supply which is a norm for thin displays these days.
The monitor itself is attached to a fashionably designed three pronged aluminium-based stand with a black coloured central section as well as a carry handle on its top, and cable hole on the bottom. According to Acer, the monitor has a tilt angle range between -5 to 35 degrees as well as height adjustment range of 130mm although it doesn’t rotate or swivel.
Other interesting feature that Acer has included into XR341CK is called Game Mode which allows users to save up to three customized settings. Picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture modes also comes as standard on XR341CK together with the ability to daisy chain with other monitors through its DP out. Not to forget, it also comes with flicker-less technology and tuneable low blue light mode.
Priced at RM 3,699, that generally positions the XR341CK on par with quite a number of 34-inch curved monitors in our market but is still more expensive than an average 4K monitor. As far as our first impression goes, everything is rather well with the display regardless of its design or functionalities but of course, do stay tuned for our review of the monitor coming your way very soon for the final verdict.
