I have had the chance to use both the Acer X27 and Asus PG27U this week.
I originally purchased the Acer X27, because it was the first one available, even though I sort of had my eyes on the Asus originally.
Thus, I exchanged the X27 and got the Asus one instead, for the following reasons:
1.) They are both the same price, but the Asus IMO looks far superior, and much higher end. The X27 looked worse physically than my previous Predator X27 in terms of aesthetics. It doesn't look bad of course, just very bland. Some people may like that, but for a $2k gaming monitor, the target market is a bit different.
2.) Everything in the Asus is just a step above; the DP cable has the Asus logo and looks robust, while the X27 was a generic cable. Even the packaging is better in the Asus. The stand is also much nicer.
3.) The OSD control panel is MUCH better in the Asus. It's much more colorful and easier to move around.
4.) If you like RGB or not, the implementation in the Asus is really cool, with the light logo underneath the monitor and the logo behind going to the wall, plus the logo behind the monitor changing colors with aura sync.
That's a feature I expect on a monitor of this caliber, just makes it so it appears they put effort into the design and how it makes the consumer feel. The Acer isn't terrible, just very bland.
IMO if you turn the lights off, the Asus is almost as understated as the Acer, save for the stand being a bit more aggressive.
5.) Lastly, I left performance...since they are basically the same panel, so should perform similarly. I don't have as much time behind the Asus, but on first glance the factory calibration they did is pretty nice. I was getting some pinkish hue on white pages on the Acer with certain settings, so the Asus feels a little better out of the box. Hard to say on this, though.
Oh, no fan issue on either for me. Even the X27 I could not hear the fan. Whomever posted that other review got a bad unit.
In conclusion, for the same price, IMO the Asus is superior. It's just the little things that make it better. If you told me the Acer was $200 or $300 cheaper, then it wouldn't matter, but at the same price, I'll take the Asus anyday.
Oh, and they both don't look great at 144hz while in windows; text looks really off. This issue has been hammered out here and in other places. I'll keep it at 98 or 120hz, which is more than good enough for now. During gaming, looks great regardless.
https://imgur.com/sJWT1MG
https://imgur.com/GIu6wm5
