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This review first appeared in issue 357 of PC Pro.

The ProLite XUB2763HSU-B1 has one obvious rival here: the Acer Vero B277. Give or take a fiver, they cost the same, both include a 1,920 x 1,080 IPS panel and both lean heavily on their green credentials.

In the Iiyama’s case, that means the plastic is 85% PCR, the packaging 100% recyclable and made from cardboard pulp, an EPEAT Silver rating and arguably most importantly an incredibly low power rating. Even at its peak 251cd/m²brightness, it drew 11W dropping to 10W at our standard test brightness of 200cd/m². That compares to the typical 16W to 18W for 27in panels in this test.

Iiyama jettisons frills such as USB-C and RJ45 connectors in its quest to hit such a low price, but let’s concentrate on what you do get. Two video inputs, one HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort 1.2, sit alongside a two-port USB hub. Both ports are only 5Gbits/sec, but without USB-C you’re reliant on a USB-B connection back to the host PC anyway.

Both USB ports sit on the left of the screen rather than the rear, making them slightly easier to access, and the flexible, high-quality monitor stand can swivel through 45˚ and pivot 90˚. You may also want to use the 3.5mm headphone jack at the rear after listening to the weedy speakers.

There is some entertainment potential, thanks to a 100Hz refresh rate, 3ms response times and support for AMD FreeSync to prevent tearing. We were surprised to see these features in such an affordable monitor.

Sideview of the Iiyama ProLite XUB2763HSU-B1 — (Image credit: Future)

More good news: this is an 8-bit panel, which always helps when it comes to color coverage and accuracy compared to 6-bit panels that use FRC. In its default mode, the ProLite covered 94% and 72% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 gamuts respectively, with an average Delta E of 0.95. Highly respectable results.

As we’d expect from an IPS panel, whites look good, but we’ll add two caveats for those who are looking for a Word or Excel partner. One is that a Full HD 27in panel has an 81ppi pixel density, so text never looks as sharp as it will on panels that go above 100ppi. The second is that the default profile’s color temperature is 6078K rather than the ideal of 6500K, so you may find it useful to play around with the color temperature options in the easy-to-use OSD. You can also use Iiyama’s i-Style presets for Scenery, Text, Cinema and Games, but don’t expect to see any huge changes.

With an aggressive price, superb performance in our annual reader survey for support and reliability, plus a three-year swap-out warranty, this is a fine choice if your priorities are value and low energy consumption.

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Tim Danton is editor-in-chief of PC Pro, the UK's biggest selling IT monthly magazine. He specialises in reviews of laptops, desktop PCs and monitors, and is also author of a book called The Computers That Made Britain.

You can contact Tim directly at editor@pcpro.co.uk.

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