ACF, Date/Time, PHP | Type: PHPDate/Time Examples

$today = date('Ymd'); //string
$testdate = get_field( 'test_date' ); //string
$testerdate = DateTime::createFromFormat( 'Ymd', $testdate ); //convert string to object
echo '<p>Today: '.$today.'</p> //string
echo '<p>Test Date: '.$testdate.'</p> //string
if ($today !== $testdate) { //compare strings
    echo '<p>Success!</p>
}
echo '<p>Test Date Formatted: '.$testerdate->format('F j, Y').'</p>'; //format object 

$dt = new DateTime("now", new DateTimeZone('America/New_York'));
echo '<p>Today: '.$dt->format('F j, Y; g:i a').'</p>';