Philips Evnia 34M2C8600

The brand new Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 is superior. It is such a reduction to say that. In current months we have lined a number of new displays primarily based on cutting-edge mini-LED and OLED panel tech. However they’ve all dissatisfied to a point, together with Philips’ personal mini-LED monitor the Philips Evnia 34M2C7600MV.

Not Philips’ new Evnia OLED, although. This factor rocks. By most measures, this new OLED monitor is not particularly novel. It is primarily based on the identical Samsung-sourced QD-OLED panel we first noticed in Alienware’s 34-inch OLED mannequin. You realize, the one which went straight to the highest of our favorite gaming monitor record.

So, it is a 3440 by 1440 pixel merchandise with that immersive 21:9 facet ratio and a mild 1800R curve. Philips claims the identical 250 nit full-screen SDR brightness and 1000 nit peak HDR brightness, the latter in a small 3% window. Likewise, each displays promise 0.1ms response instances and are able to 175Hz refresh.

Each manufacturers even declare exactly the identical 99.3% protection of the DCI-P3 gamut and in every case you get VESA DisplayHDR True Black certification. So, yeah, on paper there’s principally nothing to decide on between them. In observe? Nicely, in observe it seems this new Philips panel has a decisive benefit.

No, it isn’t the Philips Ambiglow RGB lighting on the rear of the chassis. That is enjoyable, however does not actually move the needle materially. Neither is it the absence of an Nvidia G-Sync module. The Philips simply has normal VESA-spec adaptive sync, however is not any cheaper than the Alienware regardless of that.

The truth that this Philips has USB-C with energy supply, which the Alienware lacks, likewise most likely is not a significant component on what’s primarily a gaming show. Although it must be famous you have to use that USB-C interface or the DisplayPort connection to get the total 175Hz refresh.

Funnily sufficient, the necessary distinction is not something vastly excessive tech. However it does handle one of many few drawbacks of the Alienware, particularly its matte anti-glare coating, which barely robs the show of perceived distinction and makes black tones look a tiny bit gray.

Philips has gone for a shiny coating and it makes all of the distinction. This factor seems stellar. However let’s not get forward of ourselves. The Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 impresses as quickly as you flip it on. That is not as a result of it instantly does one thing beautiful.

As a substitute, it is as a result of it does not look instantly damaged on the Home windows desktop. It simply operates usually and with none clunkiness or weirdness. You’ll be able to’t say that for any OLED monitor we have reviewed that is as a substitute primarily based on an LG OLED panel, such because the flexible Corsair Flex. All of them have apparent brightness points and have a tendency to do annoying and distracting things, corresponding to adjusting the general brightness of the panel robotically in case you have the temerity to resize a browser window. It is simply so distracting.

Not so, the brand new Evnia OLED. Like its Alienware cousin, it does not run a problematic ABL or automated brightness limiter in SDR mode. What’s extra, it is moderately punchy at 250 nits for full display brightness. LG-based OLED displays are available below 200 nits for full display brightness and which means they give the impression of being plain dingy and uninteresting on the Home windows desktop.

Sure, mini-LED displays do primary brightness higher. However with that comes all of the downsides of LCD, like mediocre pixel response, plus the quite a few new points that include native dimming, together with blooming and crushing of shadow element. A lot depends upon precisely how the dimming algorithm has been coded with mini-LED displays.

Even higher, the brand new Philips is de facto properly calibrated in HDR True Black mode. Particularly, the SDR coloration steadiness is bang on in that mode. If that seems like an esoteric concern, it really issues. As a result of it means you may run this monitor in HDR True Black mode on a regular basis.

The slight catch is that there’s a seen brightness limiter working in HDR mode. So, you may see the entire panel adjusting its brightness as you do things like open and shut browser tabs or modify utility window sizes. It is pretty obvious in a few of the punchier HDR modes, however in our most well-liked HDR True Black mode it is barely seen, particularly in comparison with the massive shifts in brightness we have seen with displays working LG panels. 

Finally, you need not continuously swap backwards and forwards between HDR True Black and SDR mode relying on content material kind. This, absolutely, is far nearer to the way in which HDR is supposed to be. Talking of this being the way in which HDR is supposed to be, that applies to the precise HDR efficiency, too. Run some HDR video and, holy moly, the Evnia seems nice. The shiny coating actually accentuates the distinction between these inky OLED blacks and the scorching highlights.

Granted, the HDR True Black mode is barely calibrated to peak 400 nit brightness. However the excellent black ranges imply that that is sufficient for a extremely punchy general really feel. Highlights actually pop, even restricted to 400 nits.

Hop into an HDR-capable game corresponding to Cyberpunk 2077 and with this monitor you really perceive what all of the HDR hype has been about. Working Cyberpunk in HDR unambiguously seems higher than SDR mode on the Evnia. It is shocking how few HDR displays you may say that of, even these with ludicrous peak luminance ranges.

Extra to the purpose, the Evnia completely sizzles in Cyberpunk. Outdoors, there’s immense shadow element concurrently fabulous pop where shafts of daylight hit objects or characters. Inside, neon lights actually sock it to your retinas. However right subsequent to you can see particulars within the darkness that you’ve got by no means noticed earlier than. It’s kind of of a revelation.

In actual fact, seeing this monitor do its HDR factor is to expertise one thing of an epiphany. All of the sudden, HDR is sensible somewhat frustrates. If there’s a catch it is that not one of the different HDR modes Philips has included fairly hit the spot. 

Sure, they permit entry to larger HDR brightness ranges and thus obtain that 1000 nit claimed peak. Drawback is, they’re all just a little oversatured and imbalanced. If all you care about is pure visible punch, then OK. However the coloration steadiness and saturation solely seems right within the barely extra restrained HDR True Black mode.

In different phrases, you may’t have the total 1000 nit expertise and correct colours on the identical time, which is a tiny little bit of a pity. Us? We might keep on with HDR True Black mode. It has loads of pop, a real HDR expertise and pure, convincing colours. It is simply nice.

There’s extra excellent news elsewhere. The pixel response is, after all, outrageously zippy. It is higher than any IPS monitor. Mix that with the 175Hz refresh, which is sufficient for all however essentially the most lag-sensitive esports addicts, and you’ve got significantly speedy general expertise.

In case you’re searching for downsides past the slight commerce offs of the varied HDR modes and the marginal remaining brightness limitations, effectively, there’s one apparent problem baked in from the get go. Its pixel density. 3440 by 1440 pixels on a 34-inch ultrawide monitor makes for a pedestrian pixel density of 110DPI.

In fact, the next decision and better pixel density would have implications for body charges. For example this was a 5K2K 34-inch panel with 5,120 by 2,160 pixels. That is your pixel density solved right there. However then you definitely’d instantly have a brand new body charge problem. Even an Nvidia RTX 4090 goes to wrestle to hit triple-digit body charges in essentially the most demanding video games at that form of decision.

Anyway, like its Alienware cousin the Philips Evnia OLED does lack the retina-slicing sharpness and graphical element of, say, a 27-inch 4K monitor. There isn’t any avoiding that. However in a pure gaming context, it is nonetheless a fantastic compromise between visible element and body charges.

It is extra for basic computing and productiveness that the decision and pixel density do not fairly get the job executed, particularly given the worth level. On that be aware, the Samsung OLED panel’s triangular somewhat than striped subpixel construction can be barely suboptimal for rendering fonts.

You even have any remaining doubts over OLED longevity. Will this Philips finally undergo from burn in? That is arduous to foretell. To this point, its Alienware cousin utilizing the identical Samsung QD-OLED panel appears to be faring effectively out within the wild.

All of which signifies that you will have guessed what’s coming. Yup, the Philips Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 is our new favorite gaming monitor. It matches the Alienware OLED at each vital flip, after which provides a shiny coating that basically lets that Samsung QD-OLED panel sing.

The Alienware does provide full G-Sync performance for just about the identical cash. so from an goal scoring perspective, it is a useless warmth. However the ethical win goes to Philips. That is the OLED monitor—heck, the something monitor—we’d select.

There isn’t any backlighting weirdness that it’s important to put up with on mini-LED displays. Likewise, the total display brightness is much better than LG-based OLED displays. As a substitute, that is the just about no-compromise OLED expertise we have been ready for. It truly is that good.