Gaming Monitor Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 Review

Introduction

If you are looking for a gaming monitor that delivers stunning visuals, immersive ambience, and smooth performance, you might want to check out the Philips Evnia 42M2N8900. This is a 42-inch OLED gaming monitor that boasts a 4K resolution, a 138 Hz refresh rate, and AMD FreeSync Premium technology. It also features Ambiglow, a unique backlight system that creates a halo of light around the screen, matching the colors and dynamics of the content. In this review, we will take a closer look at the features, design, and performance of this monitor, and see if it lives up to its promise of gaming beyond innovation.

Features

The Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 is packed with features that aim to enhance your gaming experience. Here are some of the highlights:

• OLED display: This monitor uses an OLED panel, which means each pixel can emit its own light and turn off completely when needed. This results in deeper blacks, higher contrast, and more vivid colors than traditional LCD monitors. The OLED panel also has a wide viewing angle, a fast response time of 0.1 ms, and a high color accuracy with Delta E < 2.
• 4K resolution: The monitor has a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which translates to a pixel density of 106 PPI. This means you can enjoy sharp and detailed images, as well as more screen real estate for multitasking or gaming.
• 138 Hz refresh rate: The monitor supports an overclocked refresh rate of 138 Hz, which means it can display up to 138 frames per second. This reduces motion blur and ghosting, and makes your games look smoother and more fluid. You can also adjust the refresh rate according to your preference or the content you are watching.
• AMD FreeSync Premium: This technology synchronizes the monitor’s refresh rate with the GPU’s frame rate, eliminating screen tearing and stuttering. This ensures a smooth and tear-free gaming experience at peak performance. AMD FreeSync Premium also supports low framerate compensation and low latency modes for optimal gaming conditions.
• Ambiglow: This is a unique feature that creates a dynamic backlight around the monitor, matching the colors and intensity of the content on the screen. Ambiglow enhances the immersion and atmosphere of your games, movies, or music, and can also reduce eye strain by creating a softer contrast between the screen and the surrounding environment.
• Ultra Wide-Color: This technology delivers a wider spectrum of colors for a more brilliant picture. The monitor covers 98.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is ideal for HDR content and color-critical applications. The monitor also supports HDR10, which enhances the contrast and brightness of compatible content.
• SmartImage game: This is a feature that optimizes the display settings for different types of games, such as FPS, RTS, RPG, or racing. You can easily switch between these modes with a dedicated button on the monitor or the remote control.
• Connectivity: The monitor offers a variety of ports for connecting your devices, such as HDMI 2.1 x 2, DisplayPort 1.4 x 1, USB-C x 1 (with DP Alt mode and Power Delivery), USB-A x 4 (with two for fast charging), and audio out.

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Design

The Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 has a sleek and futuristic design that matches its high-end features. The monitor has a thin bezel on three sides, giving it an edge-to-edge look. The bottom bezel is slightly thicker and houses the Philips logo and the Ambiglow LED strip. The back of the monitor has a matte black finish with some glossy accents and another Ambiglow LED strip along the edges. The stand has a V-shaped base and a curved neck that allows you to tilt the monitor from -5° to +15°. The stand is also made from 35% recycled plastic, which shows Philips’ commitment to sustainability.

The monitor comes with a remote control that lets you access the OSD menu, adjust the volume, switch between inputs, and change the Ambiglow settings. The OSD menu is also accessible via a joystick button on the back of the monitor. The OSD menu has a user-friendly interface that lets you customize various aspects of the display, such as brightness, contrast, color temperature, gamma, sharpness, overdrive, adaptive sync, HDR mode, SmartImage game mode, Ambiglow mode, etc.

Performance

The Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 delivers an impressive performance that will satisfy most gamers and content creators. The OLED panel produces stunning visuals with deep blacks, high contrast, and vibrant colors. The 4K resolution provides sharp and detailed images, while the 138 Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync Premium ensure smooth and responsive gameplay. The Ambiglow feature adds a touch of immersion and ambience to your gaming sessions, and can also be customized to suit your mood or preference.

The monitor has a low input lag of around 4 ms, which is great for competitive gaming. The monitor also supports VESA Certified ClearMR, which is a new standard for measuring motion blur on monitors. The monitor has a ClearMR rating of 8000, which means it has a very low level of motion blur and can display fast-moving scenes with clarity and sharpness.

The monitor has a decent HDR performance, but not as good as some other OLED monitors. The peak brightness of 450 nits is not very high for HDR content, and the monitor does not support local dimming, which means it cannot dim specific areas of the screen to enhance the contrast. However, the monitor still produces a good HDR picture with rich colors and details.

The monitor has a wide color gamut and a high color accuracy, which makes it suitable for color-critical work such as photo or video editing. The monitor also has a uniform brightness and color across the screen, with no noticeable backlight bleeding or color shift.

The monitor has a good viewing angle, which means the colors and contrast remain consistent even when viewed from different angles. The monitor also has an anti-glare coating that reduces reflections and glare from ambient light sources.

The monitor has a decent sound quality, with two built-in speakers that deliver 10 W of power each. The speakers have a clear and balanced sound, but lack bass and volume. You might want to use external speakers or headphones for a better audio experience.

Conclusion

The Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 is an excellent gaming monitor that offers a stunning OLED display, a smooth 138 Hz refresh rate, and an immersive Ambiglow feature. It also has a sleek and futuristic design, a wide color gamut, and a low input lag. It is not perfect, however, as it has some drawbacks such as a low peak brightness for HDR content, no local dimming, no height or swivel adjustment, and no built-in webcam or microphone. However, these are minor issues that do not overshadow the overall quality and performance of this monitor. If you are looking for a gaming monitor that delivers gaming beyond innovation, you might want to consider the Philips Evnia 42M2N8900.