Philips has announced two entries into the best monitor competition as it looks to take on its rivals.
We should say up front that both of these monitors - the Philips 34B2U6603CH, from the Philips 6000 line, and the Philips 34B2U5600C, part of the Philips 5000 series - are premium, as most of the best ultrawide monitors tend to be, so anyone seeking out more affordable monitors to work from home should probably look elsewhere.
The 34B2U6603CH and 34B2U5600C both feature a 34-inch, 21:9 ultrawide display, clocking in at a respectable 3440 x 1440 pixels – nothing too crazy in terms of resolution, but solid enough to be respectable among premium monitors. The curve is rated as 1500R, and the company says it should help with immersion.
Feel the curve
Philips didn't stop there, however, and built both monitors to support a maximum 120Hz refresh rate and up to 450 nits of brightness in SDR mode for the 34B2U6603CH – rising to an impressive 550 nits in HDR mode – and up to 300 nits for the 34B2U5600C.
Both monitors include a built-in 5MP webcam certified for Windows Hello for easier log-ins, alongside a noise-cancelling microphone and some fairly powerful speakers.
The overall design is pretty slick and professional, with minimal bezels - and we liked the fact the bottom bar is thick and the side bezels are thin, giving more weight to the bottom. The stand also looks quite cool, and naturally rotates and adjusts to your preferences and desk.
Ports galore
Philips really went to town with the ports on these monitors, and it is by far the most impressive part of the setup.
To start, on the higher-end 34B2U6603CH, there is DisplayHDR 400 support, Thunderbolt 4, fast 2.5G LAN, a USB 3.2 port, two USB-C port (one for upstream, the other for downstream), and four USB-A ports.
Philips says that DisplayHDR 400 "produces astonishing brightness, contrast and colours" thanks to global dimming. Anyone working with images or videos will likely appreciate the inclusion of this feature in the 34B2U6603CH. (For any real nerds out there, the colour gamut includes 101% NTSC and 120% sRGB for vibrancy, and has great colour accuracy thanks to Delta E < 2 for sRGB.)
The company has also built in its EyeSafe tech, which basically works to make sure that staring at a monitor – and the very bright monitor at that – doesn't mess up your eyes too much and cause eye strain. There's also Adaptive-Sync.
The Philips 34B2U6603CH and 34B2U5600C will retail for £599.99 and £439.99 in the UK (with other market pricings TBC) when they go on sale around mid-August 2024.
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