Philips Evnia 7000 monitor assessment: It shines shiny, however doesn’t spark envy

Finest Costs Right now: Philips Evnia 7000

The battle between Mini-LED and OLED expertise continues to warmth up. Enter the Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV, an bold Mini-LED contender seeking to outshine its OLED rivals. It guarantees—and largely delivers—a powerful HDR expertise, large coloration gamut, and fluid gaming, nevertheless it additionally suffers just a few flaws that maintain it again.

Additional studying: See our roundup of the perfect ultrawide gaming screens to study competing merchandise.

Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV specs and options

The Philips Evnia 7000’s primary specs are typical for a 34-inch ultrawide monitor. It has a decision of 3440×1440, a refresh fee of 165Hz, and AMD FreeSync. These options are so widespread that you just’d suppose they’re mandated by legislation.

• Show dimension: 34-inch ultrawide monitor
• Native decision: 3440×1440
• Panel kind: Vertical Alignment (VA)
• Refresh fee: 165Hz
• Adaptive-Sync: Sure, AMD FreeSync
• HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 1400
• Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 watts Energy Supply, 2x HDMI 2.1 with VRR, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-B upstream, 4x USB-A downstream
• Stand adjustment: Peak, swivel, tilt
• VESA mount: Sure, 100x100mm, with bracket
• Audio system: Sure, 2x 5-watt
• Worth: $1,299.99

The place this monitor differs is its Mini-LED backlight, which helps the monitor obtain VESA DisplayHDR 1400 certification. There are only some options, just like the Viewsonic XG3421-2K and Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, that promise related or higher HDR brightness.

Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV design

The Philips Evnia 7000 provides a novel look with a white end and speckled “terrazzo” sample throughout the bezel and show stand. It additionally has a geometrical sample on the rear panel that additional separates its design from the pack. The look will not be as cohesive because the Alienware 3423DWF however extra becoming for a typical residence workplace.

Philips integrates Ambiglow, an array of RGB LEDs that span the rear of the monitor. These mild as much as coordinate with what’s displayed on the display, including immersion with bursts of coordinating coloration. Whereas it will possibly seem to be a little bit of a gimmick, it’s genuinely enjoyable, particularly when used with quick and colourful motion video games

The design takes a flip for the more severe with the stand. It’s too large, taking on extreme room in your desktop, and attaches to the monitor with an uncommon, skinny neck as a substitute of a regular VESA mount. A bracket is included for compatibility with VESA monitor arms and stands, however this further step feels pointless. On the plus aspect, the stand offers 150 millimeters of top adjustment, which is in direction of the highest of what’s typical on a 34-inch ultrawide monitor, in addition to 40 levels of swivel and 25 levels of tilt.

It is a curved ultrawide monitor, however Philips opts for a 1500R curvature as a substitute of the extra widespread and aggressive 1800R curvature widespread to almost all ultrawide gaming screens. It might appear much less immersive, relying in your choice, but in addition causes much less distortion to the picture. Personally, I like Philips’ method.

Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV options and menus

Philips delivers a variety of connectivity, which incorporates two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4. These are joined by a USB-C port which additionally helps DisplayPort alternate mode for a complete of 4 video inputs.

The USB-C port offers as much as 90 watts of USB Energy Supply. This isn’t uncommon for a premium monitor in 2023 however nonetheless considerably uncommon for a monitor that has a wholesome vary of gaming options. The Alienware AW3423DWF lacks this function, for instance, however the Viewsonic Elite XG341C-2K additionally helps it.

The USB-C port drives a USB hub with 4 downstream USB-A ports for wired peripherals. The USB-A port may also be pushed by an upstream USB-B port in case your PC lacks a USB-C output.

A joystick on the monitor’s proper flank is used to manage the on-screen menus. The joystick itself is easy and responsive, however the menus are a complete mess. For instance, miserable the joystick as soon as doesn’t trigger a shortcut menu to seem. As a substitute, you have to press the joystick in various instructions to point out completely different menus—that means you have to memorize what every particular route will present.

Matt Smith/Foundry

The eccentricities proceed whereas exploring the menus, as menu choices are confirmed or entered by urgent the joystick in a selected route as a substitute of miserable the joystick. It’s a complicated and irritating system.

A minimum of the menu provides a wholesome vary of choices. It consists of exactly focused coloration temperature and gamma presets, and sRGB mode (which restrains the large coloration gamut), and a number of other picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture choices.

A pair of 5-watt audio system are constructed into the monitor. They’re stronger than the audio system present in most rivals: Some, just like the Alienware AW3423DWF, don’t provide audio system in any respect. Nevertheless, audio quantity stays weak and sounds muffled, so the audio system solely show helpful for those who don’t have desktop audio system or headphones to make use of

Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV SDR picture high quality

The Philips Evnia 7000 is marketed as an HDR monitor however, like all screens, will probably be used extra usually in SDR. Fortuitously, the monitor performs extraordinarily effectively out of the field and offers picture high quality that’s each subjectively engaging and holds up below nearer measurement.

Matt Smith/Foundry

The monitor’s most brightness of 450 nits is extraordinarily robust and stands out from each OLED and IPS ultrawide screens. In actual fact, the monitor can attain a brightness of over 700 nits in sure circumstances, though that is tied to particular picture modes that not everybody will wish to use. In any case, 450 nits of brightness is greater than sufficient to make use of in a sunlit room and, in my modestly lit residence workplace, I usually used the monitor at round 20 % of its most brightness.

Matt Smith/Foundry

The Philips Envia 7000 hit a powerful distinction ratio of 4060:1. That’s barely worse than the Viewsonic Elite XG341C-2K, however solely barely, and it’s significantly better than IPS screens just like the ASUS ProArt PA348CGV. The monitor’s brightness can’t match that of an OLED panel just like the Alienware, however the distinction is ample to ship an excellent sense of dimensionality and depth.

It needs to be famous that this result’s with the mini-LED native dimming backlight off. In actual fact, the monitor doesn’t help native dimming in SDR, which is an odd and unlucky determination. The monitor may carry out significantly better if native dimming was accessible in SDR mode.

Matt Smith/Foundry

The monitor’s coloration gamut spans as much as 96 % of DCI-P3 and 91 % of Adobe RGB. It is a large coloration gamut that’s ample for {most professional} makes use of, and offers a vivid and extremely saturated look in leisure. The colour gamut does probably not stand out subsequent to the competitors, and in reality, it falls a bit behind OLED screens—however I doubt anybody who makes use of Philips will come away disillusioned by its coloration efficiency.

Matt Smith/Foundry

The monitor offers extraordinarily correct coloration relative to its rivals. The entire screens proven on the graph carry out effectively sufficient that coloration errors received’t be simple to note. Nonetheless, a decrease coloration error is nice information for those who want a really correct monitor for coloration important duties like skilled photograph enhancing.

The monitor additionally achieved a default coloration temperature of 6500K and a default gamma curve of two.2. Each outcomes are precisely on our most well-liked targets and point out the picture is correct out of the field.

Decision is available in at 3440×1440, which is by far the most typical decision for a 34-inch ultrawide monitor. It offers a sharpness that’s much like a 27-inch 1440p monitor with a pixel density of about 109 pixels per inch. The monitor often seems to be extraordinarily sharp, however some pixelization could be seen in positive fonts when wanting carefully on the monitor. This decision additionally, in fact, will not be excessive sufficient for enhancing 4K content material, which will likely be a draw back for some content material creators.

Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV HDR picture high quality

The truth that Philips solely allows native dimming in HDR suggests it needs to be effectively calibrated for HDR however, sadly, the monitor nonetheless runs into some issues.

Brightness will not be the problem, because the Philips is VESA DisplayHDR 1400 licensed, that means it will possibly obtain a most brightness of 1400 nits. This stage of brightness offers nice leads to shiny and colourful scenes. For instance, a sundown on a cloudless day offers vital and refined gradations of sunshine across the solar itself, delivering a practical and attention-grabbing look. Animated movies that help HDR additionally look spectacular.

Nonetheless, not one of the HDR modes provided a coloration presentation that fully happy me. I seen the default HDR sport mode elevated the gamma of the show and brought about a harsh reddish tint. Different modes didn’t have the gamma problem however did look a little bit too cool and blue. And since HDR tends to lock out a whole lot of calibration choices, it may be troublesome to tune the expertise to your choice.

The monitor’s native dimming, which is out there in HDR content material, drastically will increase the utmost distinction ratio to 22,000 to 1 within the monitor’s VESA DisplayHDR 1400 mode. That is a wonderful consequence and offers a beautiful feeling of depth in HDR content material. Sadly, that is soured by the Mini-LED backlight with 1,152 dimming zones. It provides a excessive variety of dimming zones for a Mini-LED monitor in 2023, however blooming stays a noticeable problem and can trigger shiny halos round objects in a darkish background.

On the entire, the monitor’s HDR efficiency is finest suited to shiny, colourful video games like Overwatch 2 or animated films like Pixar’s Up!. It’s not an excellent monitor for having fun with darkish, gritty video games like Diablo 4. That is precisely the reverse of what’s true for an OLED monitor just like the Alienware AW3423DWF, which seems to be improbable in darkish and gritty video games however can appear subdued in additional vivid titles.

Philips Evnia 7000 34M2C7600MV movement efficiency

The Philips Evnia 7000 has a most refresh fee of 165Hz, which seems to be good on paper. In spite of everything, it’s the identical because the Alienware AW3423DWF. But the monitor’s real-world efficiency will not be as spectacular.

Blame the Vertical Alignment (VA) panel. The sort of panel is thought for having an issue referred to as darkish smear, which is attributable to darker areas of the display experiencing elevated pixel response instances. This drawback is clear right here even when the monitor is used at its lowest SmartResponse mode of Quick. The Sooner is worse nonetheless and the Quickest mode is comically unhealthy, introducing main coloration shifts and big darkish streaks behind shifting objects.

Movement can look fairly clear with SmartResponse set to Quick, particularly in brighter scenes, and the 165Hz refresh fee offers wonderful responsiveness and fluidity in comparison with a monitor with a decrease refresh fee. Nevertheless, compared with an OLED monitor, or perhaps a high quality IPS monitor, it’s clear that Philips falls behind. The issue is not only a problem in video games, both. Quickly scrolling an internet web page or app with a darkish background usually makes its content material illegible.

The monitor formally helps AMD FreeSync Premium Professional, which labored effectively in my testing with an AMD 6000-series video card. It must also work as a G-Sync Suitable show with Nvidia video playing cards, however that is unofficial and should not operate in all circumstances.

Do you have to purchase the Philips Evnia 7000?

The Philips Evnia 7000 has many strengths, but in addition a number of weaknesses, making it inconceivable to suggest at its MSRP of $1,300.

Philips’ largest drawback is the Alienware AW3423DWF, an OLED monitor that outperforms the Philips in most metrics, other than brightness, and may usually be bought for as little as $1,000. There are benefits to the Philips, equivalent to much better HDR brightness and superior sharpness, however these perks are outweighed by points like mediocre movement readability and disabled native dimming in SDR mode.

Sadly, the Philips Evnia 7000 is the most recent instance of a promising Mini-LED monitor held again from its full potential.