A Closer Look
Philips has a pretty rich selection of business monitors, and at around £550 and 34″, this is one of the more expensive models in their range. Models above this typically are more gaming-focused, which this one certainly isn’t; not that we could stop you gaming on it while your boss wasn’t looking. It’s a nice-looking monitor, though. At home or in a larger workplace, it’s going to look pretty smart with its black and silver/grey aesthetic.
It uses a VA LED panel, so nothing bleeding edge, but it affords you a very large panel at a modest cost, offering up a 178-degree viewing angle over its curved 21:9 aspect ratio. It should be plenty detailed too, with a 3440×1440 resolution, and promising good contrast ratios and a bright image.
The panel is VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified, which isn’t uncommon for a VA panel in this price range, and it does feature some dimming technologies to give you more dynamics in the image. Of course, it will still not be on the level of mini-LED or OLED, but it will still give you the wider colour gamut if you need it.
The curve design is welcome too, and pretty much essential on an ultrawide display like this, as it feels more natural to use. Flat ultrawides tend to feel like their corners are too far away at times, so I’d take a curved one in this form factor every time.
So, what makes this a business monitor? Well, it’s the smart and usability features that make that distinction. It features SmartKVM, allowing you to connect your peripherals directly to the monitor, and if you triple-click the Ctrl key, it’ll switch the device input. This means you can connect your desktop computer and your work laptop at the same time, and hot swap between them.
There’s a little more than that, too, as the monitor comes with a built-in webcam and noise-cancelling microphone, allowing you to tap into those for your Zoom meetings without the need for additional peripherals. The Webcam has a 5MP sensor and features AI-Enhanced Autoframing, which will focus on you or expand the FOV if there is more than one person sitting in front of it. With support for Windows Hello, adding quick login security to Windows, and a set of 5-watt speakers built in, it ticks all the right boxes for office functionality.
But wait, there’s more: there’s also built-in RJ45, so again, tapping into that KVM feature and ensuring you only need a single cable to connect external devices to share all your required services to that system. There’s a Thunderbolt 4 connector, offering USB-C connectivity, but also supporting high-resolution video, daisy-chaining, and up to 100W of power delivery. This means you can use USB-C to hook up a compatible laptop, use the full KVM features, all the built-in peripherals, and charge the device at the same time.
In terms of ergonomics, the monitor offers a robust range of tilt, swivel, and height adjustments too, making it very easy to get a comfortable working position. Plus, there’s even a handy headphone hook on the side, so you can hang that up between calls.
One thing I’ve not seen before is the busy light. Hit the button on the monitor, and it will turn the webcam light red. This will let people know that you’re, well, busy, if they walk over to your desk to bother you about Fight Club rules left on the photocopier. What’s really neat is that this feature can also update and synchronise with your Microsoft Teams status too.
