Philips has just unveiled the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L, a new 49-inch, QD-OLED gaming monitor that, along with having key gaming features such as a 144Hz refresh rate, also includes Ambiglow support. This is the company’s RGB tech that lets the screen sync up its rear-facing LEDs with what’s shown on the screen.
We’re a big fan of Ambiglow, and the similar technologies found in products such as the Nanoleaf 4D LED strips and Govee AI Sync Box. It adds a big sense of immersion, while also reducing eye strain, in our experience. This immediately gives us hope that this new Philips display will have a chance of earning a spot on our best gaming monitor guide.
The display also incorporates four speakers, which can kick out a total of 30W of audio power. The monitor also supports DTS Sound tech, which Philips says “engulfs the gamer by enhancing the sound and creating an atmosphere that makes one feel as if they were part of the game.”
Now, Philips displays have tended to lag behind the competition when it comes to being true gaming PC display contenders, as the company has tended to focus on these broader multimedia features while using display panels that aren’t the fastest for gaming. However, with the 49M2C8900L using a QD-OLED panel with a 0.03ms response time, we have far fewer such concerns this time. It only runs at up to 144Hz, rather than the 240Hz of the likes of the Samsung Odyssey G9 G95SC, but that’s still fast enough for a lot of users.
Then of course there’s the massive 49-inch screen with its 5,120 x 1,440 resolution. There are loads of screens of this size and resolution now, but his Philips monitor definitely stands out from the crowd with the other features mentioned above.
Philips doesn’t state which generation of Samsung’s QD-OLED panel technology it’s using – whether it’s the very latest generation or last year’s version – but we’ve generally found even the older versions of QD-OLED offer excellent image quality and gaming performance, so it’s far from a concern. You also get all the HDR brilliance you’d expect from a modern OLED panel, with a DisplayHDR True Black 400 rating and 99% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage – the color range used for top-tier HDR.
A four-port USB hub is also included, with a USB-C input that offers up to 90W power delivery, so you can hook up a powerful laptop and pass video to the monitor and power to your laptop all via one cable.
All this and this panel appears to have a very elegant design, meaning this display won’t look out of place in a smart home office that then converts to a gaming den.
With a price of £849.99 (roughly $900, assuming a direct conversion to USD), this is a competitively-priced display too, with most other 49-inch OLED screens still costing over $1,000. The Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L release date is set for May 2024 in Europe, but we’re awaiting confirmation of US availability. As such, if this display doesn’t end up with a US release, our current clear recommendation for a 49-inch OLED screen right now remains the Samsung Odyssey G9 G95SC, which still costs just $1,100.