The new Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 is great. I am relieved to hear you say so. Over the past few months, we have featured several new monitors that use state-of-the-art mini-LED and OLED panel technology. However, they have all disappointed to some degree, including Philips' own mini-LED monitor, the Philips Evnia 34M2C7600MV (opens in new tab).

But Philips' new Evnia OLED is different. It rocks. This new OLED monitor is not particularly new by most measures. It is based on the same Samsung QD-OLED panel that we first saw in the Alienware 34-inch OLED model. As you know, it's the model that has catapulted to the top of our list of favorite gaming monitors. [At 3440 x 1440 pixels, it features a 21:9 aspect ratio and a gentle curve of 1800R. Philips claims the same 250 nits full-screen SDR brightness and 1000 nits peak HDR brightness (the latter within a small 3% window). Similarly, both monitors promise 0.1ms response times and 175Hz refresh.

Both brands cover exactly 99.3% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and both are VESA DisplayHDR True Black certified. In other words, on paper, there is essentially nothing to choose between the two. In practice, however, the new Philips panel proved to have a decisive advantage.

No, it's not because of the Philips Ambiglow RGB lighting on the back of the enclosure. While it's fun, it changes practically nothing; not the lack of an Nvidia G-Sync module; not that the Philips only has a standard VESA-spec adaptive sync, but it's no cheaper than the Alienware nonetheless.

The fact that Philips has USB-C with power delivery, which Alienware does not, is not a major factor, as it is primarily a gaming display. It should be noted, however, that to get the full 175 Hz refresh, one must use either the USB-C interface or the DisplayPort connection.

Interestingly, the key differences are not so high-tech. However, it does address one of Alienware's few shortcomings: a matte anti-glare coating, which slightly impairs the perceived contrast of the display and makes black tones appear slightly gray.

Philips uses a glossy coating, which makes all the difference. This is great. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 impresses as soon as you turn it on. That's not because it does anything amazing right away. [Instead, it's because it doesn't immediately look broken on the Windows desktop. It works normally, without clunkiness or weirdness. That's not the case with the OLED monitors we reviewed that are based on LG's OLED panels, such as the bendy Corsair Flex (opens in new tab). They all have brightness issues and tend to do annoying and intrusive things, such as automatically adjusting the brightness of the entire panel when the browser window size is changed. In any case, they are annoying.

But the new Evnia OLED is different: like its Alienware cousin, it does not run the problematic ABL or automatic brightness limiter in SDR mode. Moreover, the full-screen brightness is 250 nits, which packs a moderate punch; LG-based OLED monitors, with full-screen brightness of less than 200 nits, appear dim and dull on a Windows desktop.

Yes, the mini LED monitors have better basic brightness. However, it comes with all the drawbacks of LCDs, including mediocre pixel response. In addition, there are many new problems associated with local dimming, such as blooming and crushed shadow detail. Therefore, mini LED monitors are largely dependent on how the dimming algorithm is coded.

Even better, the new Philips is calibrated really nicely in HDR True Black mode. Specifically, the SDR color balance is very accurate in this mode. This may sound esoteric, but it is actually important. Because you can always use this monitor in HDR True Black mode.

A slight concern is that the brightness limiter is visibly activated in HDR mode. So when you open or close a browser tab or adjust the window size of an application, you will see the brightness of the entire panel adjust. It is quite noticeable in the punchy HDR mode, but barely visible in our preferred HDR True Black mode.

After all, there is no need to constantly switch back and forth between HDR True Black and SDR modes depending on the type of content. This is surely much closer to what HDR should be, and speaking of what HDR should be, this also applies to the actual HDR performance: playing back HDR video, holy crap, the Evenia is amazing. The glossy coating really accentuates the contrast between the blacks and highlights of the OLED.

Admittedly, the HDR True Black mode is only calibrated to a peak brightness of 400 nits. However, the perfect black levels are enough to give a really punchy feel overall; even limited to 400 nits, the highlights really pop.

Diving into an HDR-enabled game like Cyberpunk 2077, this monitor shows you exactly what all the HDR hype was about. Running Cyberpunk in HDR looks noticeably better than Evnia's SDR mode. It is amazing how few HDR monitors can say that, even if the peak brightness levels are ludicrous.

More to the point, Evnia absolutely shines in cyberpunk. Outdoors, shadow detail stands out and there is great pop where the sunlight hits objects and characters. Indoors, neon stimulates the retina. But right next to it, you can see details in the dark that you might not have found before. This is a bit of a revelation.

Indeed, to see this monitor do HDR is to experience a kind of revelation. Suddenly, HDR makes sense and is rather frustrating. If there is a drawback, it is that none of the alternative HDR modes that Philips has included ring a bell.

Indeed, these modes allow access to higher HDR luminance levels, so a peak of 1000 nits can be achieved. The problem is that they are all a bit excessive and unbalanced. If you only care about pure visual punch, they are fine. But it is only in the slightly more modest HDR True Black mode that the color balance and saturation look right.

In other words, you can't have the full 1000 nits experience and accurate color at the same time. We stick to HDR True Black mode. It pops, gives you a true HDR experience, and natural, compelling colors. It's fantastic.

The good news is something else. The pixel responsiveness is, of course, ridiculously fast. Better than any IPS monitor. Combine this with a 175Hz refresh, which is adequate for all but the most lag-sensitive esports addicts, and you have a very speedy experience overall.

If you're looking for drawbacks beyond the slight trade-offs of the various HDR modes and the few remaining brightness limitations, well, one obvious issue is baked in from the start. That's pixel density: 3440 x 1440 pixels on a 34-inch ultrawide monitor is the lowest possible pixel density, at 110 DPI.

Of course, higher resolution and pixel density also affect the frame rate. For example, let's say this was a 5K2K 34" panel with 5,120 x 2,160 pixels. This would solve the pixel density problem. But then you immediately have a new frame rate problem: even the Nvidia RTX 4090 (open in new tab) is going to struggle to achieve triple-digit frame rates in the most demanding games at such a resolution.

In any case, the Philips Evnia OLED, like its Alienware cousin, lacks the retina-shredding sharpness and graphic detail of, say, a 27-inch 4K monitor. That is inevitable. But for pure gaming applications, it remains a great compromise between visual detail and frame rate.

For general computing and productivity purposes, the resolution and pixel density are insufficient to get the job done, especially given this price point. On that note, the sub-pixel structure of Samsung OLED panels, which is triangular rather than striped, is also somewhat unsuitable for font rendering.

The longevity of the OLEDs is also questionable. Will this Philips eventually suffer from burn-in? So far, Alienware's cousin, which uses the same Samsung QD-OLED panel, seems to be doing well in the wild.

Which means we can guess what's coming. Yes, the Philips Philips Evnia 34M2C8600 is our new favorite gaming monitor, matching the Alienware OLED in every way, plus it has a glossy coating that allows the Samsung QD-OLED panel to shine through and The glossy coating brings out the full brilliance of the Samsung QD-OLED panel.

Alienware offers full G-Sync capability for about the same money. The moral victory, however, goes to Philips. This is our OLED monitor of choice.

There are no backlight oddities that one must endure with a mini LED monitor. Likewise, the overall screen brightness is far superior to LG-based OLED monitors. Instead, this is the virtually no-compromise OLED experience we've been waiting for. Truly amazing.