Introduction:
For home use I was looking for a PC/monitor combination. After I had selected the PC, I went looking for a monitor for under 150 euros, nice design and good quality.
Design:
The most striking detail of the Philips is the design. I've seen x number of screens side by side in a multimedia store and most of them have the bulky large plastic leg. With the Philips, this is a beautifully finished aluminum with a black plastic ring as a foot in combination with an aluminum leg. Since the monitor has to be in my living room, and I regularly look at it from the back, I think it's important not to view a large piece of plastic.
The back of the screen is nicely rounded and also white. This may not appeal to everyone, but I think it's a nice combination, especially in a living room with light walls. in addition, the monitor is nice and flat and the seams are even everywhere.
The front is black with the Philips logo and the on/off button in the bottom center. to the left and right of this are 4 keys for controlling the screen settings. I noticed that the front of the screen scratches fairly quickly, especially when the sun shines on it you quickly see small scratches on the black.
The 4 touch buttons are nicely concealed and only light up when you run your finger over them. In the beginning it can be difficult to find these buttons, but a little practice and you know how to find them flawlessly.
Performance:
This is a 21.5-inch LED monitor with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and an aspect ratio of 16:9.
The response time is stated on the coolblue site as 2ms and also on the box it says the same. However, on some other sites it is stated that this is a 5ms monitor. Just reading the fine print on the box reveal that Philips is talking about the reaction time of gray-gray and not black-and-white, which may explain the different reaction times.
I must say that the monitor is fine for gaming, although the most demanding gamer would probably go for an even faster monitor, but the price is not right for that.
Build Quality:
As said before, I am quite impressed with this. this concerns a monitor of about 130 to 140 euros, where you often quickly look at a lot of plastic. This is absolutely not the case with the Philips. it certainly looks like a chic monitor from a higher price range. The seams fit neatly together and there is no play. The buttons feel solid and the leg and foot lock together tightly.
Daily use:
Connecting the monitor is easy as you would expect. A VGA cable and HDMI cable are included, whereby you will not reasonably use the VGA cable with such a monitor. What I found a pity is that the HDMI cable is completely black again, which in combination with the white back of the monitor gives a little too much contrast. In my opinion a white cable would have done better here, but this will be a matter of taste.
The settings of the monitor are easy to adjust with the touch buttons. These are easy to use and work well.
Only the brightness of the screen is sometimes difficult to regulate. Especially if there is a lot of light in the room, such as in my home. You always have the brightness on full and when you crawl behind the monitor in the evening you are behind a light box that you want to have dimmed as quickly as possible. However, there is no quick button for this, but must be done via the menu. In my opinion a bit too cumbersome since many people want to adjust the brightness of the screen a lot to day/night situations.
I have therefore installed third party software to be able to adjust the brightness and no longer have to do this via the monitor itself.
Conclusion:
The Philips has positively surprised me. The build quality and appearance of the monitor give the feeling that you have a much more expensive monitor in front of you. The aluminum accents in particular ensure a sturdy whole. It is a very flat monitor with a nicely rounded white back. The seams fit nicely and there is no play.
The front is beautiful black and when the sun shines on it you see a chic black / glass-like edge. The disadvantage of this is that this edge quickly shows very fine scratches (especially when the sun shines on it) not an insurmountable problem, but since I have only dusted the monitor a few times, I think it's a shame.
The touch buttons take some getting used to, but if you've got the settings right, you won't use them much anymore.
The image quality is just as you would expect with an LED monitor, good to look at, even at an angle no problem. For the die hard gamers among us I would take a good look at the reaction speed. Philips indicates that this is a 2ms monitor, but it does concern gray-gray and not black-and-white, which takes a little more time.
I have to say that the monitor has certainly not disappointed me with gaming and I think it is still well suited for it.
All in all, there are only a few small minus points compared to a number of big plus points. The price / quality ratio is very good in my opinion! Recommended!
