Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor review: A gamer's dream with Mac in mind

Philips is a household name when it comes to making great displays, and Evnia is its new industry-leading gaming brand. I was fortunate enough to attend Evnia’s global launch in Paris last year, and saw three standout monitors in action for the first time. The star of the show was this, the Evnia 42-inch OLED gaming monitor, a 4K behemoth with ultra-fast response times, insane contrast ratios, HDR 10, and more. While this is definitely a gaming monitor first, a couple of sneaky USB-C ports and premium design make this a dark horse for any gamer who also needs some extra screen real estate for their Mac. 

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Price and availability

The Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 is available from Amazon in both the U.S. and the UK, as well as retailers including B&H Photo, Ebuyer, Overclockers UK, and more. In the UK prices sit anywhere from around £1,500 to as little as £1,399. Prices in the States are broadly the same in USD, also. 

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Display Quality

The Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 is, in a word, stunning. It boasts a 4K UHD resolution of 3840 x 2160, a typical contrast ratio of 1,500,000:1, HDR 10, and more. As soon as you plug it in and switch it on, you’re wowed by the display quality. I usually roll with 4K on a 32-inch display and was worried the hefty size would dilute the detail, but there’s no sign of that here. It has an awesome 138Hz refresh rate so is perfect for any console gamer, and all but the most hardcore, dedicated PC gamers with the fanciest rigs. The colors across the board are to die for, as are the deep blacks which really aid the contrast. In my extensive testing, I’ve not seen any screen tearing, artifacts, or anything to suggest that this monitor is anything except magnificent. The screen also boasts a luscious matte finish. 

Connected to a MacBook Pro via USB-C, the monitor does struggle to keep up with Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR display. To be fair, all monitors do, even ones I’ve tested with special MacBook color reference modes. 

It’s to Mac users that I would add a word of caution about the 42M. While this monitor is an able Mac companion, useful for some graphics tasks, and certainly excellent for HDR viewing on Apple TV Plus, it is not primarily a Mac monitor, but a gaming monitor. As such, graphic designers, animators, photo editors, and movie makers might struggle to get the color response they really want, and the monitor is certainly overkill if you want a monitor simply to expand your Mac’s screen real estate. It also lacks some of the features, such as specific color reference modes, that professional users might be looking for. The Philips Evnia 42M is a gaming monitor first, and a capable Mac monitor second.

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Stand out feature

For me, the standout feature of the Evnia 42M is the whole package. That might sound like a copout, but there’s no other monitor I know of that offers so much all in one place. It comes at a cost, but you’re getting truly breathtaking gaming performance, excellent Mac compatibility, immense build quality, and more. 

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Build and features

The Evnia 42M boasts almost infallible build quality as far as I can see. It comes out of the box with an enormous, brutish metal stand. You simply attach your monitor with two screws and off you go. The up-and-down adjustment mechanism feels sturdy and smooth, as is the left and right tilt. 

My only gripe is that the monitor feels a little unsteady in situ. Not that it would fall off the stand or topple over, but there’s a distinct wobble to the massive panel. I think the epicenter is the join where the monitor meets the stand. Given the monitor is so large, it needs a degree of flex here, but it’s just something to watch out for. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal, however. 

Other nifty features include the plethora of ports at the back, although they’re quite spread out and a little tricky to reach. The same can be said of the power button on the back. Thankfully, Philips supplies a remote so you can control all of the settings through the on-screen display with ease. 

Another cool feature is the built-in Ambiglow lights at the back, which cast a colorful RGB glow on the wall behind the display. These can be tuned to a variety of settings including following your audio or video, as well as various generic light patterns. The brightness isn’t tremendous, but it’s a very nice touch and if you don’t have any other lights to speak of in your setup, it’s a lovely addition. 

The monitor does have speakers, and while they’re a little louder than most poxy monitor offerings, the quality is distinctly subpar and no self-respecting gamer or content enjoyer will want to use them anyway.

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Competition

The Evnia 42M competes with ASUS ROG’s Swift OLED PG42UQ, as well as the Strix XG43UQ. If you want a cheaper option, there’s Gigabyte’s Aorus FO48U, or an even cheaper FV43U that doesn’t have OLED. If you’ve read this and decided you don’t want a gaming monitor, the best monitor for Mac right now is the Philips 27B1U7903, closely followed by the BenQ PD3220U 4K.  

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Should you buy it?

You should buy it if... 

• You want a massive gaming monitor
• You need 4K resolution and high refresh rates
• You also have a Mac you could partner with your monitor

You shouldn’t buy it if… 

• You aren’t a gamer
• You want a budget monitor
• You’re constrained on space (it’s massive)

Philips Evnia OLED Gaming Monitor: Verdict

So there you have it, the Evnia 42M is a truly marvelous display. It’s absolutely huge and boasts impeccable build quality and features. Where it matters, on-screen, the Evnia 42M shines as one of the best all-around gaming displays I’ve ever used. The only monitor I can think of that surpasses it is the Porsche Agon monitor I tested out a few months back. Otherwise, the Evnia 42M is pretty much peerless as far as I’m concerned.