Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L 49″ Super Ultrawide QD OLED Gaming Monitor
design
Make no mistake, a 49” super ultrawide monitor is every part as massive as it sounds and boy does it announce itself at your door. It was startling just how big the 49M2C8900L’s box is, it almost felt like I was trying to show off to the delivery driver. I shouldn’t have been surprised of course, I knew what I was getting myself into but my word this a statement piece from Philips, and an even bigger statement from anyone buying it.
Assembling the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L was simple, but terrifying. I’m usually quick to ignore suggestions on flatpack furniture about it being a two-person job, I back myself, but I really could have done with a second pair of hands here. At just over 10kg for the screen alone it’s cumbersome to wrestle and line up but it’s ultimately a single, simple joint to slot in and screw to secure. Philips is even kind enough to include a screwdriver in the box, which is a nice touch.
Philips has definitely settled into a distinct visual identity for its Evnia range and the 49M2C8900L dives deep into the style guide. The white and grey colour scheme is a pleasant one with the signature speckled flourish on the stand legs. It’s a smart-looking package but one I found a little underwhelming in a couple of places when it comes to build quality. The curved back panel in particular feels hollow and almost loose in places with noticeable flex and creak, while around the front there was a finishing issue with the silver band along the bottom of the screen itself. Don’t get me wrong, these are minor complaints that in no way impacted the experience, but if I’d spent £869 for a monitor monitor I’d like these kinds of easily controllable variables to be perfect.
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Unsurprisingly this leviathan class monitor relies on a seriously chunky stand, an often overlooked factor when it comes to setups but one that’s of particular importance here. Not only is the Philips 49M2C8900L’s rear pillar noticeably thick, there’s then a sizeable mounting joint and the bulk of the curved monitor back itself. It quickly adds up to a total depth approaching 40cm, when you consider a standard desk is usually 60cm deep – the numbers start to clash.
I found this a clear problem in my setup, even hanging the back of the stand a little over the edge of my desk it still felt like it sat much closer to my face than I’d have liked. Combine this with the long, thin legs that extend diagonally out like tree roots and the Evnia 49M2C8900L quickly takes over. The stand does offer a good range of movement both up and down, twisting left and right and tilting back and forth too, and despite the size I didn’t notice too much wobble. There is a mounting bracket included in the box so you could in theory do away with the stand but you’ll want to invest in a seriously beefy monitor arm to securely carry the weight of the 49M2C8900L.
performance
While the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L is pitched as a gaming monitor, it started life in my office as a productivity screen. Realistically I should say screens because for day to day work I used the 49M2C8900L in the same way I would have used a pair of 24” monitors. In that way the Evnia doesn’t actually seem outrageous, dual-screen setups are abundantly common and a super ultrawide like this simply closes the gap. I’d highly recommend installing Microsoft PowerToys and taking advantage of FancyZones which allows you to define areas within the monitor and quickly snap windows to them. Without this, the Evnia 49M2C8900L’s canvas is almost overwhelming, with it installed however I quickly settled into a real groove of often having three ‘full screen’ windows side by side.
On the whole the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L performed well for general office use, the 5120 x 1440 resolution and 108ppi pixel density offers superb clarity and even small font sizes remained crisp and legible. However it’s worth noting that with a 32:9 aspect ratio, the Evnia 49M2C8900L’s resolution is slightly beyond the standard list and wasn’t compatible with the video output of my USB-C docking station as a result. Philips does have an answer to that problem though because the Evnia 49M2C8900L has wonderful connectivity with the equivalent of a USB hub on board. You’re treated to five USB-A ports as well as two HDMI ports, a DisplayPort and a USB-C PD port for video connections. It’s disappointing not to see a Thunderbolt port on a monitor of this price point but it’s hard to be unimpressed by the ports that are here.
The Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L doesn’t really want to play with spreadsheets and Google Docs however, this is a gaming monitor first and foremost and once again, it’s an incredibly good one. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, the Philips Evnia 42M2N8900L is a delight to game on and much of what made that a great choice is still inside the 49M2C8900L. When shopping around it’s worth noting there are two specs of this monitor, the Evnia 49M2C8900 and the Evnia 49M2C8900L. Little changes as a result of the L except the refresh rate which caps out at 240Hz on the 49M2C8900 and drops to 144Hz max on the 49M2C8900L.
Across titles, the Evnia 49M2C8900L was a joy to play on. The 1800R curvature is engrossing and also entirely necessary for a screen of this width because without it I’d be flicking my head around like a heron trying to keep track of things. As it stands though it does a great job of wrapping around your peripheral vision, it’s almost unusual at first but it’s incredibly engrossing. It’s worth being aware that not all games will natively love that 32:9 super ultrawide aspect ratio, but when it’s properly implemented it’s hard to go back to anything less.
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When it comes to raw visuals, gaming on the Evnia 49M2C8900L is stunning. Colours are rich, details are sharp and movement is fluid – it’s the ultimate trifecta. The 49M2C8900L is VESA ClearMR 8000 certified (jumping to 13000 for the 240Hz variant), a measurement for testing motion blur that I won’t attempt to understand but I will back up with my experience of great performance in high-speed situations like Call of Duty Black Ops 6. The same is true of F1 24, tearing around even the fastest of Monza’s corners I was impressed by how much detail was retained and how crisp even the fringes of the viewport stayed.
The Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L QD OLED delivers wonderful, saturated colour with inky blacks thanks to DisplayHDR TrueBlack 400 certification. Against each other these two extremes of the lighting spectrum pop, shadows are deep and highlights jump out at you – it’s glorious for gaming and media alike. OLED technology does bring considerations though, particularly when it comes to long term screen health and that’s something to consider if you’re planning to run consistently similar content.
Philips will take ownership of this digital hygiene for you with a panel refresh every couple of hours, this feature is clearly a source of pride too because the OSD pop-up to tell you it’s happening is aggressively large and a little annoying when trying to work. It’s a clever idea though and should hopefully negate any future issues. I also found the Evnia 49M2C8900L is a bit of a teenager, it’s keen for a nap and doesn’t like being woken up. At its default setting the screen will flick off after only a few minutes (with a jarring ping noise sometimes too) and I found it particularly sluggish to wake from standby. It would often be 7 or 8 seconds after slapping a few random keys on my Logi MX Keys S before this giant display would be happy to light up again.
It’s not often the highlight of a monitor, but hats off to Philips because the Evnia 49M2C8900L’s audio game is on point. These are by far the best in-built speakers I’ve heard from any display I’ve used or tested and for day to day use are just as usable as what you’d expect from a top-spec TV. Audiophiles won’t necessarily be enamoured, but the four-speaker setup delivers 30W of output with support for DTS Sound and are more than capable for general media consumption and even non sound sensitive gaming. Given how much desk space you’ll have to forfeit to this beast of a monitor, it’s nice to claw a little real estate back by not bothering with speakers.
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It wouldn’t be an Evnia monitor without some flashing RGB lighting and the 49M2C8900L offers AI-enhanced AmbiGlow across the back. I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a skeptic with this kind of thing. I can appreciate a neat coloured glow, I’ve used jazzy options like the Nanoleaf Lightstrip and even a Govee LED Curtain in the past for stream backgrounds, but I’ve always found AmbiGlow a little underwhelming. It’s noticeably inoffensive, in brightly lit rooms these little LEDs struggle to make much of an impact though I will admit can be quite effective in darker setups.
Strangely on the 49M2C8900L though the LED spots only run along the sides and top of the panel’s back, noticeably absent from the bottom. This feels like a misstep for me, facing the monitor from the front a glow washing over my desk was likely the most obvious place for it to be noticed and enjoyed, odd. They’re a neat party trick that the right kind of user might get a kick out of but I can take or leave them.
summed up
The Philips Evnia 49M2C8900L is lovely in just about every way. It’s massive in size, aggressive in shape, crispy in detail, smooth in motion, vibrant with colour, striking with contrast, and rich with sound. It’s lovely. Did I mention it’s huge? Because it’s huge.
It shouldn’t be underestimated just how large the Evnia 49M2C8900L is, please do your own research for your setup before you jump for it – but if you’re confident you have the setup space then please do jump for it. As a replacement for a dual monitor setup or just a major setup upgrade full stop, you’ll do well to find a better monitor for work and play.
Oh and just for one last time, it’s massive – don’t say I didn’t warn you when the box arrives.
