Philips 34B2U5600C Ultrawide Business Monitor Review

Peter Donnell / 4 hours ago

A Closer Look

Philips has gone for one of the most popular monitor formats on the market right now, with a 34-inch ultrawide panel, with a 21:9 aspect ratio. This is matched by a 3440×1440 resolution, meaning you get a decent pixel density relative to the size of the panel, and it’s also got a moderately curved design, so that it feels more natural to view the edges of the panel when you’re sitting front and centre.

Everything is designed to be simple and easy to use, such as the rather basic, but very functional UI controls on the front, which are all clearly labelled, and come with larger buttons to make them easier for anyone in the office to understand.

There’s a Philips logo in the middle, alongside a small light sensor, which can adjust the display’s brightness and efficiency settings on the fly. Dimming the monitor in darker rooms, or brighter during the day, to help balance usability and eyestrain.

The stand is quite tall, with a really nice oval design at the top. Its height is good though, as it allows for a greater range of height adjustment, helping improve the overall ergonomics.

You can easily move the monitor up and down, or rotate it left to right, and tilt it both forwards and backwards to find the best viewing position to suit your needs. However, this monitor doesn’t support a portrait mode, but with a VESA mount on the back, you could easily wall mount it or apply your own monitor arm with those features.

The curved VA panel isn’t anything too crazy, but it does offer decent viewing angles, and colour uniformity, and there’s a good anti-glare coating on there to deal with harsh office lighting.

Around the back, the monitor is aesthetically pleasing, with a muted black back that has some nice lines and ridges, as well as an art-deco-esque design to the stand. If you have an open desk layout, you’ll appreciate that it looks good from both sides.

There’s a built-in USB hub with Type-C, as well as Power Delivery, meaning you can easily hook up your peripherals, laptop or phone, making it handy for those who work in a hot-desking environment.

The USB-C on the side can only do 15W, but there’s a 90W on the back, which is fantastic! There’s also ethernet built-in, so again, just a Type-C from your laptop to the monitor, and you’re hooked up to the internet or LAN, keyboard, mouse, etc, keeping your workspace really simple.