Hands-On: Phillips Evnia 49-Inch OLED Curved Gaming Monitor

Big curved gaming monitors are my latest obsession, and I think I've finally found my favorite with Phillips' Evnia 49-inch OLED Curved Gaming Monitor.

Cleverly named 49M2C8900, this wide-screen dream has everything I could wish for, including so much screen real estate I can put four full-sized web pages next to each other at once for work. Better yet, I can put two video inputs up on the screen at once, either to the left and right or picture-in-picture.

The last big curved gaming monitor I tried out is taller than this one, and at first, I was worried this would be too wide. Luckily, both my Mac and my PC are able to manage the 5120 pixels across by 1440 pixels tall to give me a ton of real estate for immersive gaming as well as working with a ton of windows up onscreen at once.

Visuals of the OLED Gaming Monitor

Seriously, this thing is bright and sharp. Even up close, I can see details of the image without seeing individual pixels. My gaming PC throws up sharp, HDR visuals from every game that supports it, including Homeworld 3, my latest real-time strategy go-to. Diablo IV looks a bit stretchy on the monitor, even on the PS5, but I'm guessing that's because the game itself isn't set to run that many pixels across. It looks much better side by side, with the game on PS5 on the left of the screen and my laptop screen to the right for web pages on builds and a Discord window open to complain to my gamer buddies.

The colors are calibrated well, with everything on the screen looking as it should whether it's my Mac or PC connected. Both look and feel the same as they do on the laptop screens, making this a lovely extension of their desktop spaces. There's one USB-C port, two HDMI ports, and a Display Port for older hardware, which seems like plenty for my needs. I have my Mac connected to the USB-C port, my PC laptop hooked up via HDMI, and I add my PS5 or Switch to the second HDMI depending on my mood.

The monitor can support up to 240 Hz refresh rate and up to 1.07 billion colors (10-bit for better gradient smoothing). It's got a pixel density of 108.7 ppi and uses AMD FreeSync tech to keep things clear and sharp. It's also DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified, which means the blacks look black and the brights look, well, bright. The curvature isn't the most curved in the biz, but it's immersive enough at 1800R, and it's a bit less disorienting that way when you sit up close.

There are a bunch of visual modes, too, catering to gamers, like an FPS mode that improves dark themes in games, letting you see more stuff in the shadows, a Racing Mode that adapts the display for fast visuals and high color, and an RTS mode that can highlight specific areas on the map to help you focus in on the game. Changing these provides some subtle differences visually, but it's already such a great monitor, it wasn't something that made me go "wow" too much.

Easy to Set Up and Use

The Evnia has a built-in KVM switch that lets you use the same external keyboard and mouse via the monitor, but the setup is pretty arcane, and the switching is done via the slower-than-it-should-be onscreen menus. With a simple keypress or dedicated button, this could become a killer feature, but managing single peripherals with their own built-in device pairings is much faster.

The setup was super easy; just a quick assembly of the stand and then two screws to hold the monitor on. Moving it around isn't too bad—it's not heavy, just big and awkward like me. The monitor and stand are also made from 35 percent recycled plastic, which could make you feel a little better about the purchase.

There are some ambient lights on the back that you can set via onscreen menus, too. Called Ambiglow, you can set the lights to Follow Video, Follow Audio, Color Shift, Color Wave, Color Breathing, Starry Night, or Static Mode. These are great when it's dark out, and you're playing a game late into the night; you feel like a gamer, for sure.

The Evnia 49M2C8900 has four 7.5-watt speakers built-in, giving you up to 30W of sound output. I don't game much without a headset, but playing Spotify tunes through the speakers was pretty nice when I needed a break from my headphones at work. Good in a pinch, but you won't want to rely on them for gaming or high-end music.

Is the Phillips Evnia 49-inch OLED Curved Gaming Monitor Worth It?

Look, OLED is a newer technology, which means it's going to cost a bit more. You can get OLED monitors from Alienware or LG at 26 or 34 inches, but they're already $900 each.

If you want a staggeringly wide curved gaming monitor with all the OLED and display tech you can think of, it's going to cost you more than this one. At $1499, the Evnia 49M2C8900 is a great deal, in my opinion, and reflects its stylish, high-end nature. Add in the ability to set two video inputs next to each other, the high resolution to allow for so many windows to be onscreen at once, and this is definitely my new favorite monitor for gaming and work.