An ultrawide monitor for the Mac? Is that possible? And does that work a little? We tested the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 on a MacBook!
Pros:
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Really very wide
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Excellent speakers
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Ambiglow
Negatives
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Menu controls very annoying
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Scratch and stain sensitive
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Housing feels cheap
Review: Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 ultrawide monitor
When you want to buy a monitor for your MacBook, you quickly think of a Studio Display from Apple. But what if you want a wider screen? For example, an Ultra wide monitor for your Mac? But does that even work a little?
We can be brief about this: “Yes, that works. Fine even.” We tested the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 ultrawide monitor and are very pleased with it. It was a bit of a shock, because to connect this ultrawide (also called superwide) monitor we had to make quite a bit of space on our desk.
The Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 monitor has an original recommended retail price of 1899 euros, but can now be found cheaper. It is now the cheapest at Alternate 1399 euros.
Big bigger Biggest
The dimensions don’t lie. The size of this screen is 124.3 cm. It is a curved screen with a curvature of 1800 R. The resolution of the QD OLED screen is also high: 5120 x 1440 with a maximum refresh rate of 240 Hz. Never before have so many icons fit on the Dock of your Mac thanks to this ultrawide monitor! When you have the screen on your desk, it also looks like you have two widescreen monitors, but merged into one screen.
The viewing angle is excellent and because of the enormous screen and the curvature, you sometimes really get the feeling that you are in the movie when watching videos. With this monitor you also have plenty of space for all your Mac windows. You sometimes have to play around with the settings to get the image exactly how you want it, though. We found the ‘Standard’ setting to work best for our house, garden and kitchen tasks.
Extras on board
The Philips monitor also has some extras on board. You will find the Ambiglow lighting on the back of the screen. This series of small lights changes color with what is happening on your screen. But you can also choose to have them color along with the sound or show random colors.
Gamers have also been considered, because this screen has support for AMD FreeSync and G-Sync. Handy if you plan to use this ultrawide monitor not only for your Mac, but also for heavy gaming on your Windows PC or perhaps Steamdeck.
The built-in 30-watt speakers sound good, but don’t expect them to be better than a good audio set. Still, it is a big improvement compared to the speakers from an older MacBook Air from 2021.
Furthermore, this screen has a USB-C connection. It can supply image and power (90W). This means you can connect your MacBook to the screen with just a USB-C cable. You no longer have to connect your MacBook to the power again.
HDR and more
Some technical specs: this ultrawide monitor has a VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. This is the entry level of screens that are suitable for HDR. This means that the maximum brightness is 400 nits. Enough to be able to display HDR content, but don’t expect too much.
In addition, it also has a VESA ClearMR 13000 rating. This standard means that the screen can show images without ghosting. This is nice for fast animations on the screen.
Conclusion
If you want an ultrawide monitor for your Mac, then this Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 is an interesting choice. Please note that this monitor is extra wide. Do you have the space for that and do you want that? Then you’ve come to the right place with this Philips.
The USB-C connection works well and therefore you only need one cable to your monitor (apart from the monitor’s power cable). You are also spoiled for choice in terms of connections: 2x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x 3.5 mm audio output, 4x USB-A, 1x USB-B, 1x USB-C.
If you also plan to use the monitor on a Windows PC, this screen is a very good buy. There are a number of nice extras for gamers and avid movie watchers will also have fun. If you are looking for a monitor to only use on your Mac, the Studio Display is also an interesting option.
It is a shame that the housing feels cheap and is prone to scratches. In addition, controlling the menu in the monitor is simply annoying. The peak brightness of HDR is also on the low side and that is a shame.
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