Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901 monitor review: Color and connectivity on tap

Price When Reviewed

$499.99

Best Prices Today: Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901

LG launched its new IPS Black panel, which first appeared within the Dell U3223QE and U2723QE, in early 2023—at comparatively excessive pricing. The Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901 takes that very same IPS Black panel however cuts pricing by roughly $100. Budget-conscious customers should make just a few tradeoffs for the lower cost, however they don’t take away from Philips’ worth.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best 4K monitors to find out about competing merchandise.

Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901: Specs

The Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901’s specs are practically an identical to rivals just like the Dell U2723QE and LG UltraFine 27UQ850-W. Philips offers a 27-inch 4K panel with a 60Hz refresh price and VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification—similar to the options.

• Display dimension: 27-inch widescreen
• Native decision: 3840×2160
• Panel kind: IPS Black edge-lit touchscreen
• Refresh price: 60Hz
• Adaptive Sync: VESA Adaptive Sync
• HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 400 Certified
• Ports: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with 96 watts USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, DisplayPort-out, 4x downstream USB-A, 1x downstream USB-C with 15 watts USB Power Delivery
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Speakers: Yes
• Price: $499.99 MSRP

Philips additionally matches its competitors on connectivity. It contains HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C. The latter acts as a USB-C hub that powers a number of downstream USB ports. The solely port lacking is Ethernet, an additional present in Dell’s U2723QE.

Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901: Design

Matt Smith

The Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901, like most displays designed for productiveness, is designed to draw as little consideration as doable. It has skinny show bezels alongside all sides which, because of this, offers no house to incorporate even a Philips badge.

There’s extra room round again, in fact, however right here Philips stays dedicated to inoffensive, generic design. A curved silver plastic panel spans everything of the rear. It seems good however feels cheap because of the materials’s flat end. Competitors like Asus and Dell look a tad extra premium and really feel extra sturdy when dealt with—however the Philips isn’t unhealthy. It’s merely high-quality.

The similar may be mentioned of the stand. Philips makes use of a small stand with a flat, rectangular base that minimizes the monitor’s footprint in your desk. The stand helps quite a few ergonomic changes together with peak, tilt, swivel, and rotation. However, the stand seems and feels a bit cheap, particularly in comparison with hefty stands discovered on Dell Ultrasharp fashions.

Matt Smith

In an unconventional transfer, the stand doesn’t help VESA and as an alternative attaches by a smaller, proprietary clip. The monitor stays suitable with VESA 100x100mm mounts, however an included VESA bracket have to be used. It’s solely a minor inconvenience, and the monitor stays suitable with third-party monitor stands and arms.

Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901: Connectivity and menus

Matt Smith

Philips packs spectacular connectivity within the Creator Series 27E2F7901. It has three video inputs: one HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode. The monitor additionally contains DisplayPort-out, which implies the monitor can “daisy chain” a DisplayPort connection to a second monitor. That’s helpful if you wish to use a number of displays with a PC that has only one DisplayPort video output.

USB connectivity is robust. The USB-C port drives 4 downstream USB-A 3.2 ports and a USB-C port. The monitor features a KVM change function as nicely, which can be utilized with two of the USB-A ports. There’s no USB-B upstream port, nonetheless—your PC will need to have USB-C to entry the monitor’s USB hub.

Both USB-C ports have USB Power Delivery. The USB-C video enter helps as much as 96 watts of Power Delivery, which is sufficient to energy many creator laptops together with Apple’s MacBook Pro 16 and most Windows laptops with out discrete graphics. That makes for a simple, single-cable charging and docking resolution. The USB-C downstream port, in the meantime, has 15 watts of Power Delivery. That may be helpful for charging a smartphone or pill.

I wish to underscore this level: Philips’ connectivity is great. It’s practically a match for Dell’s U3223QE and U2723QE, although these options add Ethernet. You’ll be exhausting pressed to seek out higher connectivity at this worth level, and that makes the 27E2F7901 a standout alternative in order for you a monitor that additionally works as a docking resolution for a laptop computer.

Matt Smith

Unfortunately, the on-screen menu system is a disappointment. A responsive joystick is supplied for fast entry to the menus. It works nicely, however the format of menus is an issue. Opening the principle menu presents Game Settings because the default—a weird alternative given the monitor’s give attention to productiveness. Accessing helpful options, like Input and Picture, requires a number of further steps.

The menu additionally tends to rotate the orientation of menu inputs and on-screen menu components 90 levels. The Brightness setting, for instance, is proven as a horizontal bar that scrolls left to proper, however changes are made by shifting the joystick vertically up and down. It’s as complicated because it sounds.

Troublesome menus apart, there’s an honest vary of options on supply. Philips gives a variety of coloration gamut presets, like sRGB, DCI-P3, AdobeRGB, and Rec.2020. Three-axis coloration calibration and a number of other Gamma presets can be found, too.

Speakers aren’t included. That’s a really minor disappointment: They’re good to have for primary system sounds, however built-in audio system hardly ever impress. The monitor features a 3.5mm audio-out jack that may go audio to a wired headset or audio system.

How is the Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901’s SDR picture high quality?

Image high quality is at all times essential, however it’s particularly essential for a monitor just like the Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901. It’s meant to deal with each day-to-day productiveness, like e-mail and Word, and extra demanding content material creation, like images and digital artwork. That requires a large coloration gamut and good coloration accuracy. Fortunately, Philips delivers.

Matt Smith

Brightness begins out robust at a most of 416 nits. That’s greater than most comparable displays and solely barely behind the Dell U3223QE. A most brightness past 400 nits is overkill for many conditions however can show helpful in extraordinarily brilliant environments, like a downtown company workplace with floor-to-ceiling home windows. The monitor additionally has a semi-gloss end, so glare isn’t a problem.

Matt Smith

The Philips 27E2F7901 crushes it in distinction with a most ratio of 2290:1. Credit the monitor’s IPS Black panel, a brand new kind of IPS panel produced by LG. I praised it after I reviewed the Dell U3223QE, which additionally has an IPS Black panel, and I stay impressed. The added distinction offers a greater sense of depth and dimensionality that’s noticeable in video, photographs, and video games.

It’s nonetheless not good. A distinction ratio of 2290:1, although wonderful for this class, falls woefully in need of the infinite distinction ratio supplied by OLED and Mini-LED displays. The Philips nonetheless suffers “IPS glow,” a standard flaw seen as a hazy grey sheen to darkish content material, however the subject is significantly decreased. It’s solely distracting when the monitor is utilized in a really darkish room.

Matt Smith

Color gamut offers extra excellent news, because the monitor is ready to produce 100 % of the sRGB coloration gamut, 97 % of DCI-P3, and 87 % of AdobeRGB. These are excessive figures and akin to the Dell U3223QE—no nice shock, because the Dell makes use of the identical IPS Black panel.

Asus’ ProArt PA279CRV is even higher, nonetheless, because it hits 99 % of DCI-P3 and 98 % of AdobeRGB. This is a notable distinction, and one which content material creators ought to take into account—it may be insufficient should you work in an trade the place the AdobeRGB coloration house is incessantly used as the usual. Still, the Philips’ result’s robust and as much as the wants of most individuals.

Matt Smith

The similar is true of coloration accuracy, the place Philips supplied a median coloration under 1.0–a wonderful end result akin to different high-end productiveness displays. The default coloration error might be tough to note. The Philips doesn’t have a major edge right here, because the distinction between it and the Lenovo ThinkVision P32p-30 and Dell U3223QE is inconsequential—however this stays an amazing end result.

Philips went a bit astray in coloration temperature and gamma. I recorded a default coloration temperature of 6800Okay, which is a bit cooler than our goal of 6500Okay. The default gamma got here in at 2.1, off our goal of two.2, and signifies content material will seem ever-so-slightly brighter than it ought to. Neither worth is approach off-base, and in lots of instances the distinction may be exhausting to note. The monitor additionally offers picture high quality customization choices to dial in these figures. Still, I’d choose to see a monitor bought for “content creation” hit these marks by default.

Sharpness, alternatively, is great. The Philips 27E2F7901 is a 4K monitor with 3840×2160 decision throughout a 27-inch widescreen panel. That works out to a wonderful pixel density of 163 pixels per inch—an enormous improve over 1080p, which delivers 82 pixels per inch in a 27-inch monitor. Better pixel density can solely be present in unique, costly displays like Dell’s 6K U3223KB, which retails at $2,399.99.

The Philips’ 27E2F7901’s total picture high quality is nice for the value. It delivers on sharpness, coloration efficiency, brightness, and distinction. This is nearly as good as picture high quality will get at $500—these searching for higher efficiency might want to improve to a costlier Mini-LED or OLED various.

How is the Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901’s HDR picture high quality?

The Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901 helps HDR10 and carries VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification however, like most displays in its class, it fails to ship a top quality HDR expertise.

Brightness is an issue. I measured a most sustained HDR brightness of 392 nits, which is barely under the monitor’s SDR brightness. The lack of luminance is an issue, as HDR content material is supposed to offer an enchancment in luminance element (most HDR content material is mastered for at the very least 1,000 nits of brightness). The Philips isn’t as much as the duty of displaying these particulars, that are misplaced in a brilliant, uniform sheen.

None of that is surprising. No monitor bought at $500 or under offers a top quality HDR expertise. Still, it is best to know what you’re stepping into. Philips helps HDR, however SDR is the main focus.

How is the Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901’s movement efficiency?

Matt Smith

The Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901 sticks to the usual 60Hz refresh price. It advertises Adaptive Sync help, which is listed within the menu, however the monitor’s adaptive sync performance didn’t work with AMD FreeSync.

That’s unhealthy information for avid gamers. Fast-moving objects present important blur and fast digital camera pans will obscure many particulars of the picture. Motion feels moderately clean at 60Hz however, in comparison with a 120Hz or 240Hz monitor, it appears a bit sluggish. This is true of all comparable productiveness and content material creation displays, nonetheless—even these bought at a lot greater costs.

Should you purchase the Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901?

Philips’ Creator Series 27E2F7901 is an effective alternative in order for you a monitor with intensive connectivity and wonderful picture high quality at a modest price ticket. Philips undercuts rivals just like the LG 27UQ850-W and Dell U2723QE, each of which even have an IPS Black panel, with out sacrificing picture high quality or USB-C. Philips’ design is extra generic, and its on-screen menu system is annoying, however these flaws are a suitable trade-off for pricing that’s sometimes at the very least $100 under the competitors.