Philips 279P1 Review

Our pool of certified testers praised the Philips 279P1 as a fantastic mid-range 4K monitor that performs well for both productivity and office-related tasks. Through tests, they discovered that it features a fast response time, low input lag, wide viewing angles, and a built-in people sensor. In addition, they lauded its extensive USB hub as it works well with most laptops that support DP ALT Mode. However, they told shoppers to watch out for its low native contrast ratio and lackluster black levels.

Picture Quality

Blacks

• Most reviewers were not pleased with the Philips 279P1’s lackluster black levels. They mainly blamed its IPS panel for the shallow black level, as in the LCD monitor space, VA panels perform much better in this regard. In movies and games with a lot of dark scenes (e.g., horror games like Resident Evil 2), they saw that the dark backgrounds looked washed out, and the blacks looked grayer than true blacks. As a result, they did not recommend this monitor for looking at dark scenes while being inside a dark room. But thankfully, they did not notice much backlight bleed, glows, or clouding.

Brightness

• The Philips 279P1 monitor features a decent peak brightness for its range. Experts from both Tom’s Guide and PCMag measured its peak brightness at 350 nits. They thought that the peak brightness was more than good enough for providing good visibility in a brightly lit room, even with direct sunlight. And as this Philips monitor does not support high dynamic range (HDR), the 350 nits peak brightness does not introduce any significant drawbacks in SDR.

Color Accuracy

• Testers thought that the out-of-the-box color accuracy of the Philips 279P1 monitor was just okay. They were impressed with its accurate grayscale tracking, but its white balance dE (delta E) value was mostly a hit-or-miss in their tests. But after proper color calibration using a professional colorimeter, a signal generator, and CalMAN’s AutoCal software, the color accuracy of this Philips monitor became excellent. The white balance improved drastically after calibration, and the changes were very apparent compared to the default settings. They reported it to be a perfectly capable monitor for productivity workflows like color correction and video rendering after calibration.

Color Gamut

• The Philips Brilliance 279P1 monitor covers about 115.8% of the sRGB color space, which is excellent for productivity enthusiasts. In addition, critics measured its Adobe RGB coverage at 85%, which should be more than enough for photoshop users. Furthermore, they measured its DCI P3 color space coverage at 77.42%, which allows it to achieve a wide color gamut.
  • However, the wide color gamut support is mostly useless, as this 4K monitor doesn’t even support HDR (High Dynamic Range) playback with compatible content. As a result, critics could not measure its coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space.

Color Gradient

• Our pool of certified reviewers reported that the Philips 279P1 monitor comes with a 10-bit IPS panel (8-bit + FRC), just like the Razer Raptor 27. As a result, they could not find any trace of banding on this 4K monitor, as it is capable of displaying up to 1.07 billion colors. Even with darker colors and compressed content from different streaming services, the blockiness of color patterns stayed at a minimal level. And despite not featuring HDR support, it can highlight a lot of fine details from high bit rate 4K SDR media sources. According to them, the high pixel count (163 PPI) also helps the monitor in this regard.

Color Uniformity/Variance

• The Philips 279P1 monitor comes with a 10-bit panel that does not suffer from color bleed or gradient banding issues. Product experts were quick to note that, in their tests, they did not see any visible error, especially while measuring the pixel row error and pixel column error rates. Even their professional gears picked up the error rate at a few decimal points, which they don’t expect to ever be visible to the end-user.

Contrast

• Professional testers were disappointed with the low native contrast ratio that the Philips 279P1 monitor offers, as, unlike the MSI Optix MPG341CQR, it features an IPS panel. And monitors with IPS panels usually perform much worse than monitors with VA panels in terms of contrast ratio. Testers measured its native contrast ratio at 1000:1. While it is on par with other IPS panels in its range, it is much worse than competing VA and OLED models. That’s why they reported the low native contrast ratio to be the main culprit of the lackluster black levels of this monitor. In addition, they did not recommend placing the monitor inside a dark room due to the lack of local dimming that would have significantly improved the contrast while compensating for the picture brightness.

Resolution

• Unlike the Philips 226E9QDSB monitor, the Philips 279P1 monitor has a native 4K resolution (3840p x 2160p) with a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is excellent for professional editors who regularly deal with high-resolution content. And as the screen size is only 27 inches, top critics measured the PPI (Pixels Per Inch) count of this Philips monitor at a whopping 163, which is very high for a monitor of its range.
  • But they had to get a fairly high-end gaming PC to play modern graphics-intensive AAA games (e.g., CyberPunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Death Stranding, etc.) with playable frame rates at its native resolution.

Refresh Rate

• Vetted reviewers reported that the Philips 279P1 monitor comes with a native 60 Hz refresh rate. They said that it should be good enough for those who are mainly buying it for productivity (photo/video editing), content consumption, and business purposes.
  • However, it’s not great for veteran gamers, as even the next-gen gaming consoles (e.g., the Xbox Series S/X and the PlayStation 5) can support up to 120 Hz displays for providing a smooth, lag-free experience. And the lack of VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) makes the low refresh rate even worse for gaming, especially for professional esports players.

Glare and Reflections

• The Philips Brilliance 279P1 monitor sports an anti-glare matte coating on top of its screen to diffuse bright reflections. Experts noted that the layer works exceptionally well, especially when compared to other IPS monitors in its range with glossy screens. In addition, they reported the peak brightness of this Philips display to be just enough to provide good visibility in all conditions, even with direct bright sunlight.

HDR

• Unfortunately, pro testers said that the Philips 279P1 monitor does not support HDR, unlike the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQ. They were very disappointed by this omission, as its native 4K resolution would have been well complemented by HDR playback support for most 4K masters of movies.

Image Flicker

• The Philips Brilliance 279P1 monitor features a flicker-free backlighting system that works exceptionally well. Critics could not see any flickers during their tests in any of its picture modes, including in the “Low Blue Mode”, which turns on its built-in blue light filter to reduce eye strain substantially. In addition, they said that the front bezel of this monitor also houses a smart sensor that automatically reduces monitor brightness from the normal brightness when a user steps away from the screen. And it adjusts the picture brightness depending on the scene for minimal power usage and eye comfort as well.

Image Retention

• Most reviewers were glad to note that the Philips 279P1 does not suffer from permanent display burn-in issues, unlike OLED monitors. And they also said that it does not suffer from temporary image retention issues either, as displaying a high contrast static picture for 10 minutes did not have any immediate adverse effects on the image quality. Overall, it is perfect as a desktop monitor, as most desktop operating systems have a plethora of static elements always on the screen that can easily get burnt onto the display.

Local Dimming

• Sadly, the Philips 279P1 monitor doesn’t have local dimming. Top experts were heavily let down by this exclusion, as local dimming would have significantly boosted this monitor’s contrast ratio and black levels. And as it features an IPS display, the presence of local dimming would have at least helped the contrast ratio to get at a good enough point for it to perform well in dark rooms.

Design

Aesthetics

• Product testers were pleased with the Philips 279P1 monitor’s business-oriented sleek design. It delivers a straightforward and ergonomically sound design without being too over the top or flashy. Unlike most other monitors in its range, they could trust its ergonomics for long work hours. In addition, they said that it looks elegant and classy in a well-maintained setup without taking up too much space. According to them, it fits the best in most office spaces with business-oriented configurations.

Build Quality

• Despite being mostly made out of plastic, both the Philips Brilliance 279P1 monitor and its stand are exceptionally well built. Top critics weren’t able to flex the display whatsoever, as it has proper reinforcements at all of its brittle points. In addition, they also noted that its base has metal reinforcements to increase the rigidity and the weight further so that it can hold the monitor well without teetering.

Portability

• Pro reviewers do not consider the Philips 279P1 as a portable monitor mainly due to its screen size and weight. They measured its total weight at 16.54 pounds, which is extremely difficult to move around between different rooms of a house, let alone bring it outside. So we can not comment on this aspect.

Size

• The Philips 279P1 monitor comes with a reasonably large-sized body, as expert reviewers measured its dimensions at 24.1 x 21.1 x 8.9 inches. In addition, they measured the thickness of its side and top bezels at only 0.25 inches, which helps deliver a modern look.
  • But the bottom bezel is almost 1 inch thick to house its button-based controls and the Philips logo.

Stand and Mounting

• Professional testers were extremely happy with the build quality and ergonomics of the Philips 279P1 monitor’s base and stand. Thanks to the toolless assembly process, they reported both the stand and the base to be easy to install. The base comes with a built-in hand screw that also doesn’t require any tool to tighten, and it has metal reinforcements to prevent wobbles. In addition, it features user-friendly swivel (180 degrees in both directions), tilt (5 degrees to 35 degrees both towards and away from the user), and pivot (90 degrees both ways) adjustments. It comes with a 2 – 7 inches height adjustment as well, which is excellent for those who don’t have height-adjustable tables. And they could switch between the landscape and portrait modes quite effortlessly. In terms of wall mounting options, they noted the presence of four holes on its back for a 100 x 100 mm compatible VESA monitor arm or wall mount.

Features

Connectivity and Inputs

• The Philips Brilliance 279P1 monitor does have a fairly extensive I/O. In terms of display inputs, critics noted the presence of one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0 ports that are capable of 4K 60 Hz video transmission. Other than that, it comes with a USB type C port (upstream) that is capable of 65 watts fast charge with USB PD (Power Delivery) compliance. And the reversible USB C connector also doubles as the monitor’s docking station, as it also supports display input when connected to a modern laptop with a USB C port that supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP ALT Mode) over USB C. Thankfully, critics reported that most modern laptops with USB C ports released in the last 5-6 years have support for this feature. Besides that, there is an ethernet port that can carry over the RJ45 internet connectivity to the desktop PC/laptop connected to the USB C upstream port. It is extremely useful for MacBooks, Dell XPS, and other laptops that only have USB C ports to establish wired internet connectivity to get a rock-solid lag-free connection. On top of that, it has a 3.5 mm headphone jack for audio output. In addition, they reported the presence of four downstream full-sized USB 3.2 Type-A ports for different accessories (e.g., mouse, keyboard, etc.), two of which are located on the right side of this monitor for easy access. And one of those ports supports fast charging for compatible smartphones. Critics absolutely loved the vast number of ports, as most laptops and ultrabooks nowadays come almost exclusively with USB C ports, and require third-party USB C hubs to get most functionalities and inputs.
  • The ports on the back (all of the ports other than the two side-mounted USB ports) are slightly harder to reach as they are located on the bottom lip.

Controls

• Reviewers pointed out that the Philips 279P1 monitor’s controls are located below its bottom bezel, and it consists of five buttons (power button, on-screen display menu button, Power Sensor button, input switching button, and SmartImage button). While it is not as good as joystick-based controls more prevalent on Dell, Alienware, and LG monitors for navigating around the on-screen display menu, reviewers thought that it was just good enough for most users. They admired the easy toggle option being available for most things, as the SmartImage button (also doubles as the menu up button) helped them switch between different picture modes to adjust the image quality on the fly. In addition, they could easily switch between USB C, DisplayPort, and HDMI port inputs by pressing the input switching button, and it doubles as the down button in the OSD. As the name suggests, the power sensor button turns on the smart sensor located over it that dims the display once the user moves away from it to maximize power savings.

Bluetooth

• The Philips 279P1 monitor does not come with Bluetooth support, just like most other monitors in its range. So we could not evaluate this aspect.

Menus

• Pro testers adore the fact that the Philips 279P1 monitor’s OSD is easy to use while being relatively extensive. According to them, it does not compromise on adjustability to make the interface more user-friendly. Besides basic settings like luminance/brightness, contrast, sharpness, and gamma, it also includes more advanced Display Overdrive and USB C dock settings in their respective positions. They noted the presence of eight different picture presets that they could easily switch between to adjust the image quality quickly (e.g., EasyRead mode, Office mode, Photo mode, Movie mode, Game mode, Economy mode, LowBlue mode, and SmartUniformity mode). They loved the EasyRead mode for reading PDFs and other documents, as it adds extra sharpness to the display while making the overall color profile cooler. And they recommend users buy this monitor for work to set the image preset on the Office mode as it lowers the brightness and warms up the color palette, which is much easier on the eyes for long work sessions. In addition, they reported that the Photo, movie, and game modes significantly boost the color saturation while keeping the brightness high.
  • The Photo, movie, and game modes may look a bit unrealistic.

Microphone

• Sadly, the Philips 279P1 monitor does not feature built-in microphones. In addition, critics said that the monitor’s 3.5 mm headphone jack does not support microphone input either. So we can not comment on this feature.

Speakers

• Product reviewers were glad to note that the Philips 279P1 monitor does come with two built-in speakers for providing a stereo effect. They measured its combined sound output at 6 watts. While it did not produce mind-blowing and room-filling sound in their tests, they did not think that it was half bad for listening to something quickly if you don’t have speakers or a headphone handy.
  • But it’s not great for using as the default sound source all the time. So reviewers recommend audiophiles get a dedicated speaker system or a good pair of headphones along with this monitor.

Webcam

• Unfortunately, despite featuring a similar functioning smart sensor, the Philips 279P1 monitor does not have a built-in webcam. As a result, reviewers couldn’t evaluate this aspect.

Gaming

G-Sync / Freesync

• Professional testers said that the Philips 279P1 monitor is more of a business-oriented display for productivity/editing purposes. As such, it does not have advanced gaming-specific features like NVIDIA G Sync or AMD FreeSync. So we couldn’t evaluate this aspect.

Adaptive Sync

• The Philips Brilliance 279P1 monitor does not come with VESA’s adaptive sync technology either. Critics were somewhat let down by this omission, as it would have come in handy while using it as the primary 4K display at home with a high-end gaming PC.

Input Lag

• Top reviewers applauded the Philips 279P1 monitor’s low input lag, as they measured it at around 10 ms. While not using their slow-motion gears, the input lag was almost imperceptible to their eyes, and it stays roughly the same throughout all picture modes. Even while playing competitive esports titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Call of Duty: Warzone, they did not feel the input lag difference between it and a full-fledged gaming monitor when both were set at the 60 Hz native refresh rate.

Response Time

• As the Philips 279P1 monitor sports an IPS panel, its response times are much better compared to similarly specced VA monitors in its price range. The brand advertises the GTG (Gray To Gray) response time at about 4 ms, and vetted experts said that the claim holds up most of the time, as they could not notice any smearing issues even in fast-paced dark content. They also noted the presence of multiple display overdrive settings (inside “Image Quality”) that helped improve the response time even further.
  • However, the Low Blue Mode does increase the response time by a slight margin.

Text Clarity

• Professional testers admired the fantastic text clarity that the Philips 279P1 monitor delivers, thanks to its native 4K resolution and a high PPI count. All of its display inputs support complete RGB color profiles along with Chroma 4:4:4 subsampling at the native UHD resolution and refresh rates. In addition, the Windows ClearType font anti-aliasing system helps out further smoothen out bit-mapped texts. And even on other operating systems (e.g., macOS) where Windows ClearType isn’t available, the 163 PPI count takes over the job of text sharpening. Testers expectedly found the text clarity to be at its best in this monitor’s EasyRead picture mode.

Viewing Angles

• The Philips 279P1 monitor offers excellently wide viewing angles, thanks to its IPS panel. In all four directions, critics could go up to 178 degrees off-center while not losing any image details in terms of colors, brightness, or even gamma, and some didn’t even have a setup large enough to determine precisely where the image quality starts to degrade properly. The black levels do not rise at extreme viewing angles either, unlike VA monitors. They reported it to be on par with most OLED monitors in this category, which is excellent for office users with expansive seating arrangements.