Philips 40B1U6903CH

There’s a lot going for this ultrawide monitor

WHAT’S THE PERFECT premium productivity monitor form factor? 34-inch ultrawide? Too small. 32-inch 4K? Better, but arguably a bit constraining. What about one of those 49-inch 32:9 aspect monsters? Interesting, but they’re a little too low-resolution for the panel size at 5,120 by 1,440 pixels. That’s not the stuff of a high-DPI experience.

Then there’s the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, the 57-inch dual-UHD freak. That’s a nice display, but apart from clocking in at $2.5K, it’s almost too much of a good thing. The 7,680 by 2,160 native resolution can be problematic, especially at its 240Hz spec.

For now, then, the answer might be the Philips 40B1U6903CH. It’s a 40-inch 21:9 model, so still pretty massive. It also sports a native 5K2K resolution or 5,120 by 2,160 pixels at the same density as a 32inch 4K monitor. This is essentially a 32inch 4K panel with some extra width.

Once you get used to being able to easily run three application windows side by side, even a 32-inch 4K monitor feels a bit constraining. That heightened pixel density over the various 49-inch 1440p models is a real boon, too.

As for image quality, this is a fairly middling IPS item. While the panel will process an HDR10 signal, there’s no true HDR support or local dimming, and the brightness tops out at 300 nits. Likewise, the refresh rate tops out a 75Hz, and the response is rated at 4ms. So, this monitor isn’t designed for gaming, even if it’ll make a decent fist of that remit, provided you have a super powerful graphics card that can cope with the 5K2K resolution.

The lack of HDR support won’t matter for most computing tasks, but the 300 nits brightness might. It’s plenty for most workflows, but if you like a really bright and punchy panel, it could be marginal.

In all other respects, this is a productivity powerhouse. It has Thunderbolt connectivity with 90W of power delivery, plus full daisy-chaining support and plenty of USB ports. There’s also a KVM switch, making it easy to share this display across multiple PCs, plus a 5MP webcam (roughly 3K in resolution terms). You can use this display as a glorified single-cable dock for your laptop at the same time as having your desktop PC hooked up. It really is a pleasant way to get computing done.

As for downsides, there are very few. The audio-out port is located on the side of the panel, which is fine for headphones, but less optimal for long-term usage connected to some desktop speakers. The 5K2K resolution can also be a bit problematic if you’re sharing this screen across a PC and Mac.

It’s fine for almost any modern PC. You’re also good to go with a Mac running Pro, Max, or Extreme Apple silicon. The problem comes with entry-level Apple ‘M’ silicon. They top out at 6K resolution support. That’s fine for running full native, but because of the way MacOS does its high-DPI UI scaling for non-native by essentially doubling the render resolution before scaling it down, if you want to run below native, but with a high-DPI experience, you have to step down to a virtual resolution of 3,072 by 1,296, which robs you of a load of desktop space.

That’s a niche objection, but worth noting for MacBook Air and Mac Mini users. Otherwise, this is one heck of a productivity machine, and one that I’m sorely tempted to drop my own money on. That’s about as strong a recommendation as any reviewer can possibly make. –JL $1,499, www.philips.com