This unit was sent to me for review purposes. I don’t get to keep it, and there’s no payment involved—just an opportunity to try out a different monitor and share my thoughts. You can also check out the video review here

I’ve been using this monitor for two days, averaging around five hours a day for both work and hobbies. This review is on the longer side because this monitor is packed with features and specs, so I’ve included chapters below to help navigate.

Price

The Philips 34B2U6603CH/00 is priced at around £560 on Amazon, though it often appears for as low as £420 in Amazon’s resale section—offering really good value at that price point.

Design

• Curved design in black, with a silver stand
• Small bezels on top and sides, larger bezel at the bottom
• Stand is height-adjustable and tiltable
• Pop-up webcam on top
• Side USB-A, USB-C, and headphone jack on the left
• Standard control buttons and power light on bottom right
• Busy light, call light, and mute light on the bottom left
• PowerSensor in the bottom bezel that works with Windows 11
• Rear ports: 2× HDMI, 1× DisplayPort, 3× USB-C, RJ45, and 2× USB
• Pull-out earphone hook on the side

Overall, the monitor looks smart and modern but not revolutionary in terms of design.

Specifications

• 34-inch curved screen, 21:9 aspect ratio
• WLED backlight, 16.7 million colours, 4000:1 contrast ratio
• 450 nits (SDR), 550 nits (HDR)
• 3440×1440 @ 100Hz via HDMI, 3440×1440 @ 120Hz via Thunderbolt 4
• Anti-glare surface for better readability in bright environments

Connectivity

• Audio out/mic-in combo
• RJ45 LAN port
• Thunderbolt 4 downstream (15W charging, data, video)
• 2× HDMI, 1× DisplayPort
• USB-C with 100W charging
• Daisy-chain support on Thunderbolt ports (not tested)
• Side ports: USB-C, 2× USB-A

All of this means you can keep your desk tidy and power multiple devices with ease.

Webcam and Audio

• 5MP built-in webcam, 1080p video
• AI face tracking and crop features
• Windows Hello support (not tested on Mac)
• Built-in microphone and stereo speakers
• Adjustable and retractable camera for privacy

Setup

In the box: monitor, stand, HDMI cable, USB-C cable, and power cable.

Assembly is simple. I used a VESA mount which was also easy to set up. The monitor is plug-and-play.

Real-World Usage

I’ve used this daily over the past two weeks. Here are my impressions:

Display Quality

• Crisp and clear visuals
• Noticeable quality improvement using Thunderbolt 4 over HDMI
• High brightness, no noticeable glare
• Curved screen enhances comfort
• Plenty of screen space—great for multitasking

Webcam and Mic

• High-quality video and microphone
• AI cropping works well for video calls
• Webcam retracts for privacy
• Speakers are a bit quiet—external audio recommended for calls

Docking and Ports

The built-in ports and side access make this ideal for connecting peripherals. The headphone hook is a nice touch.

Settings and Menus

Settings are easy to navigate using the physical buttons. You can tweak contrast, brightness, inputs, and more with ease.

Verdict

This monitor includes features tailored for Windows users—such as presence detection and Teams integration—but it still offers a lot for Mac users.

My main complaint is slow input switching when devices are powered on/off, but manually changing inputs is a simple workaround.

Overall, the Philips 34B2U6603CH/00 is a fantastic business monitor with high resolution, a clear display, quality webcam, and a thoughtful design. It might just be the ultimate business monitor for many users.

Learn more or buy: On Amazon

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In this review we’re going to be talking about the 499P however, the 498P is basically the same monitor without the built in webcam and so this review should help you decide whether the 498P is right for you too.

499P Monitor – Design

The 499p is a beautifully designed curved monitor with slim bezels around the edges and a pop-up webcam on top which can be retracted for privacy. Alongside a huge selection of cables you also get a solid metal stand in the box which can tilt and adjust height.

The curve and beautiful display make this monitor look amazing on any desk as well as giving you plenty of screen space to play with.

Specification of the Brilliance 499P / 498P

With tons or ports and inputs, including USB-C, 2 HDMI and a displayPort input this monitor is packed with features. The rest of the monitor specifications can be split into 2 categories. The display and the extras!

The Screen

Boasting a massive 49″ display with a maximum ratio of 5120 by 1440 this Quad HD LCD display is beautiful. The monitor has a brightness of 450 cd/m2, 3000:1 contrast ratio and an impressive 120hz refresh rate which makes everything super-smooth to use.

The monitor itself has those curved edges to bring the edges closer to you which makes it more comfortable to use and, the anti-glare mode performs better than other monitors I’ve used previously which is great if you work near a window.

Finally, there’s a whole variety of display modes and options you can customise which we won’t go into however, our must-have is a anti-blue-light mode which helps protect your eyes and is a feature offered by the Brilliance 499P and 498P monitors.

The Extras

With a retail price of £1000 for the 499P and £850 for the 498P monitors these are not cheap however, pack in a lot of extras as well as just being incredibly well-made displays.

Built in Speakers

These monitors have a pair of 5W built in speakers at the base of the monitor. These speakers aren’t going to blow you away but sound better than we expected and are completely functional for tasks where you need audio such as editing video and video calls and also sound fine for background music.

Powered USB Dock

With a range of ports including ethernet and USB the built in, powered dock is great if you have chargers on your desk or even IR receivers for wireless mice and keyboards.

Built in Webcam and Microphone (499p only)

The build in webcam is a 2 megapixel full HD camera with microphone. This camera can have it’s angle adjusted and can be completely tucked inside the body of the monitor for privacy when not in use.

Using the Philips Brilliance 499p 49″ Superwide curved monitor every day

We’ve been using this monitor as our daily monitor for an average of 7 hours usage a day over the last week or so and it’s a brilliant, superwide monitor. The massive screen gives enough space for (at least) 3 full size windows which is great if you want to reference several windows at once.

In our usage we’ve used this for editing music in Logic Pro X with plugins open at the same time, creating a website with a web browser, design file and code editor open and, of course, writing content for this site with notes and specs open alongside our article editor.

The display is plenty bright enough, the anti-blue light protects our eyes and the antiglare performs incredibly well.

As mentioned previously, the built in speakers are fine for every day tasks but we still use our HomePod mini for background music as the sound quality is better.

The only disappointing thing about this monitor is the built in webcam which, even in good lighting scenarios looks grainy and, for the price point of this monitor we’d have liked to see a much higher quality camera. That being said, with the 498p costing £150 less we’d recommend most people go for that and then buy something like the incredible 2K AI webcam from AICOCO which we previously reviewed here.

Our Verdict

If you’re looking for a monitor with high build quality that performs really well then the Philips Brilliance 499P 49″ superwide curved monitor is a great choice. It’s comfortable to use, makes everything looks great and has plenty of screen real-estate.

For those likely to use a webcam on a daily basis we’d recommend opting for the Philips Brilliance 498P at the lower price-point and investing that spare cash in a decent external webcam.

You can purchase the monitors using our links below:

Philips 499P on Amazon

Philips 498P on Amazon

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Before we even start this review let me explain that whilst this is marketed as a gaming monitor I’ve been using it for my everyday work as a programmer and web developer and it’s great for every day use!

Pricing

Let’s start by talking about pricing. This monitor retails at £269 which pretty much makes it one of the lowest price curved monitors of this size you can get for the price. This makes it a really attractive option…but only if it performs well (spoiler: it does!).

AOC C32G2AE/BK Specification

The most important thing to talk about when it comes to monitors beyond how it actually looks when you use it is the specification.

The AOC C32G2AE/BK packs a pretty impressive spec:

1. It has a 31.5″ curved screen. The curve radius is 1500mm which means it’s a relatively subtile curve but certainly noticeable. Curved monitors are great for bringing the edges closer and making it more comfortable for your eyes when using a larger screen.
2. It can support resolutions up to 1920 by 1080p giving it a great quality although not as high as 4k monitors.
3. A 240hz refresh rate – This is really impressive and makes everything super-smooth on this monitor
4. 300cd/m brightness – When it comes to brightness stats aren’t always helpful but this monitor is plenty bright enough…I don’t even have it on full brightness most the time.
5. It is packed with inputs! – The monitor has 1 display port input and 2 HDMI’s. There is also a 3.5mm audio output which is helpful for HDMI users as the monitor doesn’t have speakers.

Finally, inside the box you get a power cable, HDMI cable, DisplayPort Cable, Audio Cable and a stand although you can also mount the monitor.

The Design

The design of the AOC C32G2AE/BK is really nice. It has nice slim bezels and a red strip at the bottom. The curve looks great and having the buttons on the front makes them easy to get to.

It’s also pretty slim compared to other monitors I’ve used and the base also looks really smart, also with a nice red detailed ring on it.

Setting up the monitor

As with most monitors, set up is pretty easy. You simply plug it into your computer and you’re away. You can select the input on the monitor but the auto select is pretty good. I run both my work and personal Mac computers into the monitor with different inputs and it picks it up with no problem. I’ve tried running my Mac on DisplayPort and HDMI and both look great!

If you want to dive into the settings the buttons are found on the bottom right hand side and, as with most monitors, are pretty bad to navigate but once you work out how there’s a few nice features including a anti-blue-light setting which is great for your eyes and something I use a lot.

What’s it like to use everyday?

This has been my every day monitor for the last 2 months and it’s perfect. It looks great on my desk, responds really quickly, doesn’t have too much glare and has features to help me look after my eyes whilst using it for extended periods of time.

I’m a big fan of curved monitors as it brings the edges of large screens closer and makes the big screen more comfortable to work with. I also think the size is perfect as there’s loads of space for multiple windows.

AOC C32G2AE/BK Curved Monitor Review – Our Verdict

If you haven’t guessed it from our review we love the AOC C32G2AE/BK monitor. It looks great and performs really well at a really affordable price. On top of that AOC monitors come with 3 year warranties.

You can shop for AOC monitors here or read our other reviews here.

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