Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 240 Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor review: Tremendous color and performance

49-inch curved 32:9 QD-OLED with DQHD resolution, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR400, and wide gamut color.

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Philips Evnia 49M2C8900
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(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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The 49M2C8900’s comparison group is all OLED. I’ve brought in Samsung’s Odyssey OLED G9, Corsair’s Xeneon Flex, AOC’s AG456UCZD, Aorus’ CO49DQ and Asus PG49WCD. All are either 49 or 45-inch screens.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

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Philips Evnia 49M2C8900
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

240 Hz OLED is where it’s at and the two 144 Hz screens here are at a significant disadvantage. They will still outperform a 144 Hz LCD panel with less motion blur, but at 240 Hz, there is no blur whatsoever. The 49M2C8900 sits atop both charts with a 4ms draw time and just 22ms of total control lag. You can get a bit less lag from a 360 or 500 Hz screen, but a 240 Hz OLED has perfect motion resolution. And there is no overdrive or strobing happening. This is native performance with no tweaking required.

Test Takeaway: Perfect motion resolution means no blur. And the 49M2C8900 with its 240 Hz refresh rate delivers that. A 360 Hz OLED won’t be any smoother, it will just have a tad less input lag. At 22ms, the 49M2C8900 is more than capable of supporting the most skilled gamers. It can’t really get much better.

Viewing Angles

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Viewing angles are essential for any 32:9 screen, so OLED is the most logical technology for monitors of that size and shape. The 49M2C8900 has no issues worthy of concern. The side view is slightly warmer in tone, but there is no light loss or change in gamma. The top view also retains gamma, color and brightness. You can view it from any angle, or share it, with no reduction in image quality or fidelity.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

As premium monitors, I’ve seen no uniformity issues with any of the OLEDs I’ve reviewed. That said, the 49M2C8900 is one of the very best, with zero visible hotspots in a 10% gray field pattern. There is no visible bleed or glow, and all colors are perfectly uniform from edge to edge.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.