01-06-2025
Best multi-screen monitors for productivity and gaming
Best for: Productivity perfection and curves to boot
Having recently unboxed, assembled (very simple, by the way) and hoisted this impressively sculpted offering from Philips, I can confirm that the new 34B2U3600C is an absolute beast. Tiltable and coming complete with a height adjustable – what I'm going to call – slider stand, it's at moments like that in a reviewer's life that they question the adequacy of the size of their desk.
Subtitled the 'Curved Business Monitor', it's most definitely curved, to a perfect 1500R degree to allow for a more immersive experience and ease of multimedia viewing, and it also most definitely means business, with a 34-inch, 21:9 aspect ratio VA LCD that comes packing a resolution of a razor sharp WQHD (3440 x 1440-pixels), married to a contrast ratio of 3500:1, a brightness of an illuminating 300cd/m2, response time of 4ms, and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. A spectacular set of specs, without a doubt, that mean this 'beast' can let you multiscreen your way through work and then instantly relieve any stresses of the corporate day in some online arena of savage combat or, should you be so inclined, behind the wheel of a classic 1987 Toyota Corolla Levin GT-Apex in Tokyo Xtreme Racing.
As briefly mentioned above, the Philips is a breeze to put together, featuring a screw-on stand base that takes mere seconds to secure to the arm, which then simply clicks securely into the back of the monitor – less than a minute, door-to-door. From that point on you can change the height of the monitor through 180mm, swivel through -/+180-degrees, and tilt through -5/30-degrees to achieve the absolute Goldilocks Zone of computing comfort.
Capable of connecting to two devices simultaneously with 'MultiView', once hooked up you can opt to go PIP (Picture-in-Picture) or PBP (Picture-by-Picture), the latter option splitting the display down the middle to act as two separate screens.
Connection-wise, the Philips is an embarrassment of options, racking up 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB-C (90W, DP Alt), 4x USB data ports, 1x 3.5mm audio output and 1x Ethernet RJ45 connection, so everything you could need is amply provided, while a built-in a Smart KVM switch lets you flip between sources with a simple click and utilise a single keyboard and mouse.
Finally, for the eyes there's 'Flicker-free tech', 'Low Blue Light', and 'Light Sensor', and for the ears there's 2x 5W speakers, so that's every multiscreen box well and truly ticked, making the Philips 34B2U3600C the absolute full-package at a price that seems far too reasonable for such a full spectrum of specs.
