I wonder what you associate with the phrase “monitor for work”? Which company immediately pops into your head? Perhaps if you are an esportsman, your monitor will not even be an office monitor, but a gaming monitor? In my case – and I’m mainly an editing director – the association is with the Philips Brilliance line. And, in fact, it is its representative, the Philips 346B1, that I have under review.
The cost of this particular model is not small – about $500. That is, it is not a budget model at all, and the requirements for it will be far from budgetary.
The monitor comes with a bunch of cables, including HDMI, DisplayPort, USB Type-A to USB Type-C, a Schuko/C13 power cable, and even an Ethernet cable. Plus, there is an instruction manual. Which, however, is duplicated on the official website.
From the outside, we have a wonderful, solid model. It is rectangular with slightly rounded corners to the maximum, except for the rotary circle at the base of the stand.
However, the styling of plastic for longitudinal polishing will probably never go out of fashion, and it is a signature feature of the B line.
You can immediately see that the monitor is curved and very massive. I’m sure it’s bigger than your previous monitor – because if you have a bigger one, you’re unlikely to reduce the diagonal if you’ve already bought a giant. And yes, Philips has larger models.
There is nothing hyper-interesting on the front of the monitor, the bezels are relatively thin, the bottom bezel takes on the entire thickness for a reason. In addition to the logo in the centre, there are control buttons on the left. We’ll talk about them later.
At the back, we have a bracket that rests on a swivel stand at the bottom. That is, Philips 346B1 has three degrees of freedom – in height, left-right 180 degrees and tilt back and forth, 5 and 30 degrees, respectively. If this is not enough, there is a VESA 100×100 mount, as well as two 5 W speakers.
As for the peripherals, I will say that some modern laptops have fewer connectors than the Philips 346B1. Moreover, unlike my home Philips, some of the peripherals are not located at the bottom, but at the end of the base on the side. It’s still not very convenient to reach, but it’s much more convenient than from the bottom.
Actually, the main array of USB connectors is located on the side, namely USB Type-B 3.0, three USB Type-A 3.1, one USB Type-A with support for BC 1.2, or Battery Charging 1.2. Don’t be surprised by this standard – it’s the correct name for USB, which is capable of charging devices with up to 12W!
Also, without a USB Type-B connected to a PC, all other USBs on the end will not work. That is, it is essentially a built-in hub. Below are the C14 power supply and the operation switch.
Read also: All about USB standards and specifications
On the opposite side, also from the bottom, there are HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2, a mini-jack, RJ-45 Ethernet, and even Type-C with support for data transfer and charging up to 90W. The latter means that you can easily charge your laptop through the monitor, and also output a signal. Actually, yes, you don’t need Thunderbolt 3 for this – a high-quality 10Gbps cable was enough for me.
That’s why the fact that DisplayPort is version 1.2, which is very old, doesn’t bother me much. In addition, there are two nuances. Firstly, the monitor is not of the first relevance, and it managed to visit us only in 2019. This is not a complaint – monitors for work are slow to become obsolete. But just so you understand. Secondly, the panel here is just right for DP 1.2.
To be more precise, we have a 34-inch SVA W-LED model with a resolution of 3440×1440 pixels, a promised brightness of 300 cd/m2, viewing angles of up to 178 degrees, anti-reflective coating and, of course, a 1500R bending angle. Oh, and the refresh rate is up to 100 Hz.
That is, DisplayPort version 1.2 still copes with the task, but in the case of HDMI 2.0, you will have to lower the frequency to 60 Hz. However, I’m already used to it and recommend that you treat HDMI on monitors of this design as a backup, not the main means of receiving a video signal. Type-C, by the way, also has a maximum of 60 Hz.
Other interesting features of the panel include support for software G-Sync (also known as Nvidia Adaptive-Sync, i.e. the monitor is “G-SYNC Compatible”), support for FreeSync, and support for AMD Low Framerate Compensation doubling in case the frequency drops below 48 Hz.
The panel also offers 99% sRGB, 88% DCI-P3 and 83% AdobeRGB coverage. The dE colour accuracy is also… adequate, less than 3. And this is perhaps the biggest drawback of the monitor for me. Even though this drawback is not very big, but I’ll talk about it at the end, as usual.
All in all, the Philips 346B1 reveals itself as a luxury monitor for work in many, many areas. I connected an ASUS S15 gaming laptop to it and edited video with ease. And if you have TWO systems – say, a laptop and a test bench, then no problem.
The USB hub has a KVM switch, which is activated in the settings. The MultiView mode is also activated there, which allows you to divide the monitor into two more or less vertical ones and receive a signal from different sources simultaneously. And KVM allows you to switch between devices.
However, it is worth mentioning here that the monitor does not support “merging” two monitors into one with seamless switching, KVM only switches input, not synchronises it. For synchronisation, you can use software KVMs like Barrier. They offer more features, but are less stable.
The monitor is also good for gaming. 100 Hz is still 100 Hz, and there will be no jerky frequencies. In fact, if you painted the Philips 346B1 red and black and replaced the bracket with a more aggressive one, it could pass for a gaming monitor without any problems.
The monitor doesn’t have a webcam, although I’m used to this feature in the Philips Brilliance line. However, this is not so bad – but I expected more colour accuracy. At least 100% DCI-P3 coverage. What we have is enough for 90% of tasks, but still, for $500 I would like to reach the desired condition.
A great, versatile, high-quality, professionally made and designed monitor for work and even play. 90-watt Type-C, KVM switch, FreeSync/G-Sync and 100Hz – there’s a lot here. I would like a little more, but the Philips 346B1 still costs $500, not $1000. So yes, I recommend it. And I’m waiting for the model to be updated, because it’s time for it to come out.
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