Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW Review – Affordable 27-Inch Curved Monitor5 min read

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The Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW is a budget-friendly curved display which promises to deliver vibrant colors and deep blacks for all users.  Curved displays are rapidly becoming popular amongst enthusiasts while more models become available and affordable, making it difficult to separate the good from the bad. The brand has been outstanding in our experience so far, and the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW looks like it could join the pleasantly rated models here at Monitornerds.

Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW Specifications

• Screen Size: 27 Inches
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080 FHD
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Panel Technology: Vertical Alignment (VA)
• Refresh Rate: 60Hz
• Response Time: 4ms
• Contrast Ratio: 3000:1 (Static)
• Brightness: 300 cd/m²
• Built-in Speakers: No
• Stand: Height – No
• Stand: Tilt – Yes (-5°/+20°)
• Stand: Swivel – No
• VESA Compatibility: No
• Connectivity DisplayPort 1.2 x 1, HDMI-MHL x 1, VGA x 1, 3.5mm Jacks
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 8” x 18.7” x 7.4”
• Weight: 12.28lbs

Design and Features

The Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW looks luxurious with its glossy white cabinet and matte black bezels which are only half an inch thin each. These strips are reasonably sized not to be too much of a distraction when using the monitor. What we don’t like about the glossy plastic is that it is prone to dust, fingerprints, and scratches, making it hard to maintain the product’s good looks.

The panel surface of the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW has a semi-gloss AG coating which doesn’t affect the color output, although it produces glare in brightly-lit rooms or environments. This monitor’s casing including the protruding bulge of the innards are only 2.4 inches thick, while the footing of the base eats up 7.4 inches of depth.  Users will have room to spare on an average sized desk, plus, the semicircle stand should allow your bits and pieces to sit in between each peg while you compute away.

The stand on the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW is mostly made of metal with a chromed out finish, so you can rest assured that it is durable and attractive at the same time. But on the other hand, it only offers tilt for ergonomics, and you can’t remove it from the cabinet for VESA mounting. Tall users might need to purchase a monitor riser to raise this display to eye level, and that will incur additional costs which defeat the budgeted nature of this offering.

Like the mechanism on the stand, the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW’s I/O layout is limited in features. You only get a DisplayPort 1.2, an HDMI slot with MHL, and a VGA connector for legacy devices. There are also no included speakers, but you can use the 3.5mm jacks for audio pass through. These limitations, however, do not make this a bad purchase since you won’t miss clunky speakers and the extra ports unless you have more than three devices to connect.

Display and Features

The Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW sports a 27-inch VA panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 4ms response time, and 3000:1 contrast ratio. 1080p at 27-inches isn’t as crisp as a 24-inch version, so if you are sensitive to noticeable graininess or visible pixels, you should get a small model or a higher resolution screen.

The 4000r curvature is more subtle than the 1800r or 2000r we normally see on gaming monitors,  but depending on preference it should work fine. The hugging, immersive feel is less apparent in the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW, but the edges are still closer. This design provides an illusion of a wider view thanks to the closer peripherals, but it isn’t as engrossing as a tighter screen.

Colors are surprisingly decent with near perfect coverage of the sRGB spectrum, making our test images appear vibrant and alive. Blacks and grayscale performance are excellent as well, and the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW was able to display objects in the dark tunnels of the Ardennes forest map in Battlefield 1. If it weren’t for the loose pixel density, we would dare say that the VA screen is capable of crisp, and well-detailed images.

The Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW is only capable of 60Hz and a 4ms response time, so gamers cannot enjoy the benefits of a full-featured gamer-centric model. In our BF1 play through, there were minor interlacing and ghosting during the fast-paced action, but these flaws are difficult to detect if you aren’t trying hard enough.

What’s great about the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW is that despite being a budget-oriented offering, it does include FreeSync and clocks in with a 10ms input lag result. The ability to smoothen games via your compatible GPU is superb, but the responsiveness and the snappy feel is something we all appreciate in a monitor for gaming. Even if the specs dictate that you cannot use this product for competitive gaming, it will provide a fantastic experience for your after-hours sessions.

Thoughts

The Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW offers excellent features in a reasonably priced package which newer products often find difficult to beat. The color vibrancy and contrast depth allow wonderful eye-candy for both gamers and movie goers, plus you get to enjoy a responsive screen with FreeSync functionality.

Of course, there are limitations such as the exclusion of extras like speakers, more video ports, and ergonomics, but these are expected from any affordable product. What’s important is the performance and capabilities of a product as compared to what it promises the consumers. The bottom line is that you won’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get the Philips Brilliance 279X6QJSW, but managing expectations is a must.

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