Philips 275P4VYKEB review: 5K goodness at an almost reasonable price

In recent times, 4K monitors have been increasingly making their onto people’s desks, but 5K screens have been much slower to catch on. The most well known is the one in Apple’s flagship 27in iMac, and there are also models on sale from Dell, LG and HP, but the format hasn’t quite taken off in the way 4K has. Despite that, the number of 5K screens is growing, and the 27in Philips 275P4VYKEB is another to add to the trickle.

At around £860 on Amazon UK, the Philips 5K isn’t cheap, but if you’re in the market for a high-resolution monitor like this, you should be prepared to burn a hole in your bank account. With the LG UltraFine 5K Display coming in at £884 and the HP Z27q at £1,256, the Philips 275P4VYKEB is competitively priced.

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Philips 275P4VYKEB review: Features, design and build quality

As you’d expect of a monitor at this price, its build quality is exceptional and the stand is both sturdy and flexible. You’ll be able to pivot, rotate and adjust the height of the monitor, making it ideal for designers wanting to work in portrait mode.

The bezels have low-profile edges, but both the top (due to the built-in webcam) and bottom bezels are rather thick. I like the black brushed-aluminium finish, though, and the glossy panel adds to the chic look. Glossy panels have some benefits, too – they provide a deeper black level response – although they are prone to reflections in bright conditions.

Video inputs are limited, with only two DisplayPort ports, and both will need to be put to use to display full 5K. If you wish to use the second DP port for another source, you’ll be limited to 4K (3,840 x 2,160) at 60Hz.

There’s also a 3.5mm output headphone jack and a three-port USB 3 hub on the left edge. On the top bezel, there’s an integrated webcam and mic, useful for basic video conferences, plus there’s a pair of integrated 2W speakers.

Philips has always had a feature-rich onscreen display (OSD), and it comes as no surprise that its range-topping 5K monitor also has a broad range of options. It allows you to adjust the gamma, colour temperature (including pre-calibrated Adobe RGB and sRGB), and change between preset colour modes through the ‘SmartImage’ menu.

My only quibble here is that the OSD buttons are touch-sensitive, which makes them frustrating to use. I prefer physical buttons for menu navigation.

Philips 275P4VYKEB review: Image quality

The Philips 275P4VYKEB employs a 10-bit PLS panel with a maximum resolution of 5,120 x 2,880 at 60Hz, and viewing angles are fantastic. Do bear in mind that glossy panel, though. If you’re going to be using it in a bright room, it’s probably not the most practical screen you can buy.

Technically, it’s a bit hit and miss. I tested it with our in-house X-Rite i1 Display Pro calibrator and found it was able to output 310cd/m2 brightness in sRGB mode, which is good, but brightness uniformity isn’t that great. In particular, I noticed minor backlight bleed in the bottom-left corner.

For photo and video editors who intend to edit in 5K, this could prove to be a problem. All LED monitors have some sort of backlight bleed, but on a high-end monitor like this, you’d expect a more consistent performance.

Luckily, colour gamut reproduction is much better, though, with 99.3% of sRGB, 97.9% of Adobe RGB and 86.8% DCI P3 covered, and colour accuracy is fantastic, with an average Delta E of 1.03 (lower is better here). Its contrast ratio is a perfectly acceptable 954:1, too.

Last, but by no means least, it’s not the worst monitor to play games on, although that’s not what it’s been designed for. Its 8ms response time is noticeable and input lag is on the sluggish side, but ghosting is minimal.

Philips 275P4VYKEB review: Verdict

The Philips 275P4VYKEB has its flaws – there are problems with brightness uniformity and those touch-sensitive buttons are irritating – but these are comparatively minor in the overall scheme of things.

The colour accuracy, size and resolution make a great combination at this price, which if you look hard can be had for even less. If you’re in the market for a 5K monitor, you should definitely put this one on your shortlist.