Philips 273E3QH review

Once we’d run the screen through our Spyder4 calibration tool, colours looked much warmer and less washed out, although we did end up losing some of the finer shadow details in dark images as a result of the changes made. Whites weren’t quite as bright as we would have liked either, but they were at least an improvement over the default settings. You can achieve some great results with a few minutes of tweaking, bringing skin tones to a more realistic level and boosting colour vibrancy. According to the Spyder4’s software, after calibration the 273E3QH covers 95% of the sRGB colour space, which is very impressive for a sub-£250 monitor.

Aside from its high-quality panel, the 273E3QH is fairly basic for a £230 monitor. The stand isn’t height-adjustable and doesn’t rotate, although you can tilt it up to 20 degrees. Despite this, Philips has made sure the monitor is well-equipped for handling multiple video sources. It has VGA, DVI and (HDCP-compatible) HDMI inputs, and switching between each one takes a single button press. The 3.5mm audio in and output jacks give you the choice between using your own headphones or the screen’s integrated stereo speakers.

With only 2 watts RMS each, we weren’t expecting much in terms of sound quality, and unsurprisingly the 273E3QH produces weak audio. With no audible bass and a tinny high-end, only the mid-range is particularly clear and the speakers don’t go very loud. It’s fine for YouTube clips, but that’s about it.

We had few complaints about the 273E3QH. Picture quality is very good and the monitor is competitively priced compared to other VA panel displays. The next step up would be an IPS screen, but even the cheapest sets cost around £100 more than the Philips monitor. If you want excellent picture quality on a budget this is a great choice.