Philips is making a big push into gaming with new Evnia monitors and peripherals

Philips has been releasing gaming-oriented displays for a while now, and we've seen a lot of improvements in the Momentum line of monitors. Now, Philips is preparing for another big push into the gaming market, with a new dedicated brand – Evnia. 

Inside the surreal environment of the Stade de France national stadium in Paris, as the rain fell across the pitch, Philips assembled the world's media to announce Evnia, a new brand of monitors purely aimed at the gaming market. One of the first products to arrive will be a curved 32” monitor with 1,152 zone mini-LED lighting, enabling HDR1400 with a 165Hz refresh rate (although it comes with the rather less catchy name ‘34M2C7600MV’). It’s an ultra-wide QHD screen with a native resolution of 3,440×1,440. Naturally, it features Philips’ Ambiglow technology. On paper, it offers an impressive spec – so what else does the Evnia brand promise?

The brand name itself comes from the combination of two Greek words, which combine to give the meaning ‘Smart Thinking’ and that’s what the powers that be at Philips are hoping to actualise. The first thing you notice with the new screens and associated peripherals is that they tend to be much brighter than we’re used to seeing in gaming products. According to Philips, the Evnia brand will add freshness as well as a premium feel and a sense of elegance. That aspiration is certainly reflected in the pricing – with the flagship 34M2C7600MV likely to be on sale in the UK toward the end of December, at around the £2,000 mark.

January will see the launch of the rest of the initial range of monitors, with various specifications and price points (but similar external styling – bold digit indicates ‘series'), including:-

• 42” Flat OLED 42M2N8900 with 138Hz refresh rate – also close to £2,000
• 34” Curved QD OLED 34M2C8600 with 175Hz refresh rate – around £1,800
• 27” VA Curved Screen 27M2C5500W – likely to be under £600

Increased competition in any market is likely to have a positive impact on customer choice and that’s always a good thing. When branching out, major brands will often cite a specific influence on their process – a specific situation, event or person that sparked the innovation. With Evnia, that person is Sylvia ‘QueenArrow’ Gathoni, a 24-year-old esports player from Kenya, who in 2018 became the first East African woman to sign with a major professional team. Having started gaming when she was just three years old, Sylvia has risen to win tournaments and to become the first-ever Kenyan Athlete to be sponsored by Red Bull. Somewhere along the line, she found time to complete university and she now has a degree in law. Philips wanted input on its new range of monitors and Sylvia has been providing key feedback from a gamer perspective.

The Evnia monitor range will follow a standard Good/Better/Best strategy – with each series picking up product numbers in the 3000, 5000 and 7-8000 range. In summer 2023, we will see a full set of peripherals being released in each range – with increasingly advanced features as you move up through the price categories.

The Evnia 7000 series wireless gaming peripherals will include headsets with DTS X 2.0, ergonomic mice with true 20,000 DPI and mechanical keyboards with Cherry MX switches. All of these will offer Ambiglow and Philips P-Centre control.

Overall, Philips wants its new gaming brand to offer peak performance products, but with a look/feel that is universally welcoming – and all built using sustainable materials and methods where possible. Estimates show that close to half the world’s population will be gaming after 2025 and Philips wants to create products that will appeal to the fastest-growing parts of that market.

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KitGuru Says: We should see the first Evnia displays hitting the market soon, and it will be interesting to see how well they are received. What do you think of the monitor line-up so far?

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