In this review we will analyze the Philips B Line 243B9H, an office monitor that exposes tons of features and possibilities to increase comfort and productivity. Can it be the perfect companion for our workstations? Let’s find out!
The Philips B Line 243B9H monitor is one of the latest announced and in fact we are faced with a truly avant-garde product, both from the point of view of minimal design and with reduced frames, and from the point of view of integrated functionality. This monitor has been designed for office use, as an ideal companion to a workstation that must be used for a long time and therefore winks at comfort and consumption. Also with the need to work in smart working emerged in recent months, the features of Philips B Line 243B9H will come in really handy! Let’s see how it performed during our testing period.
Main features
Before starting to tell you about the results we got during the test use, we want to introduce you to the Philips B Line 243B9H monitor in a formal way listing its main features:
- Display: 23.8 inch IPS with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution (full HD)
- Pixel density: 93 ppi
- Color depth: 8 bit (no HDR)
- Refresh rate: 75 Hz
- Brightness: 250 cd / m²
- Response time (G2G): 4 ms
- Contrast: 1000 : 1
- Connectivity: 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 3 x USB 3.2 (downstream), 1 x USB 3.2 (upstream), 1 x USB-C, 1 x Headphone output, 1 x Microphone Input
- Multimedia:
- Pop-up webcam with microphone and infrared sensor for recognition via Windows Hello
- Two integrated 2-watt speakers
- Ergonomics: possibility to customize tilt, rotation and height using the pivot supplied, VESA socket (100 x 100 mm)
- Other: Sync-Technology, Adaptive synchronization, Power saving mode
Philips B Line 243B9H review: design and assembly
As already mentioned we are faced with a monitor with a modern and minimal design. On three sides we find a very thin border of about 2 mm, while on the bottom we have a thicker edge of about 30 mm that houses the status LED and the OSD menu buttons. The back is smooth and rounded, in the lower part we find the various ports for connectivity. Closes the picture a matte black color. The stand is equipped with guides for cable management. Globally we can say that the Philips B Line 243B9H monitor shows a simple but elegant design which is perfectly suited to a work environment such as an office or a professional studio.
The assembly is really trivial and immediate. Following the few instructions shown on the packaging directly, simply remove the support from the box and then simply fit on the back of the monitor already exposed from the packaging. Now you can raise your assembled monitor! In about 30 seconds after opening the package, you will have your monitor standing on the desk. The equipment is complete with all necessary cables, so you can use the monitor right away. It will probably take you longer to connect the cables. The doors face downwards and are partly covered by the holder. We also found the power cable a bit short (about 1.5m), it could be a bit difficult to use if the power socket is a bit further away or you want to do some special turns to hide the cables.
Philips B Line 243B9H review: display quality
We come to a crucial point for a display: image quality. Since the Philips B Line 243B9H is an office monitor, dedicated to professionals, we have paid particular attention to the monitor’s ability to reproduce crisp text. In this direction the FHD resolution today represents a bit of a limit. In fact, with a 24-inch screen we reach around 90 DPI, while an optimal value should be around 100-150 DPI for a distance of use of about 50-60 cm. In any case, the display does its job well e the writings are very clear and well reproduced. As seen in the test images of the monoscope (in 4K) yes struggles to reproduce the finest textures for a limit imposed by the resolution, however the lines are reproduced very well and the edges are well defined. From our tests it emerged a slight clouding phenomenon especially in the corners of the monitor which betrays an Edge LED backlight probably. However the display manages to keep up a contrast ratio of 1000: 1, a very good result even if not exceptional. In fact in the chessboard some blacks are noticed a little dirty, which however did not happen with finer details such as those of the cross. Good uniformity of the panel on gray and colored tones.
The IPS technology used allows to achieve high viewing angles, without sacrificing the color range. Indeed the Philips B Line 243B9H is capable of cover space only 102% sRGB, an excellent result for a monitor designed for the office. The brightness of 250 cd / m² is really high and allows you to use the monitor even with a window behind it. Among other things, thanks to the matte screen, reflections are minimized in order to be able to work even in very bright environments without disturbances. Also excellent 75 Hz refresh rate which helps less eye strain. We can safely say that the Philips B Line 243B9H display is of excellent workmanship for an office monitor and can also be adapted to a wider use such as the secondary monitor of a videomaker photographer, But not only! By measuring the input lag we could appreciate reaching 1 ms in Game mode, an excellent result that also makes it suitable for playing games. It stands at around 15 ms in office mode instead.
Philips B Line 243B9H review: the features
Philips has integrated a series of smart features into its new monitors to make work easier and more enjoyable, with a nod to sustainability. In fact we find the function PowerSensor which uses infrared sensors to detect your presence at the desk and automatically adjust the brightness of the screen to save energy. We then have one low blue light mode to avoid deleterious effects on vision. We have 6 modes in total different that allow you to optimize the viewing experience for work, for play or to see a movie for example. From the OSD menu it is however possible to customize the image settings at any time. By the way: the menu is quite simple and well organized, even if the navigation with the keys is not very intuitive. There are some useful shortcuts though.
Multimedia and connections
We come perhaps to the aspect that a little characterizes Philips B Line 243B9H that is the multimedia and connectivity part. As anticipated, the range of communication ports is really wide and should satisfy any need. Special attention should be paid to the USB-C port which allows you to bring data, audio, video and even charging to your laptops with just one cable. In this way the number of cables is reduced and you will have a tidier station as well as more freedom. A bit unfortunate, however, is the positioning of the USB ports on the back which are difficult to access and are not suitable for plug and play devices such as external HDDs or any other accessory to be used only temporarily. We would have preferred to have them on one side or perhaps under the lower frame of the screen for greater ergonomics.
We come instead to the multimedia part. The Philips B Line 243B9H monitor it is equipped with both an audio speaker and a webcam with integrated microphones. It is a great idea since smart working has now invaded our lives, having an integrated webcam with speaker always ready to use is really useful. Furthermore, from an engineering and design point of view, an excellent job has been done because the room has been inserted into a retractable drawer that makes it disappear inside the body: useful for privacy, but also for the eye! Another side of the coin is quality. Both the webcam and the integrated speakers they are of just sufficient quality. The video quality is no better than that of a webcam built into a laptop, while the audio quality is disappointing, with sounds quite distorted compared to reality. Of course for a business meeting they are just fine because you can still clearly distinguish the words. The big drawback is represented by the microphones: the recorded voice (as you can hear in the test audio) is low and immersed in background noise. We are not. A pity, but we recommend at least using a pair of headphones.
Philips B Line 243B9H review: the test in everyday life
From our technical analysis Philips B Line 243B9H comes out quite well, but how will it have behaved in everyday life? We tested the product for about 3 weeks, using it daily or almost daily. We can say that, both as a primary and secondary monitor, ryou will be satisfied with the monitor itself. Using it even for several hours is not tiring and the various smart features do their job. We have noticed that sometimes inexplicably splits the brightness to the maximum and you have to manually restore it to the desired value. We have used this monitor in different scenarios ranging from programming, photo editing and obviously office work with spreadsheets and documents without ever highlighting difficulties or impediments. But even playing (obviously non-competitive) or watching movies and TV series are absolutely feasible. A great companion for everyday life!
Conclusions
This Philips B Line 243B9H positively impressed us. It is not a simple office monitor, but a tool suitable for use in different situations with good if not excellent results. Unfortunately there are some critical points like the multimedia side, but which after all are a plus around the monitor itself. A product that we can therefore recommend to a very wide audience, especially to those multifaceted people who use the PC in different areas. An elegant and simple design combined with the possibility of reducing the number of cables makes the Philips B Line 243B9H a much appreciated work colleague. THEl list price equal to 279 euros it is higher than the category average and could actually turn up one’s nose. We recommend that you evaluate your purchase for discounts and promotions: saving a few tens of euros could be the right compromise. That’s all from the hardware section, keep following us!
Points in favor
- Image and panel quality
- Clean and elegant design
- Complete connectivity
- USB-C port all-rounder
- Integrated webcam and speaker …
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