Following on from my review of the excellent ultrawide monitor from Philips, I have been sent the Philips 328P6VJEB. This is a 32" 4k screen which at the moment costs £574.99 on Scan and is the cheapest 32" 4K screen that I can find on the market.
What it does lack is FreeSync or G-Sync, so in theory, it is not ideal for gamers. Unfortunately, these features add to the cost, in particular, G-Sync.
This screen is a bit of a beast size wise, it is like looking at a TV. Unlike the BDM3490UC I previously used, there is much more flexibility with how to set it up. The monitor comes in 2 parts, with the mount separate. Attaching the base is quite simple, just clip it in and tighten the thumb screw in the base.
Once built there is a decent amount of adjustments available including adjusting the height, tilting forward and back, as well as switching the screen from landscape and portrait.
The screen also has a VESA mount, allowing you to use a monitor arm if you chose.
The design is nowhere near as nice as the previous Philips, it is a pretty standard design with all black plastic. It is decent enough though, and personally, I prefer the flexibility of adjusting the screen position over a nice design. Especially with a screen of this size.
There are plenty of inputs which should satisfy anyone including HDMI 2.0 w/ MHL, DisplayPort, DVI, VGA, 4x USB 3.0, 3.5 mm audio output. I am not sure why it needs VGA but I guess it could come in handy in some business environments.
Unfortunately, the unusual, but excellent screen controls from the BDM3490UC are missing from this. We are back to the frustrating touch sensitive buttons under the panel. It is quite easy to work out how to use, but as always with these set-ups it is a bit of a chore. I would regularly switch from DP to HDMI for my PC or media player, it was just a bit annoying to do.
Out of the box, the image was less bright and a bit washed out compared to the bright IPS screen on the BDM3490UC, but with a bit of tinkering I managed to get a decent image. The screen is matt so there is not too many issues with reflections.
The most positive feature of this screen is the size itself. At 32" you can just about get away with using 100% scaling within Windows, which gives you a huge amount of screen real-estate, snapping windows allows you to have 4 1080P screens in one which is amazing for productivity.
In comparison, my main work screen is actually a 40" Samsung 4K TV, and I have to use it in 125% scaling because at 100% text appears a little blurry for some reason, and it feels like my eyes are straining. I actually find reading text on this much smaller screen far easier, text is much crisper. My 2nd screen is a 28" 4K screen, and to be honest, I don't like it, I have to have 125% scaling again, and text is still a bit small on it. No way I could use it at 100%. So as far as day to day usability goes, if you want the benefits of 4K then a 32-inch screen is the only logical option.
There are speakers built into the TV, and I sued them briefly, but as you might expect there are not really great for any media. Though perfectly fine in an office for notification sounds etc.
Overall the is a great 4k monitor dependent on your use. If you have a gaming rig that can run 4K smoothly, then you have already spent a lot of money, so spending extra to get a G-Sync screen would be advisable. For office productivity this is perfect though, it is perfectly usable at 100% scaling and gives you an amazing amount of screen real-estate, which is ideal for programmers or anyone that deals with a lot of documents.
Summary While it is not the best for gamers, it's the cheapest 32" 4K on the market and performs great for day to day use, making this an amazing choice for office enviroments.