Product Listing

Philips Blade 2 C-Line 239C4QHSB Monitor - Going Green

By Hurrairah bin Sohail - 16 Jan 2013
Launch SRP: S$289

Conclusion

Final Thoughts

At present, the Philips Blade 2 C-Line 239C4QHSB is priced at S$289. This is roughly the same price being asked for similar 23-inch offerings from Dell, AOC, Viewsonic and other monitor manufacturers. However, there is one main difference. The more recent introductions from the rest of the competitors all use the new AH-IPS panels while the offering from Philips is fitted with the older E-IPS panel.

So is the Philips 239C4QHSB worth buying?

When comparing with our previous experience with AH-IPS panels, the Philips 239C4QHSB does fall short in terms of performance. And the fact still remains, that you are paying for old technology when the same amount of outlay could get you the newer IPS versions. This factor counts heavily against the Blade 2 239C4QHSB.

The performance of this Philips product however is not completely lackluster. A white luminescence of 266.2 cd/m2 and a black luminescence of 0.38 cd/m2 are not the highest we have ever recorded, but are still decent. Un-calibrated, the monitor has a strong green tinge to visuals. While calibration helps rectify this problem, it does not give you a completely neutral tone. In our experience, the monitor performs well when tasked with handling the warmer hues and greens. However yellows and black, along with the cooler spectrum of colors were all slightly sub-par. A somewhat average response time also meant that the panel is not particularly suited for gaming or viewing content with high motion sequences.

With no assembly required the Philips 239C4QHSB is ready to go right out of the box. The monitor also comes with a host of presets and features which make it suited for a multitude of casual uses. In particular, the SmartTxt feature is particularly handy and actually does make text clearer and sharper. This would make this monitor excellent for students, teachers, office workers or anyone in general who deals with high levels of reading and writing on screen.

On the whole, the Philips Blade 2 239C4QHSB tries to meet all the expectations one could have had from a product of this class, but falls slightly short in the performance department. It is reasonably priced and offers a set of above average features. If performance was a notch higher, it would compare favorable to the higher end Philips Brilliance Moda 23.6-inch LED Monitor. At its present levels however the monitor is better suited for casual users who would like the simple but effective presets for handling dedicated usage modes, but we won't recommend it for gamers on a budget or users who often view video content with fast motion. Those who would like to "go green", you might also consider it seeing that the 239C4QHSB has great green color reproduction and an environmentally friendly design.

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7.5
  • Design 7.5
  • Features 8
  • Performance 7.5
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Environmentally friendly design
No assembly required
Great range of OSD presets
Excellent green color reproduction
The Bad
Unstable tilt system for screen
Overall green tinge to colors
Bad response time performance
Older panel technology used
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