Hands-on test: Philips Evnia gaming peripherals

The Philips Evnia white peripherals
(Image credit: Future)

Update: It's important to note on the side of gaming monitors, as a Philips spokesperson tells us, "Our US colleagues do not enjoy such a vast Evnia range as we do in the UK/Europe." The US will only get two OLED monitors: The 34-inch, ultrawide Evnia 34M2C8600 for $1,500, and the 42-inch 42M2N8900, which comes in at $1,600.


Deep in the belly of a London gaming club, Philips has launched its first gaming peripherals, the newest additions to its Evnia gaming brand. There I had the chance to get my hands on its new gaming headset, keyboard, and mouse. And I've come away feeling a little unsure about Philips' new gamer gear. In particular when it comes to Envia's restrictiveness with colour and whether, in my experience, the various gaming peripherals will live up to their final pricing.

There I was in Platform—Canary Wharf's newest Philips-supported gaming bar—where stood rows upon rows of booths, littered with exceptionally large Philips TVs. The place was partially 'manned' by a winking, dancing robot which sort of frightened most of us, but I was able to sneak past our new robot overlord for some light headset, mouse, and keyboard testing.

As the crowd of influencers, reviewers, and would-be esports affiliates sipped their purple, Philips-themed cocktails, I slipped away to get a feel for the peripherals, and find out whether they live up to the Philips legacy.

On the whole, the headsets all look great. At the low end, the Evnia 3000-series headset design includes a headband that's flecked black and… maybe blue? It's very hard to tell with all this RGB everywhere. It's got that 'I'm made of recycled plastic' aesthetic that plenty of tech brands are moving towards. And I have to say, it's working for me.

The headband is a bit odd though. 

Rather than go for a strap as with the other Evnia series, it's like Philips has wedged a spongy whoopee cushion between the frame and the user's head. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't look bad, and it doesn't make that noise when you put it on, but it certainly looks unlike any gaming headset I've ever tried.

It's comfy enough for a short session, though despite the large ear cups there's not huge amounts of room inside their closed-back design. What those thick ear pads mean is better passive sound isolation, but they may be less appealing for our larger-eared gamer friends. The design is much the same at the other tier levels, with the main differences as you move up being more RGB and, at the top-end, wireless capability.

None of the headsets are heavy pieces of kit, though. Even at the higher end, the Evnia 7000-series' TAG7208 headset with the RGB strip on the ear cups is pretty darn light. The comfort is helped along by a much more effective, strap-type headband here, though. Less whoopee cushion stylings, there.

Generally I take a lack of weight as a warning, but the overall build quality seems in line with what we've come to expect from Philips manufacturing. That is a good thing. 

The adjustable flip mic seems a little on the flimsy side, but we'll see how that fares when we get our hands on it for a longer time. Either way, all the headsets sound like the 50mm drivers have some real rich audio quality going for them.

As you'd expect from a Cherry MX red switch gaming keyboard, the high-end Evnia keyboards feel great. Media keys included, and full size (just the way I like them) they feel responsive and satisfying to type on, from what little I could glean. I'm also loving the bright white, minimalist look.

It really gives the RGB a chance to glow up the whole board. It is a little sad that there's no white option for the lower end; you're essentially stuck with all these extra features (and a higher price bracket) if you want shiny white peripherals.

Not cool, Philips, I want to play ice queen but I'm poor.

The gaming mice on the other hand are looking pretty basic. There's a nice satisfying click to them, with more weight in the higher-end's SPK9708—likely due to the battery pack since it's wireless, as well as the many RGB LEDs included—but there's not a lot to them other than that. Basic, yet functional, the 7000-8000-series will clock in at a peak 20,000DPI, along with dual connectivity and a couple of buttons on the side.

Philips' Evnia goodies have made it abundantly clear that they're trying to move away from the generic gamer aesthetic, though I'm not sure I'd call it 'more elegant' as our Jorge puts it. It's simple, minimal, but still a little clunky. Either way, Philips' first gaming peripherals are coming in June, so we'll have more info then.

The Philips Evnia 3000 series range

(Image credit: Future)
Your next upgrade

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest

As for the new Evnia gaming monitors, these include a new 5000-series offering in the form of a speedy budget panel, and another, still cheaper monitor heading the newly launched 3000-series of gaming gear.

The Evnia 5000-series now includes the 25M2N5200P, a 35% recycled IPS gaming monitor with a 1ms GtG response and 280Hz refresh rate. The 3000-series' new 25M2N3200W VA gaming monitor, on the other hand, runs at 240Hz and clocks in with 0.5ms MPRT, though it's lacking some of the frills of the higher-end, such as a USB dock. The latter does come in at just £180, however. That's £90 cheaper than the £270 5000-series option. We're still waiting on US pricing, but that's incoming.

The new budget monitors have the potential to broaden the appeal of the brand at the lower end of the market, and for competitive gamers who aren't concerned about high-resolution gaming. And together with a wide range of peripherals, the launch has given us the distinct impression that Evnia is trying to bring something to the table for everyone.

Katie Wickens
Hardware Writer

Screw sports, Katie would rather watch Intel, AMD and Nvidia go at it. Having been obsessed with computers and graphics for three long decades, she took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni, and has been rambling about games, tech and science—rather sarcastically—for four years since. She can be found admiring technological advancements, scrambling for scintillating Raspberry Pi projects, preaching cybersecurity awareness, sighing over semiconductors, and gawping at the latest GPU upgrades. Right now she's waiting patiently for her chance to upload her consciousness into the cloud.

Read more
Philips GamePix 900 gaming projector
Philips GamePix 900 review
ASUS
Things you need to know when buying an ASUS ROG OLED gaming monitor
The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM and the Alienware 34 QD-OLED AW3423DWF ultrawide gaming monitors on a blue buying guide background with a PC Gamer recommended logo in the top right
Best ultrawide monitor for gaming in 2025: the immersive panels I recommend for PC gamers
AOC Agon Pro AG276FK gaming monitor
AOC Agon Pro AG276FK review
gaming monitors on a colourful background with PC Gamer Recommended logo
Best curved monitors for gaming in 2025: These are the bendy displays I'd plant myself in front of
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED review
Latest in Gaming Monitors
Sony RGB LED panel tech
Sony's fixing the wrong panel problems while showing off its new 'RGB LED' backlight tech with outrageous colours and brightness
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED review
Asus's new ultrawide sucks as hard as it blows
Asus' new monitors purify 90% of airborne dust from your desktop and I've definitely seen some gnarly gaming setups that would benefit
Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM gaming monitor
Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM review
New Alienware OLED monitors
Alienware launches two new OLED gaming monitors and one of them is its cheapest yet at $550
DIY Perks TV and projector
This DIY 'infinite contrast' screen uses an old projector in a seriously clever way and makes monitors with full-array dimming look like absolute garbage
Latest in Features
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Manhunt 2
I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually
A busy marketplace in The Bazaar.
The Bazaar could be the future of autobattlers, if it stops strangling itself to death with its own microtransactions
Marvel Rivals characters - Hulk with his hands out as if he's grabbing the camera.
Marvel Rivals' growing roster of heroes scares me, but the game's director seems sure that all is under control: 'Everything is progressing smoothly'
Rainbow Six Siege year 9 season 2 key art - two Rainbow Six Siege operators facing each other
'Siege 2 was never on the table': Rainbow Six Siege X director explains why the 10-year-old FPS doesn't need a sequel