HANDPICKED BY AMAZON: They did the research so you don’t have to.
SAMSUNG’S LARGEST 1000R GAMING MONITOR: Get your head in the game with the 49 inch Odyssey G9, which matches the curve of the human eye, for maximum immersion and minimal eye strain, and the screen space of two 27” panels.
CUTTING EDGE QLED TECHNOLOGY: From deepest blacks to vivid colors, Samsung QLED ensures pixel perfect picture quality with every frame; Utilizing Quantum Dot technology, it creates more vivid colors with 125% more color space compared to sRGB
NVIDIA G-SYNC & AMD FREESYNC: With G-SYNC and FreeSync Premium Pro support, Odyssey matches every frame from your graphics card, so you’re never caught short from moment to moment
DUAL QHD DISPLAY: The gaming world of your imagination made real; QHD resolution brings you a display as wide as two QHD monitors sitting side by side with incredibly detailed, pin-sharp images
INFINITY CORE LIGHTING: Customize your Odyssey with core color customization to match your monitor with the rest of your gaming setup
RAPID 240hz REFRESH RATE: With Odyssey’s rapid 240hz refresh rate, you have up to four times as many frames displayed on screen every second compared to a traditional screen
SEE IT ALL ON ONE SCREEN: The ultrawide curved panel’s 32:9 aspect ratio keeps games alive—even when you need to pause; Open various windows at once and jump between tasks seamlessly
I’ve owned the following ultrawides: LG 34gk950f MSI Optix MPG341CQR ASUS ROG SWIFT PG348Q
This is by far my favorite.
Pros: – A lot of real estate to work and play on. – A lot of people have complained about the HDR, but honestly it blew my mind compared to my HDR400 display, so I am satisfied. – Fast Refresh Rate – Amazing Colors – The Curve.
Cons: – Dimming Zones are 100% useless, I turned them off right away, it literally splits the screen in ten vertical slices, as you move your mouse across. A whole tenth of the screen become brighter then the rest. – The back cover is difficult to get off. I ended up leaving a USB extension cable to the service USB port so that I don’t have to remove the cover every firmware update.
I have not noticed any flickering with my unit.
EDIT:
1) My monitor is now clicking when it’s first turned on and turned off. For over an hour I keep getting clicking noises from the bottom corners of the screen. -1 Star
2) The area of the screen right above the power button. The bezzel seems to be pulled away a bit from the screen, which causes that area of around 3 cm squared to be visibly brighter then the rest of the screen, even in light scenes. If I massage the bezzel a bit when I first start up the computer it goes away.. But that’s ridiculous. I have to massage it every morning it seems. -2 Stars.
l think the extreme curve is the root cause of these issues, Samsung probably need to instead use a metal fram or something with 0 flex.
Edit 2: The brighter part over the power button seems to be also goes awat after the monitor has been off for 5 min. Also HDR is buggy, sometimes it works other times it does not, seems like a windows thing though.
Honestly seems like samsung is at the forefront of the future gaming monitor. I guess going with such an extreme curve was a risk. But they should have done a bit better with the QC, my final verdict after using it for 5 days is 3 starts, -2 ( for the clicking issues, and weird bezzel pulling away from the display issue)
Still love it and will be keeping it, and would probably buy again.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Gabriel –
Almost perfect! One dead pixel and ever so slight light bleed from 2 corners. Other than that fantastic. Likely will speak with customer service about pixel.. hard to ship it back for 1 pixel bit also hard to accept anything less than perfect at this price..Weirdly some flicker sometimes in Windows but never in game? Only recent issue and Likely a Nvidia driver as flicker wasn’t present prior to latest update.(confirmed, rolled driver back) no flicker. My panel was manufactured in July 2020 so after the initial issues. No panel seperation and the curve and colors are amazing!! Would buy again!
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Milez –
I read online forums and watched all the Youtubers for 3-4 months before purchasing this monitor. My two worries were scaling applications easily like a two monitor setup, and if a 2060 video card could push hard enough to play games as 30X0 series video cards are nearly impossible to find at the time of this review. There’s a downloadable app called PowerToys with a something called “Fancy Windows” that allows you to divide up the screen very easily for productivity apps and it’s actually glorious for me. I have 3 apps divided up evenly on the screen and there is lots of real-estate for it at the native 5140×1440. I had thought that I would have to run the 2060 video at 1080p, but have been surprised that by turning down to medium settings in games I can 70-90 fps in top titles at the full native resolution. I know most people would prefer to see over 100 fps, including me, but whether it’s g-sync or something else, it feels smooth and is truly incredible. Far Cry 5, Witcher 3, Doom Ultimate, Battlefield 4, Battle Front 2, Elder Scrolls online all look great with minimal to no stretching at the sides. Fallout 76 is a mess as it has terrible support for Ultrawide. I only had to turn one game down to 1080p and I honestly cannot really tell. RTX is unusable dropping even Quake RTX down to 13 fps but it was never a great option on a 2060 anyway. In terms of the monitor itself. HDMI sound is not working. I’m deciding if I want to try a firmware update to fix this. I’m not sure it’s that important to me. HDR is great in games and most games see it and turn it on without needing to turn on the dismal Windows implementation of HDR. The colour is great and the whites are very white. I didn’t know what I was missing with my old ASUS gaming monitor. I definitely recommend this to a gamer that is savvy with their tech. If you are not a tech type and are uncomfortable with changing resolution settings and fixing glitches when you change the wrong setting, you might want to wait until there is better windows and game support for these.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
FrogsOnTheRun –
Early review, as needed or in few months I’ll update.
Bought this used/renewed. One ‘dead pixel’ maybe why was returned? Still I don’t feel chances are much different for getting perfect panel buying new. But.. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” If expectation is perfection I recommend different and more established monitor size/curve and tech. I am so happy these monitors are on the market now at approachable price. But the pixel fault class for this monitor is II, so a few dead pixels are within parameters. The “perfection” some claim this price demands would actually make this monitor cost 3X as much I’d guess. Reasonable compromise. This was at the limit of how much I could invest on a single monitor. a dead pixel doesn’t much subtract from it function. And I REALLY wanted a 1000R ultrawide.
Had hard time gauging what expect, but is as I suspected that the pictures/videos all kind of distorted the monitor appearance for me. Not as curved as I thought it might be, which almost a shame because some crazy imaginings of what might be like. Interestingly I think the curve tapers off at the edges as well. I was under impression these were all consistent arc’s .. but pretty sure no, held flat edge along it and gap appear flat at edge. probably some science behind using a progressive curve for functional ergonomics, i just thought the curve was consistent. But yea, I thought the curve would be more. And from researching already knew the curves of most monitors was not stacking up to what I expected when I thought of transitioning to curved monitor design. If I going doing something different I like it to be really different. heh
Optimal viewing distance for 1000R is 1m (3 feet) .. even kicked way back w/ feet on desk, that still closer to optimal viewing distance than even an “aggressive” 1500R curve. Optimal viewing distance of 1800R is a1.8m or almost 6 feet. If that distance from monitor it time to look at TV’s.
So yea. I read a lot of tech reviews on this monitor saying only buy if looking for high FPS gaming monitor. I think they’ve lost touch a little with the common cyberspace nerd. Yes, for browsing, trolling forums, researching or writing, most the high end features of this monitor is lost, and for bang for buck is other panels that will get you the pixel screen space. HOWEVER if the science on the curve is to be believed, the reduction in eye strain over long hours of screen viewing more then compensates for the price difference of a lesser curve, making this the ultimate albeit expensive simple desktop monitor. More than just a reduction of eye strain too, but also faster more efficient work flow in the sense of less time-distance of eye travel and head turning almost like overclocking your organic data input.
..so this does something a more flat ultrawide couldn’t and reduces the argument for staying w/ dual 27″ setups where one monitor can be angled, important for some workflows, even as going to 49″ over dual setup is like adding an extra screen given that most web pages are designed for about 60% the width of standard screen. I’m using Windows PowerToys w/ fancy zones (all free) .. at the moment have it set 3 screen across, though 4 screens across is comfortable too I but transitions webpages into their “narrow” format.
Sure for workbench type workflows I’d want a flatter panel. but i just sit and use computer, so didn’t want go below 1200R
Really had considerable fear of using a non-IPS panel. But they don’t yet have what I call real curve as I wanted more my main center monitor. But I don’t see a lot difference, I like the screen, is a good picture, comparable to my old quality IPS. I wouldn’t have bought this if it didn’t have 10bit color. I’m running it at 120Hz. I do like that in a couple years I’ll be able to run it faster, maybe when doesn’t cost quite as much electricity for a video card to move the pixels but for as little as I notice would be overkill for my uses today.
Now let’s get back to the “dead pixel” on mine. I used camera to zoom in on it and what I saw was unexpected and interesting. my “dead pixel” magnified looks like a stain on the threads of a cotton weave. science behind how these are manufactured must be crazy interesting. As all the progress of science is.
Early adopter isn’t usually my style, but in this case, waiting a few years was greater cost then pulling the trigger now. In 5 years I’ll probably add a 49″ DQHD+ OLED when they exist. DQHD+ is 5120×1600, this is DQHD 5120×1400. So I guess a DQHD+ monitor to keep same horizontal measure would be more like 52″ or 55. and crazy heavy. Reminder: 49″ is the diagonal measurement. a standard that doesn’t work as well for ultrawides. I think this is 47″ width but hard to measure the curve, is 45″ straight across so I guess the curve only eats about 2″ from actual width.
People talk about gaming but I not seen anyone yet mention the most important metric of a new monitor like this. Yes, the Winamp Milkdrop screensaver looks every bit as amazing as you would imagine on this monitor. (don’t forget tweak the settings) Not saying that why I bought the monitor, but I’m not saying it isn’t either.
Looking forward to seeing some MMORPG’s on this. going try some flight sims on this too should be fun.
For the price of this you could get three 34″. But for fully exploiting screen curve for work flow this only 1000R ultrawide, and quality display.
Writing this review I remembered the Infinity Core Lighting, figured out how turn it on, spent lot time debating if mine is defective or it suppose to be this dim. still not sure. It glows, can set the color, but doesn’t project light, I mean the power button alone on an Alienware monitor projects more light I think. Is impressive such a large ring can light up while projecting so little light really. So if you want light behind your monitor you will still have to add that. which is fine, monitors should stick to being monitors. But sense I can’t see behind my monitor it useless. So… should they not have feature it? rethought it, and actually I am glad they made the back look the way it did. it adds to the utility of ultrawide that they can be on display in open area’s without an obnoxiously dull back panel wall.
I have not updated the panels bios yet, seems ok as is. Also will try track down which manufacturing batch mine is from for those interested in that.
Not sure if is just me getting older, or an increase in the density of media content, but I’d increasingly found my dual 27″ setup super insufficient. When one died I really fell behind in being able to stay organized. I have panic attacks thinking about the time of single 16:9 monitor. This thing is heavy and awkward, but I couldn’t imagine computing any other way anymore. To me, this now is just a proper monitor and don’t know how anyone works on anything else. I mean 34″ uw I can manage on in a pinch. But this what you wanna have at base camp. 49″ 1000R is approaching perfection of the monitor format. It’s all about that curve.
notes: 1. at 120Hz, >50% brightness .. the heat from this not much for a monitor. worried it might be exaggerated all the time but instead is probably some efficiency gains over 2×27″ yielding less heat at comparable performance settings it seems and I’d guess. 2. the noise some commented on I finally heard. my environment noisy (so i run soundmachines) so didn’t hear. when I first noticed, sounded like.. a ‘stink bug’ flying into thing, but they are absent this year / didn’t see anything. next time realized it was the monitor. doesn’t sound like thermal expansion, though that easier way to explain it, so might as well stick with the story. sounds to me electrical in origin, when at it loudest almost like degaussing. So tested this in a quiet environment and is way more common than I was previous catching and I can better understand why they thought was thermal expansion noise. does now sound more like taping (maybe similar but not as loud noise my creaky chair sometime make) and I wouldn’t of thought was electrical in source. I should know more about the components of these things that I could give a theory of source, but sounds like something like capacitors/transistors or sort of thing that is discharging, phase changing or otherwise just doing something that makes noise on occasion. heck, could even be some sort of automated localized degaussing when something triggers the need for it. but whatever. my monitors a sound machine. that’s cool. :p I like a little personality. 3. had some problems running this with another monitor. swapped cables, etc. isolated problem to the DP port on my 2070 super graphics card. this worked fine in that port, but when added another monitor, I could no longer use this from that port. switched this to different port and smooth sailing sense. i think that is weird, should matter what DP port, but it happened. it had me scared too, glad was my computers fault. had no problems running this and a 38″ 1600p ultrawide. running this with a 34″ 1400p uw at moment, eventually I will be running all three on my 2070s and will see how it does. will only game single monitor mode so shouldn’t be problem.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Kapitaljin –
This monitor truly lives up to its hype. After much research and some short on hand experience with the ultra wide monitors, I have finally decided on the colossal Odyssey G9. In this long review, I will also give you guys what table mount I used which is also available on amazon, and what dp cable I used as well. I am currently running this monitor on a Asus GX701 / 2080 MaxQ.
The production dates are of importance to this specific statistic. The pre-july models SHOULD come with a blue round sticker indicating QC was rechecked and the bottom portion of the box may have new tape over it. 8th and 9th digit of your serial number is used to determine the manufacturing dates in case anyone is interested. “N” Stands for 2020 and the number after “5,6,7” corresponds with the production Month which I am sure there will be more in production as the year continues.
The importance of these dates is purely statistical and the primary concern for issues would be the backlight bleeding and glitching issues with Freesync on. By no means this applies to everyone who received their monitors in proper working condition but to those affected out of the pool of collected results. Normally I shy away from these but investing north of 1k has my research instincts firing on all cylinders. With that said, I would like to put it in perspective to the enthusiasts who want it laid out in easier terms.
May production dates were a coin toss of near 50/50 as notified by the packaging serial number N5 June production models were the most affected according to the pool of collected serial numbers and reviewers.(N6) July productions were the very least affected and research shows samsung revised their QC guidelines. (N7)
So your chance of having a fully functioning / no bezel separation model for the July production dates are high and as long as the carrier delivering your package does their diligence, you will most likely be in the clear. Again the issues mentioned above are purely statistical and based on a group of reddit members. Keep in mind, negative reviews happen more quickly than those who have positive experiences with the product. I am positive that there are many positive experiences not publicized and as I am writing this, the 52 reviews on amazon is not the whole population of G9 users. My biggest issue was table size and after researching the specs, realized I will have little to no room for my keyboard and mouse pad. I decided to have a desk mounted solution which amazon carries and it has worked out perfect for me and my other ultra wide monitor without a hitch. I will be writing a review on that as well. Link for the mount here: https://www.amazon.com/WALI-Monitor-Adjustable-Capacity-GSM001XL/dp/B07NLMLLT6/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=heavy+duty+monitor+mount&qid=1601493145&sr=8-5
Now for the monitor experience itself! (Finally) Holy SH! batman! The ever so small dream of being in the future like some sci fi movies you probably won’t be able to enjoy on this monitor due to it’s 32:9 aspect ratio…. well the dream is now finally a reality and it’s great! Not to say this is my first experience on an ultrawide but with the 1000r curvature, this truly is more eye pleasing and has me on the hook. Some say the angle is too aggressive but I believe the general consensus would say, you will adapt my overly critical friend. Shopping on amazon and searching for Odyssey G9 issues was never so much easier on this monitor. The initial settings Samsung has it pre-set to did cause some ghosting but with a quick search on google, the issue was solved and understood. (adjust your response time to “standard” and ghosting will be gone). I have tested functionality with free sync on looking for glitches or screen tearing which I have not been able to replicate. I may have to do further testing and more adjustments in graphical settings in an attempt to replicate some of the issues however I am starting to believe this could be due to cable choices of majority users (factory Samsung provided cables). I am by no means a cable engineer but I have done plenty of research which shows a quick cable change to a more superior put these issues to rest. HDR mode functions without a glitch, 240hz settings with freesync (in monitor options) work fine again without tearing or flickering, however I do not believe my GX701 or the 2080’s current software is capable of recognizing this monitor as a gsync monitor so further testing and updates will be provided as I dig deeper into this option filled monitor.
Now the main reason why I opted for this monitor was 2 things. The curve, and future proof. This monitor is full of features where the future is headed. Upgrading the monitor would most likely be the least of my worries for any of my other future hardware changes. I mainly use my computer for productivity and I do enjoy good quality gaming such as COD / Destiny 2 which is not as demanding as some of the other games out on the market. This monitor is more or less perfect for my application and truly sets a new standard to my home office / man cave vibe.
I do currently have a small hiccup but I do believe the upcoming firmware updates will take care of these issues. -Turning off the computer does not turn off the monitor. (every single monitor I have had in the past never had this issue and they were all samsung monitors on this specific laptop). ****fixed**** samsung’s website has a software (not firmware) for this monitor. Installed it and everything went back to normal correcting this issue. -Gsync functionality with my current graphics card 2080 max q (laptop) does not give me the gsync functionality. (software update waiting from nvidia, and yes my laptop has a built in gsync monitor)
Conclusion:I personally have no issues with Samsung’s Odyssey G9. I have returned 1 prior to this as I purchased it from best buy and video caught the fedex driver dropping my package and the production date was N5 meaning May of this year with a blue QC sticker. I didn’t even bother opening and brought it straight back in for the return. The one I am currently reviewing is a N7 (July Production date model) and with much confidence I opened this package with a smile and am very pleased with this monitor hence my 5 star review.
**UPDATE**
It has been well over a month with no additional software downloads or changes to my hardware. Everything works perfectly fine. I haven’t heard any crackling noise and there is no light bleed.
Added some photos to help and entertain you folks of my set up!
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
robert marshall –
This is a beautiful monitor all I had to do is turn off local dimming and I have had zero issues. Nothing wrong with the build quality, no dead pixels. No flickering.
I ordered mine when it was on sale for $1750 in early October.
FYI you need a 3000 series gpu to be able to select all the options or it won’t let you. Even 2080 ti won’t let you.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Dusky –
3 Months Later:
Although I’m still head over heels for this monitor, especially for productivity, there are still 3 things that bother me.
#1) The monitor stand is really not a good stand. It should be able to go at least another inch higher. I’m only 5’7, and with the monitor at max height, I’d find myself slouching so that my eyes were ‘above’ the monitor. Sure, there is a monitor arm that can handle the G9. The Ergotron HX with the HD Pivot, which is what I got. But spending an extra 400$ (CAD) on a 1700$ Monitor is a bit insane to me. They could have easily made a stand that got this bad boy higher, but costs and what not I guess.
#2) The flickering issues are only fixed if you enabled the VRR setting in the menu. But at least if you have that setting enabled you won’t get flickering. Although for me even with it set to off, I’d strangely only get flickering in loading screens, or rarely in some menus.
#3) After talking with colleagues who also own Odyssey monitors (G7 or G9). They also have the weird issue with certain colors appearing as alternating bright/dark lines rather than a homogenous color. I should count myself lucky as this only occurs on the very top of the monitor and the top corners. My other colleague who has a G7 says that any red on his screen will show as alternating pink/red lines. (Not really pink but a bright shade of red) Your mileage may vary, but I’m slowly getting used to it.
Note on Performance: This isn’t really a con or something that bothers me. But I’m pretty shocked to see this monitor is definitely giving my RTX 3080 a run for it’s money. Games like RDR2 will run around 70 to 90 FPS in intense scenes, where plains and open ares can run at 120 fps-ish.
Note of Movies : I have to say. If you can find movies that “support” the 32:9 it’s really something. Sure you’ll get a bit of black bars on the side, ~5inches or so on each side. It almost feels like watching a movie on a personal cinema screen.
Overall no regrets. But even though I got the monitor on special, the monitor arm came and ate away at those savings. Buy on special, and careful with the HX arm resellers, I saw the price go from 380$ all the way to 500$ depending on the time of day. (I’m assuming it’s based on stock, but seriously it feels like you’re buying it off the stock market.) ———— Original Review:
PROS: 1) Even better than 3 monitors for productivity. After taking some time to setup some FancyZones. I’m really blow away at how amazing it is to be able to work across a panel of this size. I’m upgrading for a Triple monitor setup (on a Ergotech 3 monitor arm). And even a few days in. I’m amazed at how much more effective it is to have all your monitors on the same continuous panel. Again, FanzyZones are a must but once you’ve got it tuned to your liking. It’s amazing 2) Next level immersion with games that support the aspect ratio. Seriously something that cannot be explained in words and needs to be experienced to understand fully. My wife who’s not a gamer at all now has taken an interest to driving games just because of how immersive it is. 3) Really Vivid Colors. Going from a TN Panel to IPS I was blown away by how vivid colors were. So I was concerned switching to VA. But it’s also very punchy. (But strange pixelization with the color orange.) 4) Super Bright, not a fan of HDR and I’m not using it. But with HDR off, the panel can be really bright with pretty damn good blacks.
CONS: 1) Stand is a little wobbly, I use a Pixoo-TV to nudge it underneath one of the sides to help stabilize it. Definitely needs a very stable surface to work on. Depending on how sturdy the desk is not sure a monitor arm would help for wobblyness. But it’s expected at a panel that size. 2) Not sure if it’s the combination of having this monitor with a second 1080p TV hooked up. But there is an odd behavior that if I try to launch a game which doesn’t have any widescreen resolution, or set to a low resolution by default. It can cause the display to freak out. It’ll display the image best it can be with immense lag and with weird redraw issues. And in some cases this would cause my 1080p screen to get ‘disabled’ where I would need to plug/unplug the Monitor. In any case if running older games on this monitor I’d suggest forcing windowed mode. 3) Although the colors look really good on this monitor. (Not even calibrated) But there is 1 color that looks weird. Some tints of orange instead of appearing as fat uniform color. I can see some kind of matrixing/pixelation going on. It’s not all shades of orange just some in particular.
IN BETWEEN: A lot of features CANNOT be abled at the same time, or lock other features to preset values. When enabling Adaptive Sync/GSYNC the monitor seems to lock the Pixel Response time to Fast or Fastest. Which makes it so that fast moving objects on screen will have leading (or trailing) coronas. Definitely not as noticeable if you would have with GSYNC off, and pixel response time set to standard. But then again, with my PG279Q, (IPS Panel) although I don’t experience coronas at all. Small details would get very, blurry with fast motion. Playing 2D games with fast scrolling wouldn’t be a nice experience on that monitor. For me at least, I prefer some form of corona if it means I can still see the object with acceptable level of detail. This obviously is subjective and a matter of preference.
CONCLUSION:
I think that even though this monitor has it’s quirks. For me at the very least, It’s got enough good things that overshadow the bad. And from a productivity stand point it’s hard to go back after you’re had a taste of this size.
And if you have the PC to power this beast, it will give you a immersive gaming experience like no other. Seriously driving and first person shooters on this thing are mind blowing. (WHEN PROPERLY SUPPORTED!)
Khaled El-Salakawy –
I’ve owned the following ultrawides:
LG 34gk950f
MSI Optix MPG341CQR
ASUS ROG SWIFT PG348Q
This is by far my favorite.
Pros:
– A lot of real estate to work and play on.
– A lot of people have complained about the HDR, but honestly it blew my mind compared to my HDR400 display, so I am satisfied.
– Fast Refresh Rate
– Amazing Colors
– The Curve.
Cons:
– Dimming Zones are 100% useless, I turned them off right away, it literally splits the screen in ten vertical slices, as you move your mouse across. A whole tenth of the screen become brighter then the rest.
– The back cover is difficult to get off. I ended up leaving a USB extension cable to the service USB port so that I don’t have to remove the cover every firmware update.
I have not noticed any flickering with my unit.
EDIT:
1) My monitor is now clicking when it’s first turned on and turned off. For over an hour I keep getting clicking noises from the bottom corners of the screen. -1 Star
2) The area of the screen right above the power button. The bezzel seems to be pulled away a bit from the screen, which causes that area of around 3 cm squared to be visibly brighter then the rest of the screen, even in light scenes. If I massage the bezzel a bit when I first start up the computer it goes away.. But that’s ridiculous. I have to massage it every morning it seems. -2 Stars.
l think the extreme curve is the root cause of these issues, Samsung probably need to instead use a metal fram or something with 0 flex.
Edit 2: The brighter part over the power button seems to be also goes awat after the monitor has been off for 5 min. Also HDR is buggy, sometimes it works other times it does not, seems like a windows thing though.
Honestly seems like samsung is at the forefront of the future gaming monitor. I guess going with such an extreme curve was a risk. But they should have done a bit better with the QC, my final verdict after using it for 5 days is 3 starts, -2 ( for the clicking issues, and weird bezzel pulling away from the display issue)
Still love it and will be keeping it, and would probably buy again.
Gabriel –
Almost perfect! One dead pixel and ever so slight light bleed from 2 corners. Other than that fantastic. Likely will speak with customer service about pixel.. hard to ship it back for 1 pixel bit also hard to accept anything less than perfect at this price..Weirdly some flicker sometimes in Windows but never in game? Only recent issue and Likely a Nvidia driver as flicker wasn’t present prior to latest update.(confirmed, rolled driver back) no flicker. My panel was manufactured in July 2020 so after the initial issues. No panel seperation and the curve and colors are amazing!! Would buy again!
Milez –
I read online forums and watched all the Youtubers for 3-4 months before purchasing this monitor. My two worries were scaling applications easily like a two monitor setup, and if a 2060 video card could push hard enough to play games as 30X0 series video cards are nearly impossible to find at the time of this review. There’s a downloadable app called PowerToys with a something called “Fancy Windows” that allows you to divide up the screen very easily for productivity apps and it’s actually glorious for me. I have 3 apps divided up evenly on the screen and there is lots of real-estate for it at the native 5140×1440. I had thought that I would have to run the 2060 video at 1080p, but have been surprised that by turning down to medium settings in games I can 70-90 fps in top titles at the full native resolution. I know most people would prefer to see over 100 fps, including me, but whether it’s g-sync or something else, it feels smooth and is truly incredible. Far Cry 5, Witcher 3, Doom Ultimate, Battlefield 4, Battle Front 2, Elder Scrolls online all look great with minimal to no stretching at the sides. Fallout 76 is a mess as it has terrible support for Ultrawide. I only had to turn one game down to 1080p and I honestly cannot really tell. RTX is unusable dropping even Quake RTX down to 13 fps but it was never a great option on a 2060 anyway. In terms of the monitor itself. HDMI sound is not working. I’m deciding if I want to try a firmware update to fix this. I’m not sure it’s that important to me. HDR is great in games and most games see it and turn it on without needing to turn on the dismal Windows implementation of HDR. The colour is great and the whites are very white. I didn’t know what I was missing with my old ASUS gaming monitor. I definitely recommend this to a gamer that is savvy with their tech. If you are not a tech type and are uncomfortable with changing resolution settings and fixing glitches when you change the wrong setting, you might want to wait until there is better windows and game support for these.
FrogsOnTheRun –
Early review, as needed or in few months I’ll update.
Bought this used/renewed. One ‘dead pixel’ maybe why was returned? Still I don’t feel chances are much different for getting perfect panel buying new. But.. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” If expectation is perfection I recommend different and more established monitor size/curve and tech. I am so happy these monitors are on the market now at approachable price. But the pixel fault class for this monitor is II, so a few dead pixels are within parameters. The “perfection” some claim this price demands would actually make this monitor cost 3X as much I’d guess. Reasonable compromise. This was at the limit of how much I could invest on a single monitor. a dead pixel doesn’t much subtract from it function. And I REALLY wanted a 1000R ultrawide.
Had hard time gauging what expect, but is as I suspected that the pictures/videos all kind of distorted the monitor appearance for me. Not as curved as I thought it might be, which almost a shame because some crazy imaginings of what might be like. Interestingly I think the curve tapers off at the edges as well. I was under impression these were all consistent arc’s .. but pretty sure no, held flat edge along it and gap appear flat at edge. probably some science behind using a progressive curve for functional ergonomics, i just thought the curve was consistent. But yea, I thought the curve would be more. And from researching already knew the curves of most monitors was not stacking up to what I expected when I thought of transitioning to curved monitor design. If I going doing something different I like it to be really different. heh
Optimal viewing distance for 1000R is 1m (3 feet) .. even kicked way back w/ feet on desk, that still closer to optimal viewing distance than even an “aggressive” 1500R curve. Optimal viewing distance of 1800R is a1.8m or almost 6 feet. If that distance from monitor it time to look at TV’s.
So yea. I read a lot of tech reviews on this monitor saying only buy if looking for high FPS gaming monitor. I think they’ve lost touch a little with the common cyberspace nerd. Yes, for browsing, trolling forums, researching or writing, most the high end features of this monitor is lost, and for bang for buck is other panels that will get you the pixel screen space. HOWEVER if the science on the curve is to be believed, the reduction in eye strain over long hours of screen viewing more then compensates for the price difference of a lesser curve, making this the ultimate albeit expensive simple desktop monitor. More than just a reduction of eye strain too, but also faster more efficient work flow in the sense of less time-distance of eye travel and head turning almost like overclocking your organic data input.
..so this does something a more flat ultrawide couldn’t and reduces the argument for staying w/ dual 27″ setups where one monitor can be angled, important for some workflows, even as going to 49″ over dual setup is like adding an extra screen given that most web pages are designed for about 60% the width of standard screen. I’m using Windows PowerToys w/ fancy zones (all free) .. at the moment have it set 3 screen across, though 4 screens across is comfortable too I but transitions webpages into their “narrow” format.
Sure for workbench type workflows I’d want a flatter panel. but i just sit and use computer, so didn’t want go below 1200R
Really had considerable fear of using a non-IPS panel. But they don’t yet have what I call real curve as I wanted more my main center monitor. But I don’t see a lot difference, I like the screen, is a good picture, comparable to my old quality IPS. I wouldn’t have bought this if it didn’t have 10bit color. I’m running it at 120Hz. I do like that in a couple years I’ll be able to run it faster, maybe when doesn’t cost quite as much electricity for a video card to move the pixels but for as little as I notice would be overkill for my uses today.
Now let’s get back to the “dead pixel” on mine. I used camera to zoom in on it and what I saw was unexpected and interesting. my “dead pixel” magnified looks like a stain on the threads of a cotton weave. science behind how these are manufactured must be crazy interesting. As all the progress of science is.
Early adopter isn’t usually my style, but in this case, waiting a few years was greater cost then pulling the trigger now. In 5 years I’ll probably add a 49″ DQHD+ OLED when they exist. DQHD+ is 5120×1600, this is DQHD 5120×1400. So I guess a DQHD+ monitor to keep same horizontal measure would be more like 52″ or 55. and crazy heavy. Reminder: 49″ is the diagonal measurement. a standard that doesn’t work as well for ultrawides. I think this is 47″ width but hard to measure the curve, is 45″ straight across so I guess the curve only eats about 2″ from actual width.
People talk about gaming but I not seen anyone yet mention the most important metric of a new monitor like this. Yes, the Winamp Milkdrop screensaver looks every bit as amazing as you would imagine on this monitor. (don’t forget tweak the settings) Not saying that why I bought the monitor, but I’m not saying it isn’t either.
Looking forward to seeing some MMORPG’s on this. going try some flight sims on this too should be fun.
For the price of this you could get three 34″. But for fully exploiting screen curve for work flow this only 1000R ultrawide, and quality display.
Writing this review I remembered the Infinity Core Lighting, figured out how turn it on, spent lot time debating if mine is defective or it suppose to be this dim. still not sure. It glows, can set the color, but doesn’t project light, I mean the power button alone on an Alienware monitor projects more light I think. Is impressive such a large ring can light up while projecting so little light really. So if you want light behind your monitor you will still have to add that. which is fine, monitors should stick to being monitors. But sense I can’t see behind my monitor it useless. So… should they not have feature it? rethought it, and actually I am glad they made the back look the way it did. it adds to the utility of ultrawide that they can be on display in open area’s without an obnoxiously dull back panel wall.
I have not updated the panels bios yet, seems ok as is. Also will try track down which manufacturing batch mine is from for those interested in that.
Not sure if is just me getting older, or an increase in the density of media content, but I’d increasingly found my dual 27″ setup super insufficient. When one died I really fell behind in being able to stay organized. I have panic attacks thinking about the time of single 16:9 monitor. This thing is heavy and awkward, but I couldn’t imagine computing any other way anymore. To me, this now is just a proper monitor and don’t know how anyone works on anything else. I mean 34″ uw I can manage on in a pinch. But this what you wanna have at base camp.
49″ 1000R is approaching perfection of the monitor format. It’s all about that curve.
notes:
1. at 120Hz, >50% brightness .. the heat from this not much for a monitor. worried it might be exaggerated all the time but instead is probably some efficiency gains over 2×27″ yielding less heat at comparable performance settings it seems and I’d guess.
2. the noise some commented on I finally heard. my environment noisy (so i run soundmachines) so didn’t hear. when I first noticed, sounded like.. a ‘stink bug’ flying into thing, but they are absent this year / didn’t see anything. next time realized it was the monitor. doesn’t sound like thermal expansion, though that easier way to explain it, so might as well stick with the story. sounds to me electrical in origin, when at it loudest almost like degaussing. So tested this in a quiet environment and is way more common than I was previous catching and I can better understand why they thought was thermal expansion noise. does now sound more like taping (maybe similar but not as loud noise my creaky chair sometime make) and I wouldn’t of thought was electrical in source. I should know more about the components of these things that I could give a theory of source, but sounds like something like capacitors/transistors or sort of thing that is discharging, phase changing or otherwise just doing something that makes noise on occasion. heck, could even be some sort of automated localized degaussing when something triggers the need for it. but whatever. my monitors a sound machine. that’s cool. :p I like a little personality.
3. had some problems running this with another monitor. swapped cables, etc. isolated problem to the DP port on my 2070 super graphics card. this worked fine in that port, but when added another monitor, I could no longer use this from that port. switched this to different port and smooth sailing sense. i think that is weird, should matter what DP port, but it happened. it had me scared too, glad was my computers fault. had no problems running this and a 38″ 1600p ultrawide. running this with a 34″ 1400p uw at moment, eventually I will be running all three on my 2070s and will see how it does. will only game single monitor mode so shouldn’t be problem.
Kapitaljin –
This monitor truly lives up to its hype. After much research and some short on hand experience with the ultra wide monitors, I have finally decided on the colossal Odyssey G9. In this long review, I will also give you guys what table mount I used which is also available on amazon, and what dp cable I used as well. I am currently running this monitor on a Asus GX701 / 2080 MaxQ.
The production dates are of importance to this specific statistic. The pre-july models SHOULD come with a blue round sticker indicating QC was rechecked and the bottom portion of the box may have new tape over it. 8th and 9th digit of your serial number is used to determine the manufacturing dates in case anyone is interested. “N” Stands for 2020 and the number after “5,6,7” corresponds with the production Month which I am sure there will be more in production as the year continues.
The importance of these dates is purely statistical and the primary concern for issues would be the backlight bleeding and glitching issues with Freesync on. By no means this applies to everyone who received their monitors in proper working condition but to those affected out of the pool of collected results. Normally I shy away from these but investing north of 1k has my research instincts firing on all cylinders. With that said, I would like to put it in perspective to the enthusiasts who want it laid out in easier terms.
May production dates were a coin toss of near 50/50 as notified by the packaging serial number N5
June production models were the most affected according to the pool of collected serial numbers and reviewers.(N6)
July productions were the very least affected and research shows samsung revised their QC guidelines. (N7)
So your chance of having a fully functioning / no bezel separation model for the July production dates are high and as long as the carrier delivering your package does their diligence, you will most likely be in the clear.
Again the issues mentioned above are purely statistical and based on a group of reddit members. Keep in mind, negative reviews happen more quickly than those who have positive experiences with the product. I am positive that there are many positive experiences not publicized and as I am writing this, the 52 reviews on amazon is not the whole population of G9 users.
My biggest issue was table size and after researching the specs, realized I will have little to no room for my keyboard and mouse pad. I decided to have a desk mounted solution which amazon carries and it has worked out perfect for me and my other ultra wide monitor without a hitch. I will be writing a review on that as well. Link for the mount here: https://www.amazon.com/WALI-Monitor-Adjustable-Capacity-GSM001XL/dp/B07NLMLLT6/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=heavy+duty+monitor+mount&qid=1601493145&sr=8-5
Now for the monitor experience itself! (Finally)
Holy SH! batman! The ever so small dream of being in the future like some sci fi movies you probably won’t be able to enjoy on this monitor due to it’s 32:9 aspect ratio…. well the dream is now finally a reality and it’s great! Not to say this is my first experience on an ultrawide but with the 1000r curvature, this truly is more eye pleasing and has me on the hook. Some say the angle is too aggressive but I believe the general consensus would say, you will adapt my overly critical friend. Shopping on amazon and searching for Odyssey G9 issues was never so much easier on this monitor. The initial settings Samsung has it pre-set to did cause some ghosting but with a quick search on google, the issue was solved and understood. (adjust your response time to “standard” and ghosting will be gone). I have tested functionality with free sync on looking for glitches or screen tearing which I have not been able to replicate. I may have to do further testing and more adjustments in graphical settings in an attempt to replicate some of the issues however I am starting to believe this could be due to cable choices of majority users (factory Samsung provided cables). I am by no means a cable engineer but I have done plenty of research which shows a quick cable change to a more superior put these issues to rest. HDR mode functions without a glitch, 240hz settings with freesync (in monitor options) work fine again without tearing or flickering, however I do not believe my GX701 or the 2080’s current software is capable of recognizing this monitor as a gsync monitor so further testing and updates will be provided as I dig deeper into this option filled monitor.
Now the main reason why I opted for this monitor was 2 things. The curve, and future proof. This monitor is full of features where the future is headed. Upgrading the monitor would most likely be the least of my worries for any of my other future hardware changes. I mainly use my computer for productivity and I do enjoy good quality gaming such as COD / Destiny 2 which is not as demanding as some of the other games out on the market. This monitor is more or less perfect for my application and truly sets a new standard to my home office / man cave vibe.
I do currently have a small hiccup but I do believe the upcoming firmware updates will take care of these issues.
-Turning off the computer does not turn off the monitor. (every single monitor I have had in the past never had this issue and they were all samsung monitors on this specific laptop).
****fixed**** samsung’s website has a software (not firmware) for this monitor. Installed it and everything went back to normal correcting this issue.
-Gsync functionality with my current graphics card 2080 max q (laptop) does not give me the gsync functionality. (software update waiting from nvidia, and yes my laptop has a built in gsync monitor)
In terms of Cable, I am currently using: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087QJ4WHR?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share 10ft cable as my laptop sits to my left and the monitor stand base to my right. The excess is just enough (wish it was 1ft longer) for proper cable management.
Conclusion:I personally have no issues with Samsung’s Odyssey G9. I have returned 1 prior to this as I purchased it from best buy and video caught the fedex driver dropping my package and the production date was N5 meaning May of this year with a blue QC sticker. I didn’t even bother opening and brought it straight back in for the return. The one I am currently reviewing is a N7 (July Production date model) and with much confidence I opened this package with a smile and am very pleased with this monitor hence my 5 star review.
**UPDATE**
It has been well over a month with no additional software downloads or changes to my hardware. Everything works perfectly fine. I haven’t heard any crackling noise and there is no light bleed.
Added some photos to help and entertain you folks of my set up!
robert marshall –
This is a beautiful monitor all I had to do is turn off local dimming and I have had zero issues. Nothing wrong with the build quality, no dead pixels. No flickering.
I ordered mine when it was on sale for $1750 in early October.
FYI you need a 3000 series gpu to be able to select all the options or it won’t let you. Even 2080 ti won’t let you.
Dusky –
3 Months Later:
Although I’m still head over heels for this monitor, especially for productivity, there are still 3 things that bother me.
#1) The monitor stand is really not a good stand. It should be able to go at least another inch higher. I’m only 5’7, and with the monitor at max height, I’d find myself slouching so that my eyes were ‘above’ the monitor. Sure, there is a monitor arm that can handle the G9. The Ergotron HX with the HD Pivot, which is what I got. But spending an extra 400$ (CAD) on a 1700$ Monitor is a bit insane to me. They could have easily made a stand that got this bad boy higher, but costs and what not I guess.
#2) The flickering issues are only fixed if you enabled the VRR setting in the menu. But at least if you have that setting enabled you won’t get flickering. Although for me even with it set to off, I’d strangely only get flickering in loading screens, or rarely in some menus.
#3) After talking with colleagues who also own Odyssey monitors (G7 or G9). They also have the weird issue with certain colors appearing as alternating bright/dark lines rather than a homogenous color. I should count myself lucky as this only occurs on the very top of the monitor and the top corners. My other colleague who has a G7 says that any red on his screen will show as alternating pink/red lines. (Not really pink but a bright shade of red) Your mileage may vary, but I’m slowly getting used to it.
Note on Performance: This isn’t really a con or something that bothers me. But I’m pretty shocked to see this monitor is definitely giving my RTX 3080 a run for it’s money. Games like RDR2 will run around 70 to 90 FPS in intense scenes, where plains and open ares can run at 120 fps-ish.
Note of Movies : I have to say. If you can find movies that “support” the 32:9 it’s really something. Sure you’ll get a bit of black bars on the side, ~5inches or so on each side. It almost feels like watching a movie on a personal cinema screen.
Overall no regrets. But even though I got the monitor on special, the monitor arm came and ate away at those savings. Buy on special, and careful with the HX arm resellers, I saw the price go from 380$ all the way to 500$ depending on the time of day. (I’m assuming it’s based on stock, but seriously it feels like you’re buying it off the stock market.)
————
Original Review:
PROS:
1) Even better than 3 monitors for productivity. After taking some time to setup some FancyZones. I’m really blow away at how amazing it is to be able to work across a panel of this size. I’m upgrading for a Triple monitor setup (on a Ergotech 3 monitor arm). And even a few days in. I’m amazed at how much more effective it is to have all your monitors on the same continuous panel. Again, FanzyZones are a must but once you’ve got it tuned to your liking. It’s amazing
2) Next level immersion with games that support the aspect ratio. Seriously something that cannot be explained in words and needs to be experienced to understand fully. My wife who’s not a gamer at all now has taken an interest to driving games just because of how immersive it is.
3) Really Vivid Colors. Going from a TN Panel to IPS I was blown away by how vivid colors were. So I was concerned switching to VA. But it’s also very punchy. (But strange pixelization with the color orange.)
4) Super Bright, not a fan of HDR and I’m not using it. But with HDR off, the panel can be really bright with pretty damn good blacks.
CONS:
1) Stand is a little wobbly, I use a Pixoo-TV to nudge it underneath one of the sides to help stabilize it. Definitely needs a very stable surface to work on. Depending on how sturdy the desk is not sure a monitor arm would help for wobblyness. But it’s expected at a panel that size.
2) Not sure if it’s the combination of having this monitor with a second 1080p TV hooked up. But there is an odd behavior that if I try to launch a game which doesn’t have any widescreen resolution, or set to a low resolution by default. It can cause the display to freak out. It’ll display the image best it can be with immense lag and with weird redraw issues. And in some cases this would cause my 1080p screen to get ‘disabled’ where I would need to plug/unplug the Monitor. In any case if running older games on this monitor I’d suggest forcing windowed mode.
3) Although the colors look really good on this monitor. (Not even calibrated) But there is 1 color that looks weird. Some tints of orange instead of appearing as fat uniform color. I can see some kind of matrixing/pixelation going on. It’s not all shades of orange just some in particular.
IN BETWEEN:
A lot of features CANNOT be abled at the same time, or lock other features to preset values.
When enabling Adaptive Sync/GSYNC the monitor seems to lock the Pixel Response time to Fast or Fastest. Which makes it so that fast moving objects on screen will have leading (or trailing) coronas. Definitely not as noticeable if you would have with GSYNC off, and pixel response time set to standard. But then again, with my PG279Q, (IPS Panel) although I don’t experience coronas at all. Small details would get very, blurry with fast motion. Playing 2D games with fast scrolling wouldn’t be a nice experience on that monitor. For me at least, I prefer some form of corona if it means I can still see the object with acceptable level of detail. This obviously is subjective and a matter of preference.
CONCLUSION:
I think that even though this monitor has it’s quirks. For me at the very least, It’s got enough good things that overshadow the bad. And from a productivity stand point it’s hard to go back after you’re had a taste of this size.
And if you have the PC to power this beast, it will give you a immersive gaming experience like no other. Seriously driving and first person shooters on this thing are mind blowing. (WHEN PROPERLY SUPPORTED!)