So, I finally made the decision to get a 4K monitor for my desk setup. I’ve had great experiences with my TCL r646 and LG C2 OLED TVs, but those are meant for TV viewing. I did try using one of them as a monitor, but I wanted something more suited for my desk setup.
I previously tried the Sony Endzone M9 monitor, but I didn’t keep it for a few reasons, which I talked about in my article. Now, I’ve decided to give the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 a try. This is also my first experience with a 4K curved monitor, and with HDR, a whopping 240Hz refresh rate, and plenty of features for gaming, there’s a lot to talk about.
Design and Ports
- REALITY-BENDING IMMERSION: Mirroring the arc of the human eye, the 1000R curvature brings gaming worlds to reality, surr…
- WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE: One misstep can be the difference between victory and defeat; Top the leaderboard with the worl…
- QUANTUM MATRIX TECHNOLOGY: An unrivaled visual experience; Revolutionary Quantum Matrix Technology with Quantum Mini LED…
There’s a lot to appreciate about the design and build of this monitor—it’s truly a premium product. Aesthetically, it’s sleek and matches well with the PlayStation 5 if that’s something you care about. The black front end allows it to blend into any setup seamlessly.
The display itself has a 1000 R curve, which is the most curved display I’ve ever used. Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying it, especially for gaming. As a 32-inch panel, it’s the smallest size I’d go for a 4K monitor. After using this, going back to my 27-inch Apple Studio display for creative work feels a bit odd.
One thing I really don’t like about the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 is its overall size, particularly the stand. It’s a bit of a problem for me when PC gaming because I play with low sensitivity and my hand often hits the stand while aiming, which is inconvenient. I’d prefer a smaller stand or to mount it on an arm. Plus, using the stand pushes the screen almost a foot closer to the back of my desk, which can be uncomfortable depending on your desk depth.
Apart from that, the cable management solution is mediocre. The rubber flap doesn’t keep the cables in place very well and often pops out on its own. It would’ve been better to have a cable trunk considering the stand is so thick. However, despite my gripes about the stand, it offers excellent rotation, swivel, and height adjustments. There’s plenty of flexibility here if you need to use a base arm, just make sure it can support at least 25 pounds to accommodate the weight of the cables.
I will mention there are RGB LEDs on the back end too which can kind of be customized to just about any color, or it can sync to whatever is on your display using what they call Core sync. The downside here is that it’s super weak, even in a dark room, it’s not that noticeable, especially when comparing it to some of LG’s offerings, which almost illuminate your entire wall.
In terms of inputs, you do have two USB-A ports for hub usage, as well as DisplayPort and two HDMI 2.1 ports which is perfect for the new generation of consoles. For my setup, unfortunately, I didn’t have a monitor arm that could hold the weight of this, so I could not vase and mount it. That’s why I didn’t have it in my last video’s desk setup. I ended up deciding to test this with my PC setup in my office and still pair with my PlayStation 5.
Display
To jump into talking about the display itself and gaming, here’s where it really shines. With 1196 local dimming zones, this is easily the best mini LED display I’ve ever used. The HDR capabilities are absolutely wild, and games look beyond incredible. For mini LED, blacks are really, really dark, and colors still pop. For HDR, it’s crazy that thing Odyssey neo g8 has a max brightness of 2000 nits.
Although I personally have no way of measuring that as somebody who doesn’t nitpick, pun intended. And again, with that, I kind of think this monitor is beyond my use case since I have no way of trying its max refresh rate of 240 hertz. I’d likely have to have one of those massive 40 series GPUs for my PC to even try it out. This will easily future-proof for 4K PC gaming and high refresh rates if you’re lucky enough to have capable hardware.
Multimedia content looks just as amazing on Odyssey neo g8 display. One thing you’ll need, though, is a set of speakers. While most monitors come with awful speakers, this one skips it entirely, which isn’t the worst decision. You can always plug in a good set of headphones directly if you need to. Between Netflix and Disney plus both having great HDR 4K content, there’s plenty of multimedia content to enjoy on this monitor.
Gaming
Still, gaming does look absolutely incredible for what I do have, and this is still one of the best displays I’ve ever used. This is probably the first time I felt really bad about my Xbox or PS5 only having a native 4k30 FPS since this monitor has so much unused overhead. Still, playing God of War Ragnarok and Modern Warfare 2 has been an absolute blast, and I can say that PC gaming is obviously a good choice here. My wife and I still enjoy a lot of Overwatch on PC, which I actually can run out of native 4K high refresh rate, although I do have to turn down the effects to achieve that.
While I love playing story-based games on my TV, I’m excited to try God of War on Samsung Odyssey neo g8 monitor because it looks incredible. However, my primary focus will be on playing shooters like Overwatch and Call of Duty on this monitor. For me, the curved display helps with immersion, and while everyone has their preference when it comes to curved displays, I lean more towards actually liking them.
If you’re trying to dive into the menu, it’s pretty robust, with plenty of gaming-specific options like crosshairs and changing your black levels, and even checking your frame rate. However, the only thing I haven’t yet figured out is how to get VRR to work on my PlayStation 5, as this monitor indeed supports variable refresh rate. But for this monitor, it doesn’t just stop with gaming.
Conclusion
Personally, Samsung Odyssey neo g8 monitor is perfect for me. As mentioned, 32 inches is the perfect size for a monitor. I have tried using my 55-inch TCL r646 as a monitor, which worked okay, but I feel like 32 inches is the Goldilocks size. 27 inches feels a bit too small for my liking. I have my wireless mouse dongle and webcam hooked up to the USB hub on the monitor, making it the perfect solution for work and productivity.
It’s good that Odyssey neo g8 monitor isn’t just used for gaming, considering its price. The curved display helps with productivity and editing, making the overall package an A+ for me. However, to reclaim some desk space, I would still want a hefty monitor arm. If you have a super deep desk or don’t mind the size, this should not be an issue.
In my use case, it’s a tad overkill since I don’t have a PC GPU that can handle 4K at high refresh rates, and my game consoles can’t push out 4K at 240 hertz. As a console gamer and creator, I could easily choose a cheaper option but for PC GPU Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 is worthy.
