Samsung wowed us at the start of this year when it first unveiled its new Odyssey gaming monitors at CES, and again in May when more details of the new screens were revealed, as well as an Esports tie-in.
While it's taken a while for them to reach shops, the new screens have finally broken cover and are now on sale in the US, UK, Australia and various other regions.
Samsung has been getting increasingly serious about gaming monitors over the last few years, and the new Odyssey G7 and G9 bring what the company describe as “the best in Samsung screen design and innovation by combining an immersive QLED display with 1000R curvature to offer a gaming experience with a futuristic feel, fast response and eye comfort.”
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On all three of the new displays, the headline specs are the combination of blazing-fast 240Hz refresh rates and aggressive 1000R curves – which makes these the world’s first gaming monitors with such an extreme bend. Samsung is also using its well-regarded QLED technology for colours and brightness that (as on the Korean company's TVs) really help amp up the vividness of these screens. They also feature a quick 1ms response time, which is high-level pro-gamer territory.
These things have a seriously futuristic look, and we don’t mind admitting we’re a little smitten with the design, especially the very funky rear area where the stand is attached. Samsung calls it the ‘Infinity Core’ and it can be set to dim or remain static during gaming, or display user-selected colours.
As previously mentioned, there are three Odyssey models in the new range – the top-of-the-line G9, which is a 21:9, 49-inch beast priced at US$1,699 / £1,279 / AU$2,799, and the more conventional 16:9 G7 which comes in 32-inch (US$799 / £629 / AU$1,099) and 27-inch (US$699 / £549 / AU$999) sizes. The G9’s resolution is a mammoth QHD 5,120 x 1,440, while both G7 models are 2,560 x 1,440 (WQHD).
All three monitors are available now in the US. The G9 and 32-inch G7 also available in the UK, with the 27-inch G7 available for preorder. In Australia, the entire range goes on sale on August 3.
