The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is a 49-inch wide, curved gaming monitor that increases gaming immersion and feels massive. Or in other words, it’s a beast.
It’s not just the size of the monitor that makes this one of the best gaming monitors on the market. It’s packed full of premium features like a 240Hz refresh rate, G-Sync and FreeSync Premium Pro compatibility and Samsung’s Quantum Mini-LED technology that allows for 2000 nits of brightness and incredibly accurate colours.
This monitor is in a class of its own. There aren’t any “real” competitors in the Super Ultrawide Gaming Monitor space. The only monitor that comes close to the Odyssey Neo G9 is its predecessor, the Odyssey G9, and nearly everything has been improved with the latest model.
Be warned though, a monitor this beastly requires an equally beasty gaming rig to match it.
Pros
- Immersive gameplay
- Quantum Mini-LED technology
- 1000R curve
- 2000 nits brightness
- 240Hz refresh rate
Cons
- Expensive
- Need a beast computer to use it at its best
Price
The Odyssey Neo G9 costs $3,299. It’s very expensive. But for a monitor with these specs, it’s fairly priced too.
It’s hard to compare the Odyssey Neo G9 with anything else on the market because it sits in a category on its own – the “Super Ultrawide Gaming Monitor” category.
The only monitors that are slightly similar are the Dell Ultrasharp 49″ Curved Monitor boasting 5120 x 1440 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate costing $2,527. And the Acer Nitro E1491CR 49″ Curved monitor boasting 3840 x 1080 resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate which costs $1,344.
Neither of these monitors come anywhere close to the capabilities of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 so take those comparisons with a pinch of salt.
Design
The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is massive. At 49-inches across you’ll need a big desk to sit it on. This could be a problem for some as it’s also heavy, weighing 14.7kg. You’ll need to do some pre-planning before setting this monitor up.
The 1000R curve in the monitor is aggressive. It wraps around so that if you look left and right you’ll still be looking at the screen. It’s so over-the-top it’s fantastic – and adds a massive level of immersion when gaming.
The back of the monitor looks futuristic and space-like. It’s white with some designs etched and indented. I’m not someone who’s bothered by what the back of the monitor looks like, but if this is something you’re worried about, it looks fine.
On the front of the display there’s a small joystick used for things like screen calibration, changing the brightness, accessing options and turning the screen on and off. I especially liked being able to save three different settings configurations and changing between them based on which game I was playing.
The monitor has 2x USB-A ports, 1x USB-B ports, 2x HDMI 2.1 ports and 1x DisplayPort. It’s certainly enough for most uses, however a USB-C port would’ve been nice. In order to play at 240Hz you’ll need to use the HDMI 2.1 port as the Display Port is limited to 120Hz. Fortunately, the monitor comes with all the cables you need in the box.
Although this is advertised as a gaming monitor I found it was very helpful for work as well. I could have four windows open at the same time, increasing my productivity. Windows 11’s snap layout came into its own with this monitor. I had Photoshop, Spotify and two Chrome tabs open without ever having to click between them.
Gameplay
The first game I tested on this monitor was Forza Horizon 5. It added a level of immersion I can’t achieve with my standard flat monitor – I could finally use the side mirrors in my cars and see out the windows.
Another game I tested was Microsoft Flight Simulator. Here, I could look out the windows of my Cessna Citation CJ4 by physically moving my head as opposed to using the mouse or a key bind.
These are the sorts of games where the Odyssey Neo G9 shines most.
That’s not to say it isn’t great with non-simulator-style games. Playing The Witcher 3 was a blast. I could see more of the environment at any given time than I ever could before, and No Man’s Sky in first-person was a significant improvement. Seeing far away planets in the corner and sides of the screen was incredible.
There were some games where it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped though. In order for games to feel full, they need to support an ultrawide display ratio. Of course you can turn the resolution down but large black borders appear on the sides of the screen which took some getting used to.
When games don’t support ultrawide ratios, they look stretched. This isn’t Samsung’s fault, these games would look stretched on any ultrawide monitor. Playing The Ascent my character looked massive on screen and I felt too close to the environment when comparing it with my flat monitor. This was occurring even though The Ascent claims to support ultrawide ratios. With that said, most games support ultrawide now, it’s only older games and indie titles where you might run into this problem.
Performance
To get the most out of the Odyssey Neo G9 you’ll need a powerful computer. I’m running a Nvidia GTX 3090 and I was getting around 80fps on both Forza Horizon 5 and Microsoft Flight Simulator at maximum resolution. I was happy with this, however, lesser rigs will struggle to achieve 60fps on most games at max resolution.
This is a vibrant and sharp display with a massive 2,000 nits max brightness. It utilises Samsung’s Quantum Mini-LED technology, usually reserved for Samsung’s flagship TVs. The monitor is lit by smaller LEDs which allows it to have finer, more accurate control over highlights, shadows and colours.
The Odyssey Neo G9 boasts 2,048 local dimming zones, this is a massive improvement on the ten zones found in the Odyssey G9. It’s significant because it means 2,048 zones are adapting to the colours. It’s significantly more accurate and the results are impressive.
The 240Hz refresh rate is lightning fast and one of the highest refresh rates you can get on a monitor these days. Combine that with the 1ms response time and this is one of the most responsive, smooth,gaming monitors on the market.
To prevent frame drops and display lag, the monitor supports Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro as well.
Verdict
If you’re looking for an ultrawide monitor for PC gaming or even if you aren’t, you’re going to love Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G9.
The curved monitor adds a massive level of immersion to gaming and it works well for increasing productivity for work as well.
It’s unfair to compare the Odyssey Neo G9 when it boasts a display more in line with premium TVs. The Quantum Mini-LEDS are accurate, it’s bright and with a 240Hz refresh rate, it’s fast as well.
This is an expensive monitor but with the features it boasts, it’s fairly priced.
This is the best gaming monitor on the market, just make sure you’ve got a powerful enough PC to use it at its full potential.
