The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 has been out and about for the better part of half a year at the time of publication, yet there is no doubt that it is still a gaming monitor worth speaking about, be it about its overarching resolution, the ridiculous curves on its, or its massive physical girth.
Now that the monitor is in our lab, allow me to walk you through its size, features, and visual offerings.
What Is It?
In most ways, the Neo G9 is virtually a carbon copy of the original Odyssey G9, barring some tweaks and obvious improvements. It still has the same 1000R curvature, the same 21:9 aspect ratio with a 5120 x 1440 resolution, as well as the same 240Hz ultra-high refresh rate and 1ms response time. Oh, and it’s also an NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible monitor, meaning that you can take full advantage of team Green’s anti-screen tearing technology.
What is different with the Neo G9 is that Samsung has bumped up the HDR brightness level from 1000 nits to 2000 nits, made possible through the use of Samsung’s Quantum Mini LED display technbology. That also makes it one of the brightest desktop displays that I have ever tested, on top of it being the widest.
Lastly, and on another cosmetic note, the back surrounding the joint of the Neo G9 retains the same CoreSync LED technology, allowing customisation that suit your colour palette and to match your gaming system.
Is It Any Good?
At a resolution of 5120 x 1440, the pixel density of the Neo G9 is just tight enough that the icons and words seen on the panel look sharp enough to either identify or read.
But let’s talk about a subject that the Neo G9 is designed for: gaming. Gaming with an aspect ratio of 21:9 obviously means that a lot of the scenes that you normally don’t see at the corner or your eyes are now visible and can prove beneficial to your gaming experience. At least, to some varying degree. Case in point, first-person shooter titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Far Cry 6, or even action RPG titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt benefit greatly from the extra screen real estate. Further, the 1000R curvature is a boon, especially if you’re down for a deeper immersion.
Combine that with HDR2000 feature and you’re also treated to a display that is able to produce deeper, darker blacks, while other colours on the palette look brighter and pop out. Almost to the point that they would punch you in the face if it could.
From a productivity standpoint, the oversized monitor also means that I am able to have a total of three browser windows open, allowing me to view the most important documents and articles and reducing the amount of time I usually spend switching between different tabs and windows.
The Bad Stuff. Tell Me.
Due to its sheer size, the Neo G9 is also terribly heavy. Even all by my lonesome, lifting it out of its box and onto the table leaves me feeling as though I’ve completed a task of Herculean proportions.
As for the display’s mini LED panel, it is far from perfect and does possess some blemishes. Case in point, there are some glare spots that can be seen, both from the edges and from the middle of the screen. The good news though, if you could call it that, is that this edge bleeding is only visible whenever you are viewing or watching anything with a background that is dark or has any black areas.
Of course, there is also the issue of the viewing angle for the Neo G9. Because of its enormous waistline, you will, one way or another, be forced to turn your head either to the extreme left or right, in order to view whatever documents or article you’ve got snapped to both sides, or whatever in-game counter that isn’t optimised for ultrawide display and are stretched out all the way to the edge. That, and the fact some titles some from the warping effect, where the depth perception of the certain items (e.g. the guns being held in first-person shooters) are noticeably pulled and look far more stretched than they should be.
Another drawback to the Neo G9 is the price tag. At RM7999, the ultrawide monitor costs almost as much as an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090, or a modestly equipped desktop gaming PC.
Should I Buy It?
At RM7999, recommending the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 will take a bit of convincing, especially since this isn’t your standard or average gaming desktop monitor. For that matter, it’s also one of the more expensive gaming monitors that it’s on the market but that said, you are paying for all that extra real estate and features.
However, if you’re willing to look past those proverbial paint points, and you are in the market for a curved monitor, then I can confidently say that the Neo G9 could very well serve both your gaming and productivity needs.
Photography by John Law.
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