Samsung Announces New, Less Curvy Odyssey Gaming Monitors
Samsung’s Odyssey G-series gaming monitors are a popular option for dedicated PC gamers, and there are three new models today. The 2020 Odyssey release focused on curved display panels. The latest ones are all flat, but they’ve still got various high-end gaming features.
Not only are these panels flat, but they use IPS LCD panels instead of QLED like the 2020 Odyssey monitors. As a result, the brightness and HDR support won’t be as impressive. They’re also regular old 16:9 widescreens rather than a more exotic (and expensive) 32:9 ultrawide.
At the bottom of Samsung’s new monitor lineup, we’ve got the Odyssey G3. This monitor comes in two sizes: 24-inch and 27-inch. At 1080p, the smaller of the two is ideal for gamers on a budget who don’t expect to be very far away from their displays. This one will only be $220, and it still has a 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and AMD FreeSync Premium. The 27-inch retails for $270, but Samsung appears to be selling it for $250 at launch. It has all the same features and a 1920 x 1080 resolution.
Stepping up to the mid-tier of Samsung’s new lineup, the new 27-inch Odyssey G5 has a 1440p resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. There’s still AMD FreeSync support, and it adds HDR10. For those who prefer Nvidia’s high framerate solution, the G5 also has G-Sync compatibility. Monitors listed as G-Sync compatible don’t have native G-Sync hardware, but they can still do basic refresh rate adjustments to reduce tearing in games. Samsung has not announced pricing for this monitor yet.
Samsung’s new, flat top-of-the-line is the Odyssey G7, which has a 28-inch 4k (3,840 by 2,160) IPS LCD. It has HDR 400 for more realistic colors and a 144Hz refresh rate. There’s also HDMI 2.1, which means it will be able to do 120Hz visuals with the Sony PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, just as soon as you can find them in stock. Again, you get FreeSync support, but it’s the Premium Pro version, which means it has lower latency and has been tested more thoroughly. There’s still no G-Sync hardware, but it’s “compatible.” There’s no pricing available for this monitor yet, either.
The two G3 models are already on sale via Samsung and Amazon (24 and 27-inch). The others should begin showing up over the coming weeks.
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