Introduction & Specification Details and Close-up

Samsung has combined productivity and gaming into a behemoth of a display, with a 49-inch size, 240Hz refresh rate spread across a gorgeous OLED panel, the Odyssey G9 certainly earns its world's first badge. But is it the ultimate gaming monitor?

Ultimate is clearly situational for gaming monitors, as there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution available. Different setups and games call for different monitors, and the Odyssey G9 is no different here. But what the Odyssey G9 does have is the specifications to have a seat at the table, packing a 0.03ms response time, 240Hz refresh rate, and a 5120 x 1440 resolution on an OLED panel with an 1800R curvature that spans 49 inches.

With all of these bells and whistles, and not to mention the sheer size of the panel, Samsung has priced the Odyssey OLED G9 at $1,799, which certainly makes it a high-end gaming monitor. Throughout this review, I will attempt to identify the best user for the Odyssey G9 while also evaluating what it offers compared to its price. It should be noted this latest release by Samsung uses a second-generation QD-OLED panel, which significantly reduces any text fringing problems that were a downside of the previous first-generation panels. With that now outlined, let's take a look at the OLED G9.

Specifications

Close-up

Design

The OLED G9 is truly a monstrous gaming monitor, and once it was set up at my desk, I realized I needed to reposition it to be able to see the entire screen. This quickly made me realize that buyers will need to have some serious desk space to accommodate the OLED G9, and it won't just be for the monitor width, but also depth - as you will want to place the monitor quite far back on your desk to line up your peripheral vision with the edges of the display. I was able to achieve this with a monitor arm, and I would definitely recommend the same approach to anyone considering a 49-inch display.

Samsung has housed the impressive OLED panel inside a silver metal chassis that gives the monitor a very futuristic and high-end aesthetic. The minimalistic design is very nice while still incorporating that "gaming" look with the RBG lighting around the base of the stand connection to the monitor. While the OLED G9 is absolutely massive, Samsung has done a great job of making the stand as small as possible without compromising the safety of the panel. Given the size of the OLED G9, I would typically anticipate a stand with three long protruding legs. However, with the OLED G9, we have a very nice, clean stand that appears to have been designed with desktop real estate in mind.

The OLED G9 measures an impressively thin 4.5 millimeters, which can be attributed to the OLED panel. Moving to the back of the monitor, we will find an array of ports users can take advantage of. Samsung has outfitted the OLED G9 with 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Display port 1.4, 4x USB Type-C. Next to the ports is a multi-directional joystick that enables access to Samsung's OSD options, which are tedious and extensive (more on that later). To make dancing through Samsung's proprietary software easier, the OLED G9 comes with a remote control, which I definitely recommend using when attempting to operate the OLED G9.

Moving back to the size of the OLED G9, its total weight without the stand is 20.3 lbs, which is something to note if purchasing one and combining it with a monitor arm, as some monitor arms are only rated to certain weights. Exceeding that weight will cause the monitor to sag and run the risk of the arm breaking and potentially your monitor.

Overall, Samsung has made a beautifully designed gaming monitor, and considering its size, the OLED G9 is quite a spectacle to look at.

Panel Breakdown

Samsung has really jammed all of its best technology into the OLED G9, with the massive gaming monitor featuring a gorgeous, rich, vibrant, and color QD-OLED panel. With a typical brightness of 250, HDR10+ gaming, a 0.03ms response time, G-Sync, a 240Hz refresh rate, all across 5120 x 1440 pixels, and 49 inches of immersion. Samsung has equipped the OLED G9 with a few different game modes (Standard, RPG, FPS, RTS, and Sports), each with different levels of brightness. Throughout my testing, I found Game Standard to be the brightest and most appropriate for my overall workflow/gaming experience. This game mode had a nice balance of vibrant and well-lit colors compared to the other modes that were somewhat dull or lacked the pop I was looking for from an OLED panel.

Keeping to color, the OLED G9 spans 100% of the sRGB color gamut, 97% of Adobe RGB, and 98% of DCI-P3. The colors this monitor can produce are in line with what you would expect out of a nearly $2,000 display, but there is a significant downside: glare. Light sources pointed at the glossy panel cause reflections to occur, making the pixels appear lighter than they are when exposed to a completely dark room. This is why it is recommended, not just with the OLED G9 but with any glossy OLED panel, to make sure the light sources in a room can be controlled.

As I outlined in my review of the Samsung G8, an ultrawide gaming monitor that uses Samsung's first-generation QD-OLED pixel technology, text fringing was a real issue on this display, especially considering how great ultrawide is for doubling as a productivity monitor. Samsung made significant improvements with the second iteration of the pixel technology, almost completely ironing out any noticeable text fringing. In fact, I would argue the problem is so little now that it's negligible. The OLED G9 uses the same panel as the ASUS PG49WCD that I reviewed in January, and in that review, I mentioned text fringing being an issue. However, it appears Samsung has improved upon the fringing with the OLED G9, as text appears much clearer than on the PG49WCD.

The OLED G9's panel can be changed using Samsung's OSD options, which take users to a hub littered with advertisements for various services and extra content. The OSD menu is slow and poorly set out, with many of the most-used settings buried behind pages of options. I believe Samsung needs to overhaul its OSD for its gaming monitors, and if they do decide to do so, make simplification a paramount design goal.

Overall, the OLED G9's panel is very visually impressive, and I believe any gamer sitting in front of it would agree it produces fantastic colors that are ideal for providing an immersive, rich gaming experience.

Performance

ASUS's PG49WCD was limited to 144Hz despite its use of the same panel as the OLED G9, which is capable of 240Hz. ASUS made this decision to price the PG49WCD down by $500 to $1,299. The OLED G9 is the fully unlocked version of the PG49WCD, and I can say the difference between 144Hz and 240Hz is significant, but whether or not it's worth the extra $500 will depend on what you value with the OLED G9. We must remember that the OLED G9 is a 32:9 aspect ratio gaming monitor, meaning that most games on this display won't have native support for its strange aspect ratio. This results in the game typically rendering the title natively in 16:9 and stretching the rest of the desktop real estate, which, for me, creates a disorientating and immersion-breaking experience.

However, some titles do come with 32:9 support, and those look absolutely phenomenal on the OLED G9. I ran Samsung's super ultrawide through a suite of various titles to identify the best-performing games for the display. I played the following games: DOOM Eternal, Age of Empires IV, Apex Legends, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Cyberpunk 2077, and Overwatch 2. All of the RPG titles I played on the OLED G9 looked really strange as none of them came with native 32:9 support, resulting in the game rendering to scale in 16:9 and then stretching the world out to the edges of the display. Unfortunately, the same thing occurred with the first-person-shooter titles (besides one), resulting in me being forced to choose between downsizing to ultrawide resolution (3440 x 1440), which puts black boxes on either side of my game or a game that was stretched.

I do not recommend the OLED G9, or any super ultrawide for games that commonly play first-person-shooter or RPG titles unless you have already verified the games natively support 32:9. Now, what did natively support 32:9 was Age of Empires IV, and wow - it was absolutely gorgeous. The real-time-strategy game scaled perfectly with the OLED G9, and so did DOOM Eternal. Besides the compatibility problems with getting your money's worth with the OLED G9, all of the games I played on the super ultrawide were stunning visually.

I have zero complaints when it comes to screen tearing, ghosting, color accuracy, and general performance. The OLED G9 provides an unforgettable gaming experience where it works to its maximum potential.

Final Thoughts

Should you buy the OLED G9? That depends on a few things. You could easily save $500 and get the ASUS PG49WCD if the games you intend to play don't support 240Hz or you simply don't care for the extra refresh rate hike. You'd save $500 and get all of the same visuals as you would on the OLED G9.

But, if you really want that buttery smooth experience, and the games you intend to play would benefit from the 240Hz, the $500 really may be worth it (or just wait until the OLED G9 is discounted). When the OLED G9 is used to its full potential, it's absolutely incredible. Unfortunately, there are few and far between opportunities for it to shine.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone purchase a super ultrawide gaming monitor unless they already had specific games in mind that can take full advantage of its potential, or else you are simply leaving money on the table. Titles such as Flight Simulator, any racing simulator setup, real-time-strategy games, are all common games played on monitors of this caliber.

I would also recommend the OLED G9 to someone that also does a lot of productivity workflows, as the massive screen real-estate makes for working on the OLED G9 an absolute pleasure. Being able to place multiple windows around the screen really made my workflow simplified and easy.

The 49-inch OLED G9 certainly has its problems from its tedious OSD software that needs to be completely overhauled, to it's intense weight and lack of games supporting its native aspect ratio. However, in the right scenario, the OLED G9, just like its other super ultrawide competitors, creates an incredibly immersive gaming experience that I confidently believe leaves a mark on a gamer lucky enough to experience such a setup.