Looking for a Gaming Upgrade? This Samsung OLED Monitor Should Be It
As far as I'm concerned, there are two types of PC gamers. Those who care about graphics and those who care about performance. Gaming monitors under a grand usually only do one or the other. They spit out 4K graphics or serve up a smooth image at an uncapped frame rate, rarely both.
For me, performance is always king. That's the reason to play on PC over console. I've done most of the gaming in my life on consoles, so I would know. When it comes to a high performance gaming monitor, there isn't anything better for the sub £900 price point than Samsung's Odyssey G6 OLED.
It's a stunning 27-inch 1440p monitor—the perfect size for competitive gamers or anyone working within the confines of an apartment. No matter how powerful your CPU and GPU are, the G6 can handle it, supporting variable refresh rates up to 360 Hz. Your games will look good, and play so damn buttery smooth, you won't even realise you aren't gaming in 4K.
Embark on a Gaming Odyssey
From the very start of my time with the Odyssey G6, I could see the OLED screen is a big part of what makes it special. The image is bright and crisp, and if you aren't used to that it's jarring. You boot up a game from your Steam library and realize games have never looked this good.
Gaming. That's what the screen is for. If you want to use it for work you can, but your work machine needs an HDMI out. (Sorry Mac users, you aren't gamers and never will be.) But spreadsheets won't let you appreciate this screen. Playing Cyberpunk glare free while the sun sets in the south-facing windows directly behind you? That's when you'll appreciate this OLED screen.
Notably, besides OLED, the Odyssey G6 has a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels aka 144op aka QHD. Think of it as much better than 1080p, but not quite to the fidelity of 4K. It's the one compromise this monitor makes. The contrasty OLED makes up for it in most instances, and I was impressed by its HDR settings enough for this to not matter. If you disagree and happen to have an OLED monitor, do me a favor. Boot up Minecraft and turn on ray tracing to see how more of much of a difference good lighting makes compared to a few extra pixels.
Refresh Rates So High We Can't Even Test Them
What the monitor lacks in resolution, it more than makes up for in refresh rate. Tied pretty directly to framerate, refresh rate (measured in hertz) is a measure of how many times an image refreshes in a second. Basically, it's a measure of smoothness. If you're here, I'm probably preaching to the choir, but allow me this as well. Most console games would be happy to hit a framerate of 60 fps. PCs can well outstrip that, so much so that the standard in monitors has become 144Hz to support framerates rates of 120 fps and higher.
The Odyssey G6, by comparison, has a refresh rate of up to 360 hertz. That's an unconscionable amount of frames. When it came down to testing, we couldn't even push a machine hard enough to hit half of maximum capacity. Variable refresh rate kept our PC games stutter-free, that no matter what fps our games were running at. In layman's terms, this monitor makes any input lag imperceptible.
Unlock The Power of Your Console
You need a powerful (read: expensive) PC to get the most out of this monitor. That's just facts. But if you also happen to have a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, you can advantage of performance most TVs don't support. I tested using a PS5, but both current gen consoles support refresh rates of up to 120Hz.
As a display, the OLED was a fantastic upgrade to the QLED TVs I've been gaming on. Even having to sit much closer doesn't betray the fidelity. On PS5, not every game can run at 120 fps, but I tested some of the ones that do and they gave me a glimpse into a potential future for console gaming. Games that rely on a sense of speed benefit the most from the framerate boost. Thwip-ing around the city in Spider-Man 2 or rounding a corner in Gran Turismo 7 has never looked this good or felt this smooth. If you're in the market for a gaming monitor, this is the one I'd measure all others to.
Other Samsung Gaming Monitors We've Tried
There are some other great gaming monitors in the Samsung Odyssey lineup. They happen to be on sale and I happen to have tried them. So, from experience, here is what these other monitors have to offer.
32-inch Odyssey OLED G8 (£1099 at Samsung): If you don't want to compromise at all, this is the monitor for you. It's got a 240Hz refresh rate and, yes, it does 4K. That's right. 4K resolution and a high refresh rate. Plus, it's currently two-thirds of the original price if you buy directly from Samsung, putting it nearly at price parity with the G6.
49-inch Curved Odyssey OLED G9 (£1269 at Samsung): Single-player gamers beware, once you experience the pure immersion of this curved monitor, it will be nigh impossible to go back. The sizing may strike you as odd, but once you realise it's basically just two Odyssey G6 1440p monitors slapped together and curved, it will start to click. Same OLED screen as the G6, same 240Hz refresh rate as the G8, twice as much screen.
Final Verdict
If you're looking for a new PC gaming monitor, the Samsung Odyssey likely has something for you. The G6 OLED is a bright, glare-free option perfect for single-player games, but built primarily for getting you through those fast-paced multiplayer sessions lag-free. If you have a PC beefy enough to take advantage of its 360Hz refresh rate, this is one of the few monitors truly able to keep up.
Why Trust Esquire?
At Esquire, we've been testing and reviewing the latest and greatest products for decades now. When it comes to tech, hands-on testing with every gadget and piece of gear we review is our number-one priority. From headphones to smartwatches, we've put in the work to ensure our readers know exactly what they are buying, before they buy it.
I spent around six weeks testing the Odyssey OLED G6, gaming on it using both a PS5 and a PC setup. Instead of running tests and benchmarks, I simply used the product the way I imagine readers of this story would. This included multi-hour gaming sessions and continued use of both HDMI ports and the headphone jack. Not once did I have any technical or input detection issues to speak of.
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