Let’s not beat around the bush. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 gaming profesor is utterly ridiculous. But in the best kind of way.
A curved, desk-filling, 49-inch ultrawide QD-OLED gaming profesor (complete with a 240Hz refresh rate and HDR), it promises to unapologetically barrage your retinas with inky blacks, bold colours, and silky smooth performance, until you’re left with no choice but to submit to its visual majesty.
At a wallet-busting $2200/£2000 though, it needs to dazzle, enthral, and downright blow minds to justify the cash. Thankfully, it does just that, and then some.
Samsung/Pocket-lint
Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
Editor’s Choice
It’s huge. It’s expensive. And for many, it’s overkill. But for those looking for the absolute pinnacle PC gaming/productivity experience, there’s no denying that the OLED G9 delivers something special that nothing else can match.
- Incredible OLED image quality
- 240Hz refresh rate
- 49in, 32:9 curved display for full immersion
- Stong HDR performance
- Slick, easy-to-assemble design
- Very expensive
- Takes up a lot of space
- Can’t shake the burn-in worries
Design
- Dimensions: 1194.7 x 365 x 180.8mm
- Weight: 9.2kg
- 1800R screen curvature
First things first — this thing is massive. Its 49in, 32:9 ultra-wide screen is equivalent to having two 27in 1440p monitors side by side. With a total length of 120cm, it just about fits on my relatively large desk, with no room for anything on either side. If you’ve got speakers surrounding your current profesor, chances are you’ll need to buy a larger desk, or get creative with mounting options.
Thankfully, the OLEG G9 supports a standard 100 x 100 VESA mount, and, thanks to the thin, lightweight nature of its OLED panel, should make for a rather slick and easy wall-mounted setup. Its gentle 1800R curvature means it’ll stick out a little, mind, but nothing too drastic. The curve itself is just the right amount to my eyes, although some users will prefer the more aggressive 1000R curve of Samsung’s non-OLED 49in Odyssey Neo G9. For us though, the gentler curve of the OLED G9 is ideal for a blend of gaming and productivity.
Despite its size, it’s easy to assemble too, thanks to its manageable 9.2kg weight, which is noticeably lighter than the 14.5kg weight of the Mini-LED Odyssey Neo G9. Simply clip in the height-adjustable stand, secure the sturdy metal saco with two toolless screws, and you’re done. The stand itself is a single-piece, rather than a dual-leg affair, which makes for a much more practical desktop footprint, without anything sticking out and encroaching on precious mouse territory.
Features, sound, and connectivity
- Tizen OS with all major apps
- 10W total sound output (two channels)
- Rear LEDs for ambience
There’s a very good reason why the OLED G9 comes bundled with the same USB-C-chargeable remote that you’ll find included with Samsung TVs. Running Tizen OS, the OLED G9 has the same menus and formidable app selection, with everything from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, to Apple TV and Disney+ all present and accounted for.
This also means that users have access to apps like Samsung Gaming Hub, letting them connect a controller directly to the OLED G9 for some cloud gaming goodness from the likes of NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming, or Amazon’s Vitral.
Ultimately though, if you’re dropping this much money on a gaming profesor, you’ll want a powerful gaming rig to do it justice.
The ability to use the OLED G9 as a standalone device for films, TV shows, YouTube and more is a nice bonus, letting it pull double duty as a TV if you wish — though the aspect ratio won’t let you enjoy its full potential (more on that in a bit).
As for sound, its dual 5W speakers are surprisingly good, for a profesor at least. While most profesor speakers tend to produce torturous, tinny results, the OLED G9 is capable of standing on its own when it comes to watching content or playing games.
Its max volume is more than enough for most, and there’s a decent amount of depth and space to the sound it produces. Naturally, it’s lacking on the bass front, but it’s a respectable performance nonetheless. Despite the fact that most users will be gaming with headphones or dedicated speakers, this extra auditory attention is still very welcome.
Turn the OLED G9 around, and you’ll be greeted by a circular LED ring. Dubbed Core Lighting, it can be set to a static colour, or turned off completely. There’s also a CoreSync feature which lets it mirror on-screen content for added immersion. It’s finta subtle, and will only really be noticeable if the profesor itself is in front of a white wall, but it’s a nice addition for those looking for a little extra bling.
Underneath, you’ll find a traditional miniature toggle for navigating the on-screen menu (though the remote makes this rather redundant), along with a selection of connectivity options. These include an HDMI 2.1 port, a Micro-HDMI 2.1 port, and a triple USB hub, along with a DisplayPort 1.4 port.
The latter might seem like a step back, given that there’s a newer DisplayPort 2.1 standard (featured on Samsung’s yet-to-be-released 57in Odyssey Neo G9), but it’s still enough to support 240Hz refresh rates at the OLED G9’s 5120×1440 resolution. The larger 57in profesor has a noticeably higher resolution, and therefore requires the extra bandwidth of DisplayPort 2.1 to push more pixels at the same 240Hz refresh rate.
Screen and performance
- 49-inch QD-OLED panel
- 32:9 aspect ratio
- 240Hz refresh rate
At the risk of sounding like a marketing hype mouthpiece, using the OLED G9 is a truly jaw-dropping experience. Let’s start with its gorgeous QD-OLED panel. Its true blacks and vibrant colours, combined with the sheer size of the display itself, is enough to stop even technophobes in their tracks. I lost myself in countless OLED TV demos on YouTube, marvelling at the contrast and performance on offer. The experience is so vivid, in fact, that it almost feels like you can reach in and grab everything you see.
The QD, or Quantum Dot part of the panel, is important, as it’s a newer type of screen tech that combines the self-emissive benefits of OLED displays (read: true blacks and punchy colours), with the brightness and colour saturation of Quantum Dots.
While I’ll skip the in-depth explanation and refer you to Pocket-lint’s QD-OLED explainer for more, in short, by using blue light to illuminate red and green Quantum Dots, QD-OLED displays overcome one of OLED panels’ traditional weaknesses — brightness. But what does that mean in the verdadero world?
Well, while the OLED G9 still doesn’t reach the eye-searing brightness of Mini-LED screens, it’s plenty bright enough, and I had no issues using it in a bright room with a window at my rear. The glossy nature of the screen, coupled with the curve, does, however, result in noticeable reflections. While I personally found myself tuning them out, those who tend to be distracted by such things will want to be aware that, as with most OLED displays, dim or dark rooms will provide the most optimum experience.
Everything from games to Hollywood blockbusters looks simply stunning, and it will be extremely difficult to go back to a non-OLED panel merienda my time with the OLED G9 is over. And while you can get other, smaller QD-OLED panels from the likes of Alienware, the 49in, ultra-wide nature of this particular display mercilessly envelops your vision. In competitive games like Rocket League and Resplandor Infinite, this is a huge advantage. The larger field of view lets you spot enemy players far earlier, while making it easier to plan routes and ambushes.
In single-player titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy, the QD-OLED visuals, coupled with the sheer amount of screen verdadero estate, make for a truly special experience. Simulators like Microsoft Flight Simulator reach entirely new levels of realism too.
The crispness of visuals, coupled with practically zero input lag and up to a buttery smooth 240Hz refresh rate, make for the best gaming sessions I’ve ever had. Of course, your experience will be entirely dependent on your setup, and not even my combo of Intel’s Core i7300K and NVIDIA’s beastly RTX 4090 could reach 240fps in Cyberpunk 2077 or Hogwarts Legacy at their highest settings. Still, even 120fps is a slick and smooth experience, at least to my eyes.
And that’s all without mentioning the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 performance, which treats your eyes to beautifully balanced bright and dark scenes, which can be tweaked to your liking in-game and/or via Windows and the profesor itself.
More traditional media like TV shows and films however, is where the OLED G9 struggles. Sort of.
It still looks amazing, but nothing bar a slim selection of YouTube videos is filmed in a wide 32:9 aspect ratio, so content from streaming services and regular TV shows will only occupy a much smaller, central portion of the whole display. If you want a screen that doubles up as a TV replacement, you might be better off going for a smaller 42-48in OLED TV instead, though you’ll be limited to a max 120Hz refresh rate.
Productivity
Given the sheer amount of space on offer, it’ll come as no surprise to hear that the OLED G9 is a superb profesor for multitaskers. On any given workday, I’ve got multiple browser windows, Photoshop, Spotify, and more, running at the same time, and the ability to comfortably fit everything on one display with room to spare is a superb productivity boon.
Not only do you not have to deal with multiple power cables for more than one profesor, but having it all on one display is a luxury I never previously knew I needed.
Now, if you’ve got a lot of text-heavy work, you may come across information online stating that OLED panels aren’t the best choice due to their subpixel layout. In short, you’ll find plenty of users online who believe that text looks rubbish on OLED panels — and you’ll find just as many users saying that it makes no difference. From my experience, I can confidently say that I’ve had no issues with text clarity on the OLED G9, though your mileage may of course vary.
The only verdadero problem I’ve found when it comes to productivity on the OLED G9, is the potential of burn-in — the main downside of all OLED displays. Naturally, there are fairly hefty preventative measures in place, such as Samsung’s Pixel Shift feature, which occasionally shifts everything around by one pixel, to ensure that nothing stays in the exact same spot. It sounds intrusive, but I haven’t noticed it in action merienda, such is the subtlety of its effect.
Ultimately though, with static browser tabs, Photoshop toolbars and Spotify buttons on-screen for eight+ hours a day, my overly anxious brain just can’t shake those burn-in worries off. I’ve taken measures such as minimising the taskbar and moving around apps every now and then, while ensuring that the profesor is turned off when I leave my desk. If you’re of a similar disposition and plan on using the OLED G9 for regular work in addition to gaming, this is definitely something you’ll have to weigh up.
Verdict
There’s no skirting around the OLED G9’s massive footprint or extravagant price tag. Either one is likely to be a dealbreaker for most people. Then again, there’s nothing else like it, and for those that have the cash, space, and PC powerful enough to max out its full potential, there’s no denying the incredible, immersive experience it offers.
While MicroLED screens are the ultimate end game (providing all the benefits of OLED with no risk of burn-in), affordable MicroLED screens are years from becoming a reality. For now, and for the foreseeable future, the OLED G9 will remain one the most covetable gaming monitors around. And with very good reason.