Michael Higham
The Samsung Odyssey series has earned a good reputation over the years by offering great picture quality at premium, but not unreasonable, prices. With the new Odyssey G8 (G80SD), Samsung has upgraded the model with the latest high-refresh rate 4K OLED panel and neat features like ARC support for use with soundbars. It also offers a full smart TV experience, complete with dedicated streaming apps and Xbox Cloud Gaming that don’t need a PC to run. While these are neat and will certainly appeal to a certain segment of PC gamers, its performance falls in the middle of the market, losing some of the charm of its predecessor.
The Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80SD) is the follow-up to last year’s Odyssey OLED G8… or the Odyssey Neo G8.Either way, Samsung has dropped the added branding, contenting itself with the standard Odyssey G8 moniker the series launched with only two short years ago. But despite simplifying the name, it offers a mishmash of features and design decisions from each of those previous models as well as a couple unique twists of its own.
Like the Neo G8, the monitor uses a 32-inch widescreen display with a 4K resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. Borrowing from the OLED G8, it uses a Quantum Dot-enhanced OLED panel with deep blacks and vivid colors. Its pricing lands right in between the two models with an MSRP of $1,299, though it can frequently be found for around $1,000 on sale.
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Samsung has also done away with the curve on this display and instead opted for an entirely flat design. Depending on which prior version you preferred, that’s either going to be a major change or not much of a change at all. The OLED G8 had a very shallow 1800R curvature, which is more for aesthetic than impacting the experience. The Neo G8, on the other hand, had a deep dish 1000R curve that almost seemed to draw you into the center of the screen.
The physical design of this new model is also much simpler and more refined. The RGB ring centered in the back returns but defaulted to off on my model so that I didn’t even know it was there until I went looking for it. There are no edgy angles or decorations, no LEDs projecting down onto your desk, just a simple silver stand and frame. It doesn’t look anything like a gaming monitor, in truth, but also means that it can fit into any environment without screaming “gamer” at everyone who passes by. Like most other OLEDs, the panel is razor thin and plays into the elegance of its design.
The base of the stand is a flat trapezoid that sits low enough that I was able to slide my Steam Deck under the display without any problem. Since there are no feet to contend with, it really doesn’t impede placing accessories underneath and making the most of your desk space. It also offers a full range of adjustments, including tilt, height, pivot, and rotation if you’d like to use it in portrait orientation.
The panel itself is good, as you would expect it to be, but compared to the last generation with the OLED G8 and G8 Neo, the high-end monitor market has become much more competitive, and it falls right in the middle of the pack. It features a typical brightness of 250 nits, which is typical of OLED monitors in SDR, but turning it to HDR raises highlights to just under 1,000 nits (more on that in the next section). It covers 99% of the DCI-P3 color spectrum and 100% of sRGB, which is, again, about what you would expect. Because of its layer of quantum dots, it’s able to offer a wider color gamut, though it doesn’t leverage this feature for brightness like competing models such as the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, which are more regularly offering peak brightness levels of more than 1,300 nits.
The biggest differentiating factor with this display is that it is a so-called smart monitor. Using Samsung’s Tizen operating system, it essentially becomes a hybrid between a smart TV and a gaming monitor. It has a built-in channel browser and the ability to download apps for major streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. It can also access game streaming services like Xbox Game Pass’ cloud gaming without the need to connect to a PC.
This makes a particularly compelling choice for anyone that needs a PC to double as a television. Given its small size compared to other smart TVs, it also makes a compelling choice for dorm rooms and small living spaces. Its connectivity options also play into this dual-purpose design with a single DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which supports ARC for soundbars. There are two USB Type-A ports and an upstream Type-B to connect to your computer, but there are no Type-C inputs or fast charging capabilities, which is disappointing for a monitor of this caliber. It does have a surprisingly adequate pair of 10-watt speakers built in for enjoying content, as well as a remote to navigate its menus like any other TV.
The thing is, if you’re not interested in these TV features it makes using the monitor more complicated and repeatedly frustrating as you get used to it. The Tizen operating system demands a much lengthier setup process where it needs to connect to your home network. Once it’s up and running, you’ll need to contend with an unintuitive menu system that makes little effort to explain itself. And don’t bother just trying to use the joystick for navigation. You’ll need the remote or an app on your phone to actually access all of its options.
In its effort to make switching between PC and TV modes as seamless as possible, it also makes accidentally switching into TV maddeningly easy. It only takes one button press to return to its entertainment menu and unwittingly swap from your game input, but going back to the right input requires several button presses. And, in my case, quite a bit of fumbling around as I learn how to navigate its UI.
The TV side of things does work well if that’s what you’re looking for. But it’s such a core part of this monitor that it really feels like Samsung cut some corners on things like brightness and out-of-box color accuracy to focus on pushing you toward your next Netflix marathon.
Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80SD) – Software
In terms of sheer capabilities, the Samsung G8 is one of the most versatile monitors I’ve ever tested. Its Tizen operating system essentially turns it into a small 4K smart TV, complete with streaming apps and live television. Thankfully, it remembers your last input, so if you only plan to use it as a gaming monitor, it will default to its PC mode every time.
Because of this, its software really breaks down into two sides: one for when you want to use it as a TV and one for when you’re using it as a monitor. The TV side will be immediately familiar if you’ve used a TV in the last ten years. It comes preloaded with most of the key streaming apps, including YouTube and Netflix, and includes a live channel browser similar to Roku.
It’s also possible to use the monitor completely free of the computer, even for gaming, because of the robustness of the software. In addition to TV streaming, Tizen OS includes a dedicated gaming hub with support for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Plugging in a controller or mouse and keyboard into its dedicated USB hub allows you to use it with these services without needing a PC in between.
Each of these TV-like features worked well in my testing. Using the integrated apps with the remote provides a more seamless experience than simply going to each provider’s website and allows it to be a full TV replacement if you want it to be.
On the PC side, Samsung offers many different options for configuring the picture. The menu system is rich but unlike any other PC monitor I’ve tested. Unsurprisingly, it’s much closer to a TV menu system. It provides plenty of options, though, including picture presets for different types of content, brightness, contrast, color, and sharpness sliders, and several HDR modes to choose from (including HGIG support for console HDR). Samsung also provides a Windows app for configuring its different options.
All-in-all, it’s a robust set of software but is definitely confusing to learn and doesn’t feel much like a typical OSD. It also requires the use of a remote, or companion app, to access everything it has to offer. Navigating with the joystick for everything didn’t seem possible during my testing. More than once, I launched the channel browser by mistake, which was always irritating when I just wanted to open a settings menu. There are also some confusing limitations that take some getting used to, like the monitor locking features behind a “game mode” (also like a TV).
The result is an impressive picture with lots of customization options, but for dedicated PC gamers, there’s a learning curve that’s honestly a bit grating.
Samsung Odyssey G8 (G80SD) – Performance
The Samsung G8 is a very good gaming monitor and could be great if you want it to double as a TV. If you do, its price is also going to feel more reasonable for the extra features it offers. If you don’t, there are better options out there that offer a brighter, more vivid picture and won’t have the extra layer of TV features at a similar price.
I must admit, since I already have a TV, I found the TV features to be more of an annoyance than an asset. Having to connect the monitor to the internet and deal with a cumbersome setup and menu system doesn’t create a great first impression. The default picture settings are also rather bland, so when you get through those extra steps, the picture is less impressive than it should be.
The Samsung Odyssey line has enjoyed a positive reputation over the years in large part due to the screen quality, so it’s possible to get the picture looking good by customizing some picture options, but I was surprised by a first impression that was less bright and less vibrant than even more affordable OLEDs gaming monitors, like the MSI MAG 271QPX.
Part of this is because of its relatively low SDR brightness. Out of the box, the brightness isn’t maxed out and even when it is, it only reached 248-nits using my SpyderPro colorimeter. Limited brightness is a known limitation of OLED technology, but perhaps because of its matte panel, it seems dimmer than what I measured as.
That same limitation also carries through to the HDR experience. Turning on Game Mode in setting peak brightness to high, I measured a peak brightness of 972 nits in a sustained 2% window. In a 25% window that was only 394. Bumping that to a 100% window pushes it much closer to its SDR brightness, topping out at 287 nits. While it’s no slouch, these just aren’t class-leading numbers and with perceived brightness being even lower than what’s technically measured, it just isn’t the monitor to choose for the best HDR experience.
With that said, the Odyssey G8 doesn’t look bad at all. In fact, it’s fair to say it looks quite good, just not quite top-tier as I hoped it would be. But, when you are gaming in HDR and have the picture dialed in for your preferred level of saturation, it delivers a wide enough dynamic range and vivid enough picture to offer a very enjoyable gaming experience.
For competitive gaming, it also offers all the same benefits as other OLED monitors. The response time is simply fantastic with a 0.03ms gray-to-gray (GTG) transition speed. Ghosting will never be an issue with this monitor and at 240Hz motion clarity is simply excellent. It’s a great choice for esports and first-person shooters for this reason – though the same can be said of other OLED monitors.
Color and grey accuracy aren’t great out of the box. Grey hues had a slightly blue cast to them and there isn’t a set sRGB mode for content creation (Auto mimics this mode). In my assessment, the out of box accuracy wasn’t too far off, with a Delta E average of 3.9, which means that most people will be able to notice the inaccuracies before calibrating it. Running it through a calibration cycle, I was able to dial it in to just over 2.2 but couldn’t get it any lower. It covers a wide gamut, however, with 100% of the sRGB color space and 98% of DCI-P3, so it can still be well-suited for content creation if you’re able to calibrate it first.
So while it has some great qualities, I would consider this monitor fairly middling in the context of the market it’s competing in. At its list price of $1,299, it is simply not worth it for pure PC gaming. It frequently goes on sale for around $1,000, which makes it a better buy, but if you’re considering spending $1,000 on a gaming monitor, saving up another couple hundred dollars for something significantly better isn’t that much of a reach. The Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2 (I reviewed the Pro model here) can be found for around $1,000 regularly and offers better visuals and a KVM for multi-system support. Better yet, save up $1,300 and pick up the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM which is better in nearly every way, has a glossy screen, better brightness, and more dedicated gaming features.
The biggest reason to choose this display is if you want a single screen for both your TV and your PC. It works great for that and there is no other monitor I’ve tested that offers such a unified experience.
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