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Aug 05, 2023

Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC review: 49 fantastic and immersive OLED inches

Samsung is one of the top players in the gaming monitor arena. The company has been upping its designs for the past few years with monitors such as the Odyssey G9 in 2020, the Odyssey Neo G9 in 2021,

Samsung is one of the top players in the gaming monitor arena. The company has been upping its designs for the past few years with monitors such as the Odyssey G9 in 2020, the Odyssey Neo G9 in 2021, and the Odyssey Ark in 2022. Well, it is 2023 and the time has come for something new from Samsung. The company is offering a world’s first with its brand new Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC DQHD 0.03ms 240Hz 1800R curved gaming monitor.

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

A few new things the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC brings to the table are (most obvious) an OLED display, Samsung’s Gaming Hub, and cloud gaming on demand. Being a casual gamer, I tested this monitor using mostly Steam. I did use Xbox Cloud Gaming, but our internet connection isn’t the strongest and it didn’t do this monitor justice in using it. I also tested this monitor as a video and photo editor, which was a massively excellent experience. Let’s jump right into The Quick Take below and then into the full review of the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC.

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This may be the shortest Quick Take we’ve done since we’ve started this section in our reviews.

Combining the OLED display, 1800R curve, 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, Gaming Hub, and 49″ of display real estate makes the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95C a wet dream for gamers.

Are there things some users may not like? Of course, nothing is ever perfect. But you really need to get nitpicky to hate this monitor, or you’re just a troll. The only thing I honestly didn’t enjoy were the speakers. My other cons were Windows related and not the monitor’s fault.

I highly recommend the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95C, it’s a fantastic monitor for gamers and pulls double duty for productivity.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G95C has the following features and specifications:

The new Samsung Odyssey OLED G95C design isn’t exactly brand new, it shares a lot of aesthetics with its previous G9 cousins. One major difference is the more subtle and relaxed 1800R curve, rather than the 1000R curve of its cousins. There’s a lot of debate concerning curved monitors, we won’t get into that, but we will explain the differences between 1800R and 1000R, briefly.

The simple explanation is that 1000R curved monitors wrap in closer to the user, which, in theory, gives the user a better experience and the ability to see more of the display without turning their head. As I said, there is much debate over this, I get an excellent experience from both 1000R and 1800R so the chart above, to me, is not correct. But let’s leave the curve talk here for now, and pick it up in the display section.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G95C is, well, wide. Because of the flatter curve, it measures 47-inches wide, a few inches wider than its 1000R cousins. This measurement is from one tip of the curve to the other, the display measures 49-inches diagonally. The stand is much smaller than previous G9 monitors and takes up less space, so this monitor should fit on most desks. Though, it may hang over some desks.

The bezels on the front are thin, not impossibly thin, but acceptable by today’s standards. The bottom bezel is the thickest, but not noticeable at all. The Samsung logo is center bottom and in a gloss black, it’s barely noticeable at all.

The stand is a foot-style stand, much like the Odyssey Ark. I prefer these stands over the Y-shaped stands as these take up less space and allow for the space to still be used. The back of the stand has a notch cut out for cable management. The stand weighs next to nothing, and the overall weight of the monitor and stand is hardly anything. This has to do with the panel being an OLED panel, those mini-LED and LED panels add weight due to the lighting. Not a problem with this OLED panel.

Like portions of the stand, the back of the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95C is made of aluminum with venting running along the top and a nice accent line with the Odyssey logo. Like its cousins, the G95C has the RGB core which lights up and is controllable via the menu. In a brightly lit room, this is barely noticeable when placed against the wall. The effect is better in a darker room. But let’s be serious, this is bling to show off and when the RGB core is facing others, it looks outstanding.

Under the RGB core are your I/O, power button, and joystick. The joystick is used to access the menu, if you would rather not use the included remote control. Unlike the older G9 monitors, this one uses a remote to access settings, as it also includes Samsung’s Game Hub. The remote is small, thin, and charges via USB-C with a long battery life.

The I/O on the back includes, two USB-C downstream ports, One USB-C upstream port, HDMI in, DisplayPort in, Micro HDMI in, and your power port. Unlike the LED G9’s, this does not have a cover for the ports because the display is so thin, there’s really no room for it.

The speakers are housed along the bottom of the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC and are down firing. More on those later. Overall, this is a fantastic-looking monitor. Given that this is an OLED panel, Samsung was able to cut a significant amount of weight compared to its G9 cousins. The build quality is top-notch, and the materials are all premium. The RGB core lighting is spectacular looking, and I like that Samsung kept it simple and didn’t go overboard with RGB.

Physical setup of the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC is a breeze. To give you an idea of how much lighter this panel is, without the stand it weighs 6-pounds less than the Neo G9. With the stand, it weighs 4-pounds less than the Neo G9. So lifting this monitor is fairly easy with the whole thing weighing under 30-pounds.

The stand comes in two pieces, the vertical portion and the foot. The foot screws into the stand and that portion of the assembly is done. The display then slips on the mounting bracket of the stand and locks in place. That’s literally it.

All that’s left is to use the input of your choice, and off you go. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC also comes with Gaming Hub, something that’s on the Odyssey Ark but not on earlier G9 monitors. We’ll go over Gaming Hub and setup in the software section. Overall, this is a simple monitor to get put together and set up quickly.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC is the world’s first 49″ OLED gaming monitor, something Samsung definitely wants you to know. Previous G9 monitors were QLED and Quantum Mini LED backlit.

Display technology is constantly evolving, and today’s OLED has improved over years past. LED panels require a ton of LEDs to light the panel for viewing, OLED does not need these. This is what saves weight and size. OLED also has had the advantage in black levels, white clarity, and color saturation. That has changed too. Samsung and others have made, most notably their TV lineup, their LED tech nearly as good as OLED in all of OLED’s previous winning categories.

There is, of course, still a lot of debate on which display tech is better, I, personally, love them both. But I do give the edge, a very slight edge, to OLED. Though I do prefer the brightness that Neo QLED has to offer, OLED brightness has gotten better on TVs such as the Samsung S95C with its Quantum Dot technology that makes OLED brighter than ever, but I digress.

Samsung says that its Neo Quantum Processor Pro instantly analyzes all frames to optimize the picture quality, which provides darker blacks and brighter whites. Samsung’s AI upscaling is supposed to adjust the brightness and amplify the contrast and maintain the detail. The G95SC has VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, with 250 nits of standard brightness and up to 400 nits of HDR brightness. I used this display in a well lit room and felt it was bright enough for my needs, and actually brighter than I was expecting.

As we mentioned in our Neo G9 review, Windows 11 and HDR aren’t always perfect. We’ve had our share of issues with HDR on Windows 11, but the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC in Dynamic HDR mode does an excellent job of managing this, thanks to Samsung’s Neo Quantum Processor Pro.

I really do not need to say this, but colors are vibrant and rich on this display. It is one thing to use a monitor with these rich colors for daily mundane tasks and quite another to use it for gaming. Games are far more enveloping when the colors are nicely saturated and they are on the G95SC. The vibrancy of this monitor also makes it fantastic for consuming other media such as movies and TV shows, especially animated media.

The black levels on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC are spectacular, they are deep and inky with no splotching. Though I will say that Samsung’s NeoQLED technology is catching up to OLED performance in this regard. The white levels are also crisp and clean, with no yellowing whatsoever. We’ll go over the specs and features of the display in the performance section.

I should also mention that video and photo editing is incredible, especially video editing on such a wide display. The timeline can be seen for miles, reducing the amount of side scrolling needed to see the timeline. It’s a massive plus for me.

Overall, the G95SC display makes games and multimedia content look fabulous and the 1800R curve combined with the 32:9 aspect ratio give you a full immersive experience when gaming.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC runs on Tizen OS, the same as the Ark and the company’s TV ecosystem. Also shared with the Ark and its TVs is the Smart Hub user interface. Smart Hub, which includes Samsung’s Gaming Hub. Through the Smart and Gaming Hubs you can perform a myriad of tasks and you can access the Hubs with the included remote by pressing the home button. Here are some of the things you can access using the Hub:

Samsung says that the Gaming Hub enables players to instantly access their favorite games from its content partners. In addition to accessing games, gamers can also look forward to enhanced gameplay with minimized judder and blur, thanks to advanced motion enhancements and latency reducing technology.

You can install apps such as Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, and pretty much everything you can install on a Samsung TV you can install on the G95SC. When you are not using the sources you’ve plugged, the G95SC can function as a full-on streaming box/television.

You have Ambient Mode, which allows you to display artwork, news, or photos like wallpaper on the screen. There is Workspace, which will enable you to use Samsung Dex and mirror devices and use things like Microsoft Teams. Of course, there is Game Hub, which allows Xbox Cloud Gaming, Stadia, NVIDIA GeForce Now, Utomik, and other gaming sources. There are also features such as Multi-View, which allows you to split the screen between sources.

Overall, Samsung has been making its latest monitors far more than just monitors. The Smart and Gaming Hub addition is a fantastic, though some may worry about yet another device that needs to be updated. That is a valid concern, as a dumb monitor needs no updating. From our experience, with previous Samsung Smart Monitors, the Samsung Ark, and now the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC, this new software experience has been solid on the company’s new monitors.

Unlike previous G9 models, the new Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC comes with built-in speakers. These speakers are along the bottom portion of the monitor and fire downwards. These speakers are a 5w x 2ch setup and they do a fairly decent job for what they are.

They’re not as immersive as the display but they work in a pinch. They are certainly better than many other speakers on monitors that I’ve heard in the past, so don’t dismiss them right away. Considering this monitor is $2,200 you may not have the extra cash to buy good speakers right now. These will get you through until you can buy a good speaker or soundbar.

The nice thing is that having built-in speakers does reduce the setup time and wire clutter. Headphones are probably your best bet to get the best immersive sound, something like the JBL Quantum 910 would work nicely.

Overall, the speakers on this monitor are good for what they are, considering how thin the chassis is, I’m uncertain if they could fit anything more robust in there.

As I mentioned at the start of this review, I am a casual gamer, when I play games I do it to relax and not compete. The titles below are what my son and I used to test the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC. We also used Steam to play our gaming titles, I have access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, but our internet connection isn’t strong enough to use it without some issues. So, we stuck with Steam.

The first thing to realize, and I think most avid gamers are going to know this, but for those who do not know. Not all games are optimized or can be adjusted to use the G95SC’s 32:9 aspect ratio. Batman: Arkham Asylum was the first game I fired up and I was presented with chunky black bars to the left and right. Minecraft Dungeons works but needs to be optimized via the NVIDIA GeForce app and you will this to be the case on many games.

It’s also important to note that this issue is not the fault of the monitor, it’s the development of the games that needs to catch up and adjust. That said, once you start gaming, black bars or no black bars, it is an outstanding experience.

While only a casual gamer, I could notice how smooth everything looked thanks to the 0.03ms response time and 240Hz refresh rate. In Samsung’s marketing material, it says:

Dodge, counter and engage faster than the rest. Samsung OLED with Quantum Dot technology delivers near instant reaction time with 0.03ms response time. HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort connections keep you ahead of the competition with the 240Hz refresh rate. Milliseconds matter when you’re facing the best.

While I’m not competitive gaming, I could see the games I usually play were far better when it came to motion. Everything looked crisp and clear and felt natural with no jitter or lag; that we could see. You can easily view the status of your important settings such as FPS or HDR. You can modify the screen ratio, zoom in on the Minimap, or change the game picture mode without ever leaving your game screen by using the Game Bar. Not only that, but you can access the Game Bar by pressing and holding the play/pause button on the remote, and the Game Bar will pop up.

Destiny 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order were by far my two favorites to play on this monitor. I’m sure I’ll have more as I use it a bit longer, but in the limited time I had, these two games were a blast to play in the 32:9 aspect ratio. My field of view was outstanding, and the graphics were smooth and crisp, I like both of these games a lot and the G95SC elevated the already fun experience to another level.

Overall, the performance of the Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC is fantastic! You also need to remember that some performance responsibility will depend on what computer/CPU/GPU/RAM setup you are using. The G95SC isn’t responsible for gaming performance but visual performance, and in that category it does its job in the most excellent of ways.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC is priced at $2,199.99, which is $300 less than the Neo G9 was when it released. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that this is a cheap price, it is not. This is a significant amount of money to spend on anything.

That said, you wouldn’t be reading this far if you were not keenly interested in purchasing this monitor. The good news is, that the features and experience you get from the G95SC is well worth the money. The value is 100% here for those who are looking for an enveloping and immersive gaming experience with the ability to then use the very same monitor as a productivity monitor.

Overall, expensive but well worth it and it will benefit you eventually, you should not need to buy another monitor for a long time.

Wrapping up this Samsung Odyssey OLED G95SC review, all we really have to say is; the G95SC provides that immersive and enveloping experience that every avid gamer is after. If you have the itch to buy a DQHD gaming monitor, the G95SC will scratch it, unquestionably.