The thing about a monitor is that you use it so often that you start to accept the trade-offs you made while shopping for it. After not that long of a time you start to accept that you opted for the 120Hz option instead of the 165Hz option. You accept that you chose the 1080p resolution instead of 2560×1440 (QHD). The subject of this review won’t force you to make those trade-offs.
The Samsung Odyssey G55C is a 32 inch display with the aforementioned QHD resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and support for HDR10. It’s also a curved monitor.
Going off the official product page for this monitor, Samsung is targeting gamers with which makes sense as the display isn’t rocking any sort of Adobe or DCP colour calibration out of the box. That’s not to say the colour is bad, in fact it’s excellent but let’s start at the beginning.
Speccing it out
The G55C is rather well specced for a monitor that has a retail price of R7 999. The monitor is 71cm wide with the stand attached so you may, like us, have to clear some space on your desk for this behemoth.
The power supply is tiny and sips 59W when the monitor is running at full tilt which it will during intense games. You may also want to check that your GPU is up to the task of running games at a QHD resolution as we had to adjust settings on our aging Acer Predator notebook to run games at a comfortable frame rate.
As for ports you will find one DisplayPort 1.2 and one HDMI 2 port. There is also a USB port for firmware updates, a power input, and a 3.5mm audio output. The display’s settings are accessed through a single multi-directional button at the bottom of the monitor.
The on-screen menu is easy to navigate and most options can be accessed in a few clicks and sub-menus aren’t deep at all allowing you to quickly revert settings. This was, for us, the most important aspect of the monitor. Too often do monitors contain complicated menus that make adjusting settings chore. Samsung’s UI here is stellar, as are the other features.
Centrepiece
As mentioned, the G55C is huge but it looks incredible on a desk. The monitor sports one thick “chin” at the bottom but the bezels are quite thin giving you a decent amount of display area. The stand is potentially the worst part of this monitor simply because it’s so big. This can be overcome with a third-party stand which the G55C supports.
The G55C is also quite bright with a 300 cd/m2 typical brightness. Even dialled down, sudden flashes of white light in a video or game may act as a flashbang when sitting in a dark room.
As for the curve it’s subtle but does help lessen how far your eyes need to move from one end to another. Granted, this is only a 32-inch 16:9 display so it’s not as drastic as some of the other Odyssey monitors in the range. We do feel more immersed in the games we played while using the G55C so the curve is great overall.
Speaking of gaming, the G55C just amps up the experience. As we mentioned, we had to tweak some in-game settings to eke out the best performance we could from this monitor. After fussing with that, we switched on AMD Freesync Premium and the performance was stellar. Frame rates were stable and the image was smooth and with HDR enabled, games take on a new life. Even something as simple as watching a show on Netflix looks great.
The size and resolution are also excellent for doing some work. The real-estate is especially great in applications such as Adobe Premiere and Adobe Audition where the large size and high resolution give you more room to see your tracks. As mentioned earlier in the review if you need colour accuracy you may want to explore your options.
Other notable features of the G55C include an Eye Saver Mode, a Black Equaliser and even a crosshair overlay for shooters. There is also an Auto Source Switch if you intend to use this monitor for two different computers which is very convenient.
Worth considering
At R7 999 the Samsung Odyssey G55C is incredibly well-appointed for the price. The resolution is in a great spot for modern mid-range PCs running triple AAA titles and the refresh rate makes it a great option for those who main-line first-person shooters and other fast-paced action titles.
Even just for working or watching content, the G55C is wonderful and kicks out a crisp image that features perfectly saturated colours and deep blacks.
The Samsung Odyssey G55C then gets an easy recommendation from us.
FINAL SCORE: 9 OUT OF 10
