Review on SAMSUNG Odyssey Ultrawide Adjustable LC49RG90SSNXZA Swivel Adjustment, USB Hub, Adaptive Sync, Height Adjustment, by John Walsh

After a multi-year three-monitor setup, the single-monitor aspect seemed enticing. I've had this monitor for a little over a month and while I have mostly good things to say, your experience may vary. I will also say that out of the box my monitor had no discernible defects. Pros Having a monitor this big is pretty exciting. Even with an ultra-wide 29-inch monitor, I was a bit overwhelmed the first time I set up the monitor. Although it takes some time to get used to, the viewing experience is amazing. Overall color quality is quite good. I don't use this monitor for work that requires color accuracy, so I'd take that with a grain of salt. For a casual user like me, the colors are more than good. The resolution of this monitor is so clear. If you're thinking about getting a monitor that big, you'll see some 3840 x 1080 and 5120 x 1440 monitors (like this one). As long as you have a computer that supports that resolution and/or you have a graphics card that supports games at that resolution, that pixel jump will have a big impact on screen sharpness. I don't use this much for gaming, so 120Hz, 4ms response time, and loose sync are just nice additions. If you use this for gaming, I'm sure you'll be a little happier seeing these features. The input selection (2x DP, 1x HDMI) is good and the USB hub is a nice addition. It also comes with a cable for each input (DP, HDMI and USB B to USB A). While some require a USB Type-C connector, I personally don't need one for my computer. It is compatible with VESA mount. It comes with a round adapter that allows you to mount it. There are some issues which I will explain later. The menu is pretty easy to navigate. I'm used to the joystick-style menu selection, so it was easy for me to use. It also has three buttons that allow you to quickly switch between picture modes (movie, game, etc.) and actually switch to the mode you want. The included stand is also good, albeit heavy. The only thing you can't do is rotate the screen (e.g. when switching from landscape to portrait mode), although I hope you don't plan on using such a monitor in portrait mode... you will probably turn around see full screen. Again, you get used to it, but it will likely be annoying. It doesn't have built-in speakers. I know they probably won't sound great, but it would be nice to have some built-in speakers. There are some audio ports on the back if you want to connect external speakers, but I didn't use them. This monitor has a Picture-by-Picture (PBP) function that allows one input and the other half the other. While that's good, I wish there were a few more options so maybe an input only takes up a small portion of the screen, not half, no matter what. I explained that there are three buttons that you can set for specific picture modes (which change things like contrast and brightness). It would be much better if I could change one of these buttons to activate PBP mode, which I explained earlier. It's not a big problem, but I don't just use these buttons to change the picture mode. However, I use PBP quite often. Although some applications use full screen mode (Adobe Premiere Pro, Excel, etc.), most applications do not require full screen mode. When you go to a web page, chances are you're only using a third of the screen and the other 2/3 are black bars. Most games don't run at that high resolution either, and if they do, they can enhance the user experience so much that it's not worth it. Games that make good use of space are fun, but then again you need a graphics card that can handle both this high resolution and these frame rates. The price is high. A new purchase cost me €1,300. I was lucky enough to have the money to do this, but if you're trying to save money there are far better options. You can easily buy two good 1440p monitors and a mount for both for probably half the price of this monitor. I won't lie; I think most people considering buying this monitor are probably not trying to complete a "budget build". Not good, not bad, but you might want to know: this monitor is heavy. It weighs about 25 pounds just for the monitor. Earlier I said that it is compatible with the VESA standard. If you want to mount it, you need to make sure the bracket can bear the weight. If you want one that can do that, you'll probably pay more for a "heavy duty" mount. Because of the size of this monitor, you'll likely need a multi-window manager to use all of the available space. screen curvature