Review on Samsung Odyssey 27" Curved Gaming Monitor with FreeSync, QHD 2560x1440P Display and Adaptive Sync Technology by Zhangtao Taylor

I've been looking for a 32 inch curved gaming monitor for a while and until recently most options were out of price range. The Samsung Odyssey G7 in particular seemed like my perfect holy grail monitor, but at the price of the holy grail. When Samsung recently released a slimmed down version of this G5, it caught my attention. They're missing true HDR 600 240Hz quantum dots, missing an adjustable stand, RGB and extra USB ports. Sounds like something has to be sacrificed. But you have a gaming monitor that's stripped down to the essentials and costs less than half the price. You still get 1440p resolution, fast response times, especially for a VA panel, 144Hz - which is still more than enough for most people - and a 1000R curve for a 32-inch monitor. a bit worried as I have personal experience with VA panel halos and know what to look for, but out of the box and with a little tweaking those concerns are unfounded. With the monitor set to 144Hz with Freesync enabled, there is almost no noticeable VA overshoot on BlurBusters in my opinion. The little UFOs are sharper than I've seen on any other good 144Hz panel. The dark outlier typical of VA panels is missing. The panel behaves more or less the same as its more expensive sibling at 144Hz where it had no ghosting and then the lowest bit at 240 which tells me 144Hz is the best place for this technology right now. If I suspected, the problems are different. The issues reviewers encountered could be related to disabling Freesync and setting the monitor's responsiveness to Boost mode. I've never seen a VA panel NOT THINK in overdrive settings; even the mighty G7 and G9 are suffering. This is best avoided. Overdrive is required to achieve the advertised "1ms" response speed, and you'll get response times of up to 2-3ms if you let the monitor drive itself, but it's still best-in-class and only for hardcore gamers perceivable at a professional level. And if you are one of them, why buy this panel? Setup was easy. My Nvidia drivers immediately recognized the monitor's capabilities, set the correct resolution and refresh rate, and automatically enabled freesync. The on-screen controls are very easy to use and have some useful features, like the crosshair overlay, that I probably won't be using. there is no real adjustment option on the stand. They only have a slight tilt despite having a VESA mount to install your own mounting solution. While HDR looks surprisingly good in my testing, the lack of a full Freesync Premium Pro means you have a choice of HDR or Freesync, rather than using both at the same time. I didn't buy this monitor for its HDR, but it's worth checking if that's an advantage for you. Finally, the elephant in the room: the curve. I personally really like it, but I have a monitor of the same size with a less aggressive curve, so I adapted quickly. If you're coming from a flat screen, you might have trouble with it. After a while I think most people will appreciate that the edges of a monitor are the same distance from their eyes as the center of a monitor of this size. At the same time, I can understand that this is a deal breaker for some. In the end, you're left with a gaming monitor that has everything you need with very, very few extras. If I could give a half star for not fully implemented and HDR support I would, but when you weigh that against the $370 MSRP and the fact that I can get it for $295 on Prime Day I cannot in good faith pull the full star from my review. When a product is that far from flagship monitors, you cannot reasonably expect a full flagship experience. But getting the gist of this experience at this price is closer to 5 stars than anything for me.