The Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 ($999) is a 43-inch 4K smart gaming monitor that, on paper, looks like it could be a perfect monitor. Indeed, for the most part, it’s an impressive screen with vibrant mini LED backlighting, especially considering the advent of pricey OLED monitors of the same or similar sizes. But while its visuals deliver, the user experience is less than ideal. In our time with the panel, we ran across some glitches that hold back the Neo G7 from earning higher accolades. They're not deal-breakers, however, so if you’re willing to overlook them, you'll find the G7 is still effective in delivering high-quality images, whether you’re settling in for a marathon movie night or playing one of your favorite games.
A Neo Odyssey
Samsung has long proven that it can make a good-looking monitor, and the Odyssey Neo G7 is no different. Thin bezels bordering the screen give the monitor the silhouette of a picture frame, and the matte display keeps glare to a minimum. It’s not the thinnest monitor we’ve seen recently (its OLED cousin, the OLED G9, takes that crown), but at 37.8 by 25 by 10 inches (HWD), it’s not too thick around the edges. A remote control is also included, giving you easy access to the monitor's menu (more on this later).
The panel weighs 25.8 pounds. That's not too hefty, especially when compared with monitors like the BenQ Mobiuz Gaming Monitor (EX480UZ), which weighs about 42 pounds with only a 5-inch difference in screen size. The Neo G7 isn’t very dexterous, offering no height adjustment or swivel, just a tilt range of -2 to 20 degrees, which is reasonable considering the screen size. It is wall-mountable with a 200mm-by-200mm VESA mount.
Turning the monitor around, you’ll notice that it sports a white rear cabinet, giving it a futuristic look reminiscent of competing Alienware monitors. On its left, you’ll find a slight indent housing a vertical row of I/O ports: two HDMI 2.1 ports, an Ethernet jack, a DisplayPort input, a headphone jack, two USB-A ports, and a USB-B upstream connector. Interestingly, there’s no RGB lighting on the monitor, but that’s probably not too much of a loss for most gamers. RGB lighting, once a gamer-gear staple, has become less popular of late, and it’s not uncommon to see it dropped entirely from accessories like gaming mice (notable examples: the Razer DeathAdder V3 and Razer Naga V2 Pro) or implemented sparingly.
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The Odyssey Neo G7 makes use of Samsung’s Quantum Matrix Technology in its mini LED display. Quantum Matrix Technology works with the monitor's AI-powered processor to read the image on the screen and dim it accordingly, delivering more profound contrast, Samsung says. Typically, normal LCD backlights consist of LEDs along the edge of the panel or in some cases a grid of LEDs with up to 512 dimming zones. Quantum dots use those same LEDs, but improve the quality of white light generated, and in this case offer richer colors, brighter whites, and deeper blacks, according to Samsung. The image does look crisp, especially when viewing dark or dimly lit scenes from movies or games.
Along with its 4K resolution (3,840 by 2,160 pixels), the Odyssey Neo G7 supports up to a 144Hz refresh rate, a 1ms response time, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, the highest tier of AMD's adaptive-sync technology, which reduces screen tearing, stutter, and input latency. Also, you’ll find Samsung’s Gaming Hub, which features cloud streaming services like Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now, a staple in Samsung’s smart monitors and TVs.
Testing the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7: Performance Where It Counts
At $999 but periodically on sale for $799 (it was discounted to that at this writing), the Odyssey Neo G7 is a great buy for someone looking for a 4K monitor with smart-TV features added—but how does it compare to other 4K gaming monitors where it counts? To answer that question, we took a look under the hood to run a couple of key benchmarks that measure contrast, brightness, input lag, and color accuracy using the Datacolor SpyderX colorimeter. We haven’t had many 43-inch gaming monitors come our way, so we picked out some recent, smaller 4K gaming monitors we've reviewed: the Lenovo Legion Y32p-30, the Sony Inzone M9, the Dell 32 4K UHD Gaming Monitor (G3223Q) and the ViewSonic Gaming Elite XG321UG.
In our first test, we measure the monitor’s brightness in its default picture mode with an SDR signal. The Odyssey Neo G7 saw an average brightness of 456 nits (candelas per square meter), which put it a few nits over Samsung’s 400-nit rating. That’s a good deal brighter than most of our 4K contenders, except for the ViewSonic Gaming Elite.
Switching over to HDR mode, we used the VESA DisplayHDR compliance tests (available for free on the Microsoft Store) to measure a peak HDR brightness of 651 nits, just over the monitor’s VESA Display HDR600 rating.
Turning our attention to measuring the monitor’s color gamut, we see that the Neo G7 held its own against the other 4K monitors here. The Neo G7 spanned 100% of the sRGB color gamut, 87% of Adobe RGB, and 95% of DCI-P3.
Next up: color accuracy, where the Neo G7 recorded a Delta E of 2. The higher the Delta E, the further colors tend to stray from their intended hue. A value under 1 is ideal, though very few gaming monitors reach it, especially out of the box. Though the Neo's reading might dissuade video editors and photographers who would prefer better color accuracy when working on their craft, it’s far from bad. (For those folks, we recommend a panel like the ViewSonic VP2785-4K.)
Next, we look at the contrast ratio, which indicates the difference in luminance between the brightest white and darkest black that a monitor can produce. We measured a contrast ratio of 1,960:1 and a black level of 0.23, while the Neo G7 is rated for a peak static contrast ratio of 4,250:1 and a dynamic contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. The difference? The static contrast ratio is the luminosity ratio of the brightest and darkest shade the system is capable of producing at any time. In contrast (pun semi-intended), the dynamic contrast ratio is the luminosity ratio of the brightest and darkest shade produced over time. At any rate, the Neo G7’s contrast ratio is good, but not as good as ViewSonic's.
It's common for contrast ratios to vary, even within the same panel types. Our testing is done on default settings with the brightness raised to 100, but different video modes can produce a higher contrast ratio. You can also try enabling or disabling different settings, and even calibrating the contrast yourself. These measures may help deepen blacks, which in turn will raise the contrast ratio—but that may also affect picture quality, so keep that in mind as you tinker.
Media and Gaming Performance
So far, the Neo G7 has been defined by great color range and brightness, as well as average contrast ratio and color accuracy. But what about the most important gaming metric, input lag? It’s in this test that the Neo G7 proves its worth. Using the HDFury Diva HDMI matrix, we clocked 3.9 milliseconds (ms) of input lag, which is a great result. (The lower the number, the better, but anything under 15ms of input lag is more than playable.) Monitors measuring under 1ms of input lag are what will impress the hardcore esports crowd, but a still-low input lag measure like the Neo G7's 3.9ms will help casual players keep up with the competition in fast-paced shooters and action games.
The low input lag should have been the cherry on top for this monitor. However, in testing I came across a few problems that had little to do with panel performance, but were still frustrating. One involved the menus: The Neo's were unusually slow at times when simply navigating the onscreen display (OSD). I noticed the sluggishness while moving from the Gaming Hub to the Media Hub, or when waiting for apps to start up.
I also noticed that the monitor would sometimes not detect an input. At one time, it did not detect a PC connected via DisplayPort, despite trying three different DisplayPort cables. Eventually, it worked, but then I had the same issue with the HDMI port. I wasn't able to pinpoint the reason, or a solution, and Samsung had not responded to a request for comment by the time I published this review.
Are these problems deal-breakers? Yes and no. While the issues may very well be limited to our review sample, a quick glance at the comment section on the monitor's product page suggests that some early adopters experienced similar issues. Samsung also did not respond to a request for comment about how widespread the problems might be. Ultimately, a slow OSD is irksome, but not nearly as much of a problem as a device not being recognized. Samsung does offer a one-year warranty if you do fall victim to a hardware issue.
When I did finally get the monitor to recognize that PC input, the gaming experience was excellent. Titles like Cyberpunk 2077 looked good on the monitor, and games that allow for high frame rates, like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, didn’t run into any issues like screen tearing with the adaptive sync activated. The audio quality from the built-in speakers was fine, though I noted no major difference in volume as I crept up to higher volume levels. Compared with the excellent range of sound from the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9's speakers, the lack of range was noticeable.
Verdict: Do 4K Visuals Trump Sluggish Software?
The Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 is a pretty good big-screen monitor, with a solid mini LED screen and some nice gaming features—so long as you don’t fall victim to its potential hardware or software issues. Ultimately, Samsung’s monitor delivers where it counts, with low input lag, excellent color range, and a good HDR implementation. For the size and price, it's hard not to recommend the Odyssey Neo G7, but there are plenty of glitch-free OLED options to consider if you drop a few inches from the equation, like the Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 OLED.
Samsung's Odyssey Neo G7 is a near-TV-size gaming monitor with a panel that will dazzle, if you're willing to overlook a few operational quirks.
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