Samsung’s newest OLED gaming monitor hits 500Hz at 1440p

It looks like we’ve got a genuine arms race going on between Samsung and LG, the most prolific producers of panels of the OLED persuasion. Just last week LG showed off a new OLED panel that could hit 720Hz, but had to make do with 27 inches and 1080p. Samsung’s new Odyssey OLED G6 can do 500Hz on the more popular 1440p resolution.

The OLED G6 still uses a 27-inch form factor, but that’s pretty popular with PC gamers, especially the sweaty multiplayer fans who’ll be most interested in a refresh rate that’s more than double the typical spec these days. Samsung also boasts that the new design can hit 1,000 nits of peak brightness (though the “typical” rating is 300), with support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility as well.

There’s no USB-C support, which is a bit of a bummer, but also no smart TV-style software, which might be a pro for some gamers. You do get a pair of USB-A ports and double HDMI and a DisplayPort for good measure. This monitor isn ‘t cheap at $1,000 (shipping today from Samsung’s online store) but we’ve seen plenty of sales on Samsung OLEDs not too far removed from their launch dates.

But speaking of prices, there’s a new option that’s bigger and cheaper than the newest OLED G6, albeit not as zippy in refresh. The Odyssey G7 now comes in 37-inch and 40-inch flavors, $900 for the smaller and $1,200 for the larger. Unlike most monitors in this size range, the smaller one is 4K instead of ultrawide. The 40-inch model does stretch things out with 5120×2160 resolution, essentially 4K at the more cinematic 21:9 size. Unlike the flat G6, both G7 models have a gentle 1000R curve.

Samsung

The 37-inch monitor gets “just” 165Hz of refresh while the bigger 40-inch model bumps it up a bit to 180Hz. Not amazing, but probably fine if you’re not looking to compete and just want a gorgeous OLED panel with high resolution. Both of them use FreeSync, not G-Sync, and have the same connection options. That 40-inch model is particularly interesting to me—I wouldn’t be surprised to see it dip a lot lower on sale.