Samsung has announced that customers can now reserve the new 32-inch Odyssey Neo G8 gaming monitor. The 4K 240Hz 1000R curved display, which is planned to retail for a whopping $1,499.99, is scheduled to become available on June 6, 2022. A perk of reserving is that you’ll receive a $50 coupon that will soon apply to your incredibly expensive Neo G8.
Apparently, this is indeed a reservations system rather than a pre-order setup, so if you enter your information on Samsung’s webpage, the company will notify you when the display is ready for purchase. At such time, you can use that handy $50-off coupon, bringing the screen’s substantial price down to something slightly less offensive.
Samsung is billing the Odyssey Neo G8 as the first 4K gaming monitor to feature a 240Hz refresh rate, and that’s particularly interesting, seeing as most current 4K gaming displays max out at around 144Hz. That’s certainly where my ASUS ROG Swift PG32UQ 32-inch monitor stands, and it’s considered relatively top-tier by current metrics.
Also of note is Quantum HDR2000, which promises a 2,000nit peak brightness and a million-to-one static contrast ratio. By comparison, the aforementioned PG32UQ boasts only HDR600, which obviously pales in the shadow of something like HDR2000. So, speaking of shadows (or lack thereof), the Neo G8 is looking to be one seriously bright display.
Additionally, the Quantum Mini-LED screen will have a total of 1,196 local dimming zones and 12-nit black levels, which hopefully will minimize or eliminate any potential blooming during dark cutscenes and moody areas within games. On the topic of games, since this is a gaming monitor after all, the Neo G8 will feature a 1ms response time (GtG, or gray to gray) and Adaptative Sync to help reduce annoying problems like stuttering, tearing and judder.
Samsung is stating that the Neo G8 will sport “a similar design language as the Odyssey Neo G9”. In other words, a mostly white aesthetic that calls to mind the sterile hallways of an abandoned spaceship. Lastly, CoreSync technology will project colors from your game onto the wall behind your monitor, so your gaming den can look just like the desolate, unsettling world of Elden Ring. Oh joy!
From a cost perspective, we are talking about $1,500 for a 32-inch monitor, which is rather outlandish. However — and it’s a big caveat — 240Hz is a huge deal for a 4K screen. Usually, to experience that kind of refresh rate, you’d need to go with significantly less resolution, somewhere in the 1080p to 1440p realm. Competitive gamers tend to shy away from 4K displays for this very reason, because if you need really snappy performance, taking a hit in resolution is preferable to potentially laggy gameplay.
Color me intrigued, Samsung. Hopefully review units will be available, and we can test out the Neo G8 right here on my Forbes page. June can’t come soon enough.