Samsung Odyssey OLED G6: This monitor hits 500Hz in style

As the SDR testing will show, this doesn’t mean the image quality is worse—but it does make the image quality a bit more annoying to tune. If you want a gamma of 2.4, for example, you can’t switch to that, but instead have to guess which of the provided gamma settings comes close to the gamma value you want to see.

Samsung also lacks a Windows app that surfaces all or most monitor features within Windows itself. Most competitors, including Asus and Alienware/Dell, offer software with that functionality. Samsung does provide Samsung Display Manager, but it largely exists for Windows management, not control of monitor features.

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Together, the sometimes vague menu settings and lack of a Windows app for monitor control put the G60SF at a disadvantage. It’s not an issue if you tend to tune your monitor’s settings once and then never touch them again. But if you often change settings—perhaps because you want an AdobeRGB mode for work, but then a Game mode for play—the G60SF’s limitations could prove annoying.

Samsung Odyssey OLED G60SF SDR image quality

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G60SF has (surprise!) a Samsung QD-OLED panel. This type of OLED panel has become the gold standard for OLED monitors, with only LG’s WOLED providing competition. Which is extremely relevant, because some LG WOLED monitors achieve refresh rate up to 480Hz. Indeed, all the monitors I’ve included in the graph below are OLED or WOLED monitors with a refresh rate of 500Hz or 480Hz.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The Odyssey G60SF gets off to a good start with an SDR brightness of up to 320 nits, which is a great result for an OLED monitor. As of 2024, a brightness of around 250 nits was more common—but we’re now starting to see 300 nits or more from flagship displays. A higher maximum brightness means the G60SF works better in rooms with bright lighting or many sunlit windows.

Samsung’s matte display finish also helps with readability and provides an important reason shoppers might choose the G60SF over a competitor. Most OLED monitors have a glossy finish, which enhances perceived contrast and vibrance, at the cost of increased glare and reflections. The G60SF takes the opposite path, with minimal glare at the cost of reduced perceived contrast and vibrance.

Personally, I prefer Samsung’s approach, though your opinion may differ. Keep in mind that the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQDPG, the other 500Hz QD-OLED currently available, has a glossy finish.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Next up is contrast, where all the OLED monitors offer identical performance. They have an effectively infinite contrast ratio because they can reach a minimum brightness of zero nits. All of these monitors have an immersive, deep image, and they’re great for watching Netflix or playing darker games, like Path of Exile 2 or the latest Silent Hill.

As mentioned earlier, the G60SF’s finish has an impact on perceived contrast. This occurs because of how light scatters differently across a matte panel finish as compared to a glossy finish. This doesn’t change the minimum luminance of each panel, however.

The practical effect is that the XG27AQPDG may seem to be a bit more contrast rich than the G60SF. I can notice this, but as mentioned, I personally prefer the reduced glare of a matte finish over the enhanced perceived contrast of glossy. Your mileage may vary.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Color gamut is a win for the G60SF, which can display up to 100 percent of sRGB, 98 percent of DCI-P3, and 95 percent of AdobeRGB.

The Asus ROG Strix XG27AQDPG, which has the same QD-OLED panel, is more or less tied with the G60SF. But competitors with the LG WOLED panel, such as the LG Ultragear 27GX790-AB, Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP, and Sony M10S, all have a slightly more narrow color gamut at 96 percent of DCI-P3 and 88 to 90 percent of AdobeRGB.

With that said, though, all of these monitors have a very wide color gamut, and all of them will generally look vibrant and vivid in colorful content. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend one over the other solely because of the color gamut. But if vivid color is your top priority, the G60SF will do the trick.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The G60SF also delivers excellent color accuracy with a very low average color error and no single color showing an error value beyond 2, which is a great result. In general, the image looks incredibly lifelike and shows no obvious inaccuracies. To be honest, all OLED monitors tend to perform well here—but it does seem that the QD-OLED monitors have an edge over the WOLED competition.

Gamma and color temperature were a slight miss for the G60SF. The default gamma value was 2.3, slightly off the target of 2.2, which means the image can look a bit darker than it should. Many OLED monitors have this problem, but the Asus XG27AQDPG managed to hit the target gamma of 2.2. The G60SF also displayed a color temperature of 6200K, which is a bit warmer than the target of 6500K. And because the G60SF’s menu has less precise gamma and color temperature options than the Asus, you may have more difficulty tuning these settings than you would with other displays.

Sharpness is a weak point, as to be expected for a 1440p OLED display. While sharpness has improved in the latest panels, we’re still talking about a pixel density of about 110 pixels per inch across the 26.5-inch display. That’s not bad, but 4K ups that to roughly 163 pixels per inch, which is a big increase. And, of course, many 4K monitors are available at prices similar to, or less than, the G60SF.

Still, the G60SF’s overall image quality is great, as typical for a QD-OLED display. It doesn’t perform any better than its competitors, but also no worse, and the matte display coat gives the G60SF a unique selling point that sets it apart from the alternatives.

Samsung Odyssey G60SF HDR image quality

I went into the Samsung Odyssey OLED G60SF hot off my review of the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQDPG, the other 500Hz QD-OLED currently available. And the Asus was great in HDR, so I expected the same from the Samsung. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

While I tried to coax the highest brightness possible from the G60SF with the monitor’s Peak Brightness setting and Active HDR tone mapping, the highest sustained brightness I recorded was 678 nits. The Asus, meanwhile, achieved up to 953 nits. It’s also brighter than the G60SF in all HDR scenarios.

The difference was large enough that I could easily notice it in subjective viewing. The Asus’ brightness can strike like lightning—sometimes literally, as is the case in the “Into the Storm” scene from Mad Max: Fury Road. The G60SF still looks great, but it didn’t sear my eyes with the same brilliance.

With that said, the G60SF’s HDR performance is still decent overall, and comparable to a variety of OLED alternatives. It’s a fine pick for HDR—but definitely not the best.

Samsung Odyssey G60SF motion performance

But odds are you’re not buying the G60SF for HDR. You’re buying it for motion clarity which, though not technically at odds with HDR, kinda is in practice—because most scenarios where you’d game at 500Hz are not scenarios where you’d want to be using HDR. Motion clarity is what matters most here, and the G60SF delivers.

As I said in my review of the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQDPG, and in 480Hz monitors before that, the motion clarity of an ultra-high-refresh OLED really must be seen to be believed. Scrolling test images for a game like DOTA 2 shows that virtually all detail is visible, right down to the names above characters and the ticks in hitpoint bars. Samples of scrolling text also show incredible clarity. The text is nearly as easy to read as when it’s sitting still.

To be clear, I don’t think there’s any noticeable difference in clarity between the new 500Hz QD-OLED monitors and the 480Hz LG WOLED monitors from 2024. Still, 500Hz is really something, and players who crave impeccable clarity for competitive esports play are going to love it.

Frame pacing will be smooth, as well, if you engage AMD FreeSync Premium Pro or Nvidia G-Sync. Both adaptive sync standards are supported.

While the G60SF is great for motion clarity, the Asus XG27AQDPG has an extra feature called Extreme Low Motion Blur. This inserts blank, black frames between existing frames which, due to how humans perceive motion, has the effect of reducing motion blur. ELMB doesn’t work beyond 240Hz, so it doesn’t provide the Asus an absolute motion clarity advantage. However, it does provide slightly improved clarity at lower refresh rates, like 120Hz or 240Hz. That can be helpful, because many games won’t render at a frame rate high enough to exceed 240Hz.

That gives Asus an edge in overall motion clarity. It’s a small one, however, and does require that you take the time to activate ELMB, since it doesn’t engage automatically.

Should you buy the Samsung Odyssey G60SF?

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G60SF is a great choice if you want an OLED monitor with excellent motion clarity. It provides a rich, vibrant, bright 1440p image at up to 500Hz.

The G60SF faces only one problem: The Asus ROG Strix XG27AQPDG, which has the same Samsung QD-OLED panel, is slightly better overall. The Asus alternative provides better HDR performance, includes ELMB for better motion clarity at 120Hz and 240Hz refresh rates, and is a bit more feature-rich overall with extras like a tripod mount on the top of the stand and a Windows app for managing monitor features.

With that said, I find myself in an odd position as a reviewer because, if I were choosing between these monitors today, I would personally buy the Samsung. I prefer Samsung’s design. I also prefer the matte finish on the Samsung panel over the glossy finish on the Asus.

So, while the Asus inarguably offers more features at a lower MSRP, the G60SF is still a great 500Hz monitor—and it might be the one to buy, depending on your preferences.