Samsung Odyssey Ark LS55BG970NUXXU - 4K UHD 2160p, Curved UHD, Mini LED, 165Hz, 1ms, HDMI 2.1, Gaming Monitor with Full Smart Platform Speakers

This review relates to the Samsung ARK not other samsung gaming monitors!!! Amazon please sort adding the right review to the right product!!! Firstly its NOT a monitor, regardless of the marketing blurb this is a TV that has become Frankenstein's monitor!To start with the Pixel ratio is that of a TV, blurry text, halo's etc and as such for real "work" this will drive you nuts to get crisp text you will have to come out of game mode and switch things like sport mode and switch on low eye care, and fiddle with the OS to get the text looking anything like! coming from my previous G9 monitor it really feels like I've lost something.So productivity is wearing to say the least and leaves a lot to be desired because of this text issue. I will add however that if they had got this right productivity would be a dream.. but sadly..Turning off these functions also means that other things from the dial will no longer work (unless you go into the settings again) but ill come onto this later.Now lets draw your attention to the one connect box, I get the whole you can spin this around rubbish! so one cable helps with this but in reality you will use it one or other orientation I don't need another box to hide away here!The one connect only supports HDMI and as such you get 4 of these but don't expect PIP it hasn't got it, and don't expect Display Port! (a clear indicator this is a TV yet again)However although this is built heavily on TV tech the One Connect box is a cut down model not incorporating antenna functions, so yet again an own goal as taking this away tries to place this as a desktop "THING" when in reality its a TV lacking the basics.The One Connect is based on USB2 by the looks having a printer style cable to connect to PC functions (I've yet to see the point) but in theory you could connect your keyboard and mouse here but as ever it feels lacking as only 2 ports , USB C should have been included with a wider range of USB ports.Aspect ratio! oh boy here we go... yes its marketing blurb says you can switch to ultra wide modes and it does but sadly yet again coming from a G9 its a step backwards, also it does not know where to place the screen! initially it will appear central then some time drop to the bottom of the screen. yet again no sense as to why but I assume this allows Mini Map, but clicking on mini map options it just wont allow this!lets talk about the stand! firstly this is insanely heavy! but once again bult to be a TV as when sat on the desk I have some 6" gap to the table top so you will have to look to the heights and crane your neck to view the top of the screen.ARK Dial... you get 2 remotes with this, firstly a TV style remote (yea its a TV) and it does have some good stuff here as its a TV. Usual apps you would expect from a smart tv as well as cloud gaming apps. but once again why would you be cloud gaming as this is a 4k high end PC Monitor!!!! oh yea you forgot the basics!The frustration with the ARK Dial is the amount of "You cant do that because this is switched off) messages. this really drives me bonkers. Samsung has made something that argues back constantly. so what should be a quick spin of the dial now becomes a trudge into the full settings to get the feature activated top then come back. as a for instance you cant get into game mode from the Dial if game mode is switched off you have to drop into the settings, a simple do you want to activate game mode yes/no is all you need.Round up:Samsung I wanted to love this "THING" my G9 is the most amazing monitor and had hoped this was an extension of this. Sadly its not.This feels like a land grab into the PC market by the TV team.If this was built and marketed as a true TV this suits the Xbox and PlayStation crowd down to a tee as it belongs as a room screen not a desktop.However as its aimed at the PC crowed you are sadly way off the mark! if you are going to call something a Monitor! make it be a monitor. this should have been 2 G9's stacked, the resolution would have been there and adding the additional function from the TV stuff would have then been the added bonus.If anyone is looking to buy this, It belongs where a TV should go and definitely NOT sitting along side your Keyboard , Mouse & high end gaming rig.

Avid fan of Samsung so when this came out on offer thought yep am having it think of this as a smart monitor screen colours bright blacks a little too dark mind ,sound from speakers first class reflective of price point build quality awesome remotes so Samsung . Negative are minor one being perhaps a little too big and second the weight but I think of it as a modern day streaming only tv with bonus monitor functions and as such it really is a hybrid of both and best used for part time gamers with the main use as a streaming tv in the main room of your house oh the turn function to play your shorts or TikTok’s more novelty than reality think fun at parties rather than every day lol glad I got at sale price rather than full cos if I had would probably have returned but well worth sale price !

This is about the 57" G9 NEO 7680 x 2160 monitor.Firstly I don't have the foggiest idea why Samsung calls this a gaming monitor. Does anybody use this for gaming?? Look at Samsung's website and you will see their main customer base is people who want more "real estate" for their office environment, eg want three windows open - eg Word, Excel and a browser, and pushing it with perhaps a fourth for their email. There are pictures of presumably traders who double stack these things. Why would a gamer need double 4k resolution??I was going to send it back as it was the font was unreadable until playing around with the settings, and putting Sharpness down to about 3/20 meant that the fonts were clear. Samsung set your firmware to default to Sharpness 3 and you will get less returns.It is okay but not having a bevel joint between my previous 2 or 3 4k monitors is not as much of a game changer as I had hoped. I still need a lot more real estate - can we please have a higher resolution and bigger monitor please. No need for 240Hz resolution, 60Hz is fine for Microsoft Office.One nuisance is that it is hard to watch Youtube videos as either they are tiny or if you maximise them then they take up the whole screen - whereas with with multiple monitors this is not an issue.There is also no built in speakers which I hadn't realised and is yet another thing to find a socket for. On a £1500 monitor surely they could have included some speakers.It also takes a while to boot up - it shuts itself done - which is okay as it must use a lot of electricity - but to restart it requires finding a tiny hidden button at the bottom - not a good idea if one is stacking these. Then it takes about 20 seconds to boot up. Most other monitors restart when the mouse is shifted - maybe there is a setting somewhere for this.

The PPI is far too low for this to be used for anything other than gaming. There are things that sound great about this monitor, for instance optical out for audio, but ultimately it is a cheap curved tv that you can twist around.

2 different product warranty experiences, They always find an excuse for warranty.even if you purchase the highest, the premium products you are still treated like if you are buying a dog/cow product.Their policies are awful, warranty hideous.I have always been samsung as an American but JEEEZZ here in the UK the thing is a lot worse.Bought this product literally 35 days ago, they are refusing a replacement due to being 5 days after the 30 days even tho the fault started way way before, I just didn't had the time to report it, as trying to find the support chat was seriously hard.If you live in the UK, BACK OFF, and stay away from Samsung.This monitor in less than a 6 weeks is now Showing 6 dead pixels, where on day 1 inspection weren't any.Is seriously concerning.Also the image quality is AWFUL, it looks kinda like VA just slightly more colorful yet still awful quality.this will NEVER BEAT OLED or IPS !!!don't believe in the marketing of this MicroLED.STAY away from the product and BRAND if you wish a great warranty.