Samsung odyssey g5 27

The Odyssey G5 27-inch is an affordable gamer monitor from Samsung. It features a 27-inch Quad HD VA panel that supports a 144Hz frequency, but makes do with basic ergonomics.

 

Presentation

The Samsung Odyssey G5 27" - also known as the C27G53TQWR - features a 27-inch VA panel displaying Quad HD definition and supporting a refresh rate of 144 Hz. The VA panel is highly curved with a radius of 1 m (1000R) to promote immersion. The manufacturer also announces a response time of 1 ms, a contrast of 2500:1, viewing angles of 178 ° and a brightness of 250 cd / m². This monitor is FreeSync Premium certified, but on the ergonomic side, it settles for the bare minimum.

The Samsung Odyssey G5 27" is sold for about 280 €, which makes it one of the most affordable 27-inch Quad HD 144 Hz monitors on the market. It competes with the excellent Asus TUF VG27AQ with its IPS 27-inch Quad HD 144 Hz.

 

Ergonomics

This monitor is rather sober for a gaming model. Its only fantasy is the gills on each side of the base of the slab. They are only aesthetic since this monitor has neither speakers nor RGB lighting.

The rear offers a little more character and assumes its gaming style with a black plastic very worked. The connectivity is oriented downwards and we can perceive the mounting holes compatible VESA 75x75.

A small plastic hook at the top of the stand keeps the connectors close to the stand. This cable management system is simple, but effective. If the external power supply is quite compact, it will still occupy some space on or under the desk. Unlike an integrated power supply, it is easier to replace.

The Samsung Odyssey G5 27" only allows tilting between -2 and +18°. Moreover, the adjustment on our test model was particularly difficult. The connectivity includes a DisplayPort 1.2 input, an HDMI input and a headphone jack. The USB port is reserved for after-sales service. The monitor does not have a speaker.

To navigate the OSD menus, Samsung relies on a single joystick. For us, this is simply the most efficient system to date for quickly adjusting a monitor. Samsung's OSD also allows you to use the four directions as customizable shortcuts to change sources or adjust the headphone volume, for example. The OSD also allows you to adjust the blue light filter on four levels and change the basic settings (brightness, contrast, saturation and temperature). As for the interface, it is clear and quite responsive.

On our 140 x 60 cm desk, the Samsung Odyssey G5 27 inches remains quite discreet. The stand still has a depth of 27.3 cm, but its aerial design frees up space on the desk. The Quad HD definition on this 27-inch diagonal allows for a large workspace in office use and increased finesse in games with a resolution of 109 dpi. A mid/high end graphics card of the latest generation is required to run the latest games at 144Hz with the details pushed to the max (or close to it).

 

 

Colors and contrast

The Samsung Odyssey G5 27-inch monitor displays an excellent image quality right out of the box. The temperature and gamma curves are stable throughout the spectrum and the averages measured respectively at 6810 K and 2.2 are very close to the reference values (6500 K and 2.2). With a delta E lower than 3 (threshold under which the eye does not make any more the difference between the nuances of color), the displayed colors can be considered as faithful to those sent by the source. Once the brightness is lowered to 45 to obtain a white close to 150 cd/m², the image quality remains identical with colors even more accurate (delta E measured at 2.2). The calibration with a colorimetric probe does not fundamentally change the deal. The color rendering is generally better, but the green and blue remain above a delta E of 3.

This monitor benefits from a good native contrast. Blackness drops to 0.05 cd/m², which translates into a contrast ratio close to 2860:1. The Samsung Odyssey G5 is still a step behind the best VA monitors with a contrast ratio exceeding 4000:1, such as the Philips Momentum 436M6 or the MSI Optix MAG271CR. In practice, blacks are deep enough, even in a dark room.

The average brightness homogeneity deviation is measured at only 6% over the entire 27-inch panel; a very good value made possible by the good homogeneity of the panel. The model we tested did not suffer from any clouding phenomenon. VA technology offers fairly wide viewing angles, but we noticed a variation in color and brightness when we moved 45° from the axis of the screen, which is not the case with IPS slabs.

 

Responsive

The Samsung Odyssey G5 27" monitor does not use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to adjust brightness, so it's flicker-free and won't cause headaches for those sensitive to flicker. Among the options, Samsung offers a software preset to reduce blue light.

This monitor is certified FreeSync Premium between 48 Hz and 144 Hz and works optimally when the graphics card "sends" between 48 and 144 fps. The supported range is therefore very wide and covers all uses. We recommend a high-performance graphics card, such as the GeForce RTX 3080 or the Radeon RX 6800XT, to take advantage of the native Quad HD definition and a very high frame rate. In any case, the fluidity is there and the image does not suffer from tearing or micro-stuttering.

It is possible to activate the black image insertion system via the backlight scan (MBR, for Motion Blur Reduction), but for this it is necessary to deactivate FreeSync, at the cost of a very present flicker.

The reactivity of 7.5 ms is quite good for a VA panel. This value is obtained with a setting of the overdrive (Response time in the OSD) on "fast". The different settings (standard, fast or accelerated) have very little impact on the screen. There are much faster VA monitors such as the Samsung Odyssey G7 27" with its 240 Hz panel, whose response time is only 4.5 ms. The fastest monitors are the TN models, such as the Alienware AW2518HF 240 Hz flashed at 3 ms, but the VA panel is superior (contrast, viewing angles). We measured the input lag at 10.6 ms. So there is no perceptible delay between the sending of the image by the graphics card and its display on the screen.

 

 

Consumption

This monitor "burns" about 21 W with a white set at 150 cd/m². The relative consumption reaches 104 W/m², slightly above the average of the tested screens (100 W/m²). At minimum brightness (48 cd/m²), the monitor consumes 15 W and rises to 27 W at maximum brightness (263 cd/m²).

 

Conclusion

The Samsung Odyssey G5 27" suffers from minimal ergonomics and connectivity, but impresses with its image quality. The reactivity of its VA Quad HD 144 Hz panel is in the very good average. This monitor is perfect for gamers looking for performance at a lower cost.