Samsung Odyssey G6 (G65B) Gaming Monitor Review

Product Review: The Samsung Odyssey G6 Is A Surprisingly Unique 240Hz Gaming Monitor.

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This monitor was tested thoroughly as well as used PERSONALLY every day to complete this full in-depth review. Here is what I found after this process...

Pros:

• 240Hz Refresh Rate

• Low Input Lag and Ghosting

• Samsung Game Hub OS

• Vibrant Colors

• Great Brightness

Cons:

• Scan Lines

• Sub-par Build Quality

• Possibility for Backlight Bleed

Size, Resolution, & Panel Type

The Odyssey G6 is a 32 inch 2560 by 1440p gaming monitor with a massive 1000R curve. This makes it extremely immersive during games. As well, while using this further away, such as watching Netflix or gaming on a controller, this still maintains a fantastic viewing experience with the curve.

Now for the PPI or pixels per inch, how crisp and clear the image is actually going to appear to your eye. This hits about 92 pixels per inch. This means that small text will have visible pixelation from a typical viewing distance but games, images, and movies will all look great and clear.

Overall, this is the right resolution for the G6 as it has a very high refresh rate.

As for the panel type, this is a VA panel. Now, I know what you’re thinking, "A Samsung VA panel? Oh boy...", but no, they actually did a great job here!

Refresh Rate & Variable Refresh Rate

As for refresh rate, the Odyssey G6 hits 240Hz.

As for variable refresh rate, this is great having Freesync Premium Pro. This allows you to game in HDR with VRR on, which is great! This works very well with no noticeable screen tearing or anything else weird going on.

As for G-Sync, this is not Nvidia Certified G-Sync compatible, but it works well with no issues.

Brightness & HDR

This is rated for 350 nits of brightness in SDR, but after testing, this hit between 400 and 410 nits. SDR brightness is great; the image pops, there is great vibrancy, and obviously since this is a VA panel, you're getting a much better contrast ratio than an IPS panel.

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As for HDR, it's good but not as good as I hoped for.

Firstly, there is a "Game HDR" mode in the settings, and there is HDR without "Game HDR" on. Without "Game HDR" on, the brightness gets quite dim to around 320 - 330 nits of brightness. With that brightness, this is honestly not a great experience, and I’d rather just be in SDR.

However, with "Game HDR" on, the brightness is great around 400 nits. This brightness is basically the same as SDR but allows full use of the wider color gamut, and it shows.

The colors look absolutely beautiful and darker areas of the screen are much prettier and contrasty than an IPS panel, however, the negative here is that the "Game HDR" blows out finer details. In addition, the image gets flatter in HDR.

However, after messing around with some settings, I found that turning on "Game HDR" and then setting the "Contrast Enhancer" setting to “Low” makes the image look much more naturally contrasted. Also, do note that setting "Contrast Enhancer" to the "High" setting makes the image washed out again, so "Low" is the only setting I recommend.

Now, in some games, HDR is a complete no-go (Due to HDR blowing brighter areas out). In Forza Horizon 5, this did not look good at all with the sky and clouds almost completely losing all their detail.

However, in Battlefield 2042, Halo Infinite, and Battlefield 5 all looked great. There was definite loss of finer details but only really in the much brighter areas that you don’t see much, like the sky (Not to the level of FH5).

Basically, the HDR is definitely worth it in many games, but in others, it is downright unusable.

Colors & ACCURACY

Like I mentioned in the HDR section, the Samsung Odyssey G6 has a wide color gamut covering 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. This does also come factory calibrated from Samsung, which is nice.

Overall color accuracy was good but not perfect. The color temperature was too warm hitting 7021K with a target of 6500K. That being said, when charging the “Color Tone” preset from what it came in stock (“Standard” setting), to the “Natural” setting, this was near perfect hitting 6602K with a target of 6500K, so that’s great!

For the gamers out there who aren't looking for perfect professional color accuracy, the colors look beautiful and vibrant. That being said, HDR is obviously where you really get to fully appreciate the beautiful colors due to the wide color gamut.

Lastly, this can output 10 bits of color at full 240Hz, which is great!

Contrast Ratio & Backlight Bleed

This is exactly what you expect from a VA panel hitting around 2500:1, this is significantly better than an IPS panel (Significantly deeper black levels).

As for local dimming, there is 16 vertical zones. The tuning is pretty bad and seems to cause some sort of dimming flickering, so this is definitely something I recommend keeping off.

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As for backlight bleed, my unit did have some in the top edge and a little spot in the bottom right. This is unfortunate for the price, however, it wasn’t enough where I really noticed this in game.

Scan Lines & Flickering

Unfortunately, the G6 does have scan lines. The single most obvious place I saw scan lines was the green play button in the Xbox PC app.

That being said, this isn’t a deal breaker because 99% of the time you don’t notice it during gameplay, Netflix, or anything else. This is really only something you’re going to notice on desktop. At 120Hz scan lines are less noticeable, but they are still there.

As for flickering, I did notice flickering very occasionally, although it was maybe once or twice during 6 to 8 hours of usage. However, if you do run into flickering, Samsung as a setting called "VRR Control" that when turned on will eliminate any flicker.

Response Time, Ghosting, & Input Lag

The Samsung Odyssey G6 hits a claimed 1ms GTG (lol), but how is the ghosting? Well, it’s actually way better than I expected!

When not in "Game Mode" with VRR off, the fastest response time setting (Extreme) is the best. With "Game Mode" on and in the "Extreme" response time setting, which is the fastest, there is noticeable pixel overshooting and inverse ghosting. However, in "Faster" (the middle setting), this is extraordinarily good!

Even when whipping very fast, there is extremely little smearing: shockingly good for a VA panel. Most of the time if you’re a fast paced FPS gamer, I almost never recommend a VA panel. However, with the Odyssey G6, this is not the case.

To the average gamer, this would look as good as high-end IPS panels, which is incredibly impressive.

As for input lag, it's incredibly low as you’d expect from a 240Hz panel from Samsung. The G6 has e-sports levels of input lag: absolutely fantastic!

OS, Menu System, & Controls

These are some of the biggest features with this monitor.

The Odyssey G6 has Samsung's Gaming Hub. This is an OS with basically everything a smart TV has as well as cloud gaming services like Xbox GamePass, Amazon Luna, GeForce Now, and Google Stadia.

Beyond this, you have Apple AirPlay, Netflix, and YouTube all built in. I believe this is just a derivative of Samsung's Tizen OS that's in all of their TV’s.

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At first, I thought this was going to be gimmicky, but after living with the G6, it's amazing! Having Samsung's Gaming Hub essentially makes this the perfect monitor for anyone in high-school, college, or someone who not only wants a fast 240Hz monitor to game on, but also a monitor to stream content, movies, YouTube. This is basically an all-in-one monitor that can do it all. Honestly, the Samsung Odyssey G6 is possibly the perfect monitor to have in a bedroom, dorm room, or any other sort of living that only allows you to have one room of personal space.

As for the menu system, this was definitely not the easiest to get used to, and it’s definitely not the fastest to change settings. The menu system itself has kind of two. There is a more traditional OSD that is only available in "Game Mode"; this is to control your quicker gaming settings.

Then, the full menu system looks more like the Gaming Hub design and is pretty, clear, and relatively intuitive to find everything. Also, there is a ton of settings, and I mean an absolutely massive amount! There are your traditional settings but also more of Samsung's AI and tech.

This is great if you just like to play with the tech or you want to fine tune your personal experience.

Overall, not the easiest to just pick up and use, but also one of my favorites as it's not traditional (In a good way) and allows for way more settings.

As for controls, Samsung gives you a very nice remote that charges with a USB Type-C instead of a battery: that’s awesome. The remote feels great, it has nice rocker switches for volume and channels. Overall it's very responsive with only occasional lag, however very slight. A+!

Vesa Compatibility

As for Vesa compatibility, this uses a bracket included in the box that screws to the back and makes this compatible with 100mm by 100mm Vesa mounts. This is also not too hard to mount as this only weighs 12.1 lbs!

Internal Speakers

These speakers are surprisingly really good. They are clear and loud enough where I could legitimately use the Odyssey G6 without dedicated speakers.

These don't have a ton of bass, but there is great clarity in the trebles and mids without sounding tinny or thin, which is shockingly good.

Now again, these are still just monitor speakers, so music is not going to be something that sounds amazing, but it sounds extremely clear. If I’m just playing story games on the weekend, I’m going to use the built-in speakers and be very happy. However when playing with friends, I’m just going to use a headset.

Connectivity & Ports

Ports include: one DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1, one USB Type-B upstream, two USB Type-A downtreams, a 3.5mm audio out, and an Ethernet.

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But that’s not all. This also has a WIFI card and Bluetooth. That’s the real life usability that makes me love this monitor even with the scan lines and lacking build quality.

Stand & Build Quality

The stand and build quality for the Odyssey G6 is classic Samsung: not a good thing...

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It has great adjustibility with height, tilt, swivel, and full rotation both left and right. However, the stand itself feels very budget and rocks quite a bit when bumped. Now, this definitely won’t fall over or anything, but it doesn’t match anywhere near the competition.

This does have RGB lighting on the back that does shine bright enough to hit the wall and can change colors very easily. There is also some RGB on the bottom left and right front of the monitor, which you can't really see when gaming due to the angle.

Overall, its nice and easy to change colors and modes.

Price & Value

The Samsung Odyssey G6 retails at a high price when compared to the competition. However, nothing else gives you 240Hz, a perfectly tuned VA panel, a 1000R curve, and not to mention the OS. That being said, the LG 32GQ850-B is it's closest competition at 32 inches, 260Hz, 1440p, and is one of the best IPS panels out there. But yes, this is lacking deeper blacks, an OS, and a curve.

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So I’d say, if you want the deeper blacks, the curve, and especially the awesome usability with the OS, then I highly recommend the Odyssey G6!

However, if what you want is 240Hz/260Hz gaming mainly with a PC and you want the best possible fast paced gaming performance with the ability to edit photo or videos, then the LG 32GQ850-B would be my pick!

Overall Verdict

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So overall, do I recommend the Samsung Odyssey G6? Well, if you want one of the best tuned VA panels, great brightness, vibrancy, a 1000R curve, insane usability with a built in OS, and 240Hz, then absolutely! But if you don’t really need or want the OS and would prefer to not have scan lines, then I recommend the LG 32GQ850-B.