Samsung Odyssey G81SF: What Real Users Actually Think

Picture Mode: ECO should never be selected. Change it to standard or original, and experiment with different options. Your brightness is only 250 nits in SDR mode, so just use 50 brightness. Gamma should be set to at least 2.2. Also after changing the settings in your monitor BIOS, delete your HDR profile and redo it again.

I have the G80SD and I love it. I believe this is the same monitor minus the smart features, which honestly I don't think is a bad thing.

That bar that pops up and covers the windows bar every time I wake my monitor back up is infuriating. It's the only thing I don't like about the monitor, I never use any of the streaming stuff since it's hooked up to my PC.

Have you calibrated your display via Windows? Also are you 100% sure you're viewing HDR content? I just got an OLED and didn't realise Firefox doesn't display HDR content and Chrome does.

Matte coating.

I got the G80D and after a month I experienced some black screens, definitely not recommended a Samsung monitor, especially with the Woot warranty. Save your headaches.

I tried multiple 3rd gen QD/W-OLED panels in 2024 and I always liked the G80SD/81SF panel the best. Been using it since Aug 2024. I still would've enjoyed a glossy version of this panel but I never saw the matte coating as an issue and other areas of the monitor sold me on keeping it.

It's an incredible monitor and has pretty much zero reflections. It scored really well including getting a monitor of the year award.

I have a G80SD in the same room with my LG C5 and I love the matte coating. I have zero reflections in it while the C5 is a purple mirror.

Yes. Grain is not a problem especially in a dark room.

I don't know if it's luck of the draw but I have this model in the 32 inch variant and it looks really good and the matte coating doesn't make it look bad.

I will warn you that Samsung used some HEAVY anti-reflection coating on their G81s. I actually just sold mine to get something else because it was bothering me so much. It's especially noticeable on light colored backgrounds, just a rough haze that's very hard to ignore.

I just wanna warn people that returns to Samsung through the shop might incur a 20% restocking fee. I opted to just sell a monitor through Offerup instead of dealing with their customer service.

The grain is mainly noticeable on desktop yet it is less subtle if you are sitting at arm length distance. It is not noticeable in game or any other entertainment usage especially with HDR on. You only notice it if you are focusing your mind to look for it.

I decided not to buy due to the fact it doesn't support DisplayPort 2.1.

I've had this monitor for about 2 full weeks now. The matte finish does indeed come at the cost of having a weird sort of grain, noticeable when the display is showing a lighter scene. It is prevalent and pretty obnoxious for a period, but after playing with it, you start to completely tune it out. I saw various people online saying 'oh you get used to it' and didn't believe them in the slightest, but they were right.

Bought this last week! Had to RMA my MSI monitor twice due to dead pixels, didn't want to RMA it again a third time so jumped ship to the G81SF. Panel is AMAZING and the colors as well, the sharpness is absolutely beautiful, starting to not miss the ultrawide as well.

Not just that, it's a much worse matte coating than the one on the previous model.

I got this. I love it. Amazing quality for the price. You aren't going to find a better or cheaper 4K OLED 32 inch monitor than this.

I have this, only thing I don't like is the silver bezel, quite annoying with multiple monitors with black bezels. I used black vinyl tape to cover it and looks better.

Great deal. 4K OLED 32inch 240hz is the peak setup. Only one that's arguably missing or preferential is the curve, which is really gonna just be the Alienware one for $900-1200.

I love how Samsung monitors look, but the issues are hard to ignore where I wouldn't buy one again. I bought the Neo G7 32 a couple years ago, and while it's mostly a good monitor, it's my 3rd or 4th panel. I had to send multiple in for a black screen issue when alt tabbing and getting ones with dead pixels.

It's a fantastic monitor. The inbuilt OS works great and the lack of fan whine is a nice bonus. HDR performance is just ok, since it lacks the peak brightness that panels like a mini LED would give. The only thing I have to complain about is it lacks the dual mode 480hz/240hz that its competitors have.

I've had this monitor for quite some time and it's pretty good overall. The main complaint is the silly smart OS features. Waking the monitor causes a UI to pop up that takes a few seconds to go away. You can disable it but it requires some sort of service remote to go into the service menu.

I would say it's best on market right now IMHO, QD for me better than WOLED. Plus it's gen4, better brightness.

G81SF uses the newer 4th gen QD-OLED panel but has no Smart TV features like Tizen OS and the remote that came with G80SD. Also doesn't have speakers unlike the G80SD and the G81SF's matte coating is more grainy and aggressive than G80SD.

Thing that boggles my mind is just how bad the matte coating is on this particular monitor. I own half a dozen monitors and all of them are matte, and their matte coatings are totally fine and acceptable, it doesn't hurt the image quality much at all.

I have the G80SD and like the matte coating but when I went to a store and saw the G81SF the matte coating on that is terrible and way too harsh. Samsung really messed up and should use the G80SD coating for newer releases.

The G81SF has a matte coating that is very noticeable on white and light coloured backgrounds. The G81SF and the G80SD have different matte coatings. If one works mostly with dark or colourful screens then it's not a problem at all, however it is very hard to tune out when you see the graininess on something like a white webpage.

I owned a G8 for less than a year before it failed. Didn't even want to warranty it because I hated it so much by that point. Both picture quality and software are terrible imo, especially when side by side with my Alienware OLED.

I could never get the picture exactly how I wanted on a Samsung OLED monitor, so I returned it and got an ASUS PG32UCDM instead.

Bought one, coming from 1440p IPS. Best damn screen I've had so far. And I already have a 4k OLED TV. This one feels sharper. Got it for $749 down from $1300. If you can buy it for that price go for it. Good blacks equally good as my glossy OLED TV. Doesn't look purple as people seem to say.

Panel is great, best I've ever seen.

I just returned the 32 inch G81SF today due to the matte coating. If you're just playing games I don't think you'll notice it much. The dealbreaker for me was using Excel or Google Docs in light mode. The grain is only noticeable on very light backgrounds when you're sitting close to the screen. Otherwise it's a great monitor with a lot to like about it!

I returned mine, coating was a deal breaker. Brighter scenes I did notice the grain, darker scenes were OK. But I didn't want to tolerate that.

This is a terrible monitor imho. Not sure if it's due to the coating, but the image never felt OLED clear. There was a lot of motion blur when watching Netflix. Couldn't get the colors right to my liking to pop. I got it for a great deal around 600, but returned it.

I have the same model but in 27-inch screen size. I've been using it for two months and it's perfect. Since the 27-inch device has a QD OLED 4th generation display, I chose it; otherwise, I would have gone for the 32-inch version.

I bought the same monitor about 3 weeks ago for 600 euros during a heavy discount. Honestly, I absolutely love it and the only time I even notice the grain is if I'm working on something with a white background. Also, I work in a bright room with a light facing the screen, so not having to worry about reflections is a huge plus for me.

I bought it and was forced to return it, the grain was so bad on mine it looked like someone was eating chips and dragged their fingers across the screen.

Mine just came in. Loving it. A reviewer mentioned how the G81SF showed more accurate color depiction than most. Apparently ideal for accuracy in photo editing. The true downside I heard about G81SF were people having difficulties returning their monitors because customer service was awful. It does come with a 3 year warranty though.

It's a good price if you're ok with the matte grain, I'd go for it. Plus you can always return it if the grain is too much for you. I returned my Samsung G60SF because of the grain, all personal preference though.

I've been using it for a few days now and I absolutely love it. Colors are beautiful, I get glare in the afternoon and the new coating works well to combat it. Brightness solid, blacks are incredibly dark. The bad: settings — my previous monitor was another G8 and I was in awe that there were way fewer settings than my previous one.

Shitty matte coating, made me return it. I wanted to have the best clarity in desktop apps, but this expensive thing did not even achieve something so basic.

I'm returning it, the matte coating makes everything grainy.

I also tried to convince myself that the matte was not noticeable, was impossible after a month of trying. End up removing the matte coating, clarity is great now, with the trade off of mirror like reflections.

It is noticeable when you are on white or light colored background, e.g. desktop or browser. In game or videos I don't notice it.

Most QD OLEDs are a glossy finish while this one is a matte which helps with light reflection but introduces a grainy like look that is more prominent on white backgrounds. I just received this monitor and I do not mind the matte. Good monitor.