2024 marked a high point for OLED gaming monitors, and they’ve earned their praise. Ultra-fast refresh rates, deep blacks, and near-instant response times—OLED displays offer some of the best gaming experiences available. While LG, MSI, Alienware, and ASUS are pushing the envelope with cutting-edge OLED technology, Samsung’s taking a different route with its Smart Gaming Monitor. The Odyssey OLED G8 is essentially what you’d get if Samsung shrunk one of its top-tier 4K TVs to 32 inches, complete with Tizen OS, streaming apps, and smart features. Does it work? Well… sort of. It’s more of a hodge-podge experience that often feels like it’s working against you rather than enhancing the experience.
At around $1,999 AUD, the Odyssey OLED G8 enters a competitive field, going head-to-head with heavy hitters like the Alienware AW3225QF 4K QD-OLED, the ASUS PG32UCDM, and the MSI MPG321URX. While these competitors don’t offer smart features, they do have USB-C with power delivery and a KVM switch—two features notably absent from the Odyssey OLED G8.
Design & Build
Let’s talk aesthetics. The Odyssey OLED G8’s 32-inch panel, framed in a sleek silver metal finish, looks elegant and refined. Thanks to Samsung’s innovative heat-pipe cooling system, the monitor stays thin while preventing the burn-in risk often associated with OLEDs. The overall design leans more toward productivity than gaming, which I actually like—but it may not fit every gamer’s preference.
The stand is sturdy and height-adjustable, with tilt and swivel features, though it lacks full pivot functionality. The pentagonal base is compact, leaving you with extra desk space, and doubles as storage.
At the back, Samsung’s signature CoreSync RGB lighting adds a nice ambient glow, though it might not have the same intensity as Philips Hue or Govee lights. Still, it works better than most other monitors I’ve tested, actually lighting up the wall behind it. The lighting is responsive to your screen content, providing a solid visual effect without fully replacing dedicated smart lighting.
The flat back design is a clever touch, making ports more accessible. You’ll find two HDMI 2.1 ports, one with eARC support, a DisplayPort 1.4, and USB hub. Very disappointing is the lack of USB Type-C video with Power delivery for single cable laptop connections. I use multiple devices connected to my monitor so missing this for my work laptop was a big annoyance that forced me to use a Razer USB Dock.
Now because this is a Smart monitor, the G8 also supports WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity so you can connect to your network as well as game controllers. This comes in handy when you are simply using the monitor as a TV. Notably, unlike Samsung TV’s from which this borrows a lot of DNA, there is no Ethernet port for faster, more reliable data speeds.
Panel Performance
Under the hood, the Odyssey OLED G8 packs a 32-inch QD-OLED panel with 4K resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate, and a lightning-fast 0.03ms response time. Samsung’s QD-OLED technology enhances brightness and color accuracy, reducing burn-in risk compared to traditional OLED panels. One noticeable improvement over early QD-OLED displays is the reduction in text fringing, making this monitor a solid choice for both work and gaming.
HDR performance is where the Odyssey OLED G8 really shines. Deep blacks and peak brightness levels create impressive contrast, with a peak brightness of around 1000 nits in HDR mode. I should point out that the G8 uses HDR10+ and doesn’t carry a VESA DisplayHDR certification which might be problematic for some.
At least the monitor covers 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, delivering vivid, lifelike colors. SDR performance is decent, with a peak brightness of 250-300 nits, but it doesn’t quite match the punch of HDR. Samsung’s factory calibration is good, but for professionals requiring precise color accuracy, it might need some tweaking. When compared to Alienware’s QD-OLED monitors, the Odyssey OLED G8 has a slight edge in vibrancy but falls short in out-of-the-box color accuracy.
Samsung also offers burn-in protection features including Pixel refresh and logo detection. Samsung hides most of this away from you and unlike the MSI MPG321URX that would periodically prompt me to run pixel refresh after so many hours of use, the G8 never does. I suspect it does it automatically whenever the monitor isn’t in use but can’t say for sure.
Smart Features
A standout feature of the Odyssey OLED G8 is its built-in Samsung Smart TV functionality. Essentially, it mirrors Samsung’s high-end TVs, offering features like Samsung Gaming Hub, streaming apps, and a full smart interface. While great for TV viewing, this approach doesn’t always work for a gaming monitor.
The biggest issue is how the interface gets in the way of the gaming experience. Unlike traditional gaming monitors, where switching inputs is quick and intuitive, the Odyssey OLED G8 requires navigating through multiple menus—adding extra steps just to change sources. This is a hassle, especially for gamers who frequently switch between a PC, console, or other devices.
Samsung has included a dedicated Games hub page where you can find cloud streaming apps for Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. This is great for anyone who doesn’t have a console attached to the monitor and just wants a quick game. The monitor supports Bluetooth controllers and once set up, you can just use cloud streaming to play your games. It works fine but will obviously depend on your WiFi speed.
The included remote is helpful but underscores another flaw: the on-screen display (OSD) seems designed with TV usage in mind. Adjusting basic settings like brightness or refresh rate without the remote feels cumbersome. While the Smart TV features are a nice bonus, they often feel like an afterthought for gamers who just want a display optimised for performance.
Gaming Performance
When it comes to gaming, this is really where the Odyssey OLED G8 shines. The combination of 4K resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, instantaneous response time and adaptive sync make games look stunning and run beautifully.
I tested it across PC and PlayStation 5. On PC, fast-paced shooters like Call of Duty BlackOps 6 were incredibly responsive, with near-zero input lag. The 240Hz refresh works as you’d expect but good luck hitting those numbers at 4K without multi-frame generation. However, Adaptive Sync support eliminates screen tearing, creating a more seamless experience at lower frame rates. With my RTX 4070, I was easily hitting over 100fps with DLSS and everything looks stunning.
On PlayStation 5, the system reported I was getting 4K 120Hz output. Turning on God of War in performance mode was smooth and responsive while the Last of Us Part II look dark, haunting and beautiful. HDR performance made cinematic titles like Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga look absolutely breathtaking, offering rich blacks and vibrant highlights. The peak brightness on the G8 is impressive, making certain bright spots really shine against the perfect blacks.
Back to the Smart TV features, the G8 also has Samsung’s Game Bar menu which is similar to LG’s Game Optimiser. Basically, it’s a floating menu that pops up and allows you quick access to focused features like aspect ratio, HDR settings, game genre, black equalisation and more. There’s also something called Mini-map Zoom where the monitor detects a games mini-map and enhances it for easier viewing.
I’m still not sure that this is that useful on a gaming monitor as it is on a TV that is far away from you. But on a PC, it just seems kinda, extra and I honestly never used it in regular gaming sessions. Your mileage will vary but, it’s there if you want it.
Final Verdict
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is a strong contender in the premium gaming monitor market. Its design, specs, and gaming performance make it a worthy choice, especially with the impressive QD-OLED panel. However, the inclusion of Smart TV features, while innovative, often detracts from the experience. It makes navigating so much more laborious than it needs to be. Add in the lack of powered USB-C for laptop connections which is unacceptable at this price and the absence of a KVM switch is also a notable drawback.
At this price range, there are just so many exceptional OLED gaming monitors that with some of these issues, the Odyssey G8 just comes up short compared to offerings from Alienware, MSI and Asus. The fact that the G8 seems to be divided between being a TV, Productivity, Streaming device and gaming monitor means it sort of just averages out – jack of all trades, master of none.
So if you’re looking for a monitor that doubles as an entertainment hub and can overlook some of these quirks, the Odyssey OLED G8 could be a good fit. But for most gamers, I’d recommend sticking with something more focused on high-performance gaming rather than this mini-TV hybrid.
Samsung Australia kindly loaned the Odyssey OLED G8 to PowerUp for the purpose of this review
