Samsung Odyssey G5 LS32CG552EUXXU 32" Gaming Review UK 2026

Here's something that comes up constantly when people ask me about monitor shopping: they want everything. Fast response, high refresh rate, decent colours, good contrast. And every time, I have to explain that most monitors pick two or three of those things and quietly ignore the rest. The Samsung Odyssey G5 32-inch is Samsung's answer to that frustration at a mid-range price point, and after about a month of daily use, I've got a pretty clear picture of where it delivers and where it quietly compromises. If you're looking for best starter monitors at lower price points, there are solid options available, but the G5 sits in the sweet spot between budget and performance.

I've been testing monitors for 12 years now, and the mid-range 1440p gaming space is honestly one of the most competitive brackets out there right now. You've got VA panels promising deep blacks, IPS panels promising wide viewing angles, and manufacturers slapping "1ms" on everything regardless of what that actually means in practice. So when Samsung sent this one over, I was curious whether the G5 name still carries the weight it used to. Spoiler: mostly yes, with a few asterisks.

This review covers the LS32CG552EUXXU specifically, the 32-inch QHD model with the 1000R curve, 165Hz refresh rate, and HDR10 support. I tested it for about a month across gaming, everyday desktop work, and some light photo editing. Here's what I found.

The panel is rated at 165Hz with a 1ms MPRT response time. That MPRT figure is the marketing number, not the grey-to-grey figure, which I'll get into properly in the response time section. Adaptive sync is handled via AMD FreeSync Premium, and Samsung also claims G-Sync compatibility, though that's not officially certified by Nvidia. In practice, it worked fine with my RTX 4070 test rig without any obvious issues. HDR10 support is present, though as with most monitors in this bracket, "support" and "good HDR" are very different things.

Connectivity is fairly standard for the price: two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort 1.2. There's no USB hub, no USB-C, and no built-in speakers. The stand offers tilt adjustment only, which is a bit disappointing at this size. VESA mounting is 100x100mm, so you can swap it out if you want more flexibility. Full specs below.

The trade-off is viewing angles. IPS panels are typically rated at 178 degrees horizontal and vertical, and while those numbers are a bit optimistic in real life, they're still noticeably better than VA. On the G5, colours shift and contrast drops when you're viewing from the side. At a normal seated position directly in front of the screen, it's fine. But if you've got someone sitting next to you watching a film, they're going to see a noticeably different image. The 1000R curve actually helps a bit here by angling the edges of the screen slightly towards you, but it doesn't fully solve the problem.

One thing VA panels are known for is black smearing, where dark pixels are slow to transition to other dark shades. This is a real issue on some VA monitors and I'll cover it in the response time section. The other classic VA complaint is backlight bleed and clouding. On my test unit, there was some mild clouding in the bottom-left corner visible on a pure black screen in a dark room. It wasn't visible during normal use, and I've seen far worse on IPS panels at this price. Your mileage may vary since panel uniformity can differ between units, but it wasn't a problem for me.

The anti-glare coating is a standard matte finish. It does its job well in bright rooms, killing reflections effectively. The downside, as with most matte coatings, is a slight reduction in perceived sharpness and colour vibrancy compared to a glossy panel. Samsung's coating here is on the finer side, so it doesn't add the grainy, sparkly texture you sometimes see on cheaper monitors. Overall it's a good balance for a desk environment where you can't always control ambient lighting.

Brightness uniformity was decent on my unit. I measured a maximum variation of around 12% across the panel, which is acceptable. The centre was the brightest point, with the edges slightly dimmer, but this wasn't visible during normal use. Where uniformity matters more is on a pure white screen, and even there, the G5 held up reasonably well. I've tested monitors at twice the price with worse uniformity, so no complaints here. The 1000R curve does mean the edges of the screen are angled slightly differently to the centre, which can affect perceived brightness at extreme angles, but at a normal viewing distance it's a non-issue.

FreeSync Premium support means the monitor can dynamically adjust its refresh rate to match your GPU's frame output, eliminating screen tearing without the input lag penalty of V-Sync. The FreeSync range on the G5 runs from 48Hz to 165Hz, and Low Framerate Compensation (LFC) kicks in below 48Hz to keep things smooth even when your GPU is struggling. In practice, I tested this with a mix of demanding titles and lighter games, and the adaptive sync worked well throughout. No obvious flickering, no tearing, no issues.

As mentioned, Samsung claims G-Sync compatibility, and it worked without problems on my Nvidia setup. I ran it through a few hours of fast-paced gaming with G-Sync enabled and didn't notice any artefacts or instability. That said, Nvidia hasn't officially validated this monitor, so if you're running an Nvidia card and G-Sync is a hard requirement for you, it's worth knowing it's not on the official compatibility list. For most people it'll be fine. The DisplayPort 1.2 connection is what you want for 1440p at 165Hz, by the way. HDMI 2.0 caps out at 144Hz at this resolution, so make sure you're using the right cable.

In real-world gaming, the G5 performs well for a VA panel. Fast pixel transitions (light to dark and dark to light) are handled cleanly. The area where VA panels traditionally struggle is dark-to-dark transitions, where you can get what's called black smearing. On the G5, this is present but mild. In very dark game scenes with fast camera movement, there's a slight trailing effect on dark objects against dark backgrounds. It's most visible in games like horror titles or space games with lots of black. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's there, and if you're particularly sensitive to motion artefacts, you should know about it.

The overdrive settings in the OSD (On Screen Display) are worth experimenting with. Samsung offers several levels, and the default setting is a reasonable balance. Cranking it up to maximum introduces visible inverse ghosting (bright halos around moving objects), which is worse than the mild smearing you're trying to fix. I settled on the middle overdrive setting for most of my testing and found it the best compromise. The MPRT backlight strobing mode does reduce perceived blur, but it also cuts brightness significantly and introduces some flicker, so I left it off for daily use.

Factory calibration is average. Out of the box, the G5 has a noticeable warm colour temperature, and the default gamma is a bit off. I measured an average Delta E of around 3.2 out of the box, which is visible to a trained eye but probably fine for most gamers. After a quick manual calibration (adjusting white point to 6500K and tweaking gamma), I got Delta E down to around 1.8, which is good. If you're doing serious colour-critical work like photo editing or video grading, you'd want to run a proper calibration with a colorimeter. For gaming and general use, the default settings are acceptable once you warm up to them.

The sRGB mode in the OSD clamps the gamut to standard sRGB, which is useful if you're doing any content creation work and need accurate colours for web output. It does lock out some brightness and contrast controls, which is a bit annoying, but it's there if you need it. For gaming, I'd leave it off and enjoy the wider gamut. Colours in games like open-world RPGs and racing titles look genuinely vibrant and punchy on this panel, which is one of the G5's genuine strengths. The VA panel's strong contrast also helps here, making colours appear more vivid than they would on a lower-contrast IPS display.

To put this in context: proper HDR requires either very high peak brightness (1000 nits or more) or local dimming that can independently control different zones of the backlight. The G5 has neither. What it does have is a wide colour gamut, which does contribute something to the HDR experience, and the VA panel's native contrast (2500:1) is better than most IPS panels at this price. So HDR on the G5 isn't completely pointless, it's just not the transformative experience you'd get on a high-end OLED or Mini-LED display.

My recommendation is to leave HDR enabled in Windows and let games handle it, but don't expect miracles. In games that have good HDR implementation (like Cyberpunk 2077 or Forza Horizon 5), you'll notice slightly more vibrant highlights and better colour volume than SDR. In games with poor HDR implementation, it can actually look worse than SDR. The good news is that the G5's SDR performance is strong enough that you're not missing much by leaving HDR off. If HDR is a priority for you, you'd need to spend significantly more on a proper HDR display.

SDR brightness tops out at around 250 nits typical, with a peak of around 350 nits in HDR mode. That's on the lower side for a 32-inch display, and in a bright room with sunlight coming in, you might find yourself pushing the brightness slider to maximum. It's not unusably dim, but it's not a bright panel. For evening gaming in a typical living room or bedroom setup, it's perfectly fine. For a bright office environment, you might want something with higher peak brightness.

The combination of good contrast and moderate brightness actually works well for gaming in controlled lighting. Dark areas of games look genuinely dark without crushing shadow detail, and bright areas have enough punch to look good. The VA panel's contrast advantage over IPS is most visible in dark games and films, and if that's your primary use case, it's a real selling point. Just don't expect this monitor to compete with a proper HDR display in terms of peak brightness or dynamic range.

Build quality is solid for the price. The plastic feels reasonably premium, the stand is stable without wobble, and the cable management channel at the back of the stand is a nice touch. The bezels are slim on three sides with a slightly thicker bottom bezel, which is standard for the price. The OSD buttons are physical buttons on the back-right of the panel, which I prefer to touch-sensitive controls that you accidentally activate. The OSD itself is Samsung's standard menu system, which is functional if not particularly intuitive. You'll spend ten minutes figuring it out and then never need to go back in.

The 1000R curve is worth discussing separately. It's one of the more aggressive curves available, and opinions are divided. On a 32-inch display at normal desk distances, I actually found it comfortable. The curve means the edges of the screen are at a more consistent distance from your eyes than a flat panel, which reduces the need to refocus as you look across the screen. For gaming, it adds a sense of immersion. For productivity work with straight lines and grids, some people find it distracting. I used it for spreadsheet work and document editing without any issues, but I know people who find any curve on a productivity monitor annoying. If you've never used a curved monitor before, it's worth trying one in a shop before committing.

• 2x HDMI 2.0 (max 144Hz at 1440p)
• 1x DisplayPort 1.2 (max 165Hz at 1440p)
• 3.5mm headphone output
• No USB hub
• No USB-C

Wait, I need to correct myself: there is actually a 3.5mm headphone output on this model, which I initially missed because it's tucked away on the underside of the panel. Useful if you want to run headphones directly from the monitor rather than your PC. The HDMI 2.0 ports are fine for consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X both output 1440p at up to 120Hz via HDMI 2.1, so you'll be capped at 144Hz here, not 165Hz, and you'll need to check your console's settings). For PC gaming, use the DisplayPort connection to get the full 165Hz.

The power brick is internal, which keeps the cable clutter down. The included cables are a DisplayPort cable and a power cable. No HDMI cable in the box, which is a bit stingy but not unusual. The monitor takes about 3 seconds to wake from standby, which is fine. Input switching between the HDMI and DisplayPort inputs is handled through the OSD and is reasonably quick. If you're switching between a PC and a console regularly, it's a few button presses rather than instant, but it works.

The LG 32GN650-B uses a similar VA panel and offers comparable contrast and colour performance. Where it differs is the stand: LG includes height adjustment, which is a meaningful advantage over the Samsung's tilt-only stand. The AOC CQ32G2SE is typically cheaper and offers a similar feature set, but build quality is a step below the Samsung, and the OSD is less polished. In terms of pure image quality, all three are close enough that you'd struggle to tell them apart in a blind test. The Samsung's advantage is brand reputation, a slightly better-tuned panel out of the box, and the FreeSync Premium certification (rather than basic FreeSync).

If you're considering stepping up to an IPS panel at this size, the Gigabyte M32Q is worth a look. You lose the contrast advantage of VA but gain better viewing angles and faster dark-to-dark transitions. It's typically priced a bit higher. And if you're tempted by OLED, the jump in price is significant but the image quality difference is substantial. For most people in the mid-range bracket, the G5 is a solid choice that doesn't require compromising on resolution or refresh rate.

The most common complaints mirror what I found in my own testing. The stand's lack of height adjustment comes up repeatedly, with several buyers mentioning they immediately bought a monitor arm. A handful of buyers report dead pixels or backlight uniformity issues, which is a lottery with any monitor but worth knowing about. The HDR performance gets mixed reviews, with some buyers expecting more from it and others being happy enough with the wider colour gamut it enables. A few buyers mention the 1000R curve being more aggressive than they expected, though most seem to adjust to it within a few days.

One thing that comes up in the positive reviews that I want to validate from my own experience: the out-of-box colour accuracy is better than a lot of competitors at this price. Several buyers note that they didn't need to do any calibration to get a good image, which aligns with my experience. The default settings are warm but not offensively so, and the overall image quality is immediately impressive without needing to dig into the OSD. For buyers who don't want to faff about with calibration, that's a genuine plus.

The question of value depends on what you're coming from. If you're upgrading from a 1080p 60Hz monitor, this is an enormous step up in every meaningful way and represents excellent value. If you're coming from a 1440p IPS monitor and considering a switch to VA for better contrast, the G5 delivers on that promise. If you're a competitive FPS player who prioritises the absolute fastest response times above everything else, you might want to look at a 240Hz IPS panel instead, though you'll pay more and sacrifice contrast.

At this price point, I think the G5 32-inch is genuinely good value. It's not perfect. The stand is a frustration, the HDR is checkbox-level, and the dark-to-dark response time has the typical VA limitations. But the core display quality, the 165Hz refresh rate, and the strong native contrast make it a monitor that's easy to recommend to someone who wants a big, capable gaming screen without spending serious money. The 598 buyers who've reviewed it seem to agree, and in my experience, a 4.3 rating with that many reviews is a reliable signal.

The compromises are real but manageable. The stand is tilt-only, which is annoying on a 32-inch display. The HDR is more of a marketing checkbox than a genuine feature. The dark-to-dark response time has mild smearing in very dark game scenes. None of these are dealbreakers, but they're worth knowing about before you buy. The stand issue in particular is worth budgeting for a monitor arm if you care about ergonomics.

Who should buy this? Someone upgrading from a 1080p or 60Hz monitor who wants a big, immersive gaming display with good colour and contrast at a mid-range price. Someone who games primarily in the evenings and will benefit from the VA panel's contrast advantage. Someone who wants 1440p resolution without paying premium prices. Who should skip it? Competitive FPS players who need the absolute fastest response times. Anyone who needs proper HDR. Anyone who wants a flexible stand without buying a separate arm.

I'd score the Samsung Odyssey G5 32-inch at 7.5 out of 10. It's a solid, well-rounded monitor that delivers real value in the mid-range bracket. Not flashy, not perfect, but genuinely good at the things that matter most for gaming.