We review Samsung’s gigantic gaming monitor

After a few weeks of using Samsung’s absolutely gigantic 49-inch QLED gaming monitor, I’m convinced that it’s the pure definition of verkill.

Unless you’re the sort that thrives on multi-tasking, you realistically won’t be able to utilize the 32:9 aspect ratio to its fullest. But none of that matters, as you’ll miss the extra horizontal real-estate it gives you once you transition back to a mundane 21:9 widescreen display.

Priced at an almost ridiculous Php 70,560, the CHG90 isn’t a piece of gear that comes lightly. But once you start using and gaming with it, you’ll hate every minute that you’re without it.

Insanely huge display requires a massive amount of space

It’s hard to convey just big the CHG90 is in photos, as you really have to see it in person to appreciate its massive scale. The desk where we usually take our photos has more than enough space for a regular 27-inch ultrawide plus a bit of other stuff like our Lego figures and toys, plus a few other random bits that we leave lying around. But with the CHG90, we had to clear a whole lot of space on it to make the massive display fit, as its legs were extremely long and wide to support the gigantic panel.

Once you settle down and connect it to your PC either through the DisplayPort or HMDI port, you’re in for a treat. The display covers your entire field of view, making doing even the most mundane task feel important, like you’re in a cockpit of a fighter plane.

The display can be swiveled, tilted and height adjusted depending on your preferences. Not that you’d want to swivel it anyway, as the monitor has a large 178 degree horizontal and vertical viewing angle which pretty much guarantees accurate color reproduction when you’re sitting in front of it.

Good for productivity, great for gaming

With so much space available thanks to its 32:9 aspect ratio, you can multitask like a boss with the CHG90. You can have several windows up and running on the display without any problems. If you deal with multi-column excel sheets everyday, the CHG90 is definitely going to appeal to you.

You’d think that watching video would be heaven on the CHG90, but that unique 32:9 aspect ratio presents a few problems of its own. For one almost all the video that a normal consumer has access to will be pillared by two black bars on the side, because they’re not formatted correctly.

The CHG90 can accomodate two HDMI connections, a DisplayPort, miniDisplay port as well as an audio connection and two USB ports. You can do a PIP setup if you wished, dividing the monitor into two via two input sources. Since the monitor is so large (Samsung says that it’s as wide as two 27-inch monitors put together) that really isn’t a problem, plus you get the added benefit of not having to contend with a bezel in between.

If the CHG90 is good for productivity, it’s great for gaming, especially if you’re playing FPS or simulation games. The extra wide 32:9 aspect ratio allows you bump up your FOV so you see more around you, which is especially nice when you’re playing sims or racing games. Samsung’s QLED tech is advertised as giving you up to a billion shades of color, and the VA panel that the CHG90 is built off of is capable of refresh rates up to 144Hz. There’s also AMD FreeSync functionality baked in, but since most high-end builds usually use NVIDIA cards nowadays that feature is a bit wasted.

You’ll need a good rig to drive this thing

If you’re planning to use this monitor for gaming, you’ll need a beefy video card. Thankfully our GTX 1070 Ti was up to the task, and most people who have enough money to even consider this thing usually have gaming rigs strong enough to render games in ultra at 3,840 x 1,080 resolution.

Yeah, about that: despite being prohibitively expensive, the monitor’s resolution tops out to basically 1080p. We were a little surprised about that and nitpicky gamers will definitely complain about the lack of vertical resolution in something this expensive, but you know what? We’re perfectly OK with what the CHG90 doles out.

If you’re a streamer, that extra real-estate will allow you to monitor your stream and read chats without having to use an extra monitor, but then again you can probably do that with a dual monitor setup without hitting the price point of the CHG90.

But honestly, gaming with a massive 32:9 monitor is definitely an experience on its own. Playing Squad has never been as immersive. Fans of racing and sim games who frequently put together two or three monitors will appreciate the real estate and 1800R curve of the CHG90’s panel. Of course, not every game will support the widescreen resolution of the monitor, and in games like Battletech your screen will be pillared with black bars on the side.

Verdict: There’s more practical options, but there’s nothing quite like it

After all the time we spent with Samsung’s 49-inch CHG90, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s impractical as heck. You can accomplish all that it can do with two really good 16:9 monitors stuck together and save a lot more money doing that.

That being said, the CHG90 isn’t about being practical. It’s an ultrawide monster for people who really want the biggest and widest display possible for both work and play. Once you spend quite a bit of time with it, you’re going to wonder how you managed to trudge on without one.

The Samsung CHG90 QLED gaming monitor is priced at Php 70,560.