Samsung CHG70 FreeSync 2 Monitor Review: 32 Curved Inches Of Smooth HDR Gaming

There is a lot to like about the Samsung CHG70. In terms of its overall design language, the CHG70 is a winner. It’s a good looking display, with relatively small bezels for its size, and a clean, modern look with some distinct, yet subtle design elements. The monitor’s list of main features and specifications also check many of the right boxes – the CHG70 hits what many would argue is the sweet spot in terms of resolution (2560x1440), it has an array on input and output options, a high 144Hz peak refresh rate, lots of screen real estate, and support for FreeSync 2 and HDR. Strictly looking at its specifications, the 32” Samsung CHG70 seems like an ideal solution for gamers rocking Radeon graphics.

The Samsung CHG70 32" Curved FreeSync 2 Gaming Monitor, Find It At Amazon.Com

It’s not all sunshine and roses, however. HDR support is still going through some growing pains, but Microsoft, game developers, and GPU makers seem to be on-top of things. There can still be brightness issues with some applications with SDR content when HDR is enabled in Windows, but Microsoft has built a brightness slider for SDR content into the latest Windows 10 update that helps mitigate this issue for the most part. A few applications (like Chrome) still exhibit some issues, but there are workarounds for most at this point and the situation is improving almost daily. HDR as a whole isn’t quite as earth shattering as some might hope as well. It does result in better quality overall imagery in our opinion, but the differences are sometimes subtle and may be tough to spot if you’re not specifically looking for them or A/B comparing SDR and HDR products side-by-side.

This monitor also requires a massive amount of desktop real estate. Of course, with a 32” curved display that’s obviously going to be the case, but the depth of the articulating stand is significant versus most other screens this size – keep that in mind should you be interested in the CHG70. The VA panel used in the CHG70, while obviously of high quality, isn’t quite on the level of many IPS displays either. Of course, that’s true of virtually all VA panels, but it’s something we want to point out because side by side, the differences are visible.

All that said, Samsung is offering this solid, extremely well-equipped display at a relatively aggressive price. The 32” CHG70 can be had for $549 direct form Samsung at the moment, and some Amazon sellers have it for a less. That doesn’t make the Samsung CHG70 the least expensive 32” monitor out there, but considering its extensive feature set, dare we say $549 is somewhat of a bargain. Although it is not perfect, the Samsung CHG70 is one heck of a nice monitor for the money and we have no problems recommending it to anyone looking to snag a large, FreeSync 2 compatible display.

Big Display Area FreeSync 2 with HDR Support Flexible Input / Output Options Aggressively Priced Easy To Use OSD	Some Minor Uniformity Issues HDR Still In Its Infancy On The PC Massive Stand