***STANDOUT FEATURES:*** The curve of the display helps with immersion while gaming and continuous eye focus while engaged in productivity. Colors and contrast are highly customizable. Mini LED may not be what you would expect, however.
***BUILD QUALITY:*** Build Quality will be the first thing you notice as you unbox and attach the stand. Unfortunately, the back of this monitor looks cheap. There are designs emanating from the stand bracket and its RGB-lit surround, but Samsung would have done better to keep it matte black. The designs only draw attention to the fact that it is a uniform plastic material. The same holds true for the RGB lighting on the front of the monitor. The designs make you acutely aware of the material. Bafflingly, Samsung placed the front lights at a downward angle and set back from the front face of the screen so you can’t even see them without ducking your head. The “smoked” plastic surround for the rear surround looks good, though color selection is limited.
***DISPLAY QUALITY:*** The first thing you will notice about this screen is the anti-glare finish. If you’re used to it, you won’t mind. If you don’t need it and are used to touch screen devices, you will notice. It isn’t the biggest drawback, however, as Samsung touts “Quantum Matrix Technology” - yet provides far too few local dimming zones to really make it worth the cost. On a TV, 5+ feet from your head, 1196 zones would look excellent. On a monitor - 21” from your head - it just isn’t enough. I’ve uploaded photos showing how light blooms around light objects on a dark background. Colors, contrast, sharpness, etc. are highly tunable, however, so you can get as flat or punchy a look as you want. Unfortunately, the subpixel arrangement creates a set of horizontal lines which are glaringly noticeable on certain items and text.
***GAMING:*** As far as local dimming goes in gaming, the blooming is less noticeable, yet still is distracting enough to want to turn the feature off completely. Refresh rates - whether through DisplayPort 1.4 (5’ cable provided) - or HDMI 2.1 - are excellent. I wanted the full experience and opted to use DisplayPort and load up a few games. In every instance, lag was unnoticeable and framerates were quick with the appropriate settings on my 6900 XT. Variable framerate through Freesync did provide a bit of flickering when loading things up, however. The 1000R curve made for an immersive feeling, though the bloom from local dimming combined with the shiny speckles of the anti-glare coating took me back out of it. I am used to a glossy OLED, so take that for what you will.
***PORTS:*** On the back, facing down, there are 2x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x 20V Power Input, and 1x USB 3.0 B inputs. The USB B input allows you to plug peripherals into 2x USB 3.0s adjacent, and a 3.5mm headphone jack (fed by your preferred display cord type) is back there as well. Annoyingly, Samsung gave you no easier access to USB ports, like on the sides or chin.
***ON SCREEN DISPLAY:*** The onscreen display is operated by a hard to feel 4 way switch with center button (for power and OK). While comprehensive, and simple to navigate, this would have been far easier with a remote. Two plastic outcroppings make telling the location of each button difficult.
***STAND:*** The stand is easy to put on, but predictably fairly shaky when in use. The ability to tilt, rotate, and turn the screen easily while on 2 feet just comes with the reality that it won’t be the most sturdy thing.
***ACE IN THE HOLE:*** This will be a double-edged sword. My initial unit arrived broken. Whether my issue was a result of poor handling, I’m not sure, but the packaging material for this model is just not adequate. A representative from Samsung apologized immediately upon receiving my email and made sure to have another unit to me within 5 days (a feat, given that I’m in Alaska). While this unit wasn’t broken, the box still was, with the cardboard for the grab handle ripping the same in each case. Good job rep, bad job Samsung for your inadequate packaging which included NO “FRAGILE” or “THIS SIDE UP” indicators.
***CONCLUSION:*** Considering the price, I can’t recommend this monitor. It is 4K, mid-high refresh, and colors are good, but several features just aren’t up to snuff. I say wait for a real Mini LED.