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Samsung C27RG50 monitor review – Smooth as you like

Monitors with a high frame rate – well higher than 60Hz at least – are something of a massive temptation for us here at Hypertext.

Which is why we jumped at the chance to review Samsung’s all new C27RG50 monitor.

The display measures in at 27inches with a 1 920 x 1 080p native resolution which is pretty standard but the refresh rate is not.

The C27RG50 boasts a massive 240Hz refresh rate which is primed for gaming. So lets see how this monitor performs in games.

But first, the build quality

As you might expect, out of the box there is some assembly required. The process is very intuitive and we only had to consult the instructions once during assembly.

While the C27RG50 does have screw-holes for a VESA mount, the mount out of the box is not. That means you will be able to tilt the monitor up and down but won’t be able to swivel it left and right.

At the rear of the display you’ll find two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.2 port as well as a 3.5mm output. The ports are easily located using the logos and names printed on the shell at the rear of the display.

Once fully assembled the monitor weighs in at just under 5kg and it feels stuck to the desk even though it isn’t.

The panel boasts a gentle curve which tends to disappear after extended use and the matte finish means that glare is likely to be less of a problem if you’re located in a sunny room.

The only real gripe we have with the C27RG50, physically speaking, is when interacting with the monitor. Everything is done using a single button located at the bottom centre of the C27RG50.

This makes changing settings a bit of a chore. For instance, changing the colour profile from the menu takes four clicks before you can change the options. Is this a deal breaker? Not at all, but its a gripe we feel we must point out.

There are a bevy of input options including DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0.

What’s inside?

The panel in the C27RG50 is a vertical alignment panel or VA which intrinsically allows for faster refresh rates. The downside of this is that screen tearing can happen but Samsung has that covered with support for Nvidia G-Sync.

The good news is that the C27RG50 uses Adaptive Sync technology so supported AMD graphics cards will allow you to enable FreeSync.

To explain it as simply as possible, Adaptive Sync matches your monitor’s frame rate with the output of your GPU which results in fewer instances of image tearing.

The AMD Radeon RX580 8GB we had on hand in our rig allows you to enable FreeSync, so we did. We loaded up a few games from different genres and the results were mixed.

In first person shooters the smoothness offered up by 240Hz was incredible. While we can’t say definitively that the higher frame rates made us better gamers we did feel like we were able to see more action in moment to moment gameplay.

In strategy games such as Civilization V, the frame rate was more of a quality of life improvement than something we felt positively influenced our play.

No matter which genre of games you prefer, image quality is smooth as you can ask for and adaptive sync is really great for getting rid of image tearing.

Don’t be put off by the Nvidia sticker the monitor also supports AMD FreeSync.

The one thing we did notice however is input lag.

This lag is very minimal but after switching from a monitor with less input lag we were able to pick it up in the C27RG50 instantly.

Over a few days we got used to the lag but this is definitely something that warrants mentioning especially if you’re gaming as much as we are.

Our biggest sticking point, however, is the colour accuracy of the monitor.

While it does cover 72 percent of the NTSC colour space there were times where we felt the colours of an image looked a bit washed out. You can change settings to fix this slightly but as we mentioned previously, the single interface button makes changing settings a bit of a chore.

That having been said, the image quality isn’t bad but if you are doing work that requires colour accuracy then the C27RG50 is likely not going to be your first choice.

Worth the price?

With a recommended price of R7 999, the C27RG50 does not come cheap.

The trouble we have with this monitor is whether folks want higher frame rates over a higher resolution.

Of course you could have both but if you’re only able to have one of those features you’ll have to make a choice as to which is more important to you.

The high frame rate is best suited for action games like first person shooters or MOBAs. While you do notice the smoothness of the display in strategy games and games where the action isn’t as forthcoming, it’s not going to improve your overall experience in the game.

While colour accuracy is not vitally important for games if you are in need of something that covers 99% of the sRGB space or NTSC then perhaps give this monitor a skip.

For gamers looking for a 1080p monitor with a high refresh rate that won’t tax their system, the C27RG50 is a good option.

The Samsung C27RG50 was sent to Hypertext expressly for purposes of a review by Samsung South Africa. The monitor has been returned to Samsung South Africa.

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