Samsung Debuts New $1,599 ViewFinity S9 5K Display to Compete with Apple's Studio Display

[EntropyQ3]

I would buy this over the studio Display any day of the week since I can have several display driving devices connected simultaneously and shift between them conveniently. (Never mind the adjustable stand….) Instead I bought a Lenovo P27-U20 4k screen, also with TB + plethora of inputs wide colour gamut support, and, of course, a decent stand.

The lack of inputs on the Studio Display made it a non-starter for the few people I know who considered it.

 

[krazzix]

Still waiting for a 120hz 5k display. 5k for webdevelopment. 120hz for 1440p gaming.

 

[PsykX]

Same price, cheaper materials, bad speakers, a huge power brick, matte display, so-so microphone, no keyboard brightness and sound controls ? At least it has a better webcam 😪 Honestly, at this point this is a Windows monitor, not Mac.

That's immediately pushing me towards the Studio Display.

Guys, I've tried everything to avoid the Studio Display. I've even waited 8 additional months for new monitors to come out, but the more I look at displays the more I come up to the conclusion that the studio display is awesome.

What I hate about Studio Display at this point : Big bezels, Not 120 Hz, Bad webcam, Not height adjustable by default.

 

[ifxf]

is it really that hard to make a display with symmetrical borders on all 4 edges?

If I was in the market for a new monito, this consideration wouldn’t even make my list.

 

[klky]

The Studio Display is one of those products that if it died tonight, I'd be down at Apple picking up a new one tomorrow.

 

[theluggage]

Well there goes the expectations that Samsung would sell more of a bargain with the Viewfinity S9 then the Studio Display. It is quite probable that Samsung might discount it more though then Apple does theirs.

The price is a bit disappointing, but...

1. $1599 is, presumably, the manufacturers suggested retail price - for non-Apple products its common for the actual sticker price from big retailers to be substantially less and/or to be on near-perpetual special offer. We'll see what it actually costs when its been in the shops for a few weeks.

2. Apple want $400 extra just for a comparable stand. I won't credit the matte finish since (a) not everybody wants that and (b) we'll have to wait and see whether the Samsung matte finish is comparable to Apple's "nano texture" (its got 100% more "nano" so it must be better, right?)

3. 5k (at least the 5120x2880 variety) is a niche market that, generally, is only of interest to Mac users. Lower volume = higher prices. I think we were spoiled by Apple's $1800 5k iMac which was always a bit of a steal - I don't think Apple does "loss leaders" but I'm sure Apple weren't getting their usuaal mark-up on that).

I thought they might have made this 32” which would have differentiated it from the apple display.

Then they'd have to make it 6k everybody would be complaining about the low PPI...

 

[Leon Ze Professional]

At this price point Samsung have scored an own goal. It has potential, but the build quality still doesn't come close to the Apple Studio display.

Granted it has a height and tilt adjustable display which is something Apple needs to address without charging extra.

 

[arthography]

The Studio Display has issues with the color consistency across the screen, I read in some reviews. I do photography and movies regularly and I need to trust the monitor. The Samsung ticks all boxes including the built in USB “dock” and it’s nice that it comes in matte, as all monitors should (only consumer stuff should be glossy). I’ll see how this is developing till next year, when we renew our IT hardware in our small company but this Samsung and a certain ViewSonic are on top of the list. Let’s see the reviews of this Samsung Monitor. I like you can set up the colors by using an app on the iPhone, I hate dealing with x-rite and other similar products.

 

[theluggage]

Shame that it has a matt display. I must be the only person on the planet who prefers a glossy display.

It depends on what your lighting problem is. If you have brightly lit objects behind you when you are using your display then you have a problem. A matte display reduces the problem by preventing recognisable reflections and scattering away some of the light.

If the light is to either side or above, a glossy display reflects the light off to the other side so it doesn't bother you. A matte display scatters some of that light into your eyes and reduces the contrast.

I've just switched from a glossy iMac display to a matte display, and suddenly ~3pm every day, I have to get up and close the blinds because the sunlight, which never bothered the iMac, has made the display illegible.

The iMac also had a neat optical coating which genuinely reduced reflections rather than scattering them. I haven't seen Apple's nano texture, but maybe its something special. Still for that price, you could fit window blinds and some new light fittings that would fix the problem rather than hide it.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I guess I'm just not the target market, but there isn't a display in the world, monitor or television, that is worth >$1000.

 

[Rychiar]

Wait a few months, and it will be $1299 during Cyber Week.

The studio display was 1299 for awhile this past winter

 

[tomscott1988]

Something like this, maybe when the price drops a little, and a Mac Mini or Studio will always be a better option than an iMac. It even fits aesthetically.
Please, don't fall for iMacs now that the Mac-part is impossible to upgrade and repair, get a good external display and a computer you can upgrade. I'll keep advocating for this any time I can.

What part of the Mac Studio or mini can you upgrade? Same thing they are just split and more expensive. At least with the iMac you could upgrade the ram and if you were really so inclined the SSD and processor too. I did this with my 2017 5k and got a lot more life out of it, i5 to i7, 1tb fusion to 2tb nvme and 4tb SSD, 8gb ram to 64gb.

The newer Macs are worse than ever. They also have you by the short and curlies too because a lot of people won't need more than the pro but they might need more ram than 32gbs but to get 64 you have to buy a max.

So when you do sell it and upgrade it but it still adds to e-waste eventually as there is no upgrade path apart from what you spec originally. Especially the 8gb machines, apps has been shipping 8gb machines for 10 years. Yes unified is better but 8gbs is 8gbs and at some point the OS will need more crippling these machines.

If you think your getting a better consumer choice now you are mistaken.

 

[Will Co]

If I' spending 1500 on a monitor, best believe I will choose one that has the best compatibility. And knowing Samsung's reputation, I do not want to deal with QC issues.

Nor the SmartThings app. It's horrible, intrusive and flaky as hell, in my experience.

 

[Asthmatic Kitty]

Anyone else find it amusing that Apple still lists the Studio Display as “New” on their website? It came out a year and four months ago, guys …

 

[McWetty]

Finally some competition! I hope this makes Apple get competitive. Plus, Samsung always drops their prices YoY. You’ll probably be able to pick up one of these for $1k via EPP in a year.

 

[Xenobius]

Why so expensive? In the case of Apple, we pay for the apple on the case. What do we pay for in the case of Samsung?

 

[mrmister]

The Samsung monitor will give you features at its $1599 base price Apple charges an additional $700 for.

I don't think 'matte' finish is the same as nanotexture glass—Apple's implementation is the best version of a matte finish I have ever seen, by a wide margin. If anything the Samsung is hobbled by only having one option.

 

[ridgero]

1500 = no competition 😂

 

[tobybrut]

“It’s Samsung. It just be rubbish!” post a thousand fanpeople without ever trying anything outside the Apple ecosystem.

I mean, do you only ever eat one flavour of crisps?! Drink one sort of beer or gin? Watch the same TV show on repeat?

It’s not like the Apple system isn’t brilliant because it is! But it doesn’t mean that others are terrible by any stretch.

I have a lot of Samsung products, including their Fold 4, Tab S8 Ultra, and an Odyssey G9 monitor. Samsung mostly makes solid products, but their monitors have a long history of QC problems, including light leakage and misaligned bezels. My G9 had so many problems it was recalled and re-released several months later with its chief feature of 240Hz refresh rate not working on Nvidia cards (fixed several firmware releases later). I wouldn’t hesitate to buy most Samsung products, but monitors? I’d be careful.

 

[BellSystem]

And they still managed to make it ugly looking.

 

[spillled typos]

I'll pay more to get an Apple product solely because I can actually take their products into a real store and get support from a real human. With this matching Apple's price it's a no-brainer no.

 

[daneoni]

So not the bargain people were hoping for then.

If you use Windows i guess its the go to option.

 

[ELman]

I see this at $999 during the Black Friday sales.

 

[MrCrowbar]

Not sure if 5K on a 27" display make a lot of sense...

Maybe for looking at Photos and X-Rays where sharpness and contrast is important.

 

[NightFox]

Most of the market for this type of display will be buying it based on its display capabilities and specification, not the size of its bezels, the quality of its built-in speakers or whether it's made out of metal, plastic or papier-mâché.