This Samsung Smart Monitor Effectively Replaced My Oled Tv For A Week - But There's More To It

Samsung M9 Smart Monitor (M90SF)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The latest smart show features a 120Hz OLED show and costs $1,599.
• It runs connected Tizen OS, but tin beryllium connected to Mac aliases Windows, too.
• Some notable omissions see Wi-Fi 6E/7, an SD paper slot, and a due rotating mount.

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There I was: logged disconnected of Slack, legs kicked up, and mentally prepared for nan commencement of different exhausting but thrilling NBA season. This year's opening double-header was broadcast connected Peacock, truthful each it took was a fewer taps connected nan distant to propulsion up nan streaming work and watch nan Houston Rockets upset nan defending champions, nan Oklahoma City Thunder. They didn't.

But that's been my life this past week pinch Samsung's latest M9 (M90SF) 32-inch smart monitor, a show that tin widen immoderate Mac, Windows, aliases Linux strategy while doubling arsenic a TV. All it takes is simply a property of a button, and you're looking astatine a user merchandise that my parents would crushed maine for putting connected my wishlist arsenic a kid.

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To beryllium clear, this isn't nan first show hybrid connected nan market, and it's surely not nan first for Samsung. But this is 1 of, if not nan most, capable. 

It demands a precocious value -- $1,600, during nan uncommon times that it's not discounted -- but for folks who want a show that looks conscionable arsenic bully successful nan agency for master activity arsenic it does for after-hours contented consumption, this mightiness beryllium your champion action today. 

For a alternatively blase TV, mounting it up is reasonably straightforward. There's a delightful, cool-to-the-touch aluminum manus consciousness arsenic you threat nan guidelines equine to nan guidelines and to nan backmost of nan monitor, and nan rear USB-C larboard (alongside an HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, and 2 USB-A ports) is powerful capable to present 90W for a single-cable, pass-through experience.

That's to say, nan M9 is 1 of nan better-looking smart monitors I've tested; it has a definitive business quality that's refreshing to spot successful a marketplace afloat of divided decisions. Smart monitors thin to person a toy-ish look and consciousness that doesn't induce overmuch confidence, but not this one.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

However, nan M9's creation isn't perfect. The first flaw is that you can't physically rotate nan show pinch nan default stand, moreover though tallness and tilt accommodation are reasonably flexible. Instead, you'll request a taller VESA equine to afloat rotate nan 32-inch surface by 90 degrees. 

Then there's nan absolute vessel of a powerfulness ceramic that you'll want to debar hanging and requires ample abstraction to stow away. My sit-stand table happens to person a cablegram compartment underneath it that has just capable abstraction to tuck nan powerfulness ceramic away, but your setup whitethorn not beryllium arsenic flexible.

Also: Got a Samsung TV? I changed these 6 settings to greatly amended nan performance

The viewing acquisition of nan M9 is rather nice, acknowledgment to an inky OLED sheet that yields awesome opposition levels and bright-enough colors, whether you're successful PC mode, Tizen OS (the TV operating system), aliases some astatine nan aforesaid time, acknowledgment to split-screen viewing. 

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

There's nary perceivable displacement successful colour erstwhile staring astatine nan show from different angles -- doing truthful only highlights nan effectiveness of its anti-glare properties.

When watching streaming services, including YouTube, I recovered nan image value connected Tizen OS to beryllium overmuch amended than erstwhile I extended aliases mirrored my Mac. The autochthonal apps conscionable do a much reliable and quicker occupation astatine adapting video resolution, and navigating nan TV pinch nan included solar-powered distant is arsenic responsive arsenic immoderate different 2025 TV I've tested.

Also: How to clear your TV cache (and hole slow capacity for good)

Where things autumn short for maine is colour accuracy, particularly pinch nan default image settings. When editing merchandise shots successful Adobe Lightroom, nan show portrayed earthy images pinch much saturation and sharpness than my MacBook Pro. Fortunately, that was thing I was capable to calibrate, and I urge anyone readying to usage nan M9 for master activity to do nan same.

To my surprise, nan built-in 4K ultrawide webcam and soul speakers person been supra average, particularly for a monitor. The video provender has a bully magnitude of detail, though perchance excessively wide of a section of position for some, and nan speakers didn't make maine tally for a dedicated sound strategy astatine first listen. Instead, it's a reasonably balanced audio floor plan that gets large capable for watching TV.

ZDNET's buying advice

Ultimately, nan Samsung M9 is nan company's champion effort astatine a show for activity and play. It's built well, nan duality of operating systems is highly versatile, and nan fewer shortcomings, including nan deficiency of Wi-Fi 6E (let unsocial Wi-Fi 7) and nan inability to rotate nan surface pinch a VESA mount, are manageable.

At a unit value of $1,600, I would only urge nan show if and erstwhile it's discounted; location are simply excessively galore competing QD-OLED and OLED monitors connected nan marketplace pinch amended specs and little value points that forestall nan Samsung M9 from being nan definitive option.

But if abstraction is constricted and your fund aligns, you're looking astatine a smart show that should cheque each nan correct boxes for you.