If you look up ‘massive monitor’ in the dictionary, you’ll likely find a picture of the Samsung Odyssey Ark. It’s a display that’s probably bigger than most people’s living room TVs, and comes with an equally large price tag attached. However, those of you who have been waiting for a cheeky discount are in luck, as the second-gen version has a whopping $1,000 off.
Those of you who fancy splashing out on the Samsung Odyssey Ark will want to go check out the Amazon Spring Sale, as it has slashed the screen from $2,999.99 to $1,999.99. Yes, I know, not many of you out there will have a spare two grand free to invest in a gaming monitor, but those of you who do are going to end up with an unbeatable experience. We’re talking 55-inches of curved mini-LED 4K glory, and that wraparound effect is going to provide immersion levels that rival VR.
That wraparound 1000R curvature might seem like a novelty in itself, but the Odyssey Ark has an ace up its sleeve. By rotating the display, you’ll activate what Samsung describes as “cockpit mode”, something that’s going to make your setup feel a bit sci-fi. Switching to vertical practically serves as three smaller displays stacked on top of each other, but if you’re creative, you’ll already have games in mind that’ll look ridiculously cool with this aspect ratio. Personally, I really want to fire up some old-school arcade shooters that support TATE mode (I’ll bring the Orange GameCube and Ikaruga if you bring the Ark.)
Amazon Spring Sale at a glance
- Monitors: Big Samsung, Acer, and Asus savings
- OLED TVs: 28% off the 55-inch LG OLED G3
- Consoles: Grab $90 off PS5 Slim with Prime
- Games: Discounts on Spider-Man and more
- Graphics cards: $35 off an RTX 4070 GPU
There are a few features the Odyssey Ark possesses that aren’t size-related, some of which you won’t find in most monitors. For starters, you can hook up multiple PCs and control them all using a single keyboard and mouse, almost like each rig is one and the same. The display also boasts four corner speakers and two subwoofers, with Dolby Atmos surround providing the perfect excuse to ditch your existing speaker system.
Should you buy the Samsung Odyssey Ark?
At the end of the day, $2,000 is a lot to spend on a gaming monitor, even one as dazzling as the Samsung Odyssey Ark. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest, and it becomes a case of making sure you’re going to get maximum use out of it, rather than it serving as an ordinary desktop display.
Not to come up with excuses for you, but if you were planning on buying three separate monitors anyway, the Odyssey Ark could serve as an effective high-spec solution that could potentially cost less. For example, even though you can currently grab a chonky 46% off a Samsung Odyssey G7 4K screen right now, you’re still talking $700.61 a pop, adding up to over $2,101. I’d argue there are greater benefits to having a seamless spread of 55 inches available over separate panels, especially when it comes to making full use of the space for gaming.
In any case, if you do decide the Odyssey Ark isn't for you, there's every chance you'll find a great alternative in the Amazon Spring Sale. You'll find a selection of discounted displays below, with plenty of Samsung alternatives at pretty attractive prices.
Looking for more screens? Swing by the best 4K gaming monitors and best curved monitors for our top picks. Alternatively, check out the best monitor for PS5 if you've got a console setup.
