Samsung 27 ViewFinity S9 Series 5K Computer Monitor Thunderbolt 4 DisplayPort Matte Display 4K Slimfit-Camera Slim Metal Design

I got this monitor to bolster my home office setup. I am running a MacBook Pro with a Sonnet Echo 20 docking station. I wanted a monitor that would support daisy chaining in the future however, so that meant thunderbolt compatibility or USB connectivity. I found this monitor with Thunderbolt 4 support and 5k resolution instead of "just" 4k. I've always had good experiences with Samsung displays, TV's and monitors. Anyway, the closest competition I could find really were the Apple displays themselves, which, while VERY nice are just hugely more expensive. I didn't want to spend that kind of $$ right now. The monitor arrived and literally took 5 minutes to fully assemble. I set it up and it went thru an initial configuration process that was easy and step by step. The included remote feels nice and not cheap as well. Bottome line, this display is fantastic. Everything is easy on the eyes and the picture is so sharp and detailed. I was also impressed with and surprised by the built in speakers the monitor has. I feed my computer audit through some Apple HomePod speakers so won't be using the built in speakers but during the initial setup, audit played thru those speakers and was nice and clear, with surprising range and bass for "built in" speakers on a monitor. Overall, I'm very happy with this monitor and if I do add the second monitor soon, I'm pretty much certain I'll be getting another of these to link up! Read more

Overall, the monitor worked poorly with Mac. I had an M3 MacBook Pro, and M1 Mac mini that I connected it to. Neither of them worked well with the connections. It would wake up randomly and go to a count down screen for one minute that was very bright. Also, there is an issue with connecting devices with the USB-C in the back and I had to send it back for warranty. I should’ve just returned it. The warranty takes Forever with Samsung. I don’t think I’ll buy a Samsung again for any product line if I can help it. The money saved was not worth it. They’ve had it for a month, finally said they couldn’t fix it, and they were gonna procure a new one, and then after a few weeks they said they didn’t have one. I will never use Samsung warranty again. I did like how the monitor looked while I was actively using it so I thought I would try and go through the warranty. Big mistake. If you’re buying a 5K monitor, this one is really not worth the money that you save. It’s also filled with Samsung‘s bloatware that their smart TVs are filled with, so it makes no sense to the user that they would install that junk on a work oriented monitor. Switching inputs is difficult as well if you have multiple devices connected. Sometimes the other devices inputs disappear from the UI. So you have to completely power off and power on the monitor to switch devices sometimes. Overall, a big mistake ordering this, if you’re looking to save some money from the Apple studio monitor I would look at some of the other alternative such as Ben Q now has a 5K, or Asus has one as well. Read more

I have an Apple Studio Display but wanted to use it from my Windows/Linux PC. My PC Video cards do not support thunderbolt out (do any?) so I had to use a separate monitor for them. I was excited about this monitor because it was similar to the Apple Studio Display in specs and also supported display port in which would allow me to use it with my PC. The Pros: * Displays seems comparable to the ASD in terms of brightness, contrast and pixel clarity * Display port allows me to easily share it between my PC and Mac (ASD cannot) * Can pivot to portrait mode (ASD cannot) * Cheaper if you want matte finish and height adjustable features (both $ upgrades on ASD) * Can be mounted on stand or with VESA mount (ASD only does one of those at a time and requires Apple to change the hardware costing $$) * Can display a remote screen over the network via AirPlay - this is an awesome feature! Cons: * The included camera does not handle changes in light as well as the ASD Camera. I have to close my blinds when using this camera, not with ASDs camera. Unclear if this can be fixed with a software update or not * The included camera is much wider than the ASD camera - too wide for my liking. * The built in speakers are poor compared to the ASD speakers * My MBP has kernel paniced 3 three times over the past 2 days. I think this is related to the latop going to sleep or being hot unplugged from the monitor. There is a CalDigit TS3 between laptop and monitor so not sure where the issue is, but probably in the monitor. I am hoping they can fix this via a software update in the future * Cannot adjust brightness or volume using apple keyboard. They include a remote to do this, but the experience is not as good as the ASD Conclusion: There is a lot to like about this monitor over the ASD. I am on my mac all day doing conference calls so the cons are very noticeable vs the ASD. I am likely going to return this monitor because of those which is too bad as I really wanted to love this monitor Read more