What is the difference between a traditional monitor and a TV? Not much, as thanks to improvements in screen quality on both sides and people moving away from traditional TV broadcasting and towards streaming apps instead, it practically doesn’t make a difference what you choose to watch content on or connect your PC to these days. Just don’t tell the SABC.
Samsung Is aware of this and has just announced a new Smart Monitor that is merging the sensibilities of both traditional computer monitors and the functionality of a modern television. The new Smart Monitor will see PC monitors of various sizes and resolution specs equipped with the company’s TizenOS software, and the ability to connect directly to a Wi-Fi network. This will essentially allow you to stream apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon directly from the monitor without any hardware attached to it, providing people with the ability to use the monitor as a traditional TV, while still being light and portable enough to serve as a monitor for their computer as well.
All variants of the monitors can be mounted to your wall or to a monitor arm, feature two 5W speakers, and include a remote control with voice assistant support for Bixby 2.0, Alexa, and Google Assistant. The monitors are even AirPlay 2-compatible, making it easy to cast from Apple devices. All features that you will commonly find on the latest Samsung Smart TVs, except now only in a smaller sized PC monitor form instead.
There is also the ability to connect a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth should you want to use the monitor as a lightweight PC and make use of the built-in web browsers to connect to Office365 or Google Docs for online work as well.
The line-up comes in various models, such as the 27-inch M5 for $230 or $280 for the 32-inch vesion. For $400, you’ll get the 32-inch M7 4K monitor that. The M5 models will feature two HDMI ports while the M7 model will feature an additional three USB-A 2.0 inputs along with a USB-C port which can be used as a DisplayPort, data transfer or even to charge a laptop with power of up to 65W. Samsung really is trying to deliver a monitor that takes care of everything.
As a monitor, it is admittedly quite pricey, but if you are tight on space and want to save money on an actual separate TV, this may be the best device for you as it fills both those needs in your house. The monitor is set for release in most markets in December, though will likely only be coming to South Africa retailers in 2021.
Last Updated: November 18, 2020
Viper_ZA
November 18, 2020 at 08:48
60hz with 8ms response time. Hard pass 😛
Aries
November 18, 2020 at 11:48
My monitor died last week, been searching the sa market for new one, they have nothing but old stock at a premium price
Viper_ZA
November 18, 2020 at 11:48
We are sucking the hind teat when it comes to latest tech availability in SA :/
Aries
November 18, 2020 at 11:57
The Procurement guys on the supplier side sucks, they never have stock of anything, popular items or not
Viper_ZA
November 18, 2020 at 14:09
Yep, then they PREsell the latest GPU’s at $2900 a pop…crazy indeed.
Aries
November 18, 2020 at 14:09
Was having a small argument with them about that, I just upgraded my pc and I say you guys have the latest gpu but the monitors are all old and not compatible for gsync or free sync, has no hdr, so what’s the use of having a 20k gpu and you can’t use any of the features, wants to sell me a 4k 60hz monitor with hdmi 1.4 and display port 1.2, almost swore him out
Iskape
November 18, 2020 at 08:57
I use my Q70T TV as my monitor, and it works perfectly fine, even when I sit close enough to it when using it as a monitor. I thought it would cause massive strain on my eyes, but so far so good.
Elf_Lord_ZC5
November 18, 2020 at 15:33
Use a Dell 24 inch monitor with my Fire TV stick 4K at 1080p, works fantastic, in the corner between my computer monitor and window.