Gaming monitors can be expensive. They tend to last for at least a few PCs, so it's generally money well spent. Not every screen you buy needs to be a massive upgrade though, and sometimes you just need a monitor that works. Maybe yours has died, or you want a second panel on your desk? Whatever the reason, it's worth giving the 24-inch Samsung Odyssey CRG5 monitor a look, especially as right now it's down to just $150.
For that, you get a 24-inch display with an utterly standard native resolution of 1920 x 1080. On one hand, that's nothing to get excited about, but at the same time, that resolution should be well within the means of whatever graphics card you've managed to pick up in the silicon-starved days. The fact it supports a 144Hz refresh rate and offers a 4ms response time.
You're looking at a VA panel here, which means you get great contrast, inky blanks, and decent viewing angles. The brightness tops out at 250cd/m2, so it's not exactly the brightest screen ever released, but it'll be fine for normal work and play. HDR is off the cards, but look at that price point again and calm your expectations a little. Besides, while Windows HDR is getting better, we're still not quite there yet.
This screen is curved too, although it's so subtle you could almost miss it—that's a good thing. At 1800R it's shallow, and to be honest, I'm not totally sold on the need for a curved screen on normal 16:9 aspect screens. Ultrawides? Well, that's a different matter, but even there it isn't what you'd call essential.
Anyways, back to the screen in hand. This is a Samsung gaming monitor, and that name brings with it a decent amount of reassurance. As well as the aforementioned features you also get AMD FreeSync support to help banish tearing. It also offers a Low Input Lag Mode for those competitive shooters and a Game Mode that boosts gamma levels, contrast, sharpness, and color accuracy.
Overall, this is a decent monitor, offering a good all-around spec from a respected name at a great price.
