Samsung Smart Monitor M5 Review – Smart Yet Functional

Let me just start with, well Samsung has a pretty broad range of monitor series, from work to game, they do have all the choice that every consumer can choose from. This time we will be looking at one of the monitor that is meant more for the multimedia entertainment and work in one, especially if you do need it in your dorm or office.

Lets dive into the Samsung Smart Monitor M5 Review, and the unit that we receive is the 32 inch, do take note that if you bought the 27 inch, the rest of the specification is similar except for the screen size, other technicality remains the same.

Display & Design & Audio

This Smart Monitor comes in 2 sizes, 27 inch and 32 inch, both of which carries a 60Hz refresh rate, 16:9 Aspect Ratio with HDR10 capability, which this will take advantage over your HDR viewing content, even with games that came with HDR enable option can be used. This is a full HD display monitor, so it is pretty standard towards what you can get from anywhere. The brightness can carry up to 250nits, which is quite ok for the most part since you are using it indoors. You still be able to enjoy bright vibrant colors although it is a VA panel type, but from the day to day use basis, I can live with it and enjoy using it throughout the whole day or night with no strain over my eyes. The only downside is the refresh rate which is pretty limited to 60Hz and I wish it could be spec higher, say 90Hz at least to take advantage of fast scrolling, some games, since I could use this also with any of my favorite gaming PC or console. And there is no FreeSync support over this monitor, but you can enable Game Mode to minimize the lagging frame gaps. Another thing I do appreciate is the simplicity of the design, a good slim bezel on the display and there is VESA mounting if you need it to mount it alongside with another display, quite useful for dual monitor purpose.

While most PC monitor does not come with built in speakers, this monitor has a pair of stereo speakers in, which is loud and vocally clear, mixed of audio especially multiple instrument can be pretty bland, but for the most part I will take it as a pass, for the vocal clarity and serve as a plus point to me for at least having built in speakers, if you want, you can always pair it with your favorite Bluetooth audio.

Ports, Connectivity and Features

This is the part where this Monitor could be an advantage. Starting off, you get 2 HDMI port, 2 USB ports, built in Wi-Fi up to 5Ghz and Bluetooth, and yes, it does have a remote control so that you can access to the monitor settings and TizenOS home interface, which is the OS behind this monitor that makes it ‘Smart’. With the available 2 USB port, you can connect your Keyboard, Mouse and thumbdrive. By default the monitor has about 2GB of internal storage available for smart application installation so you will have to rely on external storage or NAS connected via the network to access files. Speaking of files, it is able to accept major video and audio files without issues.

Let see what it has to offer on the smart portion. Pretty basic I would say, but to some, this could be an advantage, since it is so simple, all you need to do is sign in to your Samsung account and access the App menu, you have vast majority of your favorite apps available, such as Astro, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, just to name a few but Tizen is a growing OS, and it is expected to have even more mainstream applications coming soon. My experience with the interface that it is lagging abit over menu transition, but it is just a mere 2 to 3 seconds, which is still ok for the most of the time.

All of the interaction is done with the included remote control but to take full advantage of the web browser and Office 365 online apps, you may want to attach the Keyboard and Mouse. There is also option to connect remotely to your Windows PC, an app can be optionally installed on the assigned Windows PC or manual configuration, which gives another flexibility for the user to connect over, that depends whether you really need to remote in or not but the option is there.

Since this is a Samsung product, you have wireless DeX support to connect to your Samsung mobile devices such as the Galaxy S series, Z Fold series and certain Galaxy Tab series, we have tested with our Galaxy S21 and business as usual, you can fully take advantage of the DeX functionality, here comes one downside, if you wish to DeX with a USB C to C cable, there is no option for that.

Verdict & Conclusion

To me it is a functional Smart Monitor, at a glance it does what a Smart Monitor can do, in fact this is suitable for most use case scenario in general, such as work use, when you are tired you can switch over to your streaming apps from TizenOS, remotely control PC’s and connecting over to DeX. Since this is a full 1080P monitor, connecting to most of your modern day devices is not an issue as well, the downsides again are the lack of high refresh rate support and if you wish to use it with creative or art based application, you may need to calibrate the color of the monitor to suit your needs. Overall I do still appreciate what it has to offer.

Pricing & Availability

The Samsung Smart Monitor M5 is now selling at RM1099 for the 27 inch model while the 32 inch is selling at RM1299. You can get more information HERE on more features and specifications of the product.