In January 2023, Samsung launched the Viewfinity S9 (model number: S90PC) presented - on paper a competitor to Apple's Studio Display (Where is the Samsung ViewFinity S9 (S90PC) with 5K? Update: Prices drop)']);" title="Jetzt kaufen bei Amazon" >€ 1,749.00* at Amazon.de): both monitors have a resolution of 5K (5,120×2,880 pixels) on 27 inches (pixel density with it: 216 dpi)The display has a high color space coverage and an integrated webcam (even though Samsung places it rather outside the monitor).
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Alone: after the Press release 03 January 2023 nothing has ever been heard about the Viewfinity S9 again: neither a price (which will probably be slightly below the very expensive Apple Studio Display) nor availability has leaked out so far (let alone officially announced).
In price comparisons (idealo.de, geizhals.de, Test winner.com), and there are no tests or further information on the Internet - a classic paper launch, which is a pity: neither is there any pressure on Apple to adjust the price of the Studio Display (which is rather unlikely anyway) nor to present a successor (which Apple will probably do at some point anyway, the 32″ XDR display could also use a refresh, and the webcam in the Studio Display cannot be corrected completely even with firmware updates from Apple.
The market for a monitor that really harmonizes well with macOS and the characteristics of Retina displays is definitely there - it is incomprehensible why Samsung does not seize the opportunity and keeps potential customers waiting instead.
As soon as there is something new I will update this post.
Update 07.05.2023: LG UltraFine 5K on offer
Although there is still nothing new about the Samsung Viewfinity S9 5K monitor, LG has increased the price for the somewhat outdated Samsung Viewfinity S9. LG UltraFine 27MD5KLP-B 5K at 899,- Euro incl. shipping lowered (currently the regular price of 1.099 Euro is valid again - Available directly in the LG store. Maybe LG knows more about Samsung's plans and tries to get the older devices out of the warehouses before there is more competition in the 5K monitor sector (one can still hope ;)).
Update from 04.06.2023: first sign of life from Australia
After LG ended the offer, there is now a first sign of life of the Samsung ViewFinity S9 from Australia (thanks to "Spacefrog" for the tip). Samsung has there (for a short time, on 25.06.2023 it is offline again) a corresponding Product page live, which does not have a price yet, but still has a few photos as well as technical data ready.
Apart from the already known data like Thunderbolt 4 and Mini-Displayport, the possibility to use it via Airplay and thus use it wirelessly "quickly" as an extension is exciting from my point of view. The original press release did not mention this, but Samsung is definitely aiming at a target group that uses both Windows and Apple devices.
The price remains exciting. The Apple Studio Display is currently available for less than 1,600 Euros - but with a glossy display and without a stand.
Regardless of the 5K monitor used, if you want to run two of them on a Mac that basically supports two monitors, you'll need a corresponding Thunderbolt 4 hub. After a bit of searching, the Sonnet Echo 5 Thunderbolt 4 Hub - from € 207.80 to be a suitable device.
Update from 08.06.2023: first prices & release date from Switzerland
Galaxus has in its Swiss store (not yet in German) the Samsung ViewFinity S9 ("LS27C902PAUXEN") listed, for 1,424 francs (equivalent on 08.06.2023 approx. 1.468,- Euro). The sales start date is the 25.08.2023 Whether this and the price are the final details is somewhat open - I suspect a slightly higher MSRP, which can of course quickly be undercut by the street price.
Although there is the Product page for the ViewFinity S9 also in the German Galaxus Shopbut there without price or delivery date.
The technical specifications correspond to the Australian product page I reported on four days ago, and an energy label is also already available, so there are no big surprises there. Samsung will thus place its 5K monitor in a similar price range as Apple's Studio Display.
Update 06/27/2023: ViewFinity S9 available for pre-order in South Korea
This time the thanks goes to "tskn04" who pointed it out in a comment: Sammobile.com announces, that the ViewFinity S9 in South Korea for 1.9 million won (approx. 1,335 euros, as of 27.06.2023). Samsung itself has also published a News in Korean has been published. It is still unclear when Samsung will bring the device to Europe (and at what price), but at least there is another sign of life.
Update from 30.06.2023: from August in Germany for EUR 1,729 RRP
Computerbase.de has asked Samsung about it and Learn, that the ViewFinity S9 will go on sale in Germany in August (the previous information was correct) for a recommended retail price of 1,729 Euros. This puts Samsung more in the range of Apple's Studio Display, which is already available for less, at least in the basic version.
It will be exciting to see whether the ViewFinity S9 will actually be available in August and what the street price will be.
Update from 09.07.2023: first prices in comparison, starting in September for EUR 1,849
There is no note or other rating yet, but Cyberport lists a price for the Samsung ViewFinity S9 on Testsieger.deWith 1849 Euros, it is considerably higher than Samsung's starting price, and the store also plays it safe with the delivery date of September 7, 2023. This seems to be a - halfway realistic - placeholder to have a listing at all. Or there is another delay in the delivery, which is not to be hoped for now. With an availability in September, the monitor would then probably only be available in Q4/2023, almost a year after the presentation.
Update from 02.08.2023: Samsung with shipping on 04.08.
Samsung currently offers the lowest price (and the RRP) in its own website. Store: 1.729,- € including shipping, the Shipment to start on 04 August 2023. Samsung thus starts slightly above the competitor's current street price ( Apple Studio Display - Nanotexture glass from € 1,619.00 ), but it also offers a stand, an entertainment hub with smart apps (based on Tizen), calibration via an app, and a 4K webcam. Whether the webcam is better than that of the Studio Display is still an open question, but the hurdle is not too high.
Who first Review of the Samsung ViewFinity S90PC (LS27C902PAUXEN) is still open, presumably there is an NDA here so that no results may be published yet.
Update from 20.08.2023: Shipping postponed to 22.08.
Apparently, even Samsung as the manufacturer has no overview of when the Samsung ViewFinity S90PC (LS27C902PAUXEN) In the official Samsung store, the shipping date is pushed further and further into the future, and pre-orderers do not seem to have received any deliveries yet. Other stores like Cyberport, on the other hand, already undercut the MSRP significantly and list the ViewFinity S90PC for 1,518 EUR (Status: 20.08., 21:10) - the shipping is supposed to start on 31.08.2023, so we will see if that is more realistic than Samsung's statement. The development of the street price is also still open; apparently, Samsung's MSRP can basically be undercut by retailers.
Update from 17.09.2023: Price for Samsung ViewFinity S90PC decreases
The RRP of 1,729 Euros only lasted for a short time: the price progression for the Samsung ViewFinity S90PC shows that Samsung's alternative to Apple's Studio Display is not as price stable - but it slowly seems to become a cheaper option to get a current monitor with 5K resolution. LG's UltraFine 27MD5KLP-B is clearly beaten in terms of features and no longer exciting for 1099 Euros.
Currently (17.09.2023) the Samsung ViewFinity 5K from around 1,320 Euros - a good 400 Euros below Samsung's release price. It also looks like the price will drop further: at a price below 1000 Euros, the monitor would be a bargain, after all, the selection of monitors with such a high pixel density is unfortunately very thin.
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Now it's already May and nothing continues to stir. One of the few interesting monitors. The LG 5K is really outdated. Regarding the new Macs with USB-C etc But the 5k monitor market unfortunately seems to remain manageable, while 4k is also not without problems under Windows in terms of scaling. Basically, a really impractical resolution for PC screens.
Unfortunately, that's true - although high pixel density on smartphones and notebooks is definitely wanted by many, people seem to prefer working with visible pixels on the PC. Nobody would accept that on an iPad or smartphone, but using the same advantages on a PC / Mac doesn't seem to be that popular.
first signs in Australia
https://www.samsung.com/au/business/monitors/high-resolution/viewfinity-s9-27-inch-5k-resolution-ls27c900paexxy/
Exciting - the device seems to come at some point, even though no price has been mentioned yet. But at least a sign of life!
Now offered in Switzerland at a price of CHF 1305.95. Delivery date unknown. Presumably, there will be price reductions as soon as the display is available in sufficient quantities (and Samsung does not artificially create a shortage).
The Australian product page seems to have been taken offline again.
A 03.July in South Korea orderable...https://www.sammobile.com/news/samsung-viewfinity-s9-5k-monitor-launched-south-korea/
I would be interested to know if a single monitor has actually been shipped from the Samsung store since August 4.
For my monitor, which I already pre-ordered in July, I am being put off every week until "next week" (in the meantime, we are at August 18).
It's not clear to me why, since the monitor was announced 7 months ago and you'd think Samsung would be able to estimate when Samsung products would be available.
The "funny" thing is that Cyberport lists the monitor from 31.08. for 1,518, - EUR (so a good 210, - EUR less) and Samsung pushes the delivery to the RRP further and further back. I had also thought about pre-ordering one, but now I'll wait and see what the street price will be in the end.
I now bought a Samsung S9 5K for CHF 997 (approx. EUR 1080) in Switzerland yesterday and wanted to briefly share my impression here as a "user" (and not an IT expert 😉.
My setup is as follows: S9 and Apple Studio Display with standard glass (SD) side by side (each with an Ergotron monitor arm, so I can't share any experience about the monitor stand) connected to a MacBook Pro M1 Pro (MB) (SD directly to the MB as well as S9 via CalDigit TS3 Plus). The S9 is also connected to a Dell LapTop, which I rarely but absolutely need. This is also the reason why I bought an S9 and do not run two SD. In a nutshell: MB operation with two monitors, Dell operation only with S9, mouse and keyboard (not the monitors) via KVM switch. When running with the Dell, I have to use the remote to change the port on the S9, which is very easy and saves me an expensive KVM switch for 5K monitors).
Commissioning:
The S9 is set up (language, wifi, etc.) with a supplied remote control. This is very intuitive and not time consuming. The included USB-C form factor cable is only 1 meter long and too short for my setup. Therefore, the S9 is connected to the CalDigit via a mini DisplayPort - DisplayPort (max. 8K 60 Hz) from Delock, which in turn is connected to the MB.
The Dell refused the Thunderbolt 4, 2m from Caldigit and the Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable (3m) distributed by Apple (IT experts may know an answer to this) and so I had to connect the S9 with a USB 3.2 Gen.1×2 cable from InLine, which can actually only transmit 4K. The Studio Display is connected directly to the MB via a Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable (distributed by Apple) (3 m).
External impression S9:
The S9 is not badly manufactured, but has clear gaps between the display and the silver frame that are irregular across the width (my monitor has less gaps at the bottom left than at the bottom right...). I do not like the plastic part (sensor, etc.) below the monitor with two steps in depth - but that is a matter of taste. In the promotional pictures of the S9, I had the impression that it looks similar to the Studio display. However, that is not the case at all. When the S9 is placed next to the Studio Display, they are clearly two completely different cases. The SD has a much higher-quality build and the design is much nicer - all a matter of taste, of course.
Sound:
The speakers of the Apple Studio Display are worlds! better than those of the S9. Even the MacBook Pro's speakers are significantly better than the S9's speakers. For users who need the speakers, I would definitely recommend buying an external speaker system.
Image:
The S9 monitor has a very good, balanced, high-contrast image with a high dynamic range. In direct comparison with the Studio display, there are subjective differences apart from the different glass (S9 with matte glass and my Studio display with standard glass), but that doesn't mean I would prefer one monitor over the other (apart from the glass - see below). The S9's image has a slightly warmer hue. However, the colors on the SD with standard glass are "crisper" (of course, a professional can describe this more expressively in better words than I can as a layman) than those of the S9 with matte glass. Therefore, I clearly like the SD better in a direct comparison (as written, only due to the different glass and not the image due to the hue, dynamic range, color balance, etc.). Of course, there are also users who prefer a matte glass).
One point I noticed in particular is the brightness of the image: The maximum brightness is significantly higher on the SD on the MacBook Pro than on the S9 on the MacBook Pro. However, when I was working on the screen, I reduced the maximum brightness of the SD by about 25%, which is just about the same as the maximum brightness of the S9 on the MacBook Pro. What's odd, though: When the S9 is connected to the Dell, the same image is noticeably brighter than when the image is delivered from the MacBook Pro. The brightness of the S9 is controlled via the remote. The brightness of the Studio Display is controlled on the MacBook Pro in the System Preferences, submenu: Displays. This slider is missing when the S9 is selected in the MacBook Pro's System Preferences. In other words, even if the brightness is set to max via the remote, the image delivered by the Dell is significantly brighter on the S9 than the image delivered by the MacBook Pro. Possibly the MacBook Pro overrides the setting on the S9, which would of course be annoying.
On the whole, however, I am very happy with my setup - not least because the picture on the S9 is very good (see above), even taking into account the described issue with picture brightness when used with the MacBook Pro. Furthermore, the SD (with standard glass) 50% costs more than the S9 (CHF 1080 vs. CHF 1590 with Apple Educ discount for Uni Staff).
Many thanks for the detailed report - in Germany, the price is unfortunately still too unattractive with a good 1,550, - EURO (especially when you see the prices from Switzerland or Denmark (there it is also already cheaper)). But that will probably level out in the next few weeks when the device is more widely available.