Samsung’s behemoth Odyssey Ark, a $3,500 55-inch curved gaming monitor, goes on sale today after being available for pre-orders for a few weeks. And – somewhat shockingly, given how games launches have progressed over the past few years – you might just walk into a store and buy one. Check stock on our local Best Buysmultiple roadside employees found that stores today had one or two models available for pick-up.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying you should casually spend a month or two rent on a mini LED gaming monitor the size of a decent TV. In fact, it feels a bit wrong that it could even be that easy – nine months of hype has built up around the Odyssey Ark since its CES 2022 debut, and it’s such a crazy product it feels like you need permission from someone to get it. At the very least, your chiropractor should sign a note stating that you understand the risks of using a computer monitor that can tower completely over you.
That said, I totally understand when you find out how much you’d get for selling your car and then try to figure out how to get the Ark’s undoubtedly huge box home. (By the way, the solution is: just order from Amazon.) But maybe try to resist the call of the void on this one, at least until we can properly judge it — Samsung’s equally outrageous 49-inch Odyssey G9 has found a home on several editors’ desks, but it requires a maybe unreasonable level.
My colleague Cameron Faulkner has spent some time with the Odyssey Ark, but it will take a lot more testing to determine if something this huge in both price and size is really worth it, rather than, say, plain buy an LG OLED TV and plop it on your desk. One, however, wouldn’t come with Samsung’s Gaming Hub built-in, which lets you connect to game streaming services like GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming without needing anything but your monitor and some sort of input device (although let’s face it, anyone using the Ark probably has a pretty solid gaming setup).
There will be some who give in to temptation; in fact, the Best Buy closest to me now says I’d have to wait until Saturday to pick up the Ark at the store, even though one was available for pick-up when I checked earlier this morning. That means someone in Spokane dropped $3,500, plus 8.9 percent sales tax, on this monitor. They can even game on it right now. If that was you and you’re reading this, please get in touch and tell me what your thought process has been and how the Ark is treating you so far. (Want to hang out too? Yes, I’m only interested in seeing your monitor, but I’ll bring Pizza Pipeline or something else to make up for it.)
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.