iMac 24” Display vs. Samsung ViewFinity S9?

[rubenrp]

My M1 iMac 24” has been an absolute delight to use, but I’m now reaching the limits of its possibilities, and looking to upgrade to a newer model. Unfortunately, the fact that the M4 Pro is not available in the iMac line, and that internal storage is still limited to 2TB are leading me to combine a Mac Mini with an external monitor instead. Hence my question: for anyone who has used both, how does the iMac 24” display compare to the Samsung ViewFinity S9? I know the specs for both, of course - but I’m interested in hearing about comparative hands-on experiences, both good and bad. Less importantly (but still of some interest) how do webcam, microphone, and speakers compare between the two?

Many thanks in advance for all help.

 

[drrich2]

If you're looking at the Samsung, Woot! has it refurbished at roughly $625. I bought an 'open box' class Dell 27" 4K display from them recently and that went fine. Typical pricing for a 27" 5K display starts around $800 (the new ASUS ProArt 5K display) and heads north from there.

Woot! can run out of things pretty fast. If you want it, grab it ASAP.

Richard.

 

[ubinko]

I have not used a Samsung display with my mac mini, but there are plenty of people out there that prefer Apple or LG for mac.

I personally use an LG UltraFine 4k 24-inch thunderbolt display and it feels very similar to the quality of an iMac display and all the functions work properly with a mac (i.e. you can change the volume using the keyboard).

This post is particularly critical of the Samsung ViewFinity S9:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/1dmxal5/best_5k_thunderboltusbc_monitor_for_macs_spoiler

"Here's why the Samsung Viewfinity S9 is a crappy 5k display in general, but also specifically for Mac users:

• Despite the specs, it appears noticeably dimmer than the Apple and LG displays.
• Viewing angle distortion: Noticeable drop in brightness and color fidelity the closer to the edges something is on the screen when viewing the monitor from dead center.
• You have to use an external IR remote to adjust the monitor's settings. What a sad joke. You can use a little joystick button awkwardly located on back to control some settings, but not all.
• You can't control the display's brightness or speaker volume from your Mac like you can w/ the LG and Apple displays. The samsung viewfinity S9 doesn't support DCC! Even with third party monitor config/control apps like Lunar, you can only simulate dimming.
• The USB-C ports are low speed, low power despite the fact that this is thunderbolt monitor and has the largest external power brick I've seen since the one that came w/ the G4 Cube.
• And then you have to deal with the crappy built-in operating system of the monitor. It's pretty rough. Reminds me of how clunky it was to use external non-Apple VGA monitors 20+ years ago."