Computers

Samsung 27-inch Curved Gaming Monitor review: All you could ever want

A great gaming display thanks to high refresh rate and curved built.

Published

October 5, 2020

Gab Orlina

A lot of people find something nice about a curved display. I personally think that this kind of display gives you an illusion of depth to anything you put on it. Whether it’s playing a game or watching a video in full-screen mode, it gives you that sense of immersion. Of course, part of it also comes with bright and accurate coloring.

This is what I feel the Samsung 27-inch WQHD Curved Gaming Monitor offers, on paper. It’s a widescreen, curved display mostly suited for competitive gamers thanks to its high refresh rate. With multiple features suited for the competitive player, it’s the ideal monitor for people looking to build their first gaming setup.

But if you’re just looking for a great monitor for your home/office space, or if you’re just a casual gamer, should you even consider this?

For starters, there’s the high refresh rate and it’s curved

The Samsung 27-inch Curved Gaming Monitor comes with a 144Hz refresh rate, a staple for most. Obviously with such a high refresh rate, you get some kind of increase in gaming performance. With this monitor, my experience was just along what you’d expect.

Every time I played a game on it, the whole experience just felt smooth. I’m not the most competitive gamer in the whole world, as long as I get to run the game. However, to me it still hits differently when you see the game run smoothly as you trudge along the battles.

As the name suggests, it’s also a curved display — and I felt this is the ideal way to construct a gaming monitor. Now, for most games I’ve played, having a curved display has its perks. With such a large amount of screen space that just curves along, I roughly get to see the whole game’s environment. In essence, you feel some semblance of immersion every time you play Fortnite or Call of Duty Warzone.

Port selection is pretty great for the most part

Along with the high refresh rate, the Samsung 27-inch Curved Gaming Monitor also has a nice selection of ports. It comes with two HDMI ports and a DisplayPort 1.2, all of which you can switch to on the fly. I feel like this is more of a standard across most gaming monitors, but Samsung does things differently with their ports.

From L to R: HDMI 1, HDMI 2, DisplayPort 1,2m Audio, Power

Apparently, only one HDMI port actually grants you the 144Hz refresh rate. Out of the two HDMI ports that come with the device, only the HDMI 2 port gives you the high refresh rate. I’m not entirely sure why Samsung decided to do this. I’ve heard that some of their other products also place the high refresh rate option on a specific port.

Furthermore, I would have loved for them to include a DisplayPort cable along with the HDMI cable. Given that most GPUs come with a DisplayPort anyway, I think this would have been a nice move. Also, the DisplayPort supports the 144Hz refresh rate so I felt this was a missed opportunity on their part.

Speaking of missed opportunities

Another missed opportunity for this monitor was giving it FreeSync or G-Sync support. I know that other similar models of the Samsung 27-inch Curved Gaming Monitor come with FreeSync support. However, the model I have didn’t — the DisplayPort doesn’t support it, and it honestly would have made the display perform better.

With FreeSync, you’re able to play your games at a stunning rate without losing much detail. In essence, it allows you to react faster — especially for most FPS games like Valorant and CS:GO. Obviously, FreeSync also raises some risks especially when you’re playing for longer hours. However, it would have provided this monitor with better performance if it supported it.

As a casual gamer, I honestly didn’t mind that FreeSync wasn’t supported mostly because I was still happily playing at 144Hz anyway. However, there were instances when I felt the game lag behind a bit. It would have been nice if the amount of lag I experienced was reduced, and FreeSync would’ve been a great thing to have.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

For PhP 27,199 (US$ 562), the Samsung 27-inch Curved Gaming Monitor is a pretty decent curved gaming display. It’s biggest selling point is in its high 144Hz refresh rate, which fits both competitive and casual gamers alike. Also, it being a curved display allows for greater immersion during gameplay.

Of course, this does have some missing technologies that would have made it better. I felt that this monitor had some missed opportunities that would have improved its performance in the long run. But, as a casual gamer, it honestly doesn’t matter to me as much as it would to others.

Overall, this gaming monitor serves its ideal purpose for those who need it. If you’re more casual than competitive, this is honestly all you could ever want.

Related Topics:Samsung 27" Curved Gaming Monitor

Accessories

Acer PA100 portable SSD brings fast, flexible storage on the go

Up to 2TB

Published

September 4, 2026

GadgetMatch

Acer is expanding its storage lineup with the PA100 Portable SSD. It’s a compact external drive designed for users who need faster storage across multiple devices.

The PA100 uses USB 3.2 Gen 1 connectivity. It reaches sequential read speeds of up to 560MB/s and write speeds of up to 430MB/s. This makes it suited for everyday tasks such as transferring large files, backing up content, managing documents, and moving media between devices.

Up to 2TB of portable storage

The PA100 comes in three capacities: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. This gives users options depending on whether they need extra space for documents and schoolwork or larger collections of photos, videos, and project files.

Acer also designed the drive with mobility in mind. The PA100 has a slim 9mm profile and a lightweight build, while its reinforced construction is designed to withstand everyday travel and handling.

The drive comes with a 2-in-1 USB-C to USB-C and USB-A cable. This allows it to connect to compatible PCs, tablets, smartphones, and other devices without requiring a separate adapter. It also supports major operating systems and USB-C mobile platforms.

Designed for everyday use

Power efficiency is another focus. Acer says the PA100 uses less than 3W during operation, while idle power consumption can drop to as low as 0.62W.

The drive also features an optimized thermal design to help maintain stable performance during extended transfers and daily workloads.

The Acer PA100 Portable SSD is backed by a three-year limited warranty. Pricing and availability may vary by market.

Computers

New Mac mini starts at a whopping $899, only 256GB of storage

It comes with the M6 or the M5 Pro.

Published

August 26, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Almost two decades ago, Apple was infamous for being an anti-gamer brand. Though the company’s devices touted superior protection against viruses, they couldn’t play video games, alienating a significant chunk of the population and forcing them onto PCs. For a while now, the Mac has changed the status quo, bringing in more powerful hardware that can play games. Today, Apple is championing that cause further through the newly launched Mac mini.

Compared to the chunkier Macs, the Mac mini has a lithe 5” x 5” profile, emphasizing the “mini” in its name. Despite the size, the new mini will tout two flavors of Apple silicon: the M6 and the M5 Pro.

The M6 variant delivers with up to two times faster gaming performance with ray tracing when running Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, compared to the previous M4 version. Meanwhile, the M5 Pro version touts up to 4.5 times faster rendering performance with ray tracing in Blender, compared to the M2 Pro. It will come with macOS 27 Golden Gate out of the box.

You won’t have to worry about connectivity, either. The Mac mini comes with compatibility for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5Gb Ethernet (going up to 10Gb in upgraded versions). It will also have two USB-C ports, three Thunderbolt 5 ports (but only Thunderbolt 4 for the M6 version), and HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.

Unfortunately, price seems to be another thing that it’s getting from PCs. The new Mac mini has an increased starting price. Specifically, the M6 version starts at US$ 899 (with only 256GB of storage), and the M5 Pro version starts at US$ 1,699 (for 512GB of storage). Preorders are open now, but they ship out on September 22.

Computers

ASUS unveils TUF Gaming T700, T700 Mini

Built for extreme operational demands

Published

August 21, 2026

GadgetMatch

ASUS has announced the arrival of its latest TUF Gaming desktop lineup models: the TUF Gaming T700 and TUF Gaming T700 Mini.

These new offerings bring heavy-duty performance and military-grade durability to gamers, engineered to endure extreme operational demands while delivering rock-solid stability.

The new ASUS TUF Gaming T700, in particular, is engineered to take on modern AAA titles with its uncompromising performance.

It has an aggressive mecha-inspired MIL-STD chassis, including a transparent side panel to put powerful components on display. Vibrant orange ambient lighting also adds a bold finishing touch.

Inside is an AMD Ryzen 7 8700F processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU for high-frame rate gaming.

The T700 also features a robust thermal solution equipped with quad 65 CFM fans and a 240mm liquid cooler.

Meanwhile, the TUF Gaming T700 Mini is tailored for competitive gamers while maintaining a compact, battle-tested chassis.

It has an Intel Core Ultra 5 225F desktop processor, paired with with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics.

This combination provides seamless multitasking, crisp visuals, and reliable frame rates across today’s popular titles.

The internal hardware is cooled by a custom thermal matrix featuring dedicated copper heat pipes and a heavy-duty 90mm cooling fan.

True to the TUF Gaming legacy, the T700 Mini is likewise MIL-STD tested to endure extreme operational demands.