Samsung has taken the wraps off its all-new Smart Monitor lineup. It starts with a trio of Smart Monitors split into the M7 (UHD) and M5 (FHD) ranges. The proposed selling points of these screens are that they are versatile and affordable, with the flexibility to be used for productivity, learning, and play. The South Korean electronics giant goes on to describe the Tizen 5.5 OS powered Smart Monitor line as a 'do it all' solution.
Summing up its Smart Monitor offerings, Smasung says that the design has evolved "to meet the new needs of today’s consumers, who are now working, learning and consuming entertainment at home". Thus any new Smart Monitor model will offer "powerful mobile and PC connectivity, remote home office and learning features as well as Smart Hub, a comprehensive entertainment hub, similar to Samsung’s built-in Smart TV platform".
Providing some less abstract use cases, Samsung says that you can cast/share screens from smart devices using Tap View, App Casting or Apple AirPlay 2. If you are already in the Samsung mobile ecosystem with necessary supporting hardware (like owning a Galaxy Note20) the productivity integration of Samsung Dex might appeal to you. Even without a computer or mobile you will be able to fire up Microsoft Office 365 applications via the monitor's Wi-Fi connection and view, edit and save documents in the cloud. Furthermore, Remote Access allows Smart Screen users to access files or view content from a PC/laptop situated anywhere else, as long as it is online.
Wired connectivity is afforded by conventional wired display connectors like HDMI 2.0 but the pricier M7 model has USB-C port for video, data transfers, and 65W charging too.
Beyond the above mentioned extended features the Smart Monitor can work as a pretty standard (but smallish) Smart TV with the Tizen OS supporting all the popular streaming apps like Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, Hulu, and YouTube – with more available for download.
Making these screens more like monitors than TV substitutes are the limited sizes available. The Samsung Smart Monitor M7 is a 32-inch UHD model, while the Smart Monitor M5 is available as a 27- or 32-inch FHD model.
These are the only tech specs I could find at the time of writing..
Who will buy one of these? The new Smart Monitors might be useful for their 'do it all' qualities in a small studio apartment or bedroom perhaps. Thankfully Samsung hasn't gone overboard with the pricing, with the 32-inch M7 UHD model available from December priced at around US$400, and the 27- and 32-inch M5 FHD variants available later this month for US$230 and $280, respectively.
