The real winners of this years Black Friday sale are the ultrawide monitor deals – Rock Paper Shotgun

Black Friday is over half way done for us in the UK, and as I look back over the great sea of discounted PC components I’ve scavenged over the last seven days (weeks? Years?), I have to say that the best deals have definitely been reserved for those after an ultrawide gaming monitor. That’s not to say there also hasn’t been plenty of great, if fleeting, deals on regular 16:9 monitors this year (most notably Samsung’s stupendously good Odyssey G7 and LG’s G-Sync Compatible UltraGear 27GL850-B), but the biggest and best discounts have definitely fallen in the ultrawide camp, which is great, as it’s never been a better time to dive into the wonderful world of ultrawide PC games. If you, too, want to join the ultrawide club, these are the best deals you’ll see all week.

Samsung monitors in general have been on a big winning streak this Black Friday, so it’s no surprise that three of my top picks come from them. They’ve certainly had the lion’s share of the best Black Friday gaming monitor deals this year, with several models going cheap as early as last Friday. Admittedly, their best deals are all on their super ultrawide 32:9 displays: the CHG90, CRG9 and Odyssey G9 (listed below).

Samsung CHG90 deals:

Samsung CRG9 deals:

Samsung Odyssey G9 deals:

They’re all iterations of the same monitor, but each one improves greatly on the last. The CHG90 came out in 2018 and was one of Samsung’s first (and very good) attempts at a 32:9 display, but 2019’s CRG9 perfected it, increasing the resolution from 3840×1080 (effectively the same number of pixels as two 27in, 1080p monitors) to 5120×1440 (the same as two 27in 1440p monitors) and adding in better HDR support. The new Odyssey G9, on other hand, shares much of the same DNA as the CRG9, but bumps the refresh rate up from 120Hz to a massive 240Hz, and is one of Nvidia’s officially certified G-Sync Compatible monitors.

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They’re all great screens, but this year’s Black Friday sale saw both the CHG90 and CRG9 fall to sub-$800 / £900 prices, with the Odyssey G9 not that far behind at £1080. The latter is still quite expensive as ultrawide monitors go, but they’re certainly a lot more affordable than when they first came out. The CRG9, in particular, isn’t actually too dissimilar in price to some of the more traditional 21:9 ultrawide displays I’m about to list, which in my eyes can only be a good thing.

Indeed, it’s not just Samsung’s indulgent 32:9 displays that have had good savings this year. In the UK, Acer’s Predator Z35p has also had some good deals attached to it this week, falling to a new low of £610 at Amazon, and Dell’s Alienware AW3420DW saw discounts on both sides of the Atlantic, falling to £829 in the UK and $830 in the US. There have also been lots of good discounts on LG’s ultrawide monitors, too. In the UK, it was their ultra large and ultra fancy UltraGear 38GL950G-B that got £300 chopped off its usual price, while in the US the top highlight was their much more affordable UltraGear 34GK950F-B.

There are loads more ultrawide deals in my Black Friday gaming monitor deals hub, too. In short, there’s been an unprecedented amount of choice for ultrawide hunters this year (maybe because we’re all working from home now and everyone’s finally cottoned on to the fact that ultrawide monitors are ideal for work and playing games), and I really hope this trend continues into next year. Ultrawide monitors are the greatest, especially for the ever-growing number of PC games that support 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios, and I mean, look, come on. Just look at this beautiful, beautiful nonsense.

 
I rest my case.

For more Black Friday PC gaming deals, be sure to keep an eye on our hardware deals homepage, as well as our Black Friday deals hub for all the latest prices and discounts: