Conclusion

The Samsung SDCA029 is an impressive panel by nearly any standard of measure, and it looks like it's up to the task of being used by almost every OLED laptop available this year.

Wide colour-gamut, lightning-fast response times, stunning contrast and brightness, and excellent viewing angles will be the main advantages of picking up a laptop with this panel. Perfectionists (such as ourselves) will also likely appreciate the even illumination and lack of IPS-glow and backlight bleed.

However, there are a few caveats that are currently unavoidable: PWM will potentially cause problems for those with sensitive eyes, and we can only recommend those who experience eye-strain, headaches, or other symptoms of PWM-sensitivity to avoid OLED laptops until this limitation can be overcome. As 60 Hz refresh rate may be limiting to those who are looking for the best panel for fast-paced games, and we must still recommend a fast 144 or 240 Hz IPS or IPS-like display for this purpose.

Something we haven't yet mentioned in this article (as we've not had the chance to compare) is the effect on battery life. I noted in a recent article on the XPS 15 that Dell estimates 6 hours less battery life in productivity apps with the OLED display than the UHD IPS, but what makes things even more unpredictable is that OLED can also use less battery than IPS displays when showing dark content, such as with the Samsung Galaxy's always-on displays. We have great interest in examining this effect via Windows' "Dark Theme" more closely in the future as OLED laptops become more available.

Lastly, we are unable to speak with authority on the longevity of this technology in general. Though we have not been able to reproduce such faults in our testing of more recent panels, it is known that earlier and less mature OLED panels suffered from burn-in and subpixel decay. It is likely that manufacturers (especially Samsung, who is the most experienced OLED producer in the world due to being early adopters of the technology) have taken steps to mitigate these issues through design and manufacturing over the years. Still, only time and mass adoption can truly tell.