LG’s newest 32-inch 4K monitor is a looker with a smart TV inside

LG will show off a new series of 32-inch 4K computer monitor / TV hybrids called the ‘MyView’ at CES this year. The company announced they’ll come “in a variety of colors, including essence white, mild beige, cotton pink and cotton green.” They’ll be offered in three variants at two price levels — $599.99 and $499.99, and LG says it will announce availability in the US “at a later date.”

The specs and design language of LG’s new smart LED displays are very similar to the Samsung M8. They both come in multiple colors and have a whiff of modern iMac design, though with more adjustable stands (both support tweaks to height, tilt, and rotation). Each can be used as a smart TV with the included remote and all of the new MyView monitors will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, 2 built-in speakers, and dual HDMI ports.

But some key differences could make LG’s new monitor a better deal. Its IPS panel likely looks better at an angle than the VA tech in Samsung’s displays, and its three USB-C ports with 90-watt USB-C charging outdoes the M8’s single USB-C with 65W maximum output. The priciest MyView is also $100 less than the M8, so there’s that.

LG’s MyView displays will run webOS, which gives them a nice advantage over other more mundane monitors, according to LG’s announcement: they should be able to kind of work like a Chromebook, using cloud services like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace without being tethered to another computer.

Speaking of price — LG’s press release says the $599.99 model 32SR85U will come with three USB-C ports with 90 watts of USB-C power output and ships with a detachable webcam. The product page for the 32SR85U also mentions HomeKit compatibility, which, for smart TVs, usually means you can ask Siri to switch inputs or turn it on and off.

The other two variants come in at $499.99. The 32SR83U still has three USB-C ports and 400 nits of screen brightness, but it only outputs 65 watts over USB-C and won’t come with the webcam. The 32SR70U doesn’t appear to support the detachable webcam at all, shines at only 350 nits, and only has one 45-watt charging USB-C port, trading the other two for USB 2.0 (presumably USB-A) ports. One of these things is not like the other.

The MyView may undercut the Samsung M8 in a lot of ways, but the target for this series is clearly to fill a void left by Apple’s monitor selection. Because look, monitors are ugly, almost always, and while most folks just accept that as a fact of life, there’s a class of people who would love to have something that looks nice on their desk and would pick up a Studio display if it didn’t cost more than their computer. The straightforward display specs of the MyView probably won’t justify its price, but the look and the added smart TV features might just.