Since a long time ago, Samsung has been producing laptops. Although the laptops were always elegantly designed, the company's performance was not its strongest suit. However, that all changed the previous year when Samsung introduced the Galaxy Book2 Pro, a more powerful and portable laptop that was made for the general public but nevertheless lacked some features.
A year later, Samsung has released a new Galaxy Book2 Pro model that builds on the previous year's offering. It's called the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro, and it fixes some of the problems with the Galaxy Book2 Pro as well as has interesting hardware.
However, the cost of this new package has also increased. Is the Galaxy Book3 Pro's higher price justified, and is it the right laptop for you, given the number of choices from other brands in this price range? That should be answered by reading our review of the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Design and Build
The Galaxy Book3 Pro has a design that is simple and clean, and it has a subtle off-center Samsung logo engraved on the top of the outer lid. At first glance, it looks like the previous model. However, the difference between the two models lies in the material used.
The Book2 Pro's successor uses aluminum, whereas the Book2 Pro had a magnesium chassis. This not only gives the Galaxy Book3 Pro more durability and strength, but it also gives it a more expensive finish. Sure, some people might find the design a little out of date. The Book3 Pro, on the other hand, is a great option for those who like laptops with simple designs.
The Book3 Pro is only available in one color, Graphite, from Samsung. This might make you a little disappointed if you like color on laptops. Even though I like the color, I don't like how easily fingerprints and smudges can get on it.
The Galaxy Book3 Pro's slim and light design is one thing I like about it: Despite Samsung's use of aluminum for the laptop chassis this time, it is still light and more portable than the majority of laptops. Our 14-inch model is the same thickness as the MacBook Air at 11.3 millimeters. Additionally, it is lighter than even the MacBook Air at just 1.17 kilograms. The Galaxy Book3 Pro will serve you well if you commute frequently and work from anywhere.
Getting back to the build, as I mentioned earlier, the Galaxy Book3 Pro feels solid and sturdy due to Samsung's decision to offer an aluminum chassis. Although it adds some wobble to the lid when adjusting the screen angle or using the laptop in a moving car, its hinge works fine as well. It's simple to open the lid, but it takes some getting used to before you can do it on your own.
The Galaxy Book3 Pro's top case has two speaker grills running along its left and right edges, among other features. The laptop is kept cool by having a large vent in the upper half of the back panel where the fans can vent warm air. Like any other laptop with a bottom-mounted air vent, the Book3 Pro is unpleasant to use because of this.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: I/O and Connectivity
Despite the fact that the System Book3 Ace is meager, Samsung's figured out how to fit in an arrangement of I/O on the PC. First, you get a full-size HDMI 2.0 port along the left edge, which is helpful if you mostly use your laptop with an external monitor hooked up. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports are located below the HDMI port, making it easier to charge, attach USB Type-C devices, and quickly transfer files.
Switch over to the right side, and you'll have a USB 3.2 Sort A port. It's good to see this port on the laptop from Samsung because you can use it to connect accessories like an external mouse's USB receiver directly to the laptop. The inclusion of a microSD card slot by Samsung on the Galaxy Book3 Pro further reduces the need for external accessories. It works great and can be useful when you need to transfer files from your camera to your laptop, for instance. To wrap things up, Samsung likewise remembers a 3.5mm jack for the Universe Book3 Star. Additionally, it makes it simple to connect audio accessories to the laptop without the need for an adapter, such as your preferred pair of wired headphones.
The laptop includes Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6E, two of the most recent connectivity standards, among other features.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Keyboard and Trackpad
On the Galaxy Book3 Pro, Samsung uses chicklet-style keys. Anyone who has used these flat keys with low key travel will tell you that typing on them is not the best experience.
On the Galaxy Book3 Pro keyboard, I did not notice a significant decrease in my typing speed or accuracy; however, due to the low key travel, I eventually developed typing fatigue. You would be aware of what I'm referring to if you have utilized a chicklet keyboard.
The backlit keys that Samsung offers on the keyboard for the Galaxy Book3 Pro make it simple to type in low-light conditions. Because there is no light bleeding around the keys, it has also accomplished this successfully. Additionally, you can customize the laptop's backlit settings by using the dedicated function key provided by the company.
The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro also comes with a fingerprint scanner from Samsung. It's in the top-right corner of the keyboard, is quick and dependable, and it makes it easy to log in to the laptop.
In terms of the touchpad, it is huge and is in the middle of the top case, right below the keyboard. In addition, the Galaxy Book3 Pro defies the stereotype that Windows laptops lack the best touchpads: Samsung has done an excellent job of making the touchpad click and responsive. It also makes it easier to multitask on the laptop by providing a large workspace and customizable support for a variety of gestures.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Camera, Mic, and Speakers
The Galaxy Book3 Pro, like its predecessor, features a Full HD (1080p) webcam that can be found right in the middle of the top bezel. The webcam works well for video calls, but it struggles in low light. A camera with a higher resolution might have provided a little more clarity and sharpness.
Regarding the microphone, its dual-array design makes it suitable for use in online meetings. On the Galaxy Book3 Pro, Samsung included a quad-speaker AKG setup for the speakers. It has an amplifier, two 2W tweeters, and two 5W woofers. Additionally, Dolby Atmos support is provided.
The speaker system on the Galaxy Book3 Pro disappointed me. Even though the speakers are loud enough, the bass doesn't have enough punch, so it's not as fun to listen to music. Taking into account the PC's value, this isn't tolerable, as numerous workstations in this cost range, similar to the MacBook Air, for instance, offer great sounding speakers.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Display
When compared to the previous generation, one of the areas in which Samsung has made significant progress with the Galaxy Book3 Pro is the display. The Galaxy Book2 Pro's successor has slightly larger displays than its predecessor: 14 inches rather than 13.3 inches, comparable to 16 inches rather than 15.6 inches. In addition, it receives an enhanced aspect ratio and screen resolution.
Asymmetric bezels, on the other hand, are still present: Because it houses the webcam, the top bezel is slightly larger than the left and right bezels. On the other hand, the bottom chin is still quite big because of all the cables and other connectors. Our machine has a 14-inch screen with a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels. The display is sharp and beautiful, with vivid colors. The contrast levels are also excellent because it is an AMOLED, and the AMOLED also helps conserve battery power.
The display, according to Samsung, has a maximum brightness of 400 nits. Despite the fact that the glare can affect your experience, it is best to use the laptop under a shade, even though it may appear to be on the lower side in comparison to the Apple MacBook Air (2022), which has 500 nits. However, I did not notice any issues with it, even in outdoor settings. In addition, the color gamut is impressive, and you can select a color profile according to your preferences. During my time using the laptop, I didn't notice any color shifts and you also get good viewing angles.
The 120Hz refresh rate is yet another noteworthy addition to the Galaxy Book3 Pro's display. Even though some people say that refresh rates don't really matter, they do, and you have to use one to see the difference. The Book3 Pro's display is set to use a dynamic refresh rate by default, automatically switching between 60Hz and 120Hz when needed. However, you will need to modify that setting in the display settings if you want to use 120Hz throughout.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Performance
When buying a laptop, performance is the most important metric to consider. The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro also receives a significant upgrade in this area thanks to the addition of new processors and an even larger 1TB storage option inside. As a result of the Galaxy Book3 Pro's 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD, and Intel Core i7-1360P processor (with Iris Xe Graphics), my review will only focus on its performance.
The most recent product from Intel's 13th generation is the Core i7-1360P. It has eight efficiency cores and four performance cores, each of which takes over depending on the task at hand. The maximum frequency of the performance cores is 5.0 GHz. In an ideal world, this would imply that the Galaxy Book3 Pro ought to be capable of successfully completing virtually any task. However, in my usage, that was not the case.
For instance, on weekdays, when I do most of my browser work (such as researching stories and filing them), The Galaxy Book3 Pro started to get warm after I used it for email checking and replying, keeping up with conversations on Slack, and editing images in GIMP. I was surprised to see the fans start working so early.
The Book3 Pro, on the other hand, performed flawlessly even as it warmed up. I therefore connected it to an external monitor and opened more Firefox tabs and windows to push it further. Spotify music was also playing in the background. This put a little bit more stress on the laptop, which made it get even hotter. At the same time, the fan noise got louder. There has not yet been a discernible drop in performance, but the RAM consumption was almost 60%.
My workload increased during the weekends, with a Linux virtual machine running inside VirtualBox and a few code editors, mostly Visual Studio Code, running alongside a few other applications on the Book3 Pro. I still had eight to ten Firefox tabs open, and I occasionally edited some photos in Lightroom Classic.
In light of this workload, I decided to activate the Book3 Pro's Performance mode to maximize performance. However, things quickly deteriorated from here. This time, the performance suffered, as VirtualBox crashed halfway through and Firefox failed to keep tabs in memory on a few occasions.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro Review Verdict
The Galaxy Book3 Pro is available from Samsung in two screen sizes and a few other configurations in addition to the one we tested. On the other hand, we'll talk about the model we have here—a 14-inch i7-1360P with 16GB of RAM and 512TB of storage—which costs Rs 1,34,990 or $1818.
The Galaxy Book3 Pro is a pricey laptop at Rs 1,39,990. It has premium looks, is portable, has a great display, and a good selection of I/O ports, among other things. However, the laptop's poor thermals prevent it from making the most of the powerful processor inside, making it difficult to recommend it at this price.
That doesn't mean the laptop doesn't work well. It just doesn't deserve to be called a Pro because of this glaring flaw, and the integrated graphics can be a bottleneck if you want to use it for difficult creative projects. Although you won't have any trouble completing everyday office tasks on it, other laptops on the market offer better value for the money at a lower price point.
With its long battery life, the Asus ZenBook S13 OLED, for instance, is a good option at or near the price of the Galaxy Book3 Pro. In a similar vein, you might want to look into the Dell XPS13; Despite its light weight, it maintains its solid and dependable performance. Alternately, if you don't mind switching to Apple, the MacBook Air (2022) offers unparalleled performance and can last longer than the majority of Windows laptops.
