Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 (15-inch) review: Light and bright

Lightweight body and great screen. This is all you have in common when you buy a Samsung Galaxy Book. It’s not the most powerful laptop out there, and it’s not what I’d recommend for work, for example. But for those who are looking for a great multimedia laptop that is easy to carry around, this is the one.

That is certainly the case with the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360, the latest 15-inch convertible addition to the Galaxy Book line. It’s 3.11 pounds, is less than half an inch thick, has an OLED screen, and it’s just $1,549.99 according to review. It’s a good choice for all those who shop in the ultra-portable space but has some extra features that will especially appeal to discerning Samsung fans. If I’m already connected to the Galaxy ecosystem, I’ll probably order this laptop now because there’s not much I don’t like as long as you know what you’re getting.

Samsung is known for its screens, and this Galaxy Book doesn’t disappoint on that front. It’s a brightly colored OLED panel – videos and photos look great. It’s fairly accurate, covering 100 percent of the sRGB gamut, 96 percent of AdobeRGB, and 99 percent of P3 in our tests. Galaxy Book Pro 360 15 inch last year It was a bit dim, maxing out at 276 nits, but Samsung fixed this issue with this screen, which came out at 391 nits. The touchpad also supports Samsung’s S Pen (included in the box), which you can use to take notes, draw, and other things with the stylus.

One thing to be aware of is that the screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, so the image is significantly more pixel-y than what you see on a high-resolution screen, such as a 3546 x 2160 OLED on Dell XPS 15. These boards start out getting pretty expensive, and this is probably one of the best boards you’ll find at this price point. (It’s also 16:9, which isn’t my preference but it doesn’t feel as cramped on a 15-inch as it does on smaller devices.)

After that, on weight. Weighing in at 3.11 pounds, this laptop is easy to carry around. It’s basically the same weight as last year’s model (which looks very similar to this year’s model, although the Book2 comes in a new burgundy). For context, it’s lighter than an OLED Dell XPS 15 or Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro (And it’s lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro.) I find it hard to think of many 15-inch convertibles that are lighter than that—there are definitely lighter shells, like the 2.44 lb. LG 15 gramIt’s hard to find with an OLED at this price.

Before I continue: If you’re not a fan of the two features I just discussed, this probably isn’t the laptop for you. They are the two defining features of the Galaxy Book line and two places that rank highest in its class. They are what you pay for if you buy this.

Well, for everyone still with me, let’s talk about the program. While this PC should have broad appeal, Samsung fans will benefit from it a bit more than anyone else. You can charge it with Samsung’s universal 65W charger, which can also charge Galaxy phones and tablets. It also comes with tweaks to Samsung’s One UI interface, which means it has several apps (with icons similar to its mobile counterparts) that Samsung users will be familiar with. There is a laundry list of Samsung apps that you can sync across devices. (I personally found the sheer number of Samsung software here to be intimidating—I counted 28 in total—but presumably those with Galaxy phones will already know what to use it for.)

The feature I found most useful is Second Screen, which, as the name suggests, allows you to use your Samsung tablet as a second screen, similar to Apple’s Sidecar feature or a third-party Duet display. This shot was given with Tab S8 UltraIt probably took five seconds to get up and running. It worked well – I could easily drag and drop windows between the two devices, and although I experienced a slight cursor lag while navigating the S8, it was very usable. If I were to buy a Galaxy Book, I might as well consider buying Galaxy tab Because being able to easily take out a second screen at an airport or coffee shop sounds so easy (especially if you only need to bring one charger), and the fact that everything is on the first end is a good sign of consistent integration down the line.

I was also able to easily share photos between Galaxy Book and Tab S8 using Quick shareSamsung AirDrop competitor. This was a little slower than AirDrop between my Mac and iPhone, but it still worked.

There is also a studio mode, which includes a number of tools to help you look your best in video calls. Some of these worked well. Auto Framing did a good job of keeping me in frame while I was moving, and Blur adequately blurring the crowded background behind me. Others are still a bit goofy. The color, which replaces your background with a solid color of your choice, had a little trouble figuring out where the edges of my hair were. Some of the facial effects, which are supposed to shrink your nose, widen your eyes, and generally make you look more traditionally attractive in real time, made me look like an alien. But these are all there, in general, if you want to use them with your Galaxy Book2’s 1080p webcam (a welcome upgrade from last year’s camera).

Perhaps the only downside to the Book2 360 is the port selection. There are only three USB-C ports (one of which is Thunderbolt 4), a microSD, and a headphone jack. This will be fine for some people, but I’d like to see HDMI or USB-A in there.

Inside, our $1549.99 test unit comes with 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM, plus an Intel Core i7-1206P processor, one of Intel’s newest products. P . series chips For ultra-portable devices. All three colors are the same price; You can also get 512GB of storage / 8GB of RAM for $1,349.99. 13.3-inch models start at $1,249.99. This certainly isn’t a cheap laptop, but for context on how reasonable the deal is, the Dell XPS 15 with Core i7 and OLED screen costs Almost $1000 more. (This gives you a better chip and higher resolution screen, but still.)

Despite the “Pro” moniker, the Galaxy Book isn’t ideal for intense professional workloads or gaming, as it lacks a discrete GPU or H-series processor. But it can certainly keep up with the tasks I need to do, including all kinds of broadcasts and Zoom calls. and photo editing, both on battery and on power. It even beat the 11th-generation Dell XPS 15 on the Cinebench R23 Single (reflecting Alder Lake’s lead in single-core performance) and wasn’t too far behind the multi-core benchmark. This is a solid CPU.

The deck was often a bit warm in the keyboard area but that wasn’t annoying. The only time I heard about the fans was when I was making a long battery zoom call through a huge pile of Chrome tabs, and it wasn’t loud enough to be a distraction until then.

Battery life was also good. An average of eight hours and 47 minutes of continuous screen work at 200 nits of brightness, the best result I’ve seen from a 12th-generation Intel processor to date. It wasn’t quite as much as I saw from last year’s Galaxy Book Pro 360, which gave me roughly 10½ hours on a charge, but it’s still supposed to get you through a full day of work.

Provided you know what you’re getting, I don’t have many complaints about the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360. Its battery life is good, its screen is great, and it’s one of the lightest 15 inches you’ll find. The different Galaxy ecosystem features will be icing on the cake for owners of Samsung phones and tablets. But the highlight of this laptop is how easy it is to move places (and how easy it is to bring a second monitor with you).

I’m having a hard time thinking of a model to buy on this one if I’m looking for a light 15-inch multimedia device (rather than a powerful workstation). The main thing that comes to mind is Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15″. But this is still a completely different device; While it’s a little lighter (and, in my opinion, not noticeably), the top model gives you half the storage space of this Book 2 for the same price, it’s not a convertible, and it has a non-OLED screen. For Samsung fans, I think the Galaxy Book2 Pro is a no-brainer, and for everyone else, I think it’s worth considering. The thin port choice means it won’t be my favorite laptop, but it does offer an excellent package in a space that doesn’t have a lot of competition.