Samsung Galaxy Book3 ultra evaluation: a lean, suggest windows computer

Tech

Samsung's sixteen-inch computer aims to be the go-to for home windows enthusiasts with pictures-heavy workloads.

by Monica Chin, a senior reviewer covering laptops and other contraptions. Monica became a author for Tom's e book and enterprise Insider before joining The Verge in 2020.

images by Amelia Holowaty Krales

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The Samsung fan favourite returns.The Samsung fan favorite returns.

Samsung's Galaxy Book3 ultra is a thin and light 16-inch home windows laptop with a GPU inside. That's like in reality all you need to recognize. 

featuring an Intel Core i7 and an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, the Galaxy book that we received is focused on a cellular crowd with pictures-heavy workloads. The aforementioned chips aren't prone to compete with the likes of the 16-inch MacBook seasoned or any number of home windows gaming laptops on uncooked images vigor (and, when it involves the MacBook, on no account on battery existence). but the extremely presents two issues those MacBooks and gaming laptops do not: the Galaxy ecosystem, such that it's, and a chassis that's beneath 4 pounds. 

This has mostly been the story with Samsung's Galaxy book pro line, which tends to market itself on the combination of thin chassis, notable display, and interoperability with Galaxy phones. however via equipping the ultra with an RTX GPU and a $2,399.99 expense tag, Samsung has made its first effort in rather just a few years to goal an expert audience. That's a noble aim, nevertheless it potential that the extremely is coming into a aggressive category — and the viewers it's going to discover, so far as i can inform, is likely to be fairly area of interest. 

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I'm now not a Galaxy cell user, so that you can a person like me, the ultra's biggest selling element is its thin and light build. It's 0.sixty five inches thick and 3.95 pounds, making it one of the crucial moveable gadgets which you can buy with an RTX GPU interior. It's lighter than the Dell XPS 15 and very nearly a full pound lighter than the 16-inch MacBook pro. 

Samsung Galaxy Book3 extremely specs (as reviewed)

reveal: 16-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) AMOLED

Dimensions: 13.ninety nine x 9.86 x 0.65 inches (355.35 x 250.forty four x sixteen.51mm)

Weight: three.95lbs (1.79kg)

Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H

GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050

RAM: 16GB

SSD: 1TB

instant: Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+), 802.11abgn/ac/ax, Bluetooth v5.1

Ports: one HDMI 2.0, two Thunderbolt four, one USB-A three.2, one microSD, one headphone out / mic in combo

price: $2,399.ninety nine

Now, I simply are looking to be clear: this doesn't suggest it's gentle. via advantage of being a 16-inch computing device, it instructions a major presence in my backpack, and four kilos is not nothing. in case you're looking for a multipurpose computing device for just occasional work with snap shots, that you can effortlessly get whatever thing an awful lot thinner and lighter. (i might elevate the 3.three-pound MacBook Air 15 over this equipment any day of the week.) but when you're wed to the top class computer category and also you desire the lightest of the easy, you are likely one of the vital few individuals for whom the Galaxy Book3 ultra is the ultimate equipment.

The ultra presents every other advantages that are astonishing but no longer as wonderful. The screen, in standard Samsung style, is pricey. It's a 120Hz OLED panel with adaptive refresh fee and 2880 x 1800 resolution. You word immediately after opening it how smooth the scrolling is. The vivid hues and sharp distinction are extraordinary; the gadget covers one hundred percent of the sRGB gamut, ninety eight p.c of AdobeRGB, and 100% of P3, and it maxes out at a commendably high 434 nits of brightness. The one thing I'll notice is that glare is relatively dazzling, and having brightness lower than 60-ish p.c frequently supposed observing my very own reflection.

At sixteen inches, this is the largest Galaxy e-book display yet.Fingerprint sensor on the keyboard.

Secondly, there's all of the Galaxy ecosystem stuff. Samsung is attempting to duplicate the seamlessness that Apple's MacBooks offer to iPhone users with points like AirDrop and typical manage and is pushing a few interoperability facets throughout its laptops. The ultra helps Samsung Multi handle, which lets you handle the S23 with the Galaxy e-book's keyboard and trackpad. I battle somewhat to come up with use circumstances for this that might be heavily relevant to the skilled creator sphere, however I have tinkered with it on quite a few devices during the past and might verify that it works great. 

in case you like to, as an example, shoot on an S23 and edit those files on a laptop, there are a couple of points that may support you out. brief Share (which is in reality AirDrop — I'm sorry, I said what I talked about) permits users to right now switch photos, movies, and different files between Galaxy phones and Galaxy Books. that you can also use an expert uncooked function to automatically add uncooked data shot on an S23 ultra to the desktop. (This looks exceptionally handy, as sending uncooked files from side to side, I actually have learned from experience, can take a gosh darn long term.) many of these features can be found throughout other Galaxy Books as smartly.

The touchpad is 39 % greater than it became on the Galaxy Book2 seasoned.Headphone jack, USB-A, microSD on the correct.HDMI and two Thunderbolt on the left.comply with proceed: SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK3 extremely

To birth using the Galaxy Book3 ultra, you'll should agree to the following:

Microsoft application license terms and Samsung end-person application license settlement

that you can also say yes or no to here:

privacy settings (region, find My equipment, sharing diagnostic facts, inking and typing, tailored experience, advertising identity)

customize device for enjoyment, gaming, college, creativity, business, and / or household

Microsoft 365 free trial

be part of GamePass

That's two obligatory agreements and 9 non-compulsory agreements.

ultimately, Samsung continues to offer Studio Mode, which immediately pops up on every occasion you hop on a video call and is supposed to make you seem improved. This characteristic seems just a little extra refined than it did closing year, and i had few hiccups when the use of it. The Auto Framing, which does what it appears like it will, had no challenge following me around my room. The historical past blur did the ideal it may. There are face results, but they aren't the straight-up "beautification" aspects that organizations like HP are now shipping on their excessive-end laptops; they in most cases seem to even out the lights for your dermis to a variety of levels. i believed they every now and then made me seem a bit of sickly, but your mileage may fluctuate.

while the consequences are fun, i was no longer overly impressed with the FHD (1080p) webcam itself, which commonly made me seem washed out and blurry. fortunately, the extremely doesn't skimp on ports, and with a USB-A, an HDMI, a microSD, and a headphone jack in addition to two Thunderbolt four, you shouldn't have situation finding somewhere to plonk in an external webcam.

The one other oddity I found with the chassis turned into in the touchpad. It's big, which I appreciate, but it sometimes inadvertently clicked once I pressed the palm relaxation. I wouldn't say this came about often, however it happened enough to be demanding, in particular for a $2,300 gadget. 

The keyboard is a bit flat but does have a numpad.

Of the two Galaxy Book3 extremely models presently listed on Samsung's website, the one I actually have (Core i7, RTX 4050, 16GB RAM, 1TB storage) is the more affordable one. The other SKU has a Core i9 and an RTX 4070, and it's going for $2,999.ninety nine. To provide you with a way of how a good deal those added GPUs are costing you, the normal Galaxy Book3 pro with a Core i7 MSRPs at $1,749.99. whereas that device has a smaller display, it's also near half a pound lighter and ratings higher on the portability improvement scale. 

The RTX 4050 unlocks a tier of performance that you just won't find in too many different gadgets at this weight. (besides the fact that children, in case you're inclined to move to a smaller monitor size, which you can locate lighter fashions with a great deal beefier GPU options, akin to Asus' ROG Zephyrus G14.) I used the Galaxy for every kind of standard work initiatives and had no efficiency issues. It's as quick as any productivity laptop I've ever used, and that i not ever heard any big fan noise or felt uncomfortable heat. 

CPU performance beneath load is going to be a blended bag; the ultra edges out the sixteen-inch MacBook professional in Geekbench's single-core benchmark and, predictably, doesn't come shut on multicore. but the main element to be aware is that the RTX 4050, with simplest 6GB of VRAM, isn't a very excessive-conclusion pix card and isn't whatever thing we'd are expecting to method the performance of Apple's M2 Max. it is going to give you a bump over Intel's integrated pix, however's far from the gold standard that Nvidia has to present. 

even so, the extremely does have one pleasant surprise in keep: battery existence. i was anticipating this excessive-resolution Nvidia-powered equipment to be a longevity disaster, and it really became now not that. I averaged eight hours and eight minutes to a cost, and that changed into with dynamic refresh rate on (which is the out-of-container setting). That's not too a ways off what we saw from final 12 months's normal Galaxy Book2 seasoned. whereas it doesn't strategy MacBook battery lifestyles, it's quite good compared to these days's Intel landscape, especially when screens this big and vivid are in the image.

The quad audio system help Dolby Atmos.The microphones didn't give me any concern both.

eventually, I don't have too, too many complaints concerning the Galaxy e-book extremely. It's a distinct gadget with solid perks for Samsung fans, and my largest hangups — the touchpad and the webcam — can also be mounted with peripherals that a pretty good port preference makes it possible for for. 

on the other hand, I do believe that the extremely's $2,399 expense is excessive for what it is going to sooner or later convey to the desk (for many americans). in case you're part of its target audience — individuals who desire the superior cell journey viable for photo and video work — it's price taking a glance. 

but it surely is value reiterating that home windows fans can discover a better GPU and better-resolution reveal for a very an identical price in anything like the Dell XPS 15. And while the Galaxy publication is more moveable than the sixteen-inch MacBook pro, it does not convey the identical ruthless multicore performance, multiday battery existence, high-end keyboard and touchpad, or exquisite construct excellent that Apple's gadgets do. To locate those (apart from the battery lifestyles) in the windows area, you'll need to seem to whatever thing like HP's mind-blowing Spectre x360, which isn't, in the intervening time, obtainable with Nvidia GPUs. 

I'm still awaiting the windows ecosystem to convey a thin and light computing device that mixes that top class chassis with all-day battery lifestyles and aggressive pictures power. The Galaxy Book3 extremely comes close but doesn't rather get there.

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