Samsung is introducing three new notebooks, each with several sizes and configurations, for the German market. The top model is called the Galaxy Book Pro, which is also available as a convertible version with an S-Pen Galaxy Book Pro 360. Both variants share the same substructure consisting of a Tiger Lake U processor from Intel, up to 16 GB LPDDR4X RAM, a maximum of 1 TB PCI Express SSD and aluminum housing.
The unique selling point is the display technology, because Samsung installs AMOLED screens from its own production in all Pro models – called Super AMOLED in the convertibles due to the touch support. The organic LEDs achieve high contrasts and short response times. According to the VESA classification DisplayHDR 500 True Black, the displays shine continuously with up to 300 cd / m² and achieve a peak of 500 cd / m².
Meanwhile, Samsung is not jumping on the bandwagon of work-friendly 16:10 displays. All newcomers rely on 16: 9 screens with full HD resolution (1920 × 1080 pixels), optionally with a 13.3 or 15.6 inch diagonal. On the connection side, all Pro-Books have one Thunderbolt 4 as a USB-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 GBit / s) Type A + C, HDMI 1.4, a MicroSD card reader and an audio combo jack. The notebooks also use Wi-Fi 6 networks (WLAN 802.11ax) – a Windows update will in future enable Wi-Fi 6E with an additional WLAN frequency band as soon as the frequency is allocated in Germany.
Lightweight from 1100 euros
The Pro series starts at 1100 euros for the Galaxy Book Pro with a 13.3-inch AMOLED display, Intel’s Tiger Lake quad-core Core i5-1135G7, 8 GB LPDDR4X RAM and a 256 GB SSD including pre-installed Windows 10 Home. Including a 63 Wh battery, the notebook weighs just 880 grams, and the 15.6-inch version costs 1200 euros; for the touchscreen variants, an additional charge of 100 euros is due.
The prices range up to 1800 euros for the 15.6-inch Galaxy Book Pro with Core i7-1165G7, 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD and Nvidia’s entry-level graphics chip GeForce MX 450 (1700 euros without GeForce). The 13.3 incher is also available with an LTE modem and a suitable SIM slot for 1500 euros with a Core i7-1160G7, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.
Cheaper without AMOLED
Samsung presents the normal Galaxy Book in a price range among the pro notebooks. Five different configurations all rely on a 15.6-inch panel with Samsung’s own IPS technology PLS, also here with full HD resolution (1920 × 1080 pixels). Thunderbolt is completely absent, instead there are two additional USB ports (3.2 Gen 1 with 5 GBit / s).
The cheapest version for 680 euros only uses a dual-core processor in the form of Intel’s Core i3-1115G4 with 8 GB LPDDR4X RAM, 256 GB PCIe SSD and Windows 10 Home. The same notebook with the four-core Core i5-1135G7 costs 750 euros. An LTE version with Core i7-1165G7, 16 GByte RAM, 512 GByte SSD and GeForce MX450 appears for 1150 euros.
Samsung emphasizes the integration into its own ecosystem in all announced notebooks. For example, Galaxy tablets can be used as a second screen or calls can be forwarded from the smartphone to the notebook.
So far, Samsung has announced the Galaxy Book Odyssey exclusively for the Asian market. Inside are graphics chips that Nvidia has not yet presented: the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti and GeForce RTX 3050. An official disclosure by Nvidia should therefore not be long in coming.
The delivery of the Galaxy Books is scheduled to begin on May 14, 2021. Anyone who pre-orders a Pro model through Samsung’s online store by May 13th will receive the Galaxy Buds Pro as a free bonus.
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