Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Lightweight laptop lifted by ecosystem benefits

From compact design to responsive screen and swift performance, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro ticks all the right boxes. It is, however, the connected ecosystem benefits that gives it edge over others

The Galaxy Book3 Pro, 14-inch model, is an entry-level laptop in Samsung’s 2023 range of premium laptops. Unlike its elder siblings, the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 and Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, there is no two-in-one utility, touchscreen, support for digital inking, and dedicated graphics. Yet, it makes a good thin-and-lightweight laptop with Samsung ecosystem advantage. Moreover, it is among the first few laptops in the country powered by 13th Gen Intel Core processors – Core i7-1360P (review unit).

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro is a premium laptop made of aluminum. Compared to the predecessor, there is marginal gain in terms of weight and dimensions, but the overall form factor is still slender (11.3mm thick) and lightweight (1.17kg). That said, the Galaxy Book3 Pro is among the lightest and thinnest laptops in the 14-inch laptops category. The slightly bigger form factor helps in moderating the thermals besides making space for a well spaced-out keyboard, large glass trackpad, and a tall aspect ratio screen.

Display and audio

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro sports a 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) AMOLED screen of 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The screen is stretched in a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, which provides extra vertical space for more content to appear on the screen – compared to the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio. The screen has a 120 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut, which essentially makes it fit for jobs that require colour accuracy. Besides, the screen is VESA HDR 500 certified and supports high dynamic range. The 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 120 per cent DCI-P3 colour coverage, VESA HDR 500 certification, and support for HDR are pro-grade features aimed at creators and professionals. These also make for superior multimedia and gaming experience.

One must give it to Samsung to pay attention to details here. Take for example the rounded corners on the screen. Microsoft introduced a rounded windows interface with the Windows 11 operating system. While most other laptops continue with screens with pointed corners that look unnatural, the screen on the Galaxy Book3 Pro is a perfect fit for Windows 11.

Complementing the screen is audio performance. The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro has an AKG-tuned quad-speaker system powered by Dolby Atmos – 2 x 5W woofers and 2 x 2W tweeters. A pair of woofer and tweeter is available on the right and left side of the chassis, facing downward, for stereo set-up. The audio output is loud, balanced, and detailed. The Dolby Atmos’ signature multi-dimensional soundstage is apparent in supported content.

Software

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro is based on Microsoft Windows 11 operating system. It comes with a free lifetime subscription of Microsoft Office 2021, which includes Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Besides, the Galaxy Book3 Pro has the Samsung apps built-in for connected ecosystem experience. It is the ecosystem experience that gives the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro an edge over others.

Take for example the multi-control feature. It lets you connect, control, and manage supported devices, including Galaxy smartphones (based on OneUI 5.1) and tablets (based on OneUI 4.1), through laptop keyboard and trackpad. Besides, it enables cross device copy and paste function and files drag-and-drop utility.

Likewise, there is a second-screen feature that lets the Galaxy tablet owners use their big screen devices as second screen wirelessly connected with the laptop. The list of supported tablets, however, does not include all models. Supported models: Galaxy Tab S7, S7+ and S7 FE with One UI 3.1 or higher, and S8, S8+ and S8 Ultra.

My personal favourite is the Your Phone app from Microsoft. Though the app supports Android smartphones, it has extra features enabled for Samsung Galaxy smartphones – thanks to the tie-up between the two technology majors. Through the app, you can wirelessly control and access most phone-related features directly from the laptop. Besides, the app shows the history of the last three websites accessed on the smartphone using the Samsung Internet app. The app also enables the phone's wireless hotspot option in the laptop’s Wi-Fi setting for quick access. Important to note, the laptop and smartphone are required to connect with the same Wi-Fi network for full function coverage. You can enable connectivity through mobile data, but some functions such as app access and screen mirroring are disabled on metered connection. Moreover, not all features are available with all Samsung smartphones. The above features are tested with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S22 Plus.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro is powered by 13th Gen Intel Core processor – Core i7-1360P – paired with integrated Iris Xe graphics, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 1TB SSD. This is top-notch hardware for a thin-and-light category laptop and so is the performance.

The Galaxy Book3 Pro boots in no time and it is ready to go with full zest soon after – with minimal initial wait time for the processes to start in the background. The laptop does not hit performance ceiling and keeps calm and cool with routine tasks such as web browsing, video conferencing, data transfers, writing and editing word documents, etc. The performance with regard to routine workload is likewise even on battery power. However, performance with regard to power-intensive workloads such as multimedia editing, video encoding, compressing multiple files in zip, etc. is best experienced with the laptop on charging.

The Galaxy Book3 Pro is capable of handling processor-and-graphic heavy workloads, but the lack of discrete graphics influences the experience. For example, seeking in and out on the 4K video timeline in a video editing software is not smooth, exporting edited 4K videos takes time, and graphic-intensive gaming titles are best played at low and medium graphic settings and frame rates.

Battery, charging, and ports

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro has a 63Wh battery, which is good for a day of mixed usage. Charging time is quick with the supplied 65W USB-C charger. As for the ports, there is 2 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x USB type-A, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x microSD slot, and 1 x headphone-mic combo port.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro is a premium laptop in a thin-and-lightweight category with a matching price – Rs 155,990 (review unit – 14-inch screen, 13th Gen Core i7-1360P, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD). The laptop impresses with its slender design, lightweight body, premium construction, colour accurate screen, balanced audio, and swift performance. On top, there is the Samsung ecosystem advantage. It is a no-brainer for people with supported Samsung Galaxy devices such as smartphones and tablets. For others, it makes a compelling buy to experience premium and Samsung ecosystem benefits.