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Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro brings MacBook-like premium quality and finish with Windows 11 powering the apps and other features.
Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro comes in 360 variant as well.
Samsung’s laptop journey has been fascinating in the last few years, and its goal to become the obvious like-to-like option against MacBook has definitely come closer. The Galaxy Book series has shown encouraging signs and the Book 4 version was a surprising package that needs some minor fixes.
Now that the Galaxy Book 5 series has launched, we were eager to see if the MacBook comparisons stay or does the gap narrow down for people to seriously consider this in the Windows arena. Samsung has Galaxy Book 5, the Book 5 Pro and both these variants in the 360 avatar. We got a chance to test the regular Galaxy Book 5 Pro model priced over Rs 1,20,000 for the regular specs and here’s what we found over the last few weeks.
Sleek And Premium Like The Macs
The Galaxy Book 5 Pro is not flexible like the 360 version but it is sleek at 11.6mm and weighs just 1.26 kg which is as light as the M4 MacBook Air 13 inch but lighter than the 15 inch model. We got the grey metal for our tests and the premium build quality is another big highlight of this machine.
It was really easy to lug it along in the bag and made us ditch the bulky office laptop for work over the last few weeks, which got people intrigued about this MacBook-like Windows machine.
The aluminium and metal finishing across the body gives us enough confidence to not worry about making a dent on the device. It may be light but it surely doesn’t feel fragile and that will comfort a lot of users. You also notice the balanced nature of the body which does not shake even a bit while typing and everything just remains in zen mode while placing the laptop on the surface.
The 3K AMOLED Sheen
Samsung’s focus on display for all its products is commendable. The Galaxy S Ultra models are the only to get an anti-reflective coating. And even with the Galaxy Book 5 the 3K AMOLED display gets this useful touch along with 120Hz refresh rate, which is very common on smartphones these days.
The screen also supports touch input and that makes this 14-inch panel a really useful unit no matter how bright the ambient settings are. The display is bright, vibrant, the colours are punchy and you will enjoy using the screen for work, watching videos in between and even some light tasks that use the touch input. The one grip we have about the display is the size of the bezels which has not changed from the Book 4 series, especially at the lower part.
The Other Vital Parts
Samsung does not shy away from putting ports on the Galaxy Book 5 Pro so that you don’t need to invest in an external hub. You get a single USB 3.2 port, multiple USB C Thunderbolt port, HDMI port, headphone jack and microSD card reader.
The keyboard layout gives you full-size keys with the numeric versions and they support backlight in case you decide to get adventurous in dim conditions. You can manually control its level and even turn it off during the day time.
The keys offer decent travel and they are tactile enough to give you that click sound, which is not as prominent as the mechanical unit but still something.
We did not face any issues adapting to the layout in fact our typing speed was usually faster than on our regular laptop. Samsung claims the laptop has quad speakers with Dolby Atmos but the size of the model means the audio levels are not that high but loud enough and the bass impact is fairly minimal.
The 2MP webcam sits within the bezels and does not get a shutter to keep its private. But the overall quality of the camera is good, clear and taking video meetings on the Galaxy Book 5 Pro showed its true results.
Where It All Comes Together
We got to test the Intel Core Ultra 5 variant with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. This is a mid-range hardware at best and the benchmark scores make it very clear. Having said that, if your work is limited to using Chrome, writing documents and frequent video streaming, this is quite ideal. It can handle the daily tasks with ease and there is no discernable heating even with a thin frame.
You can barely hear the any sound from the machine and it can sit on the table for hours without any hiccups
The luxury of having all these functional ports cannot be ignored. You don’t have to get a hub to use the USB drive or external storage devices. That is an understated value. The keys perform nicely and respond to the actions.
Samsung has done a commendable job with the layout, the size of the keys and the travel they offer which most of you would like. Even the trackpad is quite spacious and lets you navigate across apps with its fluid touch. You can easily rest your wrist on the surface of the laptop and go about your work.
So how does the Galaxy Book 5 Pro fare with its battery life? The laptop manages the efficiency of the Core Ultra 5 processor quite well, which lets you run the machine for a full work day without any battery anxiety creeping in. More importantly, the standby battery drain is negligible and we noticed the level going from 65 to 61 percent by placing the system on sleep overnight.
The 65W bundled fast charger is compact, easy to carry and supports USB C for charging which goes from 0 to 70 percent in one hour.
Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro is a premium Windows laptop that looks to entice buyers with its crisp display, reliable performance and that MacBook-like element which gives it a definite punch in a crowded market.
S Aadeetya, Special Correspondent at News18 Tech, accidentally got into journalism 10 years ago, and since then, has been part of established media houses covering the latest trends in technology and helping fr…Read More
S Aadeetya, Special Correspondent at News18 Tech, accidentally got into journalism 10 years ago, and since then, has been part of established media houses covering the latest trends in technology and helping fr… Read More
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Delhi, India, India
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