Thomas Dietrich
Today’s Samsung Unpacked event had more to offer than just the Galaxy S23 series with the new flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra. The company also introduced four new notebooks in the Galaxy Book3 Pro series. The lineup is led by the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra is only available in 16 inches and weighs a slim 1.79 kg with a height of 16.5 mm. It offers the most powerful configuration of the Book3 series. These include Intel’s latest Core i7-13700H or Core i9-13900H 45W processors. You can also configure up to 32 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 1 TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. There are also discrete graphics cards – either the RTX 4050 or the RTX 4070.
The state-of-the-art 16-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x panel in 16:10 format has a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. The panel can adaptively refresh from 48 to 120 Hz and achieves a brightness of up to 500 nits with HDR content or 400 nits in normal operation. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra comes with a 76Wh battery and a 100W USB-C charger.
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro
The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro is available in 14 and 16 inches. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is only available in 16 inches. However, the display specifications are the same for all four models – AMOLED panels with a variable refresh rate and a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. The same applies to the connections. There’s a 3.5mm jack, a microSD slot, a USB-A, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, and an HDMI port. In the Pro, the full-size HDMI port runs with specification 1.4, in the Ultra with 2.0.
All four Samsung notebooks also share their multimedia specs. There are two 5 watt woofers and two 2 watt tweeters with AKG and Dolby Atmos certification. Dual microphones are designed to ensure studio-quality recordings. The webcam is also the same on all models and has a resolution of 1080p. The Galaxy Book3 Pro models come with a new 65W USB-C adapter with Power Delivery. The charger also supplies power to Galaxy smartphones or Galaxy tablets.
The Galaxy Book3 Pro and Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 are powered by Intel’s 13th Gen 28W Core i5-1340P or Core i7-1360P and 8/12/16GB LPDDR5 RAM. 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD storage is possible. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 14 inch model has a 63 Wh battery. The 16-inch Galaxy Book3 Pro and Book3 Pro 360 have the same 76 Wh battery as the Galaxy Book3 Ultra. The 14-inch Galaxy Book3 Pro is only 11.3mm thick and weighs 1.17kg. The 16 inch notebook measures 12.5 mm and weighs 1.56 kg. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is 12.8mm thick and weighs 1.66kg without and 1.71kg with 5G. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 also supports the S Pen, which is included in the box.
Samsung Galaxy Connected ecosystem
Samsung has deeply integrated its Book3 series into its Galaxy smartphones and tablets. The so-called Galaxy Connected Experience comes with a number of important features. With Multi Control you can control your smartphone directly from your laptop, copy files and copy and paste text and images.
With Second Screen you can use your tablet as an extension or mirror of the notebook display. And via Phone Link, a connected Galaxy cell phone works as a hotspot and can be activated directly from the notebook. There is Expert RAW Auto Share which automatically transfers RAW files from Galaxy smartphone to a Galaxy Book3 during recording. Finally, Samsung introduces Smart Switch and Samsung Pass to the Galaxy Book3 series.
Colors and prices
The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra only comes in one color option – Graphite. With the Galaxy Book3 Pro and Book3 Pro 360 you can choose between graphite and beige. The Galaxy Book3 Pro and Pro 360 will be available on February 17th. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra launches on February 22nd.
The i7 version of the Galaxy Book3 Ultra with 16GB and 512GB storage costs €2,799/$2,400. The i9 version with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is €3,699. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 has four versions priced between €1,799/$1,900 and €2,699. The four versions of the Galaxy Book3 Pro range from €1,699/$1,450 to €2,199.
