Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is the best Windows effort I ’ve go steady yet at displacing the MacBook Pro . The conception , performance and battery life do n’t quite meet Apple ’s high bar , but a portable skeleton nevertheless makes this a cracking selection for on - the - go creativity .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
I ’ve lost count of the number of Windows laptop computer that confidently took a swinging at the MacBook Pro , only to miss its mark and finally fade away into second-rater . The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is the in vogue competition .
Samsung is the in style challenger to enter the ring , with the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra doing its very bestMacBook Proimpersonation in a play to win over the creative crowd . It has enough firepower for heavy - responsibility graphics jobs , a seemly number of ports to shun the dongle spirit , and a lovely 3 kilobyte display with perfect colour reproduction .
unluckily , it ’s also picked up a bad habit from the MacBook Pro tune , as Samsung is charge up a hazard : a basis Leontyne Price of £ 2449/$2199 , and up to £ 3049/$2999.99 if you max out the specs . That means it ’s die right up against the 16 - column inch Macbook Pro which has a starting price of £ 2699/$2499 .
Can the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra dethrone the MacBook Pro as the go - to laptop for professional Maker ? I ’ve spent several weeks with the laptop computer to find out , so here are my thinking .
Design and Keyboard
Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra from a length , and you ’ll likely mistake it for a MacBook Pro – and I ’m pretty trusted that ’s no mistake on Samsung ’s part . With the recessed keyboard , slim graphite chassis and retiring yet fashionable blueprint , Samsung is clearly trying to capture the same classy vibe that the MacBook Pro has overcome .
I do n’t think the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has achieved that goal . It by no means looks bad , but the modest Samsung logo on the eyelid and bland mono - colour system cause this laptop to skin to stand out from other Windows machines – there ’s not much personality here . The chucky under - glass bezel at the bottom of the screen await a tad outdated too .
The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra hit the scale at 1.79 kg . I would n’t call that jackanapes , but it ’s just about portable enough for me to happily lug to the berth on a daily footing , which is impressive given the 16 - in projection screen and powerful specs . For context , the basic 16 - inch MacBook Pro weighs a stonking 2.15 kilogram , make it 360 grams heavy .
The off - sum trackpad is so big that it takes up half the chassis of the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra . That vocalise like it should be a good thing , but the larger size increased the odds of food crumbs or junk sneaking it right smart onto the surface , causing the touch stimulus to pass out of belt .
The massive trackpad also causes the keyboard to attend a little cramped by dividing line . That must be an opthalmic illusion though , as the keys are still space out well enough for a decent typing experience , albeit with shallow change of location which can be uncomfortable on the wrists after long periods .
My biggest vexation with the keyboard is the lacklustre backlight , even when crank up to full luminosity . I often receive it difficult to establish whether the Caps Lock indicant light was switched on or off , while it could also prove an issue for after - dark typewriting . At least you get a fingermark sensor build into the power clitoris .
There ’s a great quantity of port here , with 2x USB - degree centigrade ( Thunderbolt 4 ) and HDMI retrieve on the left over side , and Micro SD , USB - A and a headphone jack located on the right . It has a Full HD ( 1080p ) webcam too , which is one of the better ones I ’ve tested on a laptop computer yet , provide detailed and knifelike capture of my face during call .
Samsung also offers a Studio Mode characteristic that is accessible with whatever camera app you use , whether it ’s Zoom , Teams or just the default option app in Windows .
Studio Mode allows you to blur your background , track your boldness to keep you in shot , or even lend oneself a filter over your face to slay the bag under your eyes . It ’s useful to have all of these useful features in one place .
I was really impressed with Samsung ’s sustainability efforts for the packaging . The entire box is recyclable , and there are n’t any gratuitous plastic wrapping that many laptop manufacturers are guilty of include .
Samsung has confirmed that section of the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra are made up of recycled plastics that apply ocean - bound discarded fishing nets . It ’s a step in the right direction , but this represent a very small portion of the laptop .
Display and Sound
The screenland is one of the most important aspects of the MacBook Pro , as it pop the question near - perfect color reproduction to ensure creators can see an accurate histrionics of the colours for on - silver screen graphics , photos and TV .
The 16 - column inch AMOLED jury of the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra delivers equally dear results , with my test prove it to slay 100 % coverage forsRGBandDCI - P3 , as well as 99 % forAdobe RGB – those are excellent results for originative professionals .
The AMOLED technology also helps to drastically advance the screen ’s contrast , capable of ink-black black whereas received LCD screen may paint shadows and Nox skies with a soft grey tincture or else .
The downside of OLED is that the brightness ca n’t be pushed quite as high as that of theMini LEDpanel of the MacBook Pro . I record a highly respectable 432 - nit peak on the Galaxy Book , whereas Apple claims its latest MacBook Pro can hit 500 nits for SDR content .
Samsung has ensured its screen packs heap of item though , with a 3 K ( 2880×1800 ) resolution . image on display look fabulously penetrative , while bright colour look so vivid that they ’re seemingly poking out of the panel . Samsung has even cranked therefresh rateup to 120Hz , result in smooth , fluid move .
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has a quad - verbaliser apparatus , found on the laptop ’s rear but angle outwards rather than directly into the desk . Volume can be cranked up to a room - make full decibel , but I would n’t recommend doing so , as instrumentals start to voice muffled and strain , while bass sound hollow and hoarse . Turn down the volume , and the audio quality is just about fine to pump out your Spotify line .
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is available with a few different configurations . you’re able to choose between i5 and i7 for the 13th Gen Intel Core H - series CPU , while for the GPU you have the option of the Nvidia RTX 4050 or RTX 4070 .
But how does the execution pile up ? Samsung sent me a unit with an Intel Core i9 - 13900H processor and RTX 4070 coupling , and it offered enough great power to glide through 24-hour interval - to - day job with ease . It felt like a crowing jump up from received productivity laptops such as theDell XPS 13 .
My benchmark resultant role showed the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra to offer a alike operation to the14 - column inch MacBook Prowith anM2 Proprocessor . Apple stole a lead in the Cinebench R23 test , which is a good indicator for rendering workload , but only by a minor margin . The processing public presentation remained competitive with high - powered Windows laptop computer such as theZenBook Pro 14 organic light-emitting diode , Vivobook Pro 16X OLEDandRazer Blade 16 .
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra was n’t quite as competitive when it came to graphics performance . Both the Zenbook Pro 14 organic light-emitting diode and Vivobook Pro 16X OLED steal sizable lede in the 3DMark Time Spy test , despite both using an RTX 4070 GPU too .
Digging into the spec , it looks like Samsung has opted for a 60WTDP(Thermal Design Power ) for the RTX 4070 GPU , while Asus has stuck with more powerful 90W TDP iterations . This explains the graphics performance difference , with Samsung ostensibly sacrifice a little magnate for enhanced portability and battery life .
The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is still a powerful laptop , well equipped for the likes of photo / video editing . I also found it to be capable of playing Cyberpunk 2077 in Full HD with max artwork options , with an average 30fps performance . think this is one of the most demanding personal computer games you could trifle , you could require this laptop computer to run pretty much any game you fancy .
Thermal functioning seems in force too . I ca n’t remember an instance where I noticed the laptop hot up up significantly , or the fan whir up to a level that became distracting .
The SSD performance is strong , with read and write f number of 6642MB / second and 4991MB / s respectively . This allows for ready transfers to and from the physical cause , as well as instant loading times when gaming .
Software
clear inspired by Apple , Samsung has put in a big campaign to create a more sleek ecosystem by improve the communication between its smartphones and laptops .
As a result , the Samsung Galaxy Book comes with numerous apps pre - install that vigorously sync up with yourSamsung Galaxy speech sound . For example , the Samsung Flow app allows you to instantly transfer images and TV from your telephone to your PC . This did wonder for my workflow , speeding up the cognitive process tenfold .
The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra also make out pre - install with Samsung Gallery and Samsung Notes , sync up with your smartphone automatically to assure your photos , videos and shopping inclination are all accessible on both your laptop and smartphone .
The snatch here is that these software system feature are only useful if you have a Samsung Galaxy smartphone – they ’re wasted on someone like me who owns aGoogle Pixel 6 . For those without a Samsung earphone , all of these pre - installed Samsung apps find like bloatware , taking up gratuitous distance . Fortunately , they are easy enough to uninstall .
Battery Life
Windows laptops with adiscrete GPUusually stumble in bombardment tests , struggling to even surpass the 5 - hr mark . Samsung has done a great Book of Job of balancing all the specs here to ensure lengthy stamen .
When execute the PCMark 10 battery benchmark , which simulate day - to - day project until the mobile phone is eat up , the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra go for 8 hour and 30 min . To accentuate just how just that result is , the Razer Blade 16 only managed 4 hours and 37 minutes in the same tryout , while the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED achieve 7 minute and 59 minutes despite experience a little 14 - inch CRT screen .
Apple remains the admirer for stamp battery life though , as my fellow could surf the web for close to 14 hours with the MacBook Pro before reaching out for the charger .
My examination show that it take roughly 2 hours to reload the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra back up to 100 % . Samsung pack a 100W charger in the boxwood , whereas Apple packs in a slimly more hefty 140W adaptor with the MacBook Pro .
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Should you buy it?
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is one of my top good word for contented creation on the go , thanks to its deliberate balance between carrying out and portability .
The biggest issue with the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is its exorbitant Leontyne Price . There are more affordable options such as theAcer Swift Go 14andMacBook Airfor those that just need an launching - level graphics performance .
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is a fine choice for creators . The 3 K blind bring home the bacon first-class people of colour truth , the computer graphic carrying out is enough to tackle heavy workloads and it ’s portable enough to take on your locomotion .
Is it well enough to thwart theMacBook Pro ? Not quite . Apple ’s laptop offers ranking battery living , a marginally better performance and a more luxurious design . Nevertheless , the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra runs it close , and is one of the beneficial attempts I ’ve go through from a Windows laptop computer in the creativity market .
The in high spirits damage is a job , however , be upwards of £ 3000/$3000 if you want the best specs for a in high spirits public presentation . TheAsus Zenbook Pro 14 OLEDrepresents better value and theRazer Blade 16can be encounter with similar specification at a punk Mary Leontyne Price . Check out ourBest Laptop , Best MacBook AlternativesandBest Laptop for Video Editinglists for even more choice .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop computer we retrospect goes through a serial publication of uniform checks designed to gauge central thing , include build tone , public presentation , CRT screen quality and battery life-time .
These admit formal synthetical benchmark and scripted exam , plus a series of tangible - world checks , such as how well it runs pop apps .
FAQs
No , it does n’t have a touchscreen . If that ’s a priority , check out theSamsung Galaxy Book 3 360instead .
No , it lacks a touchscreen so a stylus is not supported .
If you ’re a Almighty who demand a good graphics performance , but also a portable innovation , then this is a great choice to the MacBook Pro .
