The OLED screen impresses, the performance is top: We are in love with this laptop, but the love is not mutual.

Since the beginning of 2022, Samsung has been present again on the laptop market in Belgium and the Netherlands. Sharing the same Galaxy name as the well-known smartphone devices, a Galaxy Book 2 range has been launched with OLED screens as eye-catching throughout. Prices start at 1,449 euros (incl. VAT) for the basic model. We never got to test these laptops, but on paper they looked very competitive compared to the competition.

2023 is the turn of the Galaxy Book 3 models. They all get a significant upgrade, but also a price increase. The basic model, the 14-inch Galaxy Book 3 with a 360-degree hinge, starts at EUR 1,599 (incl. VAT). Our test model, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro with a 14-inch screen, starts at 1,899 euros (incl. VAT). The larger version (16 inches) costs 100 euros more with the same equipment.

The Pro version has a traditional laptop hinge that you can position to an angle of around 150 degrees. This is also necessary, by the way, since the glossy screen (not a touchscreen) reflects very strongly. On the other hand, the OLED screen can play its trump cards even more.

How strong is the case?

Before praising the OLED screen, let’s first look at the laptop’s design and connectivity options. The design is clearly inspired by the fruity brand. The result is a no-nonsense and functional design that looks elegant.

We don’t know whether the design is also very robust. It certainly doesn’t feel as strong as a MacBook Pro. Traditionally, manufacturers of professional laptops subject their devices to a series of MIL-STD tests to ensure they can take a beating. We can still find numbers from such tests on the predecessor, but not on the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro. We recommend you consider this if you travel a lot and take your laptop with you everywhere.

For the same money, this laptop is more powerful than we think. We’ll give Samsung the benefit of the doubt for now.

As for connectivity, we can only be satisfied. Despite the thin case, we find: 2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB A (USB 3.2), 1x HDMI (2.1), a microSD card slot and a headphone jack. A fully featured HDMI and USB port in a compact 14” laptop is a godsend. The only small detail: both USB-C ports are on one side. In an ideal world there would be one on each side for added flexibility when working with a docking station, but more like that and additional ports than just USB-C like the Dell XPS 13.

Sublime OLED screen

Laptops and OLED screens: it seems like a perfect pair, but we’ve had a long wait for it. The first devices came onto the market last year, and 2023 will be the year of the breakthrough. We’ve already reviewed the HP Specter x360 with an OLED screen, but the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro is of a different caliber.

Where we see RGB subpixels on HP when working on a white sheet in Word or Outlook, that’s completely gone on the Galaxy laptop. The undersigned preferred not to work on the device for a whole day with the HP model, unless everything was allowed to be in dark mode. Samsung fixed this problem and now we can enjoy a white screen without any problems.

In addition, the 14-inch screen (not touch-sensitive) is also calibrated for color in three different modes: DCI-P3, RGB and AdobeRGB. As you can see below, the results are nothing short of impressive. A deltaE value below two is excellent for professional work. We are very close to that.

Thanks to the wide color gamut (101% DCI-P3, 150% RGB, 68% BT.2020), creative professionals can further refine this screen at will. Note the extremely glossy finish, which played tricks on us in some scenarios. The maximum measured screen brightness of 396 cd/m² is sometimes tight in sunny weather with some reflections when positioned in the window.

The screen has an aspect ratio of 16:10, 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. If we choose, we prefer a 3:2 ratio to be more productive. The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro can convince us to go for a wider screen again just to enjoy that beautiful screen.

Not a fan of the fan

Samsung is one of the first laptop manufacturers to stop using a thirteenth generation Intel chip on its device. The Galaxy Book 3 Pro houses an Intel Core i7-1360P. In terms of pure performance, we hardly notice any difference compared to the previous generation (Intel Core i7-1260P in the HP Specter x360). Anyway, it worked perfectly.

This configuration works well for photo editing. Those who focus more on video editing, CAD, or other graphics-intensive workloads would be better off looking at the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, which sports an Nvidia GeForce GTX 4050 and a more powerful Intel Core i7-13700H. The downside is that the price goes up by more than $1,000.

The processor in the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro has a strong short peak time when you need extra power for a minute or so. If you expect more performance for a longer period of time, you will notice that the processor’s clock rate throttles down quite aggressively.

It’s obvious that Samsung designed the Galaxy Book 3 range around the 16-inch models. With the Ultra version (16 inches), our device is almost always whisper-quiet during daily work. The fan of the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro (14 inch) starts immediately when we connect an external 4K monitor and open two browser tabs including Word and Outlook. The 14-inch model is significantly quieter when on the go without an external screen. You can tell that the system quickly reaches its limits, while the 16-incher stays cooler thanks to its larger case.

Windows Hello: not eyes, but fingers

We only find Windows Hello on this device in the form of a fingerprint sensor. Admittedly, the display bezel at the top doesn’t leave much room to fit an infrared sensor for facial recognition, but we’ve seen other manufacturers do this. Surely Samsung needs to work on that in this price range.

Fortunately, the fingerprint sensor works quickly and doubles as a power button. The keyboard is fairly flat for typing. It doesn’t offer the best typing experience, but everyone has a different feel for it. If this is important to you, it is best to pick up the device in the store.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is on an excellent level. Thanks to the 16:10 screen format, the touch surface gets a little more space under the keyboard. It responds with lightning speed and precision, with a faint click of confirmation. Nothing to fault.

The webcam is solid and has a Full HD resolution. You can even move a little behind the laptop; In theory, the camera keeps you properly in the picture. This works well, but you can tell that higher resolution is desirable for this feature. A 5 MP variant, as found in every HP EliteBook and Dragonfly laptop, solves this problem.

The microphone does an excellent job. We recently published an extensive microphone test in our review of the Poly Voyager Free 60+, which also includes this Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro. If you want to listen to all the fragments to judge the microphone quality for yourself, you can do it here.

Good stamina, slow refueling

OLED screens are now almost standard on every smartphone from around 250 euros. In addition to excellent color reproduction, the panel is also good for your battery life. It’s a bit different for laptops, thanks in part to Windows 11. No matter how good the dark mode is (the blacker the screen, the less OLED it uses), there’s still a long way to go compared to Android. Many websites also don’t have dark mode (fortunately ITdaily), which is particularly taxing on a laptop given the large screen real estate.

Still, we notice that Samsung has tinkered nicely with the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro. With economical consumption, we hardly get a full working day. If you have two or more Teams video meetings that day, you need to find a way. For us, that’s decent enough and makes the laptop a mid-range engine. If you want to squeeze out more battery life, you’d better take a look at the HP Dragonfly G3 with a traditional Full HD screen.

If the laptop is flat, you will have to be patient. In this price segment, laptops from MSI, Lenovo and HP charge the battery to 50 percent in half an hour on average and the 80 percent mark is rounded just over or under the hour. Samsung almost doubles that time, which is a significant handicap.

It’s strange how Samsung continues to struggle with this in the mobile segment. Tablets or smartphones also do not charge quickly (enough) compared to the competition. Even the royally equipped Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra takes twice as long as OnePlus, Oppo or Motorola. In our daily work routine in the editorial office, we are used to charging to 50 percent for half an hour. Quick one in between shot Charging to get through the day is no longer an option as that time doubles. This is especially important for those who travel a lot.

Bloatware, bloatware, bloatware

Immediately after starting up the laptop, we already see the lure of McAfee. If you pay 1,899 euros (incl. VAT) for a laptop, you don’t want this advertising junk. Samsung: Stop it, you’re making a fool of yourself. Unfortunately, we read last month that the manufacturer has extended its partnership with McAfee by nine years to continue bringing bloatware to all mobile devices. Disgusting. Do that on your cheaper devices to subsidize them a bit, but don’t upset the premium segment that pays extra for your device.

In addition to McAfee, Samsung has also installed numerous of its own tools on Windows 11, which is already generously equipped with bloatware. We count a total of 30 (!). Why not bundle everything into a handful of applications? Seems to be more efficient to us, especially within Windows. On their Galaxy phones, we understand the separate app approach a bit more, but that’s unnecessary here. The marketing team must not convince the logical mind here. And leave Bixby at home.

Diploma

On paper, this was our dream laptop: OLED, 120Hz, thin, light, lots of ports and a reasonable price. We were so impressed at the performance that we almost wanted to order. Rarely has a laptop enchanted us as much as an overall picture.

In practice, it seems that Samsung had to make a few compromises to reach this compromise. The aggressive presence of fan noise under light loads is not appropriate. If in doubt, it is better to go for the 16-inch model (100 euros extra) for a quieter result. The slow charge time isn’t from that era either, although there’s a fast 65-watt USB PD-compatible charger in the box.

We were convinced that the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro (14-inch model, 1,899 euros incl. VAT) had a good chance of earning the Editor’s Choice label. Yes on paper, but not in practice. Although we have to admit that the beautiful OLED screen makes up for some and stole our hearts. When it comes to screen technology, Samsung has set the bar very high this year.

Tested configuration: Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro NP940XFG (1,899 euros incl. VAT): Intel Core i7-1360P, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 512 GB NVMe SSD, 16 GB RAM, 14 inch glossy screen (2880 x 1800 pixels), Windows 11 home.

Standard warranty: two years Collect & Return support in the Benelux.