Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra review: Should Windows users consider anything else?

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

On the tail finish of spring-season laptop computer releases, Samsung’s Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely shines with among the best shows available on the market — now out there with touchscreen help, efficiency configuration choices that ought to fulfill content material creators, work customers, and even avid gamers, and battery life that may impress everybody.

The Extremely laptop computer nonetheless suffers from related setbacks as its predecessor, which I examined final 12 months, together with the big, bodily trackpad that both does not register faucets at instances or turns into too delicate to inputs (the duality of this trackpad is kind of baffling, I do know), the shortage of a full-size SD card slot, and some too many Samsung-owned apps (learn: bloatware, in the event you’re not a Samsung person) and advert pop-ups that should not be a speaking level at this value.

You possibly can count on to pay between $2,400 to $3,000 for the Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely, which is a giant ask, however the efficiency and {hardware} package deal you are getting in return justifies the value level. My shopping for recommendation is to attend for considered one of Samsung’s gross sales occasions (normally throughout main holidays) and make the most of its trade-in program, which might deduct as much as $600 extra. Living proof: you possibly can choose up the best configuration, which comes with an Intel Core Extremely 9, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, and 32GB of RAM, for $500 off on the time of writing.

Specs

Show

16-inch 3K AMOLED (2,800 x 1,800, 16:10) with 120Hz, 400 nits

Weight

4.1 kilos

Processor

Intel Core Extremely 7 155H, Intel Core Extremely 9 185H

Graphics

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

RAM/Storage

16GB or 32GB with 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD

Battery

76Wh (as much as 21 hours)

Ports

2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-A 3.2, 1x MicroSD slot, 3.5m headphone jack

Worth

Beginning at $2,399

How I examined the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely

I’ve used the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely as my every day driver for the previous two weeks. My regular utilization consists of searching the net, answering emails, writing articles like this, watching movies on YouTube and Netflix, and enhancing images and movies for work and leisure. 

More often than not, the laptop computer is both hooked to an exterior monitor (which means I attempt to run as many home windows of apps and providers concurrently attainable) or utilized in tandem with my Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely with the assistance of Fast Share and Second Display screen. Each cross-platform options labored very easily, although they’re primarily appropriate with Samsung gadgets and Samsung gadgets solely.

For efficiency testing, I ran Cinebench 2024 to calculate the one, multi, and GPU scores of the laptop computer, whereas additionally taking notes on day-to-day elements like fan pace and loudness, system temperature, body fee drops, and extra.

What are the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely’s greatest options?

Large, touchscreen, OLED show: Want I say extra? Once I reviewed final 12 months’s Galaxy Ebook 3 Extremely, I discussed that “a show that’s each touchscreen-enabled and shiny is a recipe for a visible catastrophe.” With the Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely, Samsung principally mentioned “Maintain my OLED,” and gave its 16-inch show touchscreen help and a brand new anti-reflective cowl glass. These two options make interacting with a laptop computer this highly effective probably the most intuitive, visually satisfying experiences I’ve examined. 

Additionally: I examined Dell’s most underrated laptop computer and it has intelligent options at an accessible value

Stretching out a picture with a view to erase blemishes in Photoshop simply hits totally different when you possibly can pinch-zoom together with your fingers. (Now if solely Samsung can add S Pen help.) Whereas the Galaxy Ebook’s new show is just not as anti-glare as say, Samsung’s S95D TV or Galaxy S24 Extremely, I’ve had no drawback utilizing it beside the largest window at ZDNET’s New York workplace. Thoughts you we’re located on the best ground of the constructing, so daylight is the second most prevalent factor after awkward elevator rides.

Spacious keyboard with shocking tactility: I am not as captivated with keyboards as my ZDNET colleague Cesar Cadenas, however I sort sufficient day-after-day to have a really feel for what’s good and what’s not. That is to say I fee the Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely keyboard a 7/10; it is spacious, with a full-on quantity pad for the information crunchers, a devoted Copilot key for fast entry to the Home windows AI assistant, and quiet but tactile suggestions on every key that invitations you to maintain typing and typing.

The one quirk with the laptop computer is that it takes a worrying period of time besides up. I usually discovered myself staring blankly on the display screen after urgent and holding the facility button, just for the Samsung brand to look proper as I used to be ready to seek for a charger. 

Battery life that lasts and lasts: That’s my flawless segue into charging and battery life, two different elements I am a giant fan of with the Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely. Save for the unwieldy, cheese-slice-sized charger that comes within the field, there’s not a lot for me to complain about with regards to powering the laptop computer and its endurance. 

Additionally: I examined LG’s 17-inch Gram Professional and it is the big-screen, light-weight laptop computer to beat

On common, I bought roughly ten hours of utilization earlier than needing to high up the gadget. That is spectacular for a 16-inch, 3K OLED laptop computer that is powered by a discrete graphics card. Once I did must cost, the proprietary energy brick gave the Galaxy Ebook a 55% cost after half-hour.

Intel Core Extremely and discrete GPU make all of the distinction: You are not unsuitable to chalk up the improved effectivity of the Galaxy Ebook to the brand new Intel Core Extremely 7 or 9 chips powering the unit. I might do the identical. If you mix the backend capabilities of Intel’s NPU with a discrete Nvidia GeForce 4050/4070 GPU that is now not the latest available on the market however nonetheless nice, you get a system that runs most apps and providers fluidly, together with Adobe Premiere Professional, Lightroom, and gaming on Steam. 

Listed below are the Cinebench scores, in comparison with competing laptops, for reference. Whereas the Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely’s scores will not set any data, they’re according to the business commonplace and aggressive with Apple’s flagship MacBook, which is nice to see.

Cinebench 2024

Samsung Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely (RTX 4070)

Apple MacBook Professional 16 (M3 Professional)

Dell XPS 16 (2024)

CPU (Single)

105

142

103

CPU (Multi)

965

1,035

976

GPU

8,135

6,604

10,264

What I might wish to see within the subsequent mannequin 

Much less bloatware and adverts, extra options for everybody: For a near-$3,000 laptop computer, the quantity of pre-installed apps, pop-up adverts to obtain McAfee’s antivirus service, and Samsung-exclusive options lessens what would in any other case be a premium person expertise. Such issues are widespread on cheaper laptops as a result of they permit producers to dump a lot of the retail price. In Samsung’s case, it is charging extra for a laptop computer that is not shy about promoting you providers you might or could not want. That is a no-no for me.

Additionally: The perfect laptops of 2024: Knowledgeable examined and reviewed

A smaller haptic trackpad: If I may repair something hardware-related, it will be the trackpad. Whereas the abnormally giant trackpad on the Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely is beneficial in principle, the off-centered placement of it meant I might ceaselessly transfer the mouse or, worse but, register a click on when my palm was merely resting down. 

The trackpad can be a bodily one, which means it presses down as a substitute of mimicking the texture of it by way of haptic motors like on the MacBook Professional and Dell XPS. Consequently, once I did wish to click on, drag, or faucet on one thing, I needed to discover the “candy spot” on the trackpad to register it correctly. In any other case, urgent too near the corners and edges would oftentimes not register something in any respect.

Last thought  

Whereas it is easy to advocate the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 4 Extremely because the “MacBook Professional for Samsung customers,” a number of upgrades this 12 months, together with the Intel Core Extremely chip for AI purposes, touchscreen show, and improved battery life, make the laptop computer a formidable pickup for nearly each Home windows person. Simply notice that in the event you’re a content material creator who depends on full-sized SD playing cards to switch images and movies, you will wish to choose up a dongle or docking station to work with the Galaxy Ebook. There’s additionally no charging port on the laptop computer’s proper aspect, so you will wish to assume twice when situating close to an outlet.

Alternate options to think about 

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