Samsung's Galaxy Book2 Pro, Pro 360 laptops bring Intel 12th gen, AMOLED screens
Samsung"s MWC announcement bought us new laptops as expected. Samsung unveiled four new portable PCs - all with 1080p AMOLED displays, Intel 12th gen processors, S Pen support, and with size and weight well under control.
The Galaxy Book2 Pro and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 come in two sizes each - 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch, with the main difference being that the 360, like its predecessor, has a hinge that lets it fold all the way back into tablet mode. Samsung went with 16:9 traditional 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch panels.
Let"s take a look at the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360. The 13.3-inch model weighs just 1.04kg, while the 15.6-inch is the heaviest in the quad lineup at 1.41kg, which is still quite light, especially for a 15-incher.
The two AMOLED displays have 1920x1080px resolution and Samsung says they"re brighter than before at 400 nits in regular viewing. HDR content goes up to 500 nits.
There"s S Pen support, though this pen lacks Bluetooth. Samsung has reduced the latency over previous Galaxy Book Pros for a better drawing and writing experience. Samsung Notes has gotten improved handwriting recognition, hyperlink support, and can instantly sync notes from the laptop to Galaxy devices running Android.
The Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 comes with a choice of 12th gen Intel Core i7 or i5 processors with Intel Iris X graphics. THere"s LPDDR5 RAM that starts from 8GB and goes through 16GB all the way to 32GB.
The 13.3-inch Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 gets a 63Wh battery, while the 15.6-inch model steps it up to 68Wh. Both models have 1 Thunderbolt 4 and 2 USB-C ports, a headphone and mic combo jack, and a microSD port. Charging goes up to 65W through the USB-C port. Samsung promises up to 21 hours of battery life from the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360.
The 13.3-inch model features an island-style backlit keyboard, while the 15.6-inch includes a numpad. There"s a fingerprint scanner on the power key.
There"s a FullHD 1080p camera and a dual array microphone. For audio, the 13.3-inch model uses two 4W speakers that are tuned by AKG, while the bigger laptop employs two 5W speakers. There"s Wi-Fi 6 support, but no 5G option.
The 2-in-1 PC is available in three colors - Silver, Graphite, and Burgundy. It starts at $1,250 with a Core i7, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage and will hit the shelves in April.
Moving on to the Galaxy Book2 Pro. It shares the display size, resolution, and battery capacities of the 360 models.
Because of the simpler hinge weight is considerably lower - the 13.3-inch model is just 0.87kg, while the 15.6-inch is 1.11kg without a GPU, and 1.17kg with a GPU.
The discrete GPU would be Intel"s ARC, replacing the NVIDIA RTX 3050 in last year"s larger model.
Ports are also a bit different. The 13.3-inch Galaxy Book2 Pro has 1 Thunderbolt 4, 1 USB-C, 1 full-sized USB 3.2 port, 3.5mm combo jack, and a microSD slot. The 15.6-inch model brings a full-sized HDMI, as well as a SIM slot for the optional 5G connectivity.
The Galaxy Book2 Pro comes in just two colors - Silver and Graphite. It will be available in April starting at $1,050 with a Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage.
