Samsung isn’t just a leader in smartphones. The Korean giant has been quietly building up its laptop portfolio over the years, under the Galaxy sub-brand umbrella. That means, these laptops are premium offerings by Samsung, bringing you the latest and greatest that the Galaxy line is known for. The Galaxy Book 3 Pro represents Samsung’s best ultrabook offering, with segment leading features and specifications.
The Book 3 Pro is the “Pro” version of the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 series of laptops and ultrabooks. Samsung’s latest lineup of Galaxy book machines consist of the base model, called Galaxy Book 3. Then there’s the Galaxy Book 3 360 series, which has touchscreen capabilities and native support for Galaxy S Pen. The Book 3 360 also has a Pro model. Lastly, is the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra which offers a top-of-the-line performance CPU and GPU. If we were to draw a parallel with the Macbooks, something that we will be doing a lot in this review, think of the Galaxy Book 3 and Book 3 Pro as a Windows edition of the Macbook Air lineup, and the Book 3 Ultra as the Macbook Pro.
Why have we chosen to draw parallels between the Galaxy Book and the Macbook? Picture this: the Samsung Book 3 series begins with a price of ₹74,990 for the base model and goes up all the way to ₹2,81,990 for the Ultra 16″ model. This pricing is shockingly very similar to the latest generation of Macbook Air and Pro models. This makes the Galaxy Book machines a premium Windows offering, just like how Galaxy smartphones offer the most premium Android experience. The decade long iPhone vs Samsung Galaxy battle of premium smartphones very conveniently has amputated itself into the laptop and ultrabook form-factor. Who doesn’t love a good battle eh?
Now that we have built up enough context, let us jump right into the review of the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro.
The Book 3 Pro comes in two form factors, the 14-inch and the 16-inch. Our review unit is the 14-inch model. The most striking feature is its absolutely phenomenal Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 3K resolution (2880×1800), 120Hz Refresh Rate, 400nits peak brightness, 0.2ms response time and 120% DCI-P3 Color Volume support.
Display
It is a well-known fact that Samsung knows how to make great displays, and the Book 3 Pro is among Samsung’s best ever. Color accuracy stands at 100% sRGB and 98% AdobeRGB making this screen ideal for the creative ones. While officially the display has a peak brightness of 400nits, our measurements revealed 395nits at 100% brightness. This is pretty much the industry standard these days, but being an AMOLED display and not an LCD, you will be having no issues working on this machine even in broad daylight.
Summing up the display, this is hands down the best display seen in a Windows laptop.
At 0% brightness the display churns out just 3.8 nits. This is impressively low, and this translates into a comfortably visible viewing experience in all-dark “lights out” scenarios. No more squinting! There is a light sensor right next to the webcam unit which detects what kind of environment you are in and adjusts the color profile accordingly.
Summing up the display, this is hands down the best display seen in a Windows laptop. Who are we kidding, this is Samsung Galaxy after all!
Build and Ergonomics
The next most striking aspect of the Galaxy Book 3 pro is its size and weight, or lack thereof. It weighs just below 1.2 kilograms, 1.17 kg to be exact. That is even lower than the M2 MacBook Air, which was the benchmark when it came to ultra-light notebooks. Not anymore! I use the MacBook Pro 16 as my daily driver, and when I switched to the Book 3 Pro, just the feeling of having a machine that is this light was such a massive luxury and step-up in comfort levels. This laptop is just so darn comfortable to hold and carry around. It is a delight, really, and is kind of unbelievable when you first experience it.
Size comparison of the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 14″ with a sleek Cross rollerball pen
The weight, coupled with the dimensions, which stand at 312.3 x 223.8 x 11.3 mm (W x D x H) make this easily one of the most powerful, yet the lightest and thinnest among Windows laptops. There are just so many scenarios in which the Galaxy Book 3 Pro can excel due to its form factor.
The weight, coupled with the dimensions, which stand at 312.3 x 223.8 x 11.3 mm (W x D x H) make this easily one of the most powerful, yet the lightest and thinnest among Windows laptops.
You can comfortably hold and maneuver the Book 3 Pro 14″ with just one hand
The entire body of the Galaxy Book 3 Pro is made of metal, and all the components are put together really well. The design language is minimal, and very similar to that of the MacBook Air. On the top side of the lid, “SAMSUNG” is etched in a very subtle shiny finish, looking ever so minimal and classy. I really love the understated quality and class the Galaxy Book 3 Pro’s design oozes. This is a clinically finished product, and this quality makes itself evident when you hold the laptop.
I did the one-handed “Open the Laptop” test and Book 3 Pro passed with flying colors. There was no jerkiness, neither was there any slipping of the chassis.
When it comes to ports, no stone has been left unturned. You get one HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, one USB 3.2 port, a MicroSD slot and one 3.5mm audio jack. It is amazing how Samsung has managed to fit a USB-A port in this slim form-factor. This is one feature that none of the Macbooks have, so Samsung has edged out Apple over here.
Touchpad and Keyboard
Samsung has significantly increased the size of the touchpad making it easier to perform multi-finger gestures. The accuracy of the touchpad is commendable too. It is amongst the best we have seen on Windows laptops. However, it is a notch behind the accuracy of MacBook touchpads. The haptic feedback of the touchpad is a tad on the clunkier side. The bottom line being, if I had to rate the trackpad, I would give it a solid 8 on 10.
A side note: the gesture actions on Windows 11 still need a lot of work, as they feel jerky. This is not Samsung’s fault, neither is this the fault of any under-the-hood hardware. There is something lacking in the way Windows’ animations are optimized. The Task View gesture (or the button) feels jerky even on our desktop machine that rocks an i9-13900K and a GeForce RTX 4080. It is a shame that Windows is not able to give premium hardware the performance they deserve, and Galaxy Book 3 Pro falls victim to this.
The power button on the top right corner doubles as a fingerprint reader.
Samsung has really outdone itself this time with the keyboard. This is a great keyboard to type on. The keys are a joy to tap on, and whether you’re button-mashing in a game or typing away to glory, the experience is smooth and seamless. The keys make a sound that is very pleasing to the ears and not at all intrusive. It is kind of like appreciating the sound a motorcycle’s exhaust makes, if you know what I mean. The key-pressure and resistance are on-point. The 16″ form-factor gets a full keyboard with a Numpad, which the 14″ size lacks. Fairly understandable.
Samsung has really outdone itself this time with the keyboard. This is a great keyboard to type on.
Samsung has also provided a fingerprint scanner on the top right section of the keyboard, the same position as Apple’s TouchID. The fingerprint scanner works really well; however, it isn’t as fast as Samsung’s own ultrasonic scanner in the latest Galaxy smartphones and Apple’s TouchID. It isn’t terribly slow either. It just isn’t “mindbogglingly” fast, that’s all.
The keys are LED backlit and light leakage is minimal. Light leakage on laptop keyboards is a really annoying aspect that has strained even the most premium of laptops. This makes the laptops look cheap and tacky, but the Galaxy Book 3 Pro does well in containing LED leakage. None of the reviews talk about this, but at iLLGaming you can count on us to tell you what hasn’t been said anywhere else.
Speakers
The speakers on the Book 3 Pro have received a major update from the previous generation. They are now “AKG” branded, and while we’re not fans of branded speakers on laptops since they’ve usually turned out as marketing gimmicks; the Book 3 Pro actually has a sonic range that feels leaps and bounds better than the majority of Windows laptops.
The speaker unit consists of four speakers: two woofers at 5W each and two tweeters at 2W each. They sound crisp and detailed. You do get some decent lows too. Dolby Atmos works really well. The loudness could have been better but I’m only nitpicking here. Still, will the laptop suffice as my main source of sound-output when I’m watching a movie or playing a game? Probably not. It will suffice if I’m in a quiet room and am watching YouTube videos where dialogues are prominent. I’d rather use headphones or external speakers for some serious content consumption and digestion.
Much of sound output is hampered due to the weird speaker placement. It lies on the bottom side of the laptop, that too in the center. So, if the laptop is on a table or your lap, you’re going to be muffling the sound output. Best thing to do here is use a laptop stand.
Webcam and Microphone
The webcam supports just FHD 1080p resolution, it has a really high-quality sensor than can do solid HDR. The webcam will obviously suffice for video calls, but if the lighting is done right, you can actually use it to create content. This just shows that the Book 3 Pro has a number of use-cases where it can add tons of usability.
The webcam supports just FHD 1080p resolution, it has a really high-quality sensor than can do solid HDR.
The webcam supports Auto-framing, which comes in handy if you do a lot of video calls and stream live. Auto-framing is a feature usually reserved for high-end webcams that cost at least ₹8,000. In that sense, this is a pure value addition to the Book 3 Pro.
Have a look at the webcam and microphone quality, what do you think? The below is completely raw in nature, with no video or sound processing.
Performance
Have a look at the specifications of the Galaxy Book 3 Pro. Our machine had the Core i7-1360 processor, there is also a lower specced i5 model.
The CPU is Intel’s latest 13th Gen mobile processor meant for ultrabooks. It has a total of 12 cores and 16 threads, out of which four are performance cores and eight are efficient cores. It’s base power is rated at 28W, maxing out at 64W. This processor has been just released, and for its low power usage, is a beast of a performer. It edges out Apple’s M2 chip, which is an impressive feat.
The most promising feature of Intel’s “Evo” chips is their support for low-power state during stand-by mode for Windows laptops. The lack of this feature has plagued Windows laptops since years. This has been a prime reason why MacBooks had so much better usability in the real-world than Windows laptops. You could simply shut the lid of a MacBook and resume right where you left, without losing battery or generating heat. The great news is that with Intel Evo chips, you can do just that: shut the lid and resume hours later, losing negligible battery and generating no heat whatsoever.
Here are the benchmark figures for the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro. In the slideshow we have included the benchmark scores for 3DMark Time Spy, Cinebench R23 (Multi Core), CrossMark, CrystalDiskMark and PCMark 10. Click on the arrows to toggle between the images.
Running the Multi Core test in Cinebench R23, we got a score of 6835. To put things into perspective, this score is really good considering that the laptop is using a maximum of 65 Watts. This score is on a notch below Ryzen 5 4600H, which uses double the power and generates double the heat. The Intel Core i7-1360P fares better than Intel i7-11370H processors which are full-fledged laptop CPUs and not ultrabook chips. In that sense, this is a really good generational leap in terms of performance and efficiency.
CrossMark is a benchmarking tool that can be used on multiple platforms and operating systems, it runs the same algorithm and publishes performance numbers that are standardized throughout the platforms. Our machine received an overall score of 1680. A machine with an i9-13900K scores around 2700 points. The 13900K uses around 200W, so in comparison, the Galaxy Book 3 Pro is giving you 40% slower performance while using around 70% less power.
We ran CrystalDiskMark to test the NVMe SSD and achieved phenomenal figures. A read speed of above 5000 MB/s means this is among the fastest SSDs using Gen3 technology, so nothing to complain about here.
PCMark10 score was a solid 5054. PCMark runs scenarios such as web browsing, video calling, word processing, image processing, spreadsheets, video editing and gives a cumulative score. A score above 5000 means this laptop will suffice for content creation, typical office work and even rendering. This score puts the Galaxy Book 3 Pro way ahead of the Surface Laptops and even the Dell XPS 15 machines.
The Book 3 Pro has integrated Intel Iris graphics which aren’t really meant for Triple A gaming. Playing Dota 2, I was able to achieve 60 fps using Low settings, so there you have it. You can also enjoy The Witcher 3 and other top titles, but in low setting presets.
Heat, Power and Noise
The Galaxy Book 3 Pro uses a dedicated ultrabook low-power state CPU, so we came in expecting really good efficiency figures, and that is what we got for the majority of scenarios. The CPU idles at 37 degrees Celsius, a solid figure. At this temperature, the fans don’t come on and the laptop is silent. Throw in a little bit of web browsing and the CPU reaches to 55 degrees, and this is where the fan starts spinning.
When we ran benchmarks like 3DMark and Cinebench, the CPU frequently reached its peak of 100 degrees, and this is where the throttling begins. We were still hitting clock speeds of 5 Ghz, but not for long. The thin form factor is probably the reason for this. Sure, you get a super light machine, but the trade-off is a little bit of top-end performance.
This is also where the fans are spinning at their highest speeds and are rather noisy. While Intel has come a long way with its 13th Gen ultrabook CPUs, the Apple M2 still tops it in terms of noise and heat. In our Macbook M1 Pro 16, the fans hardly come on, even when we’re editing videos. For the majority of scenarios, the Macbook stays silents. The Macbook M2 Air laptops don’t even have a fan.
Power efficiency is very impressive in the Book 3 Pro. At idle we measure minimum power usage of 0.50 W, which is kind of unbelievable, yet true. Under mild usage scenarios like web browsing with five tabs open, the CPU was using 5.66 W, which is again really impressive. At its peak, the CPU uses 43.25 W, which clearly shows that there is some throttling going on. Still, we have to commend the Intel i7-1360P for its efficiency which has improved leaps and bounds over the previous generations.
Battery
Honestly, before beginning the review I was expecting the battery life to be meagre considering the thin and light chassis, the 3K AMOLED 120Hz display and the powerful chip. I was left pleasantly surprised with battery’s performance exceeding my expectations. I easily managed 7 hours without charging the laptop and using the Book 3 Pro freely i.e., lots of tabs, lots of YouTube, using Microsoft Office, WhatsApp. The brightness in this scenario was cycling between 70% to 90%. This means you can take this laptop to work without carrying the power adaptor. And in case you run out; you can use any other USB-C adaptor to charge this laptop.
PCMark 10 Battery Test gave a score of 9hrs 44m. Turning the brightness down to 50%, the Book 3 Pro can last you more than 9 hours. You can further extend the battery by reducing the refresh rate from 120Hz to 60Hz. The laptop comes with a 65W adaptor, which was able to charge the laptop from 0 to 100 percent in less than an hour.
Sure, the Book 3 Pro has good battery life, but the MacBook machines are able to give you north of 12 hours battery life, so there is no competition between the two here.
Galaxy Ecosystem and Features
A feature unique to the Galaxy Book laptops is their integration into the Galaxy ecosystem, and seamless marriage to Galaxy smartphones. I tested the Book 3 Pro along with a Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus. I set up Phone Link and Samsung Flow. While I was using the laptop, moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen, the pointer had disappeared. It took me a while to figure the pointer had carried over to my S23, I was able to operate the phone using the laptop’s touchpad. How cool is that!
You can also bring up your phone’s screen on your laptop and use all your phone apps in your laptop. This makes it really easy to work between the machines. Copy-pasting and moving around pictures and files are seamless. You can get all your phone notifications on your laptop and manage them from your laptop directly.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro is the lightweight heavyweight champion, if that makes sense. It has no competition whatsoever when it comes to premium Windows machines. It is supremely lightweight and flickable. And the display, oh, the display. This is best screen on a Windows laptop “ever”. Not to mention its 120Hz refresh rate.
This laptop is meant for businesspeople and professionals who like to move around and want nothing but the best.
Starting at ₹1,39,990 for the Core i7 14″ model, sure, this laptop isn’t cheap, but when taking into account the features it offers, it is actually priced pretty aptly. The MacBook Air can be had for less, but you miss out on the OLED 120Hz display. The MacBook Pro is significantly more expensive. The only other competitors we can think of are the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which costs above ₹2,00,000, or the upcoming Gigabyte Aero 14. These machines still aren’t as slim and lightweight as the Book 3 Pro. Taking these points into consideration, the asking price is actually fair, more so when you include Samsung’s exchange offers and Smart Club Points.
This laptop is meant for businesspeople and professionals who like to move around and want nothing but the best. If you’re someone who gives a lot of presentations on your screen, the OLED display will impress your clients. This machine will sit really well with salespeople in sectors such as real estate, medicine, insurance etc. For content creators, while the Book 3 will suffice, we would suggest a laptop with a dedicated graphics card. People who are fans of Galaxy brand and ecosystem will also find novelty in the Book 3 Pro.
If you’re a heavy commuter, the Book 3 will really save you a lot of inconvenience in terms of weight and storage space. Have a presentation to brush up while in the metro train? Simply take the laptop out of its bag, open the lid, complete your work, shut the lid, slide the laptop back into your bag. Indeed, a very seamless and feathery experience.
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro can have our Editor’s Choice Award.
