When I tested the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro earlier this year, I was impressed in almost every regard. However, there was one major complaint I had with that laptop – it’s just a touch too pricey.
Now, Samsung has introduced a non-Pro version with a significantly lower price tag. So, of course, I needed to test it out. Could this be the Windows laptop that we’ve been waiting for? or have too many corners been cut to hit a competitive price point? I set out to find out.
I’ve been testing the Core i7 1355U variant, which comes in at a price of £899 in the UK or $999 in the US (albeit with 16GB of RAM rather than 8GB). However, it’s also available with a Core i3 or i5 processor, starting from just £599.
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy Book 3
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 is a well-built, slim and lightweight notebook that performs excellently. Some corners were cut to hit this price point, though, and the display, webcam and battery life leave something to be desired.
Pros
- Stylish minimal design
- Solid construction
- Lightweight and portable
- Great performance
Cons
- No keyboard backlight
- Middling display and webcam
- 16:9 ratio feels cramped
Design and build
- Dimensions: 356.6 x 229.1 x 15.4mm
- Weight: 1.57kg
- Fully aluminium frame, Graphite only
- Full numpad and expansive I/O
The Galaxy Book 3 makes a good first impression, outwardly, it’s very similar to the Galaxy Book 3 Pro, with an all-aluminium construction and the same Graphite finish that we admired on the more expensive model. This time, that’s the only finish available in the UK, but I think it looks great. The only thing that irks me is how it attracts fingerprints and smudges. It’s far from the worst offender, but it’s less than ideal.
Where the Galaxy Book 3 differs a little more is in its dimensions. This model uses a 16:9 display, and that effectively means that it’s about 2cm narrower. When unfolded, the keyboard appears to be roughly the same size, but the palm rest and trackpad have shrunken. This is fine by me, the trackpad on the Pro model is a bit too big in my view.
For this reason, I actually prefer this model’s trackpad, you don’t have to reach as far to click, and it has performed solidly throughout my testing. It’s nothing to write home about, but I can’t imagine anyone complaining about its performance, either.
The keyboard is slightly less convincing, it has a full numpad, which some people will love, but this makes the layout slightly cramped and I found myself hitting the wrong keys occasionally when touch typing. This is the kind of thing that you’ll adapt to over time, but as someone who rarely uses a numpad, it’s just mildly frustrating for me.
It’s also not backlit, which is very unusual for a laptop in this price category, and one of the first signs of cost-cutting when compared to the Pro lineup. Otherwise, it’s a decent keyboard, there’s very little deck flex and the keys feel decent across the board.
The I/O is good, and quite similar to the more expensive models. You get two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone/mic socket, an HDMI output and a microSD card reader. The difference here is that there’s no Thunderbolt support, you only get USB 3.2 Gen 1 connectivity. That’s fine for my needs, but anyone who relies on Thunderbolt peripherals will want to swerve this model.
Display, speakers and webcam
- 15.6-inch 1920×1080 16:9 IPS (matte)
- 60Hz refresh rate, 300 nits brightness
- Stereo speaker system with Dolby Atmos
- 720p webcam
The display is a major highlight of the Pro model, but sadly, that’s not quite the case here. Don’t get me wrong, it looks decent, there’s a good amount of contrast and the matte finish helps keep it visible in a variety of lighting scenarios, but elsewhere it’s decidedly average.
It has a 1080p resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate, basically the minimum you’d expect from a premium laptop in 2023. With a 300-nit output, it’s not especially bright, but it’s fine in bright rooms thanks to the matte display, I wouldn’t like its odds in faring against direct sunlight, though.
The 16:9 aspect ratio is a little jarring when the majority of laptops have made the shift to 16:10. You get used to it quite quickly, but I much prefer a 16:10 display, simply because you can see much more of a webpage or document without needing to scroll. Of course, you can reduce the scaling to fit more on the screen, but with an FHD panel, there’s only so far you can go.
The speakers are a bit more impressive, especially considering the slim chassis and the fact that there are no visible grilles. There’s lots of clarity, and it’s quite a pleasing sound overall. The bass response is a little lacking, but it’s ok by laptop standards. The maximum volume is on the lower side, but there’s rarely any distortion, which might be a worthy trade-off.
The webcam has also seen a downgrade on the Galaxy Book 3. This time it’s a 720p unit, and it’s not awful, but it’s not impressive either, especially in low-light scenarios. Still, it’ll get the job done for the odd Zoom call, and you’re not likely to get any complaints from those on the other end. It also supports Windows Hello, so you can log into Windows without typing in your password, which is a feature I’m always happy to see.
Hardware and performance
- Intel 13th Gen Core i7 1355U
- 8GB LPDDR4X
- 512GB NVMe SSD
- 54Wh battery, 65W USB-C charging
So, there have been quite a few disappointments thus far, but thankfully, the performance isn’t one of them. As I mentioned, I’m testing the i7 1355U variant, which is the most powerful of the bunch, and even with a modest 8GB of RAM, it hangs with the best of them.
My day-to-day tasks typically include lots of light Photoshop work, endless Chrome tabs and high-res video streaming. I’m almost always plugged into a second display for optimum multi-tasking, too. The Galaxy Book 3 barely broke a sweat with any of my usual computing, so I thought I had better try something a little more strenuous.
The Galaxy Book 3 isn’t designed as a gaming machine by any stretch of the imagination. However, I was surprised to find that it’ll run GTA: V in 1080p at a fairly solid 30fps and it doesn’t get too loud in the process, either. If you’re looking to run some less graphically intensive games, you’ll likely find that the Galaxy Book handles them just fine, at least with the i7 variant.
On a more practical level, it handles video editing well, too. I was able to chop up 4K footage from Lumix GH6 without issue, and playback remained surprisingly smooth throughout. Of course, there are limitations to using such a slim and lightweight notebook for video editing, but so long as you’re not working with too many layers, the Galaxy Book 3 will get the job done.
The included NVMe SSD is decent, and in my testing, it was peaking at about 2200 MB/s on the reads and 1250 MB/s on the writes. The result is a snappy and responsive feeling operating system and very speedy boot times. It’s not up there with the latest PCIe Gen 4 drives, but it’s more than fast enough for the average user.
The Galaxy Book 3 has a 54Wh battery, which is significantly smaller than the 76Wh pack found in the Pro model. However, with this model having a less power-hungry FHD IPS display, I was interested to see if it’d be sufficient. In practice, the result is about the same, you can manage around 7 hours of web browsing and video playback, so not quite enough for a full work day, but serviceable for most people’s needs.
It charges with the same 65W USB-C wall adapter, which is about the same size as your average phone charger, and is very convenient to take with you. You can also top it up with a power bank, so long as it’s capable of outputting 65W.
The Galaxy Book 3 comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed, and it’s a relatively bloat-free install. There are a bunch of proprietary Samsung apps that allow you to interface with other Samsung products, like your phone, tablet and SmartThings devices – and you might find these useful if you’re a die-hard Samsung fan. I don’t personally have many Samsung devices to test these features with, so they’re not of much use to me. Otherwise, there’s a McAfee anti-virus trial installed, and that’s about it – a refreshing change from other mid-range notebook options.
Verdict
All in all, the Galaxy Book 3 is a bit of a mixed bag. There are things that I love about it, the build quality and styling are top-notch, the speakers are good and the performance is great. The port selection is also above average and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity is nice to have.
However, a lot of corners have been cut to hit its more accessible price point. The display is fine, but at 1080p resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate, it’s far from impressive. The keyboard has no backlight, and at this price, that’s borderline unacceptable. The webcam is also very middle-of-the-road, as is the battery life.
On the whole, it’s a decent laptop. It performs excellently, it’s slim and lightweight, and it feels like a quality piece of kit. But for the model that I tested, with a retail price approaching £900, it doesn’t do much to separate itself from the competition. Laptops like Acer’s Swift Go 14 aren’t perfect either, but the overall performance pips it here – even if the design is a bit dull.
There’s a better case to be made for the Samsung’s £600 Core i3 model, but then you’d lose out on the stellar performance I experienced with this option, so it’s hard to say how that model would stack up.
If you see the Galaxy Book 3 on sale at a good price, it’s a solid laptop that won’t disappoint with its performance and build quality, but at full retail, I think you can find better value elsewhere.