By Regarding the Galaxy Book series of laptops, Samsung has made a name for itself producing high-end notebooks intended for business use. The laptops have fantastic displays, are lightweight and thin, and have a terrific appearance. This also applies to the new 14-inch Galaxy Book4 Pro. It weighs only 2.64 pounds and is about 12 millimeters thin. It features an OLED touchscreen with 3K resolution. It is finished in Moonstone Grey, a sophisticated shade of grey that subtly shifts to a bluish tint in response to light intensity. This shade is reminiscent of the traditional grey of a chic business notebook. In summary? For business workers, the beautiful and lightweight Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 14 is an excellent all-arounder. Let’s investigate why.
Initial Thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 14
Samsung uses Core Ultra 7 155H processors, which are part of the new Intel Meteor Lake platform, in their fourth generation of Galaxy Books. This CPU generation is distinguished by a notably distinct design, wherein Intel constructs the processor modularly from discrete chips, sometimes known as tiles. However, because of the new NPU (Neural Processing Unit), the majority of notebook makers, including Samsung, market Meteor Lake primarily as an AI CPU.
The Galaxy Book4 Pro doesn’t seem to have any AI, but this is also true of previous laptops made by Meteor Lake. For instance, the test device does not have the Copilot button, and there are no apps that utilize the NPU other than Windows Studio effects, which are meant to enhance video conferences with artificial intelligence (AI) features like auto-framing, automated eye contact, and backdrop blurring.
This is unfortunate because Samsung’s newest Galaxy smartphones demonstrate effective usage of artificial intelligence. Not even apps like Samsung Gallery, which can make use of AI features on smartphones, have them available in the Windows edition.
The awful performance of the Galaxy Book4 Pro at the start of the benchmarks scared us more than its absence of AI. Programs opened slowly, the laptop’s mouse clicks were incredibly slow, and the first round of benchmarks produced unsatisfactory results. Windows updates and the Samsung Device Care analysis tool are unable to resolve the issues since they are unable to locate more recent drivers.
Performance is not solved until a new GPU driver is manually installed from Intel. It appears that the slow performance is caused by the driver for the Arc GPU that Samsung installed in December. Following the driver update, the notebook functions as it should.
Performance
The new internal GPU is Meteor Lake’s standout feature in terms of performance. The new CPU generation distinguishes itself from its predecessors from Raptor Lake’s U, P, and H series in system tests like PCMark 10 and Crossmark, mostly because of its noticeably better graphics performance. In all apps that heavily rely on the GPU, such as rendering and picture and video editing, the Galaxy Book4 Pro outperforms the competition. This implies that smaller Meteor Lake machines, like the Samsung laptop, are now far more appropriate for jobs involving graphics and multimedia.
In gaming tests, the Arc graphics in Meteor Lake may also distinguish themselves from the Iris Xe graphics of the CPUs that came before them. It is 70% quicker in Night Raid and nearly twice as fast in Time Spy according to the 3DMark. Since the Samsung Notebook has a high native resolution of 2880×1800 pixels, it is not particularly appropriate for gaming. You can only utilize the medium quality level for graphic details and must lower the resolution to Full HD. Even then, the Galaxy Boo 4 Pro’s frame rate in the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark stays significantly below 60 fps.
Battery life
When in battery mode, the Galaxy Book 4 Pro gains from the efficient CPU configuration. The power usage, at less than 5 watts, is around one watt less than that of a Meteor Lake-equipped 16-inch notebook. It is also much less than that of a notebook with an OLED screen and a Raptor Lake H CPU. Samsung only installs a battery with 62-watt hours because of the laptop’s low weight and thin form factor, so even its 13-hour battery life is not very lengthy.
The Samsung notebook’s low weight—which also includes the 65-watt power supply—is its greatest mobility benefit. After an hour of charging, it replenishes the laptop battery to 81 percent with just 166 grams of weight.
Display
One of the best features of the Galaxy Book computers is always the display. Our testing unit boasts an OLED touchscreen with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, offering 3K resolution (2880×1800) and 10-bit color depth. Gorilla Glass DX protects the internal panel. Contrary to what the manufacturer Corning claims, the screen is somewhat less reflective than other touchscreens in direct light.
The Galaxy Book4 Pro is another device that showcases the benefits of OLED technology: it has an incredibly high contrast, uniformly distributed brightness, and superb color reproduction. Samsung’s coverage of nearly all significant color spaces and low color variation makes it somewhat superior to competing OLED notebooks. Only a few notebook displays are brighter, but those often employ more expensive panels with mini-LED backlights. The brightness is also pleasantly high, at over 400 cd/sqm.
Keyboard and touchpad
Business laptops should always prioritize functionality features like the keyboard and touchpad, even despite their exquisite form and lightweight construction. Here, Samsung offers the Galaxy Book4 Pro without compromising. The keyboard is robust, silent, and all of the keys provide a distinct pressure sensation, even when you type swiftly. Samsung positioned the number keys significantly out of the keyboard, making them easier to reach even though they are smaller than the other keys.
The touchpad makes a very noticeable clicking sound that may irritate sensitive users. However, owing to the sturdy build, it offers consistent and clear feedback throughout the whole touchpad surface. Multi-finger movements also functioned flawlessly.
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro: is it worth the purchase?
Yes, provided that you belong to the intended audience. As previously said, the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 14 is an attractive and portable device designed for business workers requiring dependable performance and a wide range of capabilities when on the go.
