Inside the housing of the Galaxy Book S is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx processor. For some time ARM chips, such as those running in all smartphones, have promised to deliver better battery life and similar performance than the Intel processors used in almost all laptops. Samsung also has battery lifespan-extending options on the laptop, such as those that limit the maximum charge to 85% to prolong its useful life. The Book S can generally be repaired by authorised service centres. For our review we had a Telstra SIM card onboard and we were able to enjoy fantastic download and upload speeds. Lowest Weight Laptops 2. Our Intel-powered Galaxy Book S came out of the box running Windows 10 Home with the 1909 fall update installed. The screen is noticeably less crisp than higher-resolution rivals, and being in the 16:9 ratio (matching your TV) means there’s less vertical space to work with. When used this way with all the apps open as above it lasts comfortably over 10 hours between charges, which is long by most laptop standards, although beaten by an hour by the Book Flex. Battery life was also very good for a laptop this thin and light with a relatively small capacity battery, and without the compromise in app compatibility that an ARM chip imposes. Last week we finally got our hands on the Galaxy Book S, Samsung’s ultra-portable laptop. The Galaxy Book S is slim, sexy and downright stunning. The content is created by CNN Underscored. And no, we are not talking about the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 – although these models were also recently announced. The trackpad is centered with the laptop’s housing and, we have to say, is one of the laptop’s most disappointing features. Performance-wise, the Samsung Galaxy Book S delivers everything for the average and slightly above average user will require. To test that claim out in the wild, we played a 4K video clip on repeat using VLC, with the display brightness set to 50%, Bluetooth and location services turned off, and the keyboard backlight disabled. Apps loaded fast, even as we multitasked by installing the Office suite and bouncing between apps at the same time. The power button doubles as a Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint sensor. The Samsung Galaxy Book S is one of those laptops that's really good for some people and some use cases, while also having weaknesses that are going to put certain people off. It’s not far-fetched that we got around 10 hours of consistent use, with the screen brightness set to 100 at all times. There is a single USB-C port in the right side of the laptop. In this case, the Book S got put through its paces with common tasks, intense graphic rendering and general stress tests. See full specifications, expert reviews, user ratings, and more. At the time of writing, the Book S has still not received the May 2020 Windows 10 feature update, as there are some incompatibility issues for Microsoft to solve. Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review: long battery laptop with fold-back screen. The Intel Core i5-L16G7 running in the Book S is one of the firm’s first to try a so-called big.Little design. It was particularly noticeable when first setting up the machine, performing updates and downloading apps – a similar thing occurred with the Core i3 processor in the latest MacBook Air. One of, if not the, headlining features of the Galaxy Book S is its battery life. To complete your CNN profile and ensure you are able to receive important account information, please verify your email address. There was some unwelcome pre-installed software, including McAfee LiveSafe, Clonix RansomDefender and the usual Candy Crush Friends and Farm Heroes Saga, which I uninstalled on first use. Once setup was complete, if I wasn’t running any updates, performance was pretty good. The bottom of the laptop lacks vents for fans, but still has small feet to prop it up from a table for passive cooling. Left or right click issues aside, the trackpad is otherwise responsive, and one thing we really appreciate is that it’s big enough to drag files across the desktop. The Samsung Galaxy Book S is an absolute marvel when it comes to laptop design. Part of our testing involved running a couple of benchmark programs. Samsung Galaxy Book S ufficiale: un portatile con Windows che gioca a fare lo smartphone. Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review: long battery laptop with fold-back screen, Apple MacBook Air review: 2020’s near-perfect consumer laptop, Dell XPS 13 2020 review: a fantastic but flawed laptop, Huawei MateBook X Pro review: Windows 10’s MacBook Pro rival, Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 review: still sleek, just no longer unique. There’s a 720p HD webcam above the display. By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy. We were able to go two days between charges with a mix of light and heavy use on Wi-Fi and LTE connections. Product Review: Samsung’s Galaxy Book S is the first laptop the Korean firm has launched in the UK in several years. This limitation may affect certain websites, applications (programs) and printer drivers. Galaxy Book 12 review: One of the best convertibles around, but it’s not a Surface-killer In reality the Book S has very mixed performance. CNN Underscored is your guide to the everyday products and services that help you live a smarter, simpler and more fulfilling life. It managed the photo manipulation tasks OK, but was fairly slow doing it. Throughout a week of daily use, we found that the invisible line on the trackpad differentiating where a left click ends and a right click begins seemed to move around. Compare Samsung Galaxy Book S … Priced at $1,000 on Samsung.com, the Galaxy Book S is affordable, too. The backlit keyboard is good, with well-spaced, responsive keys with enough travel – how far down it pushes – for most. The likelihood that any of us will binge-watch nearly 15 hours of video on a laptop is low, so how does the battery perform under normal, everyday use? Discuss: Samsung Galaxy Book (12-inch) review: A great Windows tablet that just scratches the Surface Sign in to comment. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Book S is a joy to use for its intended purpose. The Samsung Galaxy Book S Intel costs £999 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage in either grey or gold. Jason Cipriani/CNN, we finally got our hands on the Galaxy Book S, The Galaxy Book S is one of the most compelling laptops we’ve ever used and tested, At $999, the Galaxy Book S is priced to compete with the larger iPad Pro or the Surface Pro X — and it even includes a keyboard. It started to come unstuck when I opened a couple of fairly large photos in Affinity Photo. Cons: processor struggles when doing a bit too much, fairly slow to charge with included 25W power adapter, 16:9 screen ratio, lower resolution screen. The keyboard was oddly satisfying to use. But those differences also mean that developers have to build their apps specifically for an ARM processor, which, up to this point, has rarely been used in a laptop. It also struggled a little here and there when I connected it to an external 4K monitor and went into total meltdown when I attempted to open a spreadsheet while holding a Google Meet. If anything, the screen is slightly too reflective if there are a lot of overhead lights or in direct sunlight, but adjusting the display’s brightness to 100 helped offset most of the glare. What that means in English for this particular model is that you have one, high-power processing unit paired with four smaller, lower-power and lower performance units on one chip. If an account exists, we've sent an email with a link to reset your password. The keys are somewhat shallow, requiring very little pressure to activate, and pop back into place almost instantaneously. Screen: 13.3in FHD (1080p) LCD touchscreen (166PPI), Connectivity: Wifi 6, Bluetooth 5, 2x USB-C, microSD, headphones. Samsung Galaxy Book S 4G LTE Connectivity. The Book S weighs slightly more than 2 pounds, making it light enough that you could almost forget it’s in your backpack. Laptops with the Best Productivity Performance 3. That said, we were able to install and play Minecraft without any issues. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network. And like a phone, the Galaxy Book S also has Airplane Mode to switch off your cellular connection. There are compatibility issues that Microsoft, Samsung, Qualcomm and developers will have to work through, but the app issues we did experience were few and far between. 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