Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review
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The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 ($1,899) is the first laptop in the line to come packing one of the new Intel Meteor Lake chips inside, and it helps take this great ultraportable to new heights of battery life.
I know because I've reviewed multiple versions of this 16-inch 2-in-1 laptop over the years, and while I've always appreciated the ultraportable design and gorgeous AMOLED screen on the Galaxy Book Pro 360, I've been disappointed with the battery life of recent editions.
Not so with the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360. This is a proud return to form for one of the best 2-in-1 laptops Samsung makes, and I think it delivers such a charming mix of performance, portability and power efficiency that it deserves our Editor's Choice award.
In this Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 I'll show you why, as well as what I like (and don't) about this elegant 2-in-1 ultraportable.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review: Cheat sheet
What is it? The Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is a 16-inch 2-in-1 Windows 11 laptop that ships with a stylus included at no charge.
Who is it for? Anyone who wants a lightweight convertible Windows laptop with an AMOLED touchscreen for work, homework and creative projects.
What does it cost? The laptop starts at $1,899, though you can get it for cheaper by trading in older devices via Samsung's website.
What's good about it? The AMOLED touchscreen looks lovely and feels good to tap or doodle on with the included S Pen stylus. Also, you get good battery life and decent performance in a slick, relatively easy-to-carry package.
What's not so good? You won't be playing the latest and greatest games well on this laptop, nor is it great for demanding work like serious video editing. And if you're not already enmeshed in the Samsung Galaxy device ecosystem, the included Samsung apps are basically bloatware that you don't need. Also, you can't really customize what components are in the laptop.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review: Specs
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review: The ups
The Galaxy Book Pro 360 line of 2-in-1s has always been near the top tier of what you can get in a Samsung laptop, and this latest edition is better than ever thanks to significantly improved battery life.
Great performance
Our Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review unit arrived packing an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU which helped power it to new heights of performance over its predecessors.
As you can see from the chart of test results above, our Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 performed well in the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmarks, easily outscoring the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360. And while it couldn't quite keep up with the competition, the Book 4 Pro 360 came within spitting distance of the pricier Dell XPS 16 and the competitively priced Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023.
This backs up my hands-on experience with this laptop, which feels plenty fast enough for day-to-day work and light gaming. I can't do heavy video editing or play Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty without making serious compromises in performance, but I can spend all day writing, surfing the web and playing lighter fare without issue.
Good battery life
Our Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review unit lasted just over 12 hours in our Tom's Guide battery test, which times how long the laptop can last endlessly surfing the web over Wi-Fi with its brightness set low.
12 hours is admittedly on the lower end of what you can expect from the best MacBooks in terms of battery life, but it's pretty good for a Windows laptop that doesn't have some of Qualcomm's new battery-sipping Snapdragon X chips onboard.
It's also significantly better than its predecessor, the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, which lasted a paltry 8ish hours in the same battery test. That was slightly frustrating given that the slim profile and productivity focus of the Galaxy Book Pro 360 makes it ideal for spending a day working on the go, but on the old model you had to lug the charger with you if you thought you'd be gone more than 4-6 hours.
Not so with the new Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360. This laptop should easily last you through an eight-hour workday or a full day of classes, so you can rest easy leaving the charger at home.
Beautiful AMOLED touchscreen
The 16-inch 3K (2,880x1,800 pixels) AMOLED touchscreen that graces the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is gorgeous, and that goes a long way when you're staring at it for hours at a time.
What I love about this display is that not only does it make things look great, with colors that look vibrant and contrasts between light and dark that really pop--it also makes the laptop easier to interact with because it affords you the freedom to reach out and touch your work.
As someone who suffers from overuse injuries in both hands, having a touchscreen on a laptop is a big help because it lets me lift my hands off the keyboard, trackpad or mouse when they need a break and tap or swipe instead. So I'm especially sensitive to a good touchscreen, and I can tell you that the Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360's AMOLED touchscreen feels accurate and responsive.
And as you can see from the chart of test results above, our Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review unit is competitive with the more expensive Dell XPS 16 OLED we tested earlier this year ($3,399 as reviewed) in terms of both color reproduction and brightness. However, Apple's MacBooks still hold the edge in terms of raw brightness.
Thin and light design
I've always liked Samsung's Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops for the way they deliver a 16-inch OLED screen in a relatively thin and light frame, and this latest model is no different.
At 14 x 9.9 x 0.5 inches the Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is nearly as thin as a MacBook Air 13-inch, and though its a pound heavier (3.7 pounds) it also offers a significantly bigger display that also happens to be a lovely AMOLED touchscreen. Plus, the laptop comes with a Samsung S Pen stylus included at no charge.
There aren't many other Windows laptops at this price that are this thin and light with this nice a screen, so if an ultraportable AMOLED Windows 11 laptop is what you're after, this is a great choice.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review: The downs
The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is the best Galaxy Book Pro 360 in years, but it's not without fault. Here are the hassles I encountered when using this laptop that you should be aware of before making a purchase.
Poor gaming performance
This shouldn't come as a huge surprise given the hardware inside, but the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is not great for playing the best PC games.
Don't get me wrong, during the review process I was able to entertain myself just fine playing less demanding games like Dicey Dungeons or Endless Legend. If you love games that don't require a lot of graphical horsepower to run, you can play them for hours on this laptop.
But even a relatively old game like Sid Meier's Civilization VI won't run buttery-smooth on this laptop, as you can see from our test results above. So while you can play games on this machine and have fun, don't expect them to run very well.
Short, awkward power cable
Our Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review unit came with a power cable that's roughly six feet long and plugs into one of the laptop's USB-C ports.
I think this would be good enough if there were USB-C ports on either side of the laptop, but since they're only on the left edge the six-foot power cable proves surprisingly limiting in scenarios where power is only available on your right. I know because I regularly work from a kitchen table that only has a power outlet on the right side, but also when I work remotely from coffee shops or libraries I often find the nearest power outlet is a few feet away.
That's not a problem with a laptop like the Dell XPS 16 because not only does Dell pack in a longer charging cable than Samsung, but the XPS 16 has USB-C ports you can use for charging on both sides of the laptop. That means no matter how awkward your seat at the library or on the plane is, you can count on being able to run your charging cable from either side of the laptop and have lots of room to stretch it to a power outlet.
Sadly, that's not true of the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360. In my time reviewing this laptop I was often frustrated by the fact that you have to plug the charging cable in on the left side of the laptop, so the short power cable was a real headache when the nearest outlet was awkwardly located a few feet away on my right.
A power cable that's too short might seem like a small issue in more ways than one, but it can set you up for real tragedy if you find yourself awkwardly stretching the power cable across a room in a way that's easy for someone to trip over, sending them (and your $2,000 laptop) crashing to the floor.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review: Verdict
I'm very fond of this laptop, and I hope this Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 review has shown you why.
There aren't many thin-and-light 16-inch Windows laptops with AMOLED touchscreens available on the market for under $2,000, so the fact that the Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 achieves that while delivering good battery life (12 hours tested) and speedy performance is a big deal. Samsung throwing in a free stylus to go with that lovely AMOLED touchscreen is just icing on the cake.
Sure, it's a little frustrating to have to think about power cable length when I need to charge up on the go, but with battery life this good I rarely need to bring the charger at all. And while I can't play my favorite games well on this laptop, it's not really designed to compete with the best gaming laptops to begin with.
No, Samsung sells these laptops as big-screen 2-in-1 productivity machines that are good for charging through spreadsheets during the day and burning through episodes of your favorite TV show after hours. And after using one myself, I can comfortably say the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is an ideal laptop for such endeavors that surpasses its predecessor in key areas like performance and battery life. If you're in the market for a beautiful 16-inch AMOLED-equipped 2-in-1 laptop, this is a great choice.
