Tested: Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 | Happy mix of genres

With the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360, Samsung is probably delivering its best all-around laptop. Fast, thin and light, it has a pen-compatible AMOLED touchscreen that folds 360 degrees to become a tablet. However, it lacks the graphics power of the most recent MacBooks, and the relevance of a Windows tablet remains to be demonstrated.

Karim Benessaieh
The Press

WE love

Samsung has achieved wonders of miniaturization with its Galaxy Book2 Pro 360. This laptop is as thin as a phone, at 11.9 mm, and weighs only 1051 g. Its 13.3-inch AMOLED screen — there’s also a 15.6-inch model — is bright, high-contrast, and displays rich colors. It is also tactile and compatible with Samsung’s stylus, the S Pen.

All these elements make it a very practical tablet, barely 300 g heavier than an iPad, when you turn the screen 360 degrees. Placed in an inverted V, it becomes an HD screen of 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels which perfectly displays films and videoconferences.

Except that we are dealing here with a real computer, far superior to tablets. We tested the model with an Intel i7-1260P processor, 16 GB of RAM and an Iris Xe graphics card. Here is what gives the calibration with Geekbench 5.

The capacities of its processor are remarkable, in the leading group being outclassed only, in our tests, by two recent Macs. Graphics processing is above average, but has nothing to do with gaming computers or Apple’s M1 and M2 chips. And, in fact, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is incapable of handling large video games like Spiderman remastered for PC or god of war. For video editing, it responds well for modest projects, but is clearly not a computer for professionals.

The speed of its SSD hard drive is also impressive, one of the best we have ever recorded with 2485 Mb/s in reading for large files and 1705 Mb/s in writing.

In short, for everyday computer work, with several programs used simultaneously, video conferences and the opening of multimedia files, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is an excellent tool.

Hookups include a Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB-C inputs, a MicroSD card reader, and 3.5mm audio input/output. It is compatible with the new WiFi 6 E standard and its battery has a capacity of 68 Wh, enough to give 15 hours of video playback or a full day of intensive work. Unlocking is done by PIN or with a fingerprint reader hidden in the power button.

Finally, Samsung users have an interesting advantage: you can have applications, photos and configurations of your phone on the computer, and switch rather smoothly from one to another.

We love less

It’s a matter of taste, but we were never convinced by the transformation of a Windows computer into a tablet. Microsoft’s operating system is not as suitable for this use as Android or iPadOS.

No unlocking with facial recognition, the front webcam of 1080 p not being compatible with Windows Hello.

In its minimum configuration, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 comes at an attractive price of $1279.99. But 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB hard drive is not much. The recommendable early models instead start at $1519.99.

One buys ?

Without a doubt, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is an excellent laptop, with capabilities and a design that will satisfy demanding users. We obviously pay extra here for its talent to turn into a tablet, for its touch screen compatible with a stylus. If these options don’t seem necessary to you, this isn’t the computer for you. Its also Samsung-designed little sibling, the Galaxy Book2 Pro, offers comparable capabilities for $200 less.