Samsung, as a brand is well known for making some really great hardware, display and camera in their Galaxy series smartphones. But, what many people don’t know is that the company also has a pretty good laptop lineup called Galaxy Book and Samsung has recently launched its latest generation of Galaxy Book series laptops — Galaxy Book 2, Galaxy Book 2 360, Galaxy Book 2 Pro and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 in India.
These new laptops are thin and light machines designed to cater for the needs of a wider range of audiences who are looking for a professional laptop that offers a complete package.
We have been using the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 for a while now and here are our initial thoughts about the laptop.
The ecosystem
We will catch up with the design part later. Before that, it is important to understand the entire idea of the Galaxy Book series laptops. Now, there’s a term called ecosystem and Samsung is planning to build one by filling up by offering a device in almost every segment. For instance, it already has a pretty stronghold in the smartphone segment, the wearable segment, tablets and audio segment. Apart from that, Samsung is pretty good at offering services like a smart switch, Quick Share, ability to sync devices on a common account and use it to share hardware like Galaxy Buds, etc.
However, the introduction of the Galaxy Book is the next important move toward building a complete ecosystem. Also, Samsung has been working with Microsoft to offer an integrated ecosystem between Windows and Android. Take a look at the Phone Link app (recently rebranded from Your Phone). It allows users to access the phone right from the laptop screen, run apps, check messages, and notifications, make or take calls and more.
But, this is not it. If you are a Windows and Android user, you are well aware that they don’t ‘talk’ much and that’s another major issue. Samsung’s Galaxy Book 2 series laptops are the solution. Now, what Samsung has done is made communication easier for users by adding their own suite of apps and softwares like Quick Share, Private Share, Smart Switch, Recovery, S Pen support, Gallery, Notes and more.
Things aren’t just limited to software and apps. Some features, like the ability to use a Galaxy Tab as a second screen, keyboard and mouse sharing feature for tablets and other Galaxy devices, single sign-on, Bluetooth Sync, etc are also a part of the ecosystem.
This seems like just the beginning and we are expecting the company to offer more such integrations in the coming future.
It also provides users with a common ground to work on. For instance, if you are working on something on your Galaxy smartphone, switching to a Galaxy Book will be a lot easier and more familiar.
Imagine, you have connected your Galaxy Buds to your smartphone and it can seamlessly switch between devices linked to the same Samsung Account. Or transferring files and photos between devices with just a tap or a few clicks. This is going to get a lot easier.
Design, performance and more
Now, coming to the design part, the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 features a 2-in-1 design. It is light and slim, slimmer and lighter than the Apple MacBook Air. It features a 13.3-inch AMOLED touch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution. It supports HDR and S Pen, the same S Pen we get with Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S series tablets.
The display quality is top-notch. Brightness, viewing angles, colours, and contrast are to the point. Apart from that, Samsung has also provided the option to switch to different colour profiles depending upon the need. Which are something not many laptops offer these days.
The laptop carries a metal chassis that feels solid, rigid and durable. The hinge mechanism is also smooth and despite being a 2-in-1 thin and light device, we managed to open the hinge using just one finger.
Port selection is decent, it has got three USB Type-C ports, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card reader.
Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 carries an FHD webcam backed with Samsung’s advanced features like auto framing, background blur and noise cancellation and more.
The keyboard and trackpad are responsive and as per our initial impressions, they have the potential to become one of the best on Windows laptops. But, we will talk more about them in our full review.
Moving to performance, the laptop is powered by a 12th-generation Intel Evo Core i7 chipset with Intel Xe graphics. The laptop is paired with 16GB LDDR5 and 512GB storage. In our initial test, the laptop performed really well. No notable lag, stutter or delay while moving between the apps and browsers.
The initial impressions
The Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 price starts at Rs 1,15,999. The asking price isn’t much for the kind of features and performance it offers. The convertible isn’t just a laptop, it seems that Samsung has given a lot of thought process behind the design, features and functionality of the laptop. For instance, it is a touchscreen laptop with DCI-P3 certified display and S Pen support that makes it a good choice for content creators and designers.
At the same time, it comes with a powerful processor and thermal management that as of now has worked well for us to offer an all-around performance.
Overall, the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 looks like a promising device. We will talk about the features and performance of the laptop in our in-depth review.