Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro review: Perfecting the pros!

I board the Metro to head home and find myself checking my backpack again and again. I haven’t exactly forgotten anything, but it definitely feels like it. What I’m checking for specifically is the Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro in my bag. And, it’s mostly because at 1.2 kgs it feels like I’m carrying nothing in my backpack. Thank heavens, it’s sitting pretty right there till I reach home and use it again to write this review.

Elegant in its Moonstone Grey finish, the laptop has been a breeze to carry around and use no matter where I am. It’s merely 11.6mm at its thickest. It sports a lovely 14-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, where I sneak in a few re-runs of Monk, the iconic detective comedy-drama, where Tony Shalhoub plays the quirky, compulsive titular private detective. Visuals and sharp and vivid on the display which offers a resolution of 2880×1800 ppi. Colour accuracy is great as are the brightness levels which keep me consistently happy at around 50 percent brightness across workstations - office, home, planes, trains, and automobiles - without any issues. While watching content with light sources behind me as well, I notice that the reflection or glare on the display is pretty minimal. The only niggle I have with the multimedia experience is I’d expect a punchier set of speakers from a premium device. The laptop features AKG Quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, which delivers sound that’s loud and sharp. I’d have liked a little more depth to the acoustic, be it with movies or music.

The display is also a touchscreen which means navigation across the interface is easy. The system by default offers a dynamic switch between 60 Hz or 120 Hz refresh rates depending on the content and the need to preserve the battery. I can however manually choose just one as well.

Productivity

Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

The keys on the Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro were nicely spaced, but honestly, I prefer a little more of a depression on each key. Key travel and snapback were satisfactory. There’s a medium-sized trackpad, super smooth and responsive, but the clicks on it were a bit too loud for my liking. The keyboard is backlit, with four levels of varying brightness. The top right button with no logo, is the power button which doubles up as a fingerprint scanner.

Tech Specs

Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

The Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro unit I reviewed had the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H under the hood, along with 32 GB RAM and 1 TB storage. Needless to say with top-of-the-line specs, multitasking on the system was a breeze. The laptop also never heated up, and I heard the fan whir maybe once or twice in my two weeks of usage.

Connectivity

Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

In terms of connectivity, there are two Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 on the right, along with an HDMI port. On the left, there’s a headphone jack, one USB 3.2 port, and a micro SD card slot.

The webcam doubles up as a snappy little face recognition tool for logging in. Turning my video on during meetings I notice the webcam favours warmer colours, delivering pleasing visuals, especially with the right lighting. When I had a light source behind me, and sometimes even only to the side, it ended up overcompensating for exposure delivering more grainy visuals. If you have the right setup, with light focused on you, you’ll get some lovely results.

Battery

The battery life is definitely one of the highlights of the Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro. On a full charge of the 63Wh battery, the laptop kept me company for two working days. My usage involves reading, writing, editing, and responding to emails, with music streaming whether on Spotify or YouTube over a cumulative 6-7 hours a day. The battery drain is very measured and although I didn’t carry a charge most of the days, I was never worried about it dying on me. There’s a 65 W charger which takes about a little more than an hour to charge the laptop fully.

Verdict

The Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro does right by its tag of a premium laptop experience. A vivid, smooth touchscreen, great battery life, and seamless performance packed in a superlightweight form factor are hard to not be wooed by. A slightly better audio experience and a quieter trackpad click would have really left me with absolutely no complaints. However, those are small niggles that do not take away from the fact that as far as Windows laptops go, this is one of the best that money can buy, this year!

Price: ₹1,31,990 onwards

Pros: Super lightweight, premium build, vivid display, smooth touchscreen.

Cons: Audio could have been better, loud clicks on the trackpad.