Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 16-inch Review: Sleekness Personified

We recently reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 14-inch and were impressed with what it brought to the table. While I didn’t have the opportunity to try out the 14-inch model myself, I recently got my hands on its bigger and pricier 16-inch sibling. Needless to say, the laptop draws a lot of parallels to the smaller variant. That said, the 16-inch model does set itself apart in a couple of aspects. To know more, read on. 

Design and Display

The Galaxy Book4 Pro’s 16-inch model looks identical to the 14-inch variant, save for the taller and wider frame. It draws inspiration from Apple’s Macbooks, and one could easily confuse one for the other. Regardless, the laptop has been elegantly designed and features a metal body and an extremely slim girth measuring 0.49 inches. I quite like the unit’s grey colourway, although some of my peers pointed out that it looks dull / muted. Be that as it may, the laptop’s matte finish ensures the frame doesn’t pick up too many fingerprints. 

My only real qualm with the machine is that it feels delicate. The chassis creaks when you pick up the laptop from its edges or when it is subjected to pressure from either side. All in all, the laptop doesn’t inspire the same confidence in me as, say, the similarly priced HP Spectre x360 16-inch. On the upside, the Samsung device is much lighter and tips the scales at just 1.56kg.

Moving on, the laptop’s 16-inch display is the same as the one on the smaller model too. To recap, the Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen offers a peak HDR brightness of 500 nits and packs in 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. The panel refreshes at up to 120Hz and covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. 

Going by the specs, you’d be wise to assume that the laptop’s screen is excellent for watching movies and TV shows. The screen enhanced my viewing experience tenfold, and any show or movie I watched on it just appeared nicer. The screen exhibits colours faithfully, too. Coupled with its accommodating size, the laptop will serve creatives well. 

The 120Hz display also helps to smooth out visuals when playing games like Hades and Hollow Knight, which run well on the machine. The bezels around the panel are not too distracting, and while the screen doesn’t flip all the way back, it is a touchscreen panel. This means you can tap the display instead of using the trackpad if you prefer. 

Speaking of which, the laptop’s screen wobbles when you interact with it. Additionally, the glossy screen picks up fingerprints, too. So, while I admire the added functionality, I stuck with the laptop’s trackpad for general browsing.

Keyboard, Trackpad and I/O

One of the most significant differences between the 14-inch and the 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Pro is the keyboard deck. The 16-inch model has a Numpad, which should be handy if you dabble with Excel. Besides that, the deck provided a spacious layout, ensuring my fingers had enough space. The keys offer clicky feedback and support three levels of backlit with varying intensities, so you can comfortably work at night without straining your eyes. 

The laptop also gets a super-sized trackpad. It is off-centre but offers a smooth surface and supports multi-finger gestures. The 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Pro also provides the same number of ports as the 14-inch variant and features two Thunderbolt 4 connectors and an HDMI 2.1 slot on its left-hand spine. 

Towards the right, the laptop has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm combo jack. I would’ve liked it if the laptop shipped with one more Type-A port, but the selection isn’t scarce by any means. The Galaxy Book4 Pro also gets a serviceable 1080p webcam that supports Windows Studio effects like auto-framing and background blur. 

These features are enabled by the laptop’s dedicated NPU and work quite well. However, the webcam’s picture output is not as sharp as that of the Spectre x360’s 9MP shooter. Additionally, the webcam doesn’t come with an IR camera. Thankfully, the laptop features a snappy fingerprint sensor embedded within the power button, which should help you quickly access your home screen. 

Performance and Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 16-inch is a beastly machine. The laptop features Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H processor with six performance, eight efficient, and two LPE cores. The CPU gets a powerful Arc integrated GPU and a dedicated NPU, which handles the bulk of AI workloads. My review unit comes with 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM clocked at 7,467MHz and a 1TB NVMe SSD. 

To no one’s surprise, the laptop performs similarly to the 14-inch variant we tested a while back. Moreover, the unit’s performance is comparable to that of competing premium notebooks with a Core Ultra 7 155H processor. While it did bench slightly lower than the HP Spectre x360 in almost every benchmark, the difference in the scores wasn’t night and day. If you ask me, the laptop’s sleeker-than-normal chassis could explain the disparity.

Regardless, the Galaxy Book4 Pro didn’t dissatisfy me with its day-to-day performance. I primarily use web-based applications and some project management tools, including Slack, Asana, and Basecamp. The device could comfortably multitask between the lot and didn’t slow down once during my stint with it. As someone who maintains Excel sheets and keys in numbers every day, I greatly appreciated the laptop’s dedicated Numpad, too. 

 

Of course, Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H chipset, which powers the laptop, is designed for more strenuous workloads. The unit comes with a dedicated NPU that can greatly assist people with a penchant for creativity. Those using Audacity, for instance, can leverage the OpenVINO AI plug-ins to create a tune with keywords or separate the vocals from the instruments in a soundtrack with Music Separation. Similarly, those utilising Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite can also task the NPU with AI features like Auto Reframe. Doing so will take some load off the CPU and GPU, thereby bettering the laptop’s battery backup. 

 

The integrated Arc GPU deserves a mention, too. While not as powerful as a dedicated GPU, it can run platformers, eSports games like Valorant and older AAA titles like GTA 5. Do note that you may have to lower the graphics settings for some games. Hades, for instance, nets over 130FPS at 2.8K resolution. Valorant also overturns around 150FPS with High graphics presets and at the laptop’s native resolution. More demanding titles like GTA 5 net 35FPS at 2.8K resolution and over 60FPS at 1200P. You could stress the GPU with newer AAA games like NFS Unbound, but I wouldn’t recommend it as the game will barely hit the 30FPS mark.

The device can also get quite toasty under load. In fact, when playing games or running benchmarks, many of the P-cores tipped over 90 degrees.

Much to my surprise, the laptop’s 76Whr battery lasted less than the Galaxy Book4 Pro 14-inch’s 56WHr battery in the PCMark 10 Battery (Modern Office) test. That said, I was quite happy with the unit’s backup, and could comfortably use the laptop for around six hours at a stretch. 

Verdict 

The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro is a premium laptop, and it is priced as such. My review unit retails for Rs 1,89,990. For the price, the laptop brings good performance, a razor-thin design and a gorgeous display to the mix. That said, it faces tough competition from HP’s Spectre x360, which offers slightly better performance and thermals under load, along with a superior webcam and top-firing speakers, making it my preferred choice between the two. 

There’s a case to be made for the Galaxy Book4 Pro, too, which is much lighter, has the same number of ports and even features a full-sized Numpad. If these aspects are important to you, the Galaxy Book4 Pro is worth close consideration. 

Editor’s Rating: 7.5 / 10

Pros:

• Sleek and elegant design
• Spacious keyboard deck with a dedicated Numpad
• Good performance 
• Good battery life
• Stunning AMOLED display

Cons:

• Can get warm to the touch
• Chassis feels fragile 
• Webcam quality could’ve been better

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