Samsung’s new Galaxy Books include 11th Gen Intel chips and 5G
Samsung has announced three new additions to its Galaxy Book line: the Galaxy Book, the Galaxy Book Odyssey, and the Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G. While none of the models have features that will knock your socks off, they seem like a natural progression of Samsung’s recent efforts to bring the Galaxy Book line out of the enthusiast space and into the mainstream.
The most accessible offering looks to be the regular 15.6-inch Galaxy Book. This is the only one of the three that’s available now; the other two products hit shelves November 11th. I’m currently seeing a $749.99 model at Best Buy that includes a Core i5-1165G7, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, as well as a Core i7-1165G7/16GB/ 512GB configuration for $999.99. Those seem like reasonable prices to pay for these specs, assuming that the build, keyboard, screen, and other various features are adequate. Given the high quality we tend to see from the Galaxy Book line (particularly when it comes to displays), I’m optimistic there.
In addition to its price point, the Galaxy Book’s primary calling card seems to be that it’s fairly portable at just 0.61 inches thick (though Samsung hasn’t provided the weight yet). It also has an attractive port selection that includes a nano-SIM and a microSD slot, as well as two USB-C, a USB-A, and an audio jack.
Up a few tiers in price is the $1,399 15.6-inch Galaxy Book Odyssey. This is more of a workstation device, configurable with Intel’s H-Series processors as well as Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3050 Ti. At $1,399, it’s certainly a good price for a workstation, though the 3050 Ti is a fairly midrange GPU, and we haven’t been blown away by the results it’s delivered in more expensive systems.
Also starting at $1,399 is the 13.3-inch Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G. It’s worth noting that the non-5G version of this device starts at $1,009.99, so while we haven’t seen the specs of the base 5G model yet, it seems likely you’ll be paying a significant premium for the extra connectivity.
That said, the 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro impressed when we reviewed it earlier this year. It has a standout screen (which is par for the course in Samsung devices) and excellent battery life. It also ships with Samsung’s S Pen for drawing and note taking, though there’s not a garage to store it in.
These all seem refreshingly affordable for their specs, but the Galaxy Book is what I’m most excited about. Its $749 tag is competitive pricing for a line with a history of excellent build quality and gorgeous panels. The ultimate verdict, of course, will depend on how well it ends up performing (and Samsung hasn’t provided the battery size yet). But given how long the Galaxy Book line has been confined to the Samsung-enthusiast space, it’s nice to see it expanding further into the midrange market.
Samsung has announced three new additions to its Galaxy Book line: the Galaxy Book, the Galaxy Book Odyssey, and the Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G. While none of the models have features that will knock your socks off, they seem like a natural progression of Samsung’s recent efforts to bring…
