Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra review

Trade in Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra

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The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, starting at $2,399, represents the company’s largest laptop and enters the arena to challenge the latest MacBook Pro 16-inch. With its 16-inch OLED display, Intel Core Ultra CPU, and Nvidia RTX 40-series GPU, Samsung’s notebook means business.

This model is an updated iteration of last year’s Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, which marked Samsung’s debut in the “Ultra” category. With its robust specifications and premium price tag, this laptop targets power users, including video editors or avid gamers — or perhaps both. Beyond its impressive power, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra boasts a vibrant 16-inch 3K OLED screen, perfectly suited for demanding tasks.

Overall, there’s little to fault in this laptop, given its extensive feature set. The only potential drawback — or advantage, depending on perspective — lies in its pre-loaded Samsung software. While existing Samsung ecosystem users may appreciate the seamless integration with other Samsung devices like the Galaxy S24 phone line, those less invested in the Samsung ecosystem might view the pre-installed apps as unnecessary bloatware.

For those seeking a high-performance Windows laptop with a stunning display, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra stands out as one of the best options available. While its price tag may be steep, the combination of power and visual excellence makes it a compelling choice. Dive into my comprehensive review for more insights.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 4 ULTRA REVIEW: CHEAT SHEET

•  What is it? A 16-inch Windows laptop featuring an Intel Core Ultra CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPU
• Who is it for? For power users who need a laptop that can handle heavy workloads and is also great for gaming
• What does it cost? The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra starts at $2,399 on Samsung’s website. It’s currently discounted to $1,999 but that price might not last
• What do we like? Its lightweight design and powerful performance
• What don’t we like? Samsung apps aren’t great if you aren’t invested in Samsung’s Galaxy ecosystem

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 4 ULTRA REVIEW: SPECS

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 4 ULTRA REVIEW: THE UPS

The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra boasts numerous appealing features. Its slim and lightweight build enhances its portability, making it an excellent choice for travelers. Combined with its outstanding performance, stunning OLED display, and impressive battery life, this laptop stands out as one of the top models I’ve assessed this year. Samsung has effectively captured the essence of what makes Windows laptops exceptional.

Lightweight design

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Despite its size, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra maintains a sleek and manageable profile. Measuring at 13.9 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches and weighing 4.1 pounds, it strikes a balance between being sizable and portable. This makes it an ideal travel companion, fitting easily into a backpack without adding much bulk. Its well-distributed weight ensures that carrying it around the home or office is not overly cumbersome, although I recommend handling it with two hands for added security.

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Samsung opted to maintain the same design aesthetic as the previous model, and it’s a decision that pays off. The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra retains its sophisticated charm with a graphite finish, a precision-engineered aluminum chassis, and a slender profile. Not only does the chassis exude a premium feel, but it also offers robust durability. Opening the laptop lid with just one hand is effortless, thanks to its well-balanced design, and the hinge operates smoothly, providing a seamless user experience.

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The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra boasts a commendable array of ports, catering to various connectivity needs. It features two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, a USB-A port, an SD card slot, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The inclusion of an HDMI port is particularly noteworthy, offering convenience for connecting to external displays or projectors. Additionally, having a USB-A port ensures compatibility with legacy devices, adding versatility to the laptop’s connectivity options.

Striking OLED display

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The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra’s 16-inch 3K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED display is truly impressive. It delivers sharp, vibrant, and well-balanced colors without appearing oversaturated. Details are rendered with exceptional clarity, enhanced further by the smooth motion provided by the 120Hz refresh rate.

The display’s ability to make colors pop is particularly striking, especially evident when viewing HDR content such as the latest Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer. Dynamic and visually intense games like Doom Eternal and Cyberpunk 2077 also benefit greatly from the display’s excellent color reproduction and the stark contrast between light and dark elements.

Our lab tests corroborate my personal observations. The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra’s display achieves impressive levels of brightness when rendering both SDR and HDR content. Additionally, its color reproduction and accuracy are commendable. While it’s true that some laptops may boast brighter and more vivid screens, the OLED technology employed in this device ensures that visuals appear stunning. Overall, it’s unlikely that most users will find any shortcomings in the display quality of the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra.

Strong RTX performance

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Our review unit of the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. With this formidable hardware configuration, the laptop is well-equipped to tackle a wide range of demanding tasks, such as video editing and gaming. Moreover, it effortlessly handles everyday computing tasks with ease.

The primary competitor of the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch. Both devices are premium laptops catering to video programmers and gamers, sharing similar dimensions and starting configurations within the same price range. Priced at $2,399, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is $100 cheaper than its Apple counterpart.

While we haven’t yet reviewed the base model of the MacBook Pro 16-inch, we’ll draw comparisons with the recently reviewed 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro. Although the M3 Pro chip in the 14-inch model has lower CPU and GPU core counts compared to the processor in the 16-inch model, even this smaller MacBook Pro outperformed the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra across all CPU tests, providing insight into how Samsung’s laptop stacks up against its direct competitor.

Although not explicitly marketed as a gaming laptop, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra delivers excellent performance with the best PC games at medium settings and 1080p resolution. In our tests, Doom Eternal achieved frame rates between 35 and 44 frames per second, while enabling Nvidia DLSS boosted the performance to between 45 and 66 fps. Cyberpunk 2077 maintained frame rates in the low 30s, but activating the frame-boosting Intel XeSS option elevated the performance to the high 50s.

Roomy keyboard

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I was a big fan of the previous model’s keyboard, so it’s no surprise that I’m equally impressed with the keyboard on the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra. This is quite significant coming from someone who typically favors the tactile feel of the best mechanical keyboards over the membrane keyboards commonly found on laptops. Typing on Samsung’s notebook is an absolute pleasure, even for someone as discerning about keyboards as myself.

The keys are suitably thick and offer ample travel distance, accompanied by a satisfying click when pressed. With the spacious keyboard deck, my hands never felt cramped, even during extended writing sessions.

Similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra boasts one of the largest touchpads I’ve encountered. The smooth and precise touchpad consistently registers my gestures, and despite its size, I never accidentally activated it while typing. While I still prefer using one of the best wireless mice over a touchpad, this one is undeniably impressive.

Incredible battery life

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Here at Tom’s Guide, we consider 10 hours of battery life to be good for a Windows laptop in today’s market, with 12 hours being exceptional. Over the years, I’ve noticed that battery life tends to decrease with refreshed Windows laptop models, so I was concerned that the same might hold true for the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, given that its predecessor managed 10 hours.

Fortunately, not only did Samsung’s laptop outperform the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, but it even surpassed many contemporary Windows notebooks in terms of battery life.

During the Tom’s Guide battery test, where we conduct continuous web surfing at 150 nits of brightness, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra showed outstanding endurance, lasting for an impressive 13 hours and 19 minutes. While this falls short by four hours compared to the MacBook Pro M3 Pro we reviewed, achieving nearly 13 and a half hours of battery life is remarkable for a Windows laptop.

It’s worth noting that if you intend to engage in gaming on the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, battery life takes a significant hit, dropping to 2 hours and 27 minutes during the PCMark 10 gaming battery test. However, this still provides about an hour more battery life than what we typically see in top-tier gaming laptops.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 4 ULTRA REVIEW: THE DOWNS

I struggled to identify any shortcomings with the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra. It excels as a Windows laptop in nearly every aspect. However, there is one aspect that some may perceive as a drawback, although it could be seen as advantageous for fans of the Samsung ecosystem.

Samsung bloatware

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The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra comes with a range of preinstalled Samsung apps and features, including connectivity tools like Samsung Multi Control, which enables control of your Galaxy smartphone using the laptop’s keyboard and touchpad.

For those deeply integrated into the Samsung ecosystem with multiple Samsung devices, these applications and features could prove useful. However, for the majority of users, myself included, these apps are essentially bloatware. Fortunately, most of these apps can be disregarded, although periodic update prompts may occur.

While the presence of these apps doesn’t render the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra unusable, it does contribute to a sense of unnecessary clutter and potential inconvenience when uninstalling them.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 4 ULTRA REVIEW: VERDICT

The new Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra continues the tradition of its predecessor by offering powerful performance capable of handling a wide range of tasks, from everyday work to video editing and high-end gaming. Coupled with its vibrant OLED display and slim, lightweight design, it’s a versatile companion for on-the-go productivity. Plus, its exceptional battery life for a Windows 11 laptop adds to its appeal.

While the MacBook Pro 16-inch with an M3 Pro chip may outperform the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra in terms of overall performance and battery life, Samsung’s laptop shines for gamers seeking access to a wide range of Windows games. Additionally, the inclusion of a USB-A port for legacy devices sets it apart from the MacBook Pro.

Even for those uninterested in Samsung’s proprietary apps and features, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra stands out as a top choice for anyone in search of a powerhouse Windows 11 laptop. With its impressive capabilities, it certainly lives up to its “Ultra” designation.

Source: Tom’s Guide