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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom the Tech Chap and after months of lockdown, I've finally been let
00:04out of the house and I'm in London with Samsung having a play with their brand new
00:08Galaxy Books.
00:10Now according to Samsung's marketing, these are not laptops, oh no, these are Galaxy Books.
00:16There's a big difference, apparently.
00:18It kind of reminds me of Apple's silly What's a Computer commercials for the iPad.
00:23Of course these are laptops, but the idea is they're designed to be portable and always
00:27connected.
00:28They have the latest Wi-Fi 6E and also LTE support, plus they work seamlessly with other
00:33Samsung devices.
00:35So here they are, the three new laptops.
00:38On the left we have the standard Galaxy Book, in the middle we have the Pro, and then on
00:41the right we have the Pro 360, which as you can probably guess is a 2-in-1, and actually
00:47it is the only laptop with a touchscreen and support for the S Pen.
00:51But of the three, it's the Pro that I've really got my eye on.
00:55This is the 15-inch version, but there's also going to be a 13, and it's kind of like
00:58the MacBook Air slash Pro meets the LG Gram.
01:02The first thing you'll notice is just how thin and light this is, and it's all thanks
01:06to the aluminium-magnesium body.
01:08And even on the bigger 15-inch model I have here, we're talking about just 11.7mm thick
01:14and it weighs just 1.05kg, or 2.3 pounds.
01:19Even next to the standard Galaxy Book, the Pro is a good deal sleeker, and the first
01:23time you pick it up it genuinely feels like they've forgotten to put the battery in or
01:27something.
01:28Yet somehow they've still managed to squeeze in full-size USB 3.2s and an HDMI, along with
01:34Thunderbolt 4 and microSD ports.
01:37So it's just another thin and light laptop with a fancy design, right?
01:40Well yes, but the standout really is the AMOLED screen.
01:45And side by side with the standard Galaxy Book, with its regular LED LCD screen, you
01:49can really see the difference.
01:51Not only are we getting these flush glass bezels rather than the slightly protruding
01:55plastic ones, but the million-to-one contrast and the much wider viewing angles makes the
01:59screen really pop.
02:01We also get DisplayHDR 500, so you'll get at least 500 nits of brightness from this,
02:06and it covers 120% of the P3 colour gamut.
02:09And actually what you can do is switch between sRGB, AdobeRGB and P3 modes, which is useful
02:14if you're doing colour-sensitive work.
02:17Now on the inside, we have the latest Intel 11th Gen processors, either the i5 or i7,
02:22which of course comes with their Iris Xe integrated graphics.
02:26So it's a pretty standard affair for a 2021 thin and light laptop.
02:30There's no special Xe Max or, say, Nvidia MX450 chip here for any extra graphical grunt.
02:36But these are really all about being as mobile as possible.
02:39And to that end, as I say, we also get WiFi 6e and LTE, although sadly it's not 5G,
02:45unlike their own Galaxy Flex 2.
02:47Now sadly I wasn't able to run any proper tests or benchmarks as this was just a sort
02:51of pre-launch hands-on event, although make sure you stay tuned for my full review for
02:56all that good stuff.
02:57But as the Pro meets Intel's EVO spec, we can expect at least 9 hours of battery and
03:02solid performance.
03:03These will also come with a pocket-sized 65W charger that tops up over USB-C, so you can
03:08also charge your other tech with it, although I've been told a full charge of the Galaxy
03:12Book Pro takes two hours, so it's not especially quick.
03:16We're also now getting a much bigger precision touchpad and also what Samsung are calling
03:20a comfort-first keyboard, which sounds lovely.
03:24And basically the key spacing is a little bit wider, we get a scissor mechanism which
03:27makes it feel quite nice and responsive, and they've also built a fingerprint reader into
03:31the power button.
03:32Plus, as you can see, the bigger 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro gets this full numpad, which the
03:3713 doesn't.
03:38Now as you would expect, Samsung are keen to push just how seamlessly these Galaxy Books
03:43work with the rest of the Galaxy family.
03:45So you can actually use the Tab S7 or the S7 Plus as a second screen, whether it's extended
03:51or duplicated.
03:52Pairing their Galaxy Buds is as easy as just opening the lid, and while it's not yet activated,
03:57when these launch, we'll also have Quick Share, so you can send files and photos to and from
04:01your Samsung phone instantly.
04:04So far so good then, but of course it's all going to come down to the pricing, and actually
04:08it's pretty reasonable.
04:10The standard Galaxy Book, with its heftier and slightly less premium design, along with
04:14that regular LCD screen, starts from a not-too-eye-watering £699.
04:19The Galaxy Book Pro does jump up quite a bit though, starting at £1,099 for the 13-inch
04:25and £1,199 for the 15, with the Pro 360 costing an extra £100, starting at £1,199 here in
04:31the UK.
04:33So that puts the Galaxy Book Pro right in between the MacBook Air and the Pro.
04:37So is this actually a good alternative?
04:40Or if we're going with the more annoying YouTube clickbaity title, are these Galaxy
04:44Books a proper MacBook killer?
04:47Hmm.
04:48Well, I don't yet have one with me in the studio to do a side-by-side, but going off
04:53the specs and the price, while these don't have Apple's very impressive M1 chip, which
04:58is genuinely revolutionary stuff, the Galaxy Book Pro is thinner and lighter, plus we're
05:03getting an AMOLED screen, LTE, Thunderbolt 4, WiFi 6e.
05:08So until we see a refreshed MacBook Pro 14, perhaps, with maybe a mini-LED screen, in
05:14many ways the Galaxy Book Pro is a better laptop.
05:17So all three new Galaxy Books launch on May 14th, and first impressions are really positive.
05:23The Pro is definitely the standout for me though, but I will hold off on my final verdict
05:27for when I get them in for review and test them out properly.
05:30But which one of the three would you go for?
05:32And also, if you have any questions at all, let me know in the comments below.
05:35I always read every single one and I'll do my best to answer.
05:39Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and also give me a thumbs up if you enjoyed
05:42the video.
05:43It's always very much appreciated.
05:44And I'll see you guys next time, right here on the Tech Chat.
05:47Cheers for watching.