Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra review

Trade in Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra

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The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, starting at $2,199, marks Samsung’s entry into the Ultra laptop category, directly challenging Apple’s MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023). Boasting a 16-inch OLED display, an Intel 13th Gen Core CPU, and an Nvidia RTX 40-series GPU, Samsung positions this laptop as a contender in the premium notebook market.

Beyond comparisons with the MacBook Pro, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra impresses with its powerful specifications, making it suitable for demanding tasks like video editing and high-performance gaming. Its compatibility with Samsung phones and tablets adds value for users entrenched in the Samsung ecosystem.

But does the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra truly rival the MacBook Pro? And how does it stack up against other Windows 11 notebooks? Dive into our comprehensive review to uncover the answers.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: SPECS

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: PRICE AND CONFIGURATION

• Starts at $2,199 
• Packs current-gen Intel and Nvidia components

The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra represents the pinnacle of Samsung’s laptop lineup, boasting unparalleled performance and a corresponding premium price tag.

Starting at $2,199, the base model offers a 16-inch AMOLED display with Dynamic AMOLED 2X technology, boasting a 3K resolution (2,880 x 1,800), a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a 120Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, it features a formidable 13th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, accompanied by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage.

For those seeking the utmost in power and capacity, the top-tier configuration, priced at $2,999 (currently discounted to $2,399), elevates the experience with an Intel Core i9 processor, an Nvidia RTX 4070 laptop GPU, a generous 32GB of RAM, and a capacious 1TB of storage.

Our review unit, priced at $2,399 (or $1,799 with eligible trade-in), matches the base model’s specifications but offers the added benefit of 1TB of storage, providing ample space for storage-intensive tasks and multimedia consumption.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: DESIGN

• Thin and lightweight 
• Easy to open with one hand

With its Graphite finish and robust machined aluminum chassis, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra exudes a sleek and refined aesthetic, perfectly balancing functionality with style. Its understated design, punctuated only by the subtle Samsung logo on the lid, contributes to its overall elegance, making it an ideal companion for both professional endeavors and leisure activities.

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Measuring 13.9 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches and weighing just 3.9 pounds, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra offers remarkable portability without compromising on performance. Its slim profile and lightweight design make it effortless to carry around, whether for work or leisure. Surprisingly thinner than the MacBook Pro 16-inch 2023 and nearly a pound lighter, this laptop’s compactness is a testament to Samsung’s commitment to delivering powerful computing in a highly portable package.

Thanks to the lip on its lid, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra opens effortlessly with just one hand—a thoughtful detail that enhances user experience. The hinge strikes a perfect balance between rigidity and ease of movement, ensuring smooth operation without any creaking sounds. Throughout my testing period, the lid remained sturdy and silent, reflecting the laptop’s overall build quality and attention to detail.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: DISPLAY

• Huge 16-inch OLED display
• Bright and colorful

Featuring Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display technology, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra boasts a stunning 16-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. This display technology, reminiscent of the gorgeous AMOLED screens found in Samsung’s flagship smartphones like the Galaxy S23, delivers an exceptional visual experience. Everything displayed on the 16-inch screen looks phenomenal, thanks to its vibrant colors, deep blacks, and smooth motion rendering.

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I found the visual experience on the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra to be truly captivating. Whether watching the latest trailers or playing immersive video games, the vivid colors and contrast between light and dark scenes were striking. In the Mandalorian season 3 trailer, the colors popped, and the subtle details in both bright and dark scenes were impressive. Playing games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom Eternal was a delight, as the high graphical detail transported me into the worlds of Night City and the hellish landscapes with stunning realism. Even in Marvel’s Spider-Man, the authentic portrayal of New York City added to the immersive experience. Overall, whether for entertainment or gaming, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra’s display won’t disappoint.

In our extensive lab tests, we gained valuable insights into the capabilities of the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra’s display. Using our precise colorimeter, we discovered that the screen achieves an impressive 121.6% of the sRGB color gamut and 86.2% of the more demanding DCI-P3 color space. These figures surpass those of the MacBook Pro 16-inch, which achieved 118.2% and 83.7% on similar tests. Although the Dell XPS 15 OLED slightly outperformed the Book 3 Ultra in color gamut coverage, our Samsung notebook excelled in color accuracy, scoring an impressive 0.15 in the Delta-E color accuracy test compared to Apple’s 0.21.

Regarding brightness, Samsung claims the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra can reach 400 nits. Our light meter recorded an average brightness of 378 nits, which closely aligns with the advertised specifications. In HDR content, the display showcased even greater brightness, hitting 519 nits when displaying HDR content on 10% of the screen and maintaining 509 nits for the entire display area.

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The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra’s display certainly boasts commendable brightness levels. However, it’s eclipsed by the MacBook Pro 16-inch in terms of sheer luminance. In our rigorous testing, Apple’s laptop reached remarkable peaks of 1,478 nits of brightness when showcasing HDR content on 10% of the display and 1,063 nits for the entire screen, even surpassing 446 nits in non-HDR scenarios.

Despite the MacBook Pro 16-inch’s superior brightness, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra’s screen remains highly appealing for various tasks such as work and multimedia consumption.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD

• Roomy keyboard
• Responsive touchpad

The expansive size of this laptop is matched by its generously proportioned keyboard. With ample space between keys, even individuals with large hands like myself will find it comfortable to navigate and type on this broad layout.

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While I typically prefer using a standalone keyboard and mouse with my laptop, I was pleasantly surprised by the membrane keys on this device. They provided a satisfying tactile feedback and offered decent resistance, contributing to a typing experience that was nearly as fluid as using a full-size keyboard.

Moreover, the touchpad on this laptop is impressively large – one of the largest I’ve encountered. Its expansive size ensured that I never missed it when swiping, and despite its dimensions, I never accidentally brushed against it. The touchpad felt smooth to the touch and responded seamlessly to all my swipes and gestures, making it a reliable input method even for someone accustomed to using a traditional mouse.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: PORTS

• Plenty of ports
• Includes HDMI and USB-A ports

The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra offers a robust selection of ports, catering to a wide range of usage scenarios including work, gaming, and creative projects.

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You’ll find a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports and an HDMI port on the left side. The right side has a headphone jack, a USB-A port and a microSD card slot.

The inclusion of an HDMI port is useful if you want to connect to an external monitor. Given the aforementioned specs in this laptop, it could potentially be a desktop replacement — especially for those who may have an older desktop. And of course, the ability to use an external monitor when gaming is something that’s appreciated.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: GAMING PERFORMANCE

• Phenomenal gaming performance
• Supports Nvidia DLSS 3

Indeed, the “Ultra” designation for the Galaxy Book 3 signifies more than just its physical dimensions; it represents the extraordinary performance capabilities packed within its sleek chassis. Despite its unassuming appearance, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra boasts formidable specifications that elevate it into the realm of high-performance computing, particularly in gaming.

Equipped with top-tier components such as the Intel 13th Gen Core processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics cards, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra delivers exceptional processing power and graphics performance. This potent hardware configuration enables smooth and immersive gaming experiences, allowing users to enjoy demanding titles with high frame rates and stunning visuals.

Furthermore, the laptop’s advanced thermal management ensures efficient heat dissipation, preventing thermal throttling and maintaining consistent performance during extended gaming sessions. Combined with its expansive display and immersive audio capabilities, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra offers a compelling gaming experience that rivals dedicated gaming laptops.

Overall, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra’s powerful specifications and gaming prowess make it a compelling choice for gamers seeking high-performance computing in a portable and versatile form factor.

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Our evaluation model is equipped with a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, an RTX 4050 laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, providing ample power to handle demanding games. Certain titles take advantage of DLSS 3 support, an upgraded version of Nvidia’s performance-boosting technology.

Doom Eternal performs exceptionally well on this laptop, maintaining frame rates between 115 fps and 119 fps during our testing. Marvel’s Spider-Man typically achieves frame rates in the 50s with DLSS enabled, dropping to the mid-40s during combat encounters. Cyberpunk 2077, when set to medium settings, runs at close to 60 fps but may drop to the low 40s during more demanding environmental scenes.

In our lab tests, we ran benchmarks on several titles. At 1080p resolution, games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Grand Theft Auto V, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider all maintained around 55 frames per second. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI achieved an impressive 94 fps at 1080p. While the latter sustained a high frame rate at 1880p resolution (91 fps), the others struggled to reach 30 fps at the higher resolution.

These performance metrics align closely with those of dedicated gaming laptops, such as the Alienware x14 and Asus Zephyrus G14, as illustrated in the table above.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: GENERAL PERFORMANCE

• Solid overall performance
• Great for video editing 

Given its exceptional gaming capabilities, it’s unsurprising that the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra excels as a productivity machine too.

In my experience using the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra for work and daily tasks, I found it to be just as swift as any productivity-focused laptop I’ve encountered. It remained unfazed even when I had numerous tabs open alongside streaming videos on YouTube.

On Geekbench 6, which evaluates CPU performance, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra achieved a single-core score of 2,270 and an impressive 12,405 score on the multi-core test. In comparison, the MacBook Pro 16-inch we reviewed, equipped with an M2 Max chip, scored 1,944 and 15,044 in single-core and multi-core performance (respectively) on Geekbench 6.

The Dell XPS 15 OLED, which we benchmarked using Geekbench 5.4, features a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU and an RTX 3050 Ti GPU. It scored 1,757 on the single-core test and 11,258 on the multi-core test.

When processing video using the Handbrake app, Samsung’s laptop transcoded a 6.5GB 4K video to 1080p in 5 minutes and 26 seconds. The M2 Max-powered MacBook Pro 16-inch completed the same task in 4 minutes and 3 seconds.

On the XPS 15 OLED, it took 5 minutes and 42 seconds to transcode a video using Handbrake. Despite being an older system, its performance isn’t far behind that of the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: WEBCAM

• Sharp 1080p webcam
• Good color accuracy 

The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has a Full HD (1080p) webcam that delivers good image quality for video calls.

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The photo above was taken in my apartment. The camera faithfully captures my skin tone and the colors of the shirt I’m wearing. The white walls appear true to life, and you can even notice the subtle light from a lamp off-camera. Overall, the webcam’s quality is impressive.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: AUDIO

• Crisp and clear audio quality
• Loud quad speakers 

The quad speakers on the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra deliver solid audio overall. Mids and highs are clear, even at maximum volume. While the bass might not be as robust as on some other laptops, it’s not completely absent.

I found listening to podcasts like Brandon Sanderson’s “Intentionally Blank” and MKBHD’s Waveform Podcast to be enjoyable, with the speakers handling conversation-focused content well. When it comes to music, they perform decently too. While tracks like Judas Priest’s “Painkiller” may lack some bass depth, the vocals and guitars still sound impressive.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: FEATURES

• Multi Control pairs laptop with Samsung phones and tablets
• Samsung apps come pre-installed 

Galaxy Book 3 laptops come with the updated Samsung Multi Control feature, allowing seamless control of your Galaxy smartphone using the laptop’s keyboard and touchpad. This feature facilitates tasks like copying, pasting, and dragging files between devices. Additionally, the Second Screen feature enables Galaxy tablets to function as an additional monitor, expanding your workspace. For a detailed evaluation of these features, you can refer to our Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 review.

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Beyond Multi Control, there are additional connectivity options available. For instance, with the Microsoft Phone Link App, you can receive calls and texts from your phone directly on your laptop. Moreover, this app enables access to Android apps installed on your mobile device right from your laptop.

Similar to top-tier Samsung phones, this laptop comes pre-installed with numerous Samsung applications. While many of these apps may go unnoticed, there are several useful ones like Multi Control, particularly beneficial for users deeply integrated into the Samsung ecosystem.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: BATTERY LIFE AND HEAT

• 10-hour battery life
• Can get uncomfortably hot 

The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra demonstrates decent battery life in our testing. On the Tom’s Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness, it lasted for 10 hours and 1 minute at 60Hz. However, when we ran the test with the display at 120Hz, battery life was only 8 hours and 48 minutes. The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra’s average battery performance is comparable to that of the Dell XPS 15 OLED, which lasted for 10 hours and 5 minutes during the same test.

While ten hours of battery life is respectable, it falls short compared to the new MacBook Pros. In the same test, the MacBook Pro 14-inch achieved an impressive 14 hours and 2 minutes of battery life. The MacBook Pro 16-inch sets the bar even higher as the longest-lasting laptop we’ve reviewed, boasting a staggering 18 hours and 56 minutes of battery life. In comparison, Samsung’s laptop doesn’t quite match up in terms of endurance.

During our standard heat test, where we run a heat gun over a device after streaming 15 minutes of full HD video, we found the hottest point on the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra to be on the rear center underside, peaking at 99.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

Typically, temperatures exceeding 95 degrees are considered uncomfortable. Given that the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra surpasses this threshold, it might be advisable to use the laptop on a desk to avoid discomfort.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK 3 ULTRA REVIEW: VERDICT

The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra stands out as a formidable laptop, excelling in everyday computing tasks, video editing, and high-end gaming. Its stunning OLED display enhances the viewing experience, making it a top choice for entertainment and productivity. However, its integration with Samsung devices may limit its appeal to those outside the Samsung ecosystem.

Compared to its primary rival, the MacBook Pro 16-inch, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra boasts a lighter build, a full-size USB port, and a vibrant OLED display, albeit with slightly lower brightness. Gamers will appreciate its Nvidia GTX 4050 GPU and compatibility with the Windows ecosystem. However, the MacBook Pro offers superior battery life and video editing performance.

While not necessarily dethroning the MacBook Pro, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra shines as an exceptional 16-inch Windows laptop, earning its “Ultra” designation with its impressive features and performance.

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Source: Tom's Guide