Samsung Made the Galaxy Book 2 Lineup Feel More Pro
Microsoft, Intel and Samsung team up to bring faster performance and pro-level security to Samsung's new flagship Galaxy laptops.
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Samsung's Galaxy expanded Sunday as the electronics giant announced the new Galaxy Book 2 Pro laptop and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 two-in-one at Mobile World Congress, along with a non-Pro Galaxy Book 350 and the Galaxy Book 2 Business. The new models come on the heels of the Galaxy S22 phones and Galaxy Tab S8 tablets announced at its Unpacked event earlier in February. Along with improved connected experiences between all of the new Galaxy devices, Samsung made some interesting updates inside to make these feel more Pro than last year's models.
Like the first-gen Galaxy Book Pro laptops, Samsung worked with Intel and Microsoft to not only deliver a great mobile experience but to make them work seamlessly with other Galaxy devices and software. For example, the laptops can automatically connect to your Galaxy Buds, use your Galaxy Tab S7 or S8 as a wireless secondary display and it can run mobile apps from your Galaxy phone.
For the updated laptops, you get things like single sign-on with your Galaxy account to access apps, settings and content across your devices. The Microsoft Your Phone app will now let you see the last apps you used on your phone, so you can easily switch from working on your phone to the laptop. My two favorite additions, though, are Private Share, which lets you share files with timed links and the ability to revoke access to files, and Samsung Multi Control, so you can use the laptop's keyboard and touchpad to type and navigate on a Galaxy Tab S8 tablet.
The Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 will come in 13.3- and 15.6-inch sizes.
Pro-level security for you and me
Many premium laptops offer a little extra security for your data but Samsung went above and beyond and made these the first consumer PCs to meet Microsoft's secured-core PC requirements out of the box. The hardware, firmware and software all work together so that when you start up the Galaxy Book 2 Pro everything is protected and stays that way while you use it. You'll be getting much the same level of protection as an enterprise business laptop. Samsung also used a match-on-chip fingerprint reader for stronger biometric security.
Both the Pro and Pro 360 (which has a touchscreen and 360-degree hinge) will be available in 13.3- and 15.6-inch sizes, and Samsung is sticking with 16:9 displays this time around, even while other PC makers are switching to taller 16:10 displays. They all have 1080p AMOLED panels (though the Pro 360s have Super AMOLED touchscreens) and Samsung bumped up the brightness to 500 nits, which is 33% brighter than the first-gen models. The Pro 360 two-in-ones are pen-enabled, too, and a Samsung S Pen is included with them.
The 15-inch Galaxy Book 2 Pro (right) will be available with Intel Arc discrete graphics.
All of the models will have 12th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, up to 32GB of memory and up to 1TB of SSD storage. If you want discrete graphics, Samsung will offer an Intel Arc option for the 15-inch Galaxy Book 2 Pro only. Larger vents and AI-driven cooling will hopefully keep these thin little laptops from overheating, too. Samsung says the laptops are capable of up to 21 hours of video playback on a single charge and can be refilled quickly with the included 65-watt USB-C charger.
One last important feature bump from last year: Samsung put in 1080p webcams with a wider-angle lens for an 87-degree field of view. Samsung's Studio Mode camera software now includes an auto-framing feature so you stay in the frame if you move around some as well as background effects including blur. The Galaxy Book 2 360 (non-Pro) keeps its lower-res webcam, however.
The Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 laptops will be available on April 1 but can be preordered on March 18. The Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 will start at $1,250 and come in burgundy, graphite and silver color options. The Galaxy Book 2 Pro will be available for $1,050 in graphite and silver. Those convert to approximately £935 and AU$1,730 for the Pro 360 and £785 and AU$1,460 for the Pro.
The non-Pro Galaxy Book 2 360, which has a single 13.3-inch screen option, will start at $900 when it arrives April 1. It also has a 12th-gen Intel processor, AMOLED display and support for an S Pen. The Business version, with a completely different 14-inch display and Intel vPro support, is coming sometime in the Spring, price TBD.