Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro review: a super thin slab with a glorious display | Tech Radar

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I loved the exquisite design of this Samsung's Mac Book air rival — and that’s not even the best thing about it

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The Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro ticks all the boxes for a high-end laptop. Like many of the brand’s products, its design oozes quality, and its super-thin profile is truly remarkable. Portability has been improved, although the considerable weight of the 16-inch model I tested marred this aspect somewhat. Performance is great, with even its graphical capabilities surprising me, given the integrated graphics. However, the star of the show is the wide 3K AMOLED display, which is as spectacular as you might imagine. Heavy keys and a lack of ports are a drawback, and the Book 6 Pro isn't exactly cheap — but it's a fierce contender in the premium space, nonetheless.

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The Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro is a laptop in the ultrabook class, featuring a sublime design that keeps bulk to a minimum.

I was immediately struck by the svelteness of the unit. The clean lines and rounded corners only add to its minimalist chic, as does the steely grey colorway.

It looks and feels every bit as premium as any of our current best laptops. All materials are smooth to the touch, while the metal base is solid. The metal lid isn’t quite as stable as those on some other laptops I've tested, but it’s perfectly sufficient for normal use, and the hinge operates very well.

The price you pay for such solidity, though, is that the Galaxy Book 6 Pro isn’t exactly light. I tested the 16-inch model, so I wasn’t expecting a featherweight unit, but it’s worth mentioning all the same. At least its thin profile makes it more portable than it otherwise would be.

The Book 6 Pro's all-round performance is excellent. It can handle all kinds of tasks without missing a beat, and I was also amazed by its gaming performance, despite the lack of dedicated GPU. It was able to run AAA titles at respectable graphical settings in perfectly playable states.

Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro (16-inch) (1TB SSD) at Best Buy for $1,899.99

Note that you can feel some heat on the keyboard, with fan noise apparent, even when the laptop is under moderate stress. Thankfully, the noise is relatively hushed, and not likely to cause much disruption.

However, it was the 16-inch 3K AMOLED display of my review unit that really caught the eye. It’s as bright, sharp, and rich as you could wish for, while touchscreen functionality is also great. Unlike the majority of laptops screens, the rounded corners of the frame here add to the display's appeal, while the super-thin bezel ensures that none of the copious real estate goes to waste.

The keys on the Galaxy Book 6 Pro are a little heavier than you might expect, which can lead to presses failing to register, at least in my experience. The layout is also a little cramped — and it’s a shame that on a laptop of this size, Samsung has chosen to omit a number pad and most navigation keys.

I have fewer complaints about the touchpad, though. Its large size and incredibly smooth surface make navigation a cinch. Also, it mostly avoids encroaching on wrist space when typing; only on a few brief occasions did I accidentally trigger cursor movement.

Battery life is adequate, if not spectacular. It lasted 14 hours in our movie playback test, which is under an hour of that achieved by the Asus Zenbook S 16 and the Apple Mac Book Air 15-inch (M4), but an hour more than the Dell 16 Plus.

The Galaxy Book 6 Pro is certainly a costly proposition, but when you consider all that it offers, its value becomes more apparent. It’s similarly priced to the aforementioned Zenbook, a close rival in many ways, and more expensive than the Dell 16 Plus. Nevertheless, it's difficult for either of these alternatives to surpass the sheer quality and glorious display of Samsung's super-slender machine.

US: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD UK: 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

US: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD UK: 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

16-inch 2,880 x 1,800 (WQXGA+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Anti-Reflective, touchscreen

16-inch 2,880 x 1,800 (WQXGA+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Anti-Reflective, touchscreen

16-inch 2,880 x 1,800 (WQXGA+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Anti-Reflective, touchscreen

16-inch 2,880 x 1,800 (WQXGA+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Anti-Reflective, touchscreen

2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 1 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 1 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro review: Price & availability

Pricing for the Galaxy Book 6 Pro starts from

The Galaxy Book 6 Pro is an expensive laptop, then — although this isn’t too surprising, given its design and spec. The base model is similarly in price to the Asus Zenbook S 16, which also features a 3K OLED display, but 24GB instead of 16GB of RAM.

However, if you're in the market for a large laptop that still offers plenty of quality for less, there’s the Dell 16 Plus. The base model is significantly cheaper than the Galaxy Book 6 Pro’s, but it still arrives with an Intel Core Ultra 7 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Its resolution is lower, but only slightly.

In line with many of Samsung’s mobile devices, the Galaxy Book 6 Pro is a sleek, premium-looking machine. The dark grey colorway is also very fetching and somehow adds more interest than your typical monochromatic designs.

Every contour is completely flat, while the corners, which are more rounded than most, give the design a softer appearance. Even the underside of the laptop is free of the fuss , with just four discreet rubber feet in each corner.

What's more, the Galaxy Book 6 Pro's build quality is exceptional. The all-metal chassis is supremely strong, and while the lid isn’t as stable as some other models when open, it stays put under normal usage. The hinge for it is satisfyingly smooth, too. The bezel around the display is incredibly thin, which is always great to see, but the lack of a physical privacy shutter for the webcam, not so much.

The keys are more solidly planted than those of other laptop keyboards, and they also feature backlighting — which, in my opinion, is pretty much an essential feature.

Best of all, though, is just how thin the Galaxy Book 6 Pro is. It’s reminiscent of the Mac Book Air M1, since it thins out towards the front end. Given my review unit was the 16-inch model, I wasn’t too surprised by its weighty feel, but this does somewhat negate the utility of that slender form when it comes to portability. Still, it certainly makes it easier to slide in and out of a bag.

3DMark: Night Raid: 46,524; Fire Strike: 13,987; Steel Nomad: 1,413; Solar Bay: 28,816; Solar Bay Unlimited: 29,056; Solar Bay Extreme: 4,270; Solar Bay Extreme Unlimited: 4,300 Geekbench 6.5: Multicore: 16,837; Single-core: 2,880 Cinebench R23: Multi Core: 16,250; Cinebench R24: Single Core: 121; Multi Core: 995 Crossmark: Overall: 2,125; Productivity: 1,906; Creativity: 2,567; Responsiveness: 1,670 Passmark Overall: 9,831.3; CPU: 36,603.9; 2D Graphics: 889.8; 3D Graphics: 9,241.2; Memory: 4,155.5; Disk: 43,906.2 Black Magic Disk: Read: 4,369MB/s; Write: 3,371MB/s Hand Brake 4K to 1080p: 85fps Total War: Warhammer III: 1080p, Medium: 76fps Total War: Warhammer III: 1800p, Ultra: 22fps Battery Life (Tech Radar movie test): 14 hours and 52 seconds

The general performance of the Galaxy Book 6 Pro is very good. It handles basic browsing and productivity tasks, as well as 4K streaming, with ease.

What surprised was just how well it handled games. Despite lacking a dedicated GPU, it managed to run Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ray Tracing: Ultra preset selected, without succumbing to disruptive slowdowns or stuttering. Intel’s Xe SS Super Resolution 2.0 (in Auto mode) and Frame Generation were both enabled during my sessions.

Of course, the Galaxy Book 6 Pro isn’t going to dethrone the best gaming laptops, and the keyboard layout can feel a little cramped when in the typical WSAD position; but it’s impressive, nonetheless.

Some heat was noticeable all over the keyboard during such intensive tasks, no doubt a corollary of that ultra-thin design — but, thankfully, the temperatures remained well within comfortable bounds. Some fan noise did become apparent, even under moderate workloads, but I didn’t find this too disturbing.

The AMOLED display is every bit as sumptuous as you'd expect it to be. The 3K resolution is satisfyingly crisp, while colors are vibrant and the contrast expectedly deep. The touchscreen functions well, too, responding quickly and accurately to my finger inputs.

I was also fond of the bezel's rounded corners, which soften the frame and make on-screen content appear neater somehow. It’s a small touch that I wish more laptop displays featured; the best Mac Books have it, but only in the top corners, not the bottom as well.

The keys are nicely damped, but still display relatively shallow travel. However, they’re heavier than others, which resulted in some of my presses failing to register, requiring more force than I’m accustomed to producing. This may be an adjustment you’ll need to make as well, if you’re someone with a light touch.

While the layout is comfortably spaced for typing, it’s a shame there’s no number pad and only a few navigation keys (Insert/ Prt Sc and Delete) on the Galaxy Book 6 Pro, given the 16-inch real estate of my unit.

The touchpad on the 16-inch model of the Book 6 Pro is large, which is great for navigation. Despite this, there's also enough room on the sides for resting your wrists while you type. There were times when the cursor moved as a result of my palms coming into contact with the pad, but this wasn’t frequent or long-lasting enough to cause a problem.

The Galaxy Book 6 Pro offers an average battery life. When I ran a movie on a continuous loop, it lasted 14 hours. This is well below Samsung's claimed figure of up to 30 hours. However, it's only an hour less than what the Asus Zenbook S 16 and the Apple Mac Book Air 15-inch (M4) managed.

However, it lasted over an hour more than the Dell 16 Plus. It's also quick to charge, taking about two hours to go from empty to full.

Super expensive, although the base model isn’t too bad for an ultrabook.

Super expensive, although the base model isn’t too bad for an ultrabook.

It’s hard to find fault with the build quality and materials here. It’s exceptionally thin, but quite heavy.

It’s hard to find fault with the build quality and materials here. It’s exceptionally thin, but quite heavy.

The Galaxy Book 6 Pro performs well, even on graphical tasks, while that huge OLED touchscreen display is truly stunning. The keys are a little heavy, though, and the layout of them is compromised.

The Galaxy Book 6 Pro performs well, even on graphical tasks, while that huge OLED touchscreen display is truly stunning. The keys are a little heavy, though, and the layout of them is compromised.

Decent, but nothing to write home about. Longevity is somewhere in the middle compared to its rivals.

Decent, but nothing to write home about. Longevity is somewhere in the middle compared to its rivals.

If your pockets are deep enough, you’re unlikely to be disappointed with how this laptop looks and performs.

If your pockets are deep enough, you’re unlikely to be disappointed with how this laptop looks and performs.

You want a glorious display The AMOLED technology really shines here, while the 3K resolution is super sharp – both of which are all the more apparent on the 16-inch model.

You want great all-round performance The Galaxy Book 6 Pro excels in action — even its graphical performance is respectable, considering it doesn’t have a dedicated GPU.

You want to save money The Galaxy Book 6 Pro is certainly expensive, and although there are alternatives that are similarly priced, there are also those that are considerably cheaper.

You want to travel light The 16-inch model of the Galaxy Book 6 Pro is fairly heavy, which makes carrying it around a little laborious, despite that thin form.

Asus Zenbook S 16 The Zenbook S 16 is a superbly designed ultrabook, and shares many traits with the Galaxy Book 6 Pro. It, too, is a superb piece of design, made using state-of-the-art Ceraluminum, while its 3K OLED display is about as stunning as the Samsung’s. The base model is similarly priced to the Galaxy Book 6 Pro, but the Zenbook comes with 24GB of RAM as opposed to 16GB. What’s more, it features more ports, despite being about as thin as the Galaxy Book 6 Pro.

Dell 16 Plus The Dell 16 Plus is another ultrabook, but it has a starting price well below that of the Galaxy Book 6 Pro. It doesn’t skimp on features, though, with plenty of power for everyday performance, plus a sharp 120 Hz display — although its resolution isn’t as sharp as the Galaxy Book 6 Pro’s, nor does it have touchscreen functionality. Still, considering what you get for the relatively low price, it’s a good-value proposition.

I tested the Galaxy Book 6 Pro for several days. I used it for all kinds of tasks, from general browsing and light productivity to 4K streaming and AAA gaming. I also ran our series of benchmark tests, designed to assess every aspect of a laptop’s performance.

I have plenty of experience reviewing computing devices of all kinds. I’ve tested numerous laptops, from budget offerings to top-tier gaming machines. I’ve also reviewed desktops, Chromebooks, and tablets.

Lewis Maddison is a Reviews Writer for Tech Radar. He previously worked as a Staff Writer for our business section, Tech Radar Pro, where he gained experience with productivity-enhancing hardware, ranging from keyboards to standing desks. His area of expertise lies in computer peripherals and audio hardware, having spent over a decade exploring the murky depths of both PC building and music production. He also revels in picking up on the finest details and niggles that ultimately make a big difference to the user experience.

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Key Takeaways

• News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest smartphones
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• Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
• Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards

• I loved the exquisite design of this Samsung's Mac Book air rival — and that’s not even the best thing about it