Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge delivers top-notch performance
The Galaxy Book 4 Edge is Samsung’s first take on Microsoft’s new Arm-powered Copilot+ PCs. As one of the new breed of Copilot+ PCs the Samsung laptop is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X Arm chip, which is also available in Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro. However, the top Galaxy Book model has a slightly faster version of the chip, which gives it about an 8% power boost on the processor and about 21% improvement in graphics.
The outside of the laptop looks like Samsung’s numerous other Galaxy Books. The design may not be so inspiring but the smooth aluminum frame, tapered lip and one-handed opening all feel premium. The touchscreen is the main attraction. A bright, crisp and smooth OLED display that helps everything look its best. It is a fingerprint magnet and isn’t as bright as some rivals, but the screen has an anti-glare coating that makes a real difference when working under overhead lights.
Get productive or kick back with your favorite entertainment on a spacious 14″ or 16″ 3K Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with touchscreen.
The keyboard is fairly typical for a laptop, with a reasonable but not quite first-rate typing experience. But the trackpad is comically large and feels a bit like a waste of space. It is smooth and precise, but is the older mechanical-type that only clicks towards the bottom. The speakers are decent, but they fire out from the bottom of the machine and so are easily blocked if using on your lap or a sofa. The webcam supports various fancy AI effects, but does not have face recognition relying on fingerprint scanner in the power button to unlock the machine instead.
Performance may be top notch, but the Galaxy Book’s battery life does not live up to the hype. It lasted about eight hours of work using a mix of browsing, writing, chat and note taking apps. That’s enough for a work day and matches what you can expect from an Intel-powered machine. The laptop has solid integration with other Samsung kit you might have, though, such as Galaxy phones or earbuds. You can remotely mirror your phone on the PC, use a tablet as a second screen, cut and paste between devices and automatically connected your earbuds.
The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge proves that Arm-powered PCs can deliver the performance to take on the best. It is snappy, quiet and maintains its top performance even when unplugged – something Intel or AMD-powered laptops cannot manage. But where it fails to deliver is on the promise of long battery life. With eight hours of working battery, it only matches the supposedly more power-hungry Intel machines.
Specifications:
Screen: 14in or 16in 3K AMOLED 2880 x 1800 (120Hz); Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite RAM: 16GB; Storage: 512GB or 1TB; Operating system: Windows 11 Home; Camera: 2-megapixel (1080p); Connectivity: wifi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, 2x USB4, headphones, HDMI2.1 (USB-A and microSD 16in only); 14in dimensions: 312.3 x 223.8 x 10.9mm; 14in weight: 1.2kg; 16in dimensions: 355.4 x 250.4 x 12.3mm; 16in weight: 1.6kg
Reference: Galaxy Book 4 Edge review: Samsung laptop delivers power but not battery life (msn.com)
