Samsung Galaxy Book S Always Connected
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Product Overview
In May 2020, Samsung added Intel's hybrid Lakefield processor inside the chassis of the Galaxy Book S always-connected PC, improving its performance and efficiency significantly.
The Galaxy Book S is the first in the industry to offer the new Intel Core processor with Intel Hybrid Technology. This processor utilizes Intel's Foveros 3D stacking technology. Compared to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx processor in the original variant, the Intel processor offers full compatibility with Windows applications as it supports natively 64-bit x86 instructions:
Essentially, this new Lakefield processor shares a similar "big/little" architecture with the Snapdragon chip. Here, one Sunny Cove big core and four Tremont small cores are packaged on a single chip, and both run on x86 instruction set.
The Galaxy Book S with Intel Hybrid Technology is otherwise almost a carbon copy of the original variant, with the addition of WiFi 6 support and a different LTE modem (cat 16 instead of cat 18). The two variants will be sold side by side.
Ratings
What we found
Pros
- High-quality case
- Good battery life
- Decent performance
- Good speakers
Cons
- Low CPU performance
- Slow SD card reader
- High surface temperatures
What external reviewers found
External score 71%
Pros
- Excellent performance
- Decent performance
- Good battery life
Cons
- Only 256GB of storage
- No Intel/AMD support
- No SD card reader
- No Quad HD or 4K options
- Mediocre graphics
- No 4G connectivity
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Specifications
Related Products
External Reviews
digitaltrends[1]
Reviewer score 78% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Galaxy Book S is a Windows laptop with a 13.3-inch screen. It's powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8cx processor. There's 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid state drive storage. LTE connectivity is what makes this laptop perfect for those who can do their work anywhere.
Pros
- Powerful Snapdragon 8cx processor
- Good battery life
Cons
- No Wi-Fi or LTE
- LTE only available through Verizon
notebookcheck[2]
Reviewer score 74% (normalized by Neofiliac)Cinebench R15 single-core test was improved from 88 to 111 points (+26%) when we manually selected the faster Sunny Cove core. Samsung once again uses UFS 3.0 storage for the Galaxy Book S with a storage capacity of 256 GB. The performance of the drive is superior to conventional hard drives, but real PCIe-SSDs in the competitors are just much faster.
Pros
- High-quality case
- High-contrast display
- Very good battery life
Cons
- Low TDP
- No Thunderbolt 3
t3[3]
Reviewer score 86% (normalized by Neofiliac)The 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel TFT LCD touchscreen display is crisp, sharp and colourful, and really draws the eye. Samsung has added what it calls an outdoor mode, where brightness is upped to 600 nits (with a battery life trade-off) The fingerprint sensor in the power button makes logging in very straightforward, the screen bezels are pleasingly thin, and the webcam is in a sensible position.
Pros
- Fantastic performance
- Good battery life
- Good speakers
Cons
- Nothing in particular
techadvisor[4]
Reviewer score 67% (normalized by Neofiliac), which is not a problem I've had on any other laptops recently. Running benchmarks is tricky on a Snapdragon so we can't compare with all our usual tests, but what we do have gives you an idea of how it's been improved from the 835. There are also compatibility issues to be aware of as unlike the Envy x2, the Book S comes with Windows 10 Home, not the limited S version. At £999 (US$999 or AU$1,699) it's not crazily expensive.
Pros
- Sleek design
- Good battery life
- Decent performance
Cons
- Only 256GB of storage
techradar[5]
Reviewer score 75% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Samsung Galaxy Book S runs Windows 10 and has 4G connectivity. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx processor, which is a big improvement over previous SoCs. The battery life of the Book S is phenomenal, and we could go an entire day without a charge. However, the laptop still struggles with more intensive workloads.
Pros
- Excellent battery life
- 4G connectivity
- Fast boot and resume times
Cons
- No Intel/AMD support
- No 4G connectivity
trustedreviews[6]
Reviewer score 54% (normalized by Neofiliac)Galaxy Book S has a Full HD screen with 96% sRGB gamut coverage. But the processor simply isn’t powerful enough for professional use. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx chip seen in the Galaxy is far behind the more powerful Intel Core and AMD Ryzen chips. The Surface Laptop 3 can be bought for around the same price as the Galaxy Book S.
Pros
- Fantastic battery life
- Excellent performance
- Excellent keyboard
Cons
- No Quad HD or 4K options
- Mediocre graphics
References
- ^ Samsung Galaxy Book S hands-on review. [digitaltrends].
- ^ Samsung Galaxy Book S Laptop Review: Lakefield with initial problems. [notebookcheck].
- ^ Samsung Galaxy Book S (Intel) review: a champion among portables. [t3].
- ^ Samsung Galaxy Book S review. [techadvisor].
- ^ Samsung Galaxy Book S review. [techradar].
- ^ Samsung Galaxy Book S Review. [trustedreviews].
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