At a look

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Solid efficiency and nice battery life
• Entry-level RTX 4xxx-series GPU
• Gorgeous, highly effective OLED display screen
• A 1080p webcam with Windows Studio Effects
• Good interplay with Galaxy machine ecosystem and apps

Cons

• Average keyboard, trackpad
• Audio wants some tweaking

Our Verdict

Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Ultra is Samsung’s glorious first entry into the content-creation PC house. This skinny laptop computer packs energy and battery life behind an excellent display screen although at a reasonably excessive worth.

Price When Reviewed

From $2,099.99

Best Prices Today: Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra

$2,100.00

$2399.99

Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Ultra challenges all comers in content material creation, a market Samsung hasn’t beforehand addressed with its Book3 sequence. But this modern 16-inch laptop computer with its beautiful OLED display screen combines each a Thirteenth-gen Intel Core CPU and a brand new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, providing you with an entry level into the most recent PC {hardware}.

There’s rather a lot to like right here. You’re getting excellent battery life, a stunning design, trendy Thunderbolt 4 ports, and extra. No, the GPU isn’t what you’ll discover in a real gaming pocket book and the keyboard is a bit shallower than different productiveness laptops. You’ll be hard-pressed, nevertheless, to discover a higher pocket book PC for content material creation.

Looking for extra content material creator laptops? Check out our prime picks on our roundup of the best laptops.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: What it gives, the place it matches

Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is certainly one of a small family of new Book3 laptops that consists of the Book3 Ultra, the Book3 Pro clamshell, and the Book3 Pro 360 and Book3 360 two-in-one convertibles. (We’ve reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 separately, and sister website TechAdvisor reviewed the Book3 Pro.) The Book3 Ultra is the brand new addition to the household, sporting an Nvidia RTX GeForce 4xxx GPU inside a thicker body that makes it appropriate for content material creation and light-weight gaming. It’s a market Samsung hasn’t addressed with its earlier Galaxy Books.

Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Ultra ships with a single 16-inch show possibility, although you’ll have the selection of two efficiency configurations just like the Core i7/RTX 4050 mannequin that begins at $2,399.99, which we take a look at right here, and a Core i9/RTX 4070 model, beginning at $2,999.99. The former possibility additionally gives 16GB of RAM, whereas the latter ships with 32GB. For both configuration, you may select between 512GB and 1TB of SSD storage, although Samsung itself at the moment gives only a 1TB SSD possibility.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Keep in thoughts that there’s a considerable distinction between Nvidia’s RTX 4050 cellular GPU and the RTX 4070 cellular GPU, although Nvidia didn’t go into an excessive amount of element when launching them. Nvidia’s RTX 4050 is the least highly effective of the RTX 4xxx GPU household. While the 4050 and the 4070 in any other case supply related options, Nvidia’s specifications present that they differ significantly in each reminiscence width and CUDA core depend, which can have an effect on gaming efficiency however may additionally scale back battery life considerably. As a content material creation machine, although, the brand new capabilities of the GPU’s video encoders are simply as essential.

Put one other method, the Book3 Ultra isn’t a “gaming” laptop computer, however a “gaming-capable” laptop computer. Content creation and consumption is its main goal.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Specifications

• Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H/Core i9-13900H (Core i7 as examined)
• Display: 16-inch non-touch (2,880×1800), 120Hz AMOLED 2X, 400 nits, 120% DCI-P3 coloration quantity
• Memory: 16GB/32GB LPDDR5 (16GB as examined)
• Storage: 512GB/1TB SSD plus enlargement slot (1TB as examined)
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050/4070 Laptop GPU (RTX 4050 as examined)
• Ports: 2 Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-A, HDMI 2.0, microSD, Headphone/Mic
• Security: Fingerprint reader
• Camera: 1080p (user-facing)
• Battery: 73.8Wh (rated) / 74.5Wh (precise)
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+), 802.11 ax 2×2, Bluetooth 5.1
• Audio: AKG Quad Speaker (two 5W woofers, two 2W tweeters), Smart Amp, Dolby Atmos
• Operating system: Windows 11
• Dimensions:  13.99 x 9.86 x 0.65in. (16.5mm)
• Weight: 3.95lbs (rated)
• Colors: Graphite
• Price:  starting at $2,399

After not too long ago reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, the extra weight and thickness that the Ultra gives is a little bit of a shock. Like the opposite Book3 laptops, nevertheless, the aluminum chassis attracts fingerprints readily, which present up as smudges on the black Graphite floor. The Ultra doesn’t really feel particularly thick—simply extra like a conventional laptop computer than Samsung’s ultrathin Book lineup. At 14 inches extensive and about 4 kilos, nevertheless, the burden is noticeable.

We mentioned related issues concerning the Book3 Pro 360, with the caveat that the comparatively tiny gallium nitrate (GaN) charger offset these issues. Here, the charger provides to them, sadly. You in all probability have older units that mix the facility transformer and the plug into the identical unit: “wall warts”. Here, there’s a sizeable energy brick (70mm x 75mm, or about three inches on a aspect) with a plug on one aspect of it, which might make plugging into the wall or perhaps a energy strip slightly awkward, relying on the orientation. Samsung may rethink this with its subsequent technology.

The charger does accomplish one factor, although, it powers up the Book3 Ultra rapidly. Samsung claims that the Book3 will cost to 55 p.c in half-hour. That’s true, offered that you simply go away the laptop computer closed and in a sleep state. When open, we recorded a cost of about 25 p.c throughout the identical time.

Mark Hachman / IDG

The Book3 Ultra’s lid opens up with simply the criminal of a finger, exposing the beautiful AMOLED 2X display screen inside that fills nearly all the obtainable house; there are not any chunky bezels on this machine. The new AMOLED 2X OLED is a key promoting level of the Book3 lineup and it applies right here. OLEDs are merely beautiful shows, with absolute jet blacks that underscore the terrific distinction ratio.

In the true world, you received’t discover as a lot influence on day-to-day workplace work, with its multicolored photographs and light-weight backgrounds. If you like darkish mode, nevertheless, it’s a bonus. Movies, although, are the place it actually shines. Dark scenes seem really darkish, which provides a further layer of visible constancy to the expertise.

Samsung claims that the laptop computer produces 120 p.c of the DCI-P3 coloration gamut, which merely interprets into brighter, extra vivid colours, in addition to being rated for VESA ClearMR and DisplayHDR TRUE BLACK 500 licensed. The Pro 360 OLED show does function devoted modes for DCI-P3, AdobeRGB and sRGB, in addition to an “Auto” mode that presumably optimizes itself for the appliance. Based on our colorimeter, the Book3 Ultra seems to accommodate the total vary of the colour gamuts we examined underneath.

Samsung additionally claims that the show reduces blue mild by 78 p.c whereas in darkish mode versus its mild mode, which we haven’t been in a position to confirm. It’s an fascinating declare, although, as a result of usually laptops scale back blue mild whereas in “light mode,” skewing the show in the direction of yellowish tinges. The Book3 Ultra does the latter, too. However, decreasing the quantity of sunshine hitting your eyeball whereas in darkish mode and reducing the quantity of blue mild definitely ought to attraction to migraine victims.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung’s new AMOLED 2X gives extra than simply visible enhancements, although. Like the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, the Book3 Ultra’s show is a “dynamic” 120Hz. When wanted, the show can dial right down to a extra conservative 60Hz when idling, saving energy. When mandatory the show can enhance its refresh charge to 120Hz, providing smoother mousing and gameplay. Normally, this helps inking, too. However, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra doesn’t ship with a touchscreen, or a pen. For that, there’s the Book3 Pro 360 as an alternative.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Chassis and ports

When we first opened up the Book3 and started setting it up, we observed the distinct high-pitched tones that point out coil whine, when the followers velocity as much as cool the laptop computer down. In equity, nevertheless, we haven’t heard them since. Instead, the Book3 Ultra sucks in air via a small matrix of holes within the backside of the chassis and pushes it out the again, although the hinge. The hiss it produces is noticeable although not overwhelming. We’d anticipate extra noise, although, if you happen to go for the Core i9/RTX 4070 possibility as an alternative.

On the left aspect of the Book3 Ultra are a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, which can be utilized to hook up with a Thunderbolt dock, together with for exterior storage or a pair of 4K shows. Failing that, the Book3 Ultra additionally gives a devoted HDMI 2.0 port, which might mission to a single exterior 4K monitor, as nicely. On the appropriate aspect, Samsung features a microSD slot and a legacy USB-A port for a mouse, plus a headphone jack.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung is rather less pushy than Microsoft by way of encouraging you to attach your laptop computer to Samsung’s community of apps, providers, and units, however the Book3 Ultra does ask for (however doesn’t demand) a Samsung password whenever you arrange the system. Doing so gives some advantages if you happen to personal different Samsung units, and likewise permits some particular Samsung purposes, which we’ll speak about later.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Typing expertise

Samsung’s 1.6:1 show ratio permits for a roomy keyboard, with a slim quantity pad to the right-hand aspect—if you happen to’re a right-handed particular person, that may simply be a comfort. As a lefty, although, the quantity pad is the equal of the WASD keys right-handers use, so any laptop computer with gaming potential earns a plus in that regard. Given that Samsung gives 16-inch choices throughout most of its Book3 line, I’d assume that any machine you purchase on this household can have the identical keyboard, they usually all needs to be equally usable.

As I wrote in my Book3 Pro 360 assessment, Samsung’s chiclet keyboards all the time make me marvel in the event that they’ll really be usable, as their key journey is usually shallower than I’d like. While I’m nonetheless unsure if I’d desire them for long-term use, they’re comfy sufficient. Keyboards have turn into shallower over time, nevertheless, as producers desire to design thinner programs with much less room for deep key journey. That’s not a pattern I endorse, however Samsung at the least has managed a compromise. There are three ranges of backlighting.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung once more chooses to make use of a fingerprint reader, mounted inside the facility button. Pushing it when the laptop computer is off or in standby means that you can energy on and log in on the similar time. While depth cameras can log you in rapidly, they’ll turn into fooled by facial hair, wrinkles, or glasses. The Book3 lineup lacks depth cameras, utilizing the fingerprint reader as an alternative.

Fingerprint readers are typically extra constant, however they’ll additionally turn into much less correct over time because the sensor turns into smudged. They’re additionally delicate to schmutz in your finger both throughout setup or authentication, because the Book3 Ultra was. Put one other method, the fingerprint sensor labored acceptably throughout our time with the Book3, however this implies little in comparison with the long run.

All of the brand new Book3 fashions appear to share a further quirk. The gigantic touchpad on the backside of the keyboard, which measures a large 6 inches extensive by about 4.25 inches deep. While you may faucet upon its full breadth, the higher fifth or so isn’t clickable. Even with such an infinite enter machine, there’s nonetheless sufficient room on your palms on both aspect, although the touchpad is skewed towards the left-hand aspect. Taken collectively, the trackpad and keyboard are acceptable, although not excellent.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Audio

I made the error of studying TechAdvisor’s assessment of the Book3 Pro proper earlier than scripting this part and I can’t assist however agree with Anyron Copeman’s take. The Book3 lineup excels at voice playback, whether or not by way of music or the spoken phrase, and falls a bit brief in all places else. Out of the field, the Book3 Ultra and Pro 360 don’t sound all that nice, and require some tuning of the pre-installed Dolby Atmos app to reach at a suitable setting. (As far as I can inform, the Book 3 Pro 360 and the Book3 Ultra produce about the identical audio high quality.) Otherwise, the audio simply sounds a bit distorted, although the amount stage is great.

The Book3 Ultra makes use of a pair of downward going through audio system with discrete 5W woofers and 2W tweeters, enough to full the room with no matter you’re enjoying again. None of the Book3 lineup gives poor audio; it’s simply that another laptops I’ve heard do higher. Again, some tweaking will resolve most points, and there’s a headphone jack, too.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Webcam

When Intel launched its Thirteenth-gen Core chips, the corporate mentioned that “select” laptops would come with a Movidius AI chip within them to allow AI results. To date, the sign for these results has been the Windows Studio Effects suite, initially launched with the Surface Pro 9 (5G) and its Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm chip. (Arm has built-in AI features; the present Thirteenth-gen Core chips don’t.)

The Book3 contains the AI-powered Studio Effects suite, which incorporates an on-device reproduction of the background blurring results you’ll find in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. HDR results don’t do a lot. You’ll be extra impressed with the webcam’s means to routinely pan and zoom, retaining you in body. Indulge your vainness and activate Face Effects, which might subtly take away the luggage underneath your eyes from too many late nights.

Otherwise, the 1080p webcam’s on the higher finish of the spectrum of laptop computer webcams, with good coloration steadiness however a barely mushy focus. Like the Pro 360, Samsung does use AI to assist cancel noise in video calls, nevertheless, and does so very nicely through a pair of studio mics.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: The Galaxy ecosystem

Samsung developed a set of its personal apps to attach its Galaxy units such because the Book lineup, Tab tablets, and, after all, its Galaxy telephones. These apps complement and in some circumstances change the purposes that Microsoft itself gives, like “Link to Windows” as a substitute for Phone Link. This “set bonus” could not justify shopping for a set of Samsung units by themselves. If you do, nevertheless, there are advantages, as our exams of the Book3 and the most recent Samsung Galaxy telephones indicated.

Remember Mouse without Borders? The useful Microsoft app means that you can transfer a mouse between computer systems, which is a nifty trick. Samsung’s Multi Control app does the identical factor, which is slightly weird—shifting your mouse cursor out of your laptop computer to your telephone, and interacting with pictures and information, even copying them or reducing and pasting—is neat, and helpful. It’s basically a return to the outdated “sneakernet” of simply copying information from one machine to a different. (Yes, you may routinely add them to the cloud after which re-download them, too, however there’s an immediacy to Multi Control which is extraordinarily handy.) If you personal a Galaxy Tab pill, it’s also possible to use a Tab as a second display screen through the Second Screen app, too.

In reality, a lot of the Samsung app ecosystem is all about shifting and sharing information. Quick Share can ship a file to a different Galaxy machine and Private Share can be utilized to securely encrypt and share information to different units—a bit like sharing a file from the cloud with one other consumer, full with file permissions and an expiration date. One exception is Clip Studio Paint, which will get across the lack of a touchscreen and pen by permitting you to make use of a Galaxy Phone with an S Pen as an alternative. All of those apps have their very own niches.

Samsung additionally has an app known as Expert RAW Auto Share, which routinely sends pictures taken with a Galaxy S23 telephone to a close-by Galaxy pill. As Samsung explains, that’s useful for enhancing RAW pictures with Adobe Lightroom—which Samsung gives a two-month trial of.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Performance

Content-creation notebooks signify a small and evolving area of interest of PCs, someplace halfway between a conventional gaming pocket book and a productiveness machine. Microsoft got down to assist create this area of interest with its Surface Laptop Studio, and extra not too long ago we’ve seen laptops just like the Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 3D OLED (H7604 3D OLED), with a 120Hz OLED show all of its personal. (We haven’t obtained that machine for testing but.)

Unlike a pure gaming pocket book, the significance of the Nvidia 4-series GPU is put to a wide range of duties comparable to gaming, 3D content material creation, picture and video enhancing, and encoding. Content creation sometimes means video encoding, and this pocket book seizes upon two rising tendencies. First, new video codecs like AV1, which offer smaller file sizes (and fewer bandwidth for streaming) at the price of extra extreme {hardware} necessities. Secondly, standard encoding software program packages like OBS Studio now assist AV1, a codec that requires both an Nvidia GeForce 3-series or 4-series GPU. Encoding utilizing the extra aggressive codec on cutting-edge laptop computer {hardware} ought to save each time and disk house, each arguments in favor of shopping for this laptop computer.

Keep in thoughts, although, that you simply’re definitely not going to see the surprisingly excessive battery life when utilizing the Book3 Ultra for content material creation, versus the video playback take a look at that we use to measure battery life, or content material consumption. It’s at this level that you simply’ll see the Book3 echo among the issues gaming notebooks have—they’re nice when linked to their energy wire, however their longevity can endure when on battery and underneath load.

Incidentally, the Book3 Ultra is likely one of the few that we noticed that didn’t endure from thermal throttling, at the least by way of 3D efficiency. (Throttling can happen when the laptop computer slows down its CPU or GPU to keep up thermal limits, decreasing efficiency for the sake of stability.) Performance dropped 11 p.c when our CPU benchmark was looped for 10 straight minutes. However, after we looped the 3DMark benchmark for 20 straight runs, it handed the take a look at, delivering 99.6 p.c of the body charge that it did to start with.

Anecdotally, the Book3 Ultra felt laggy when loading purposes. But after checking the switch charges, we modified our tune. Random reads and writes aren’t too shabby, however the sequential learn and write speeds are excellent.

Mark Hachman / IDG

We’ve in contrast the $2,399 Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra to its stablemate, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, which we spotlight in orange. We evaluate the Book3 Ultra to the mainstream $1,799 Surface Laptop 5 (15-inch) and Microsoft’s $2,699 content-creation laptop computer, the Surface Laptop Studio. To that we add the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14, a $1,449 mainstream OLED laptop computer. Our major focus, although, is searching for out comparably-sized laptops with discrete graphics. Those embody the $1,765 Lenovo Slim 7 Pro X and the $1,599 Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED, one other content-creation machine.

We spherical out our testing by including three “traditional” gaming laptops, all of which may probably change the Book3 Ultra. The $1,049 MSI Katana GF66 12UD, the $3,825 Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16, a dual-screen laptop computer aimed toward each content material creation and gaming, and the MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V, priced at a “you could buy two Book3’s for this” $5,299.

We use 4 exams to measure efficiency: UL’s PCMark10 and 3DMark; Cinebench R15, and Handbrake.

PCMark10 is a superb metric of on a regular basis efficiency, utilizing precise apps that measure every thing from workplace work, picture and video enhancing to CAD work. Normally, we anticipate a laptop computer to carry out nicely right here, however there’s nonetheless room for separation from the pack. The “H”-class processor and discrete GPU assist obtain this.

Mark Hachman / IDG

We use the Cinebench R15 benchmark as a metric for a fast burst of CPU efficiency, stressing all of its cores and threads. With six dual-threaded efficiency cores and eight single-threaded effectivity cores, the twenty threads chew via our take a look at in a matter of moments. (We additionally take a look at utilizing the extra subtle R20 benchmark, with the concept we’ll finally transition to that metric.)

Mark Hachman / IDG

Handbrake measures CPU efficiency as nicely, although over a protracted time period. We use the open-source app to transcode a film right into a format that could possibly be utilized by a pill. This real-world take a look at demonstrates how nicely a laptop computer can carry out underneath extended load. Since it accomplishes its activity in simply minutes, it additionally demonstrates the sensible functions of the app, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

We use the 3DMark Time Spy take a look at to measure 3D efficiency with a watch towards gaming, because the video-encoding capabilities aren’t put to the take a look at. There’s a major hole between the GeForce RTX 4050 and the rest of the GeForce RTX 4-series GPUs… although even the bottom rung on this ladder is excessive up.

Mark Hachman / IDG

We additionally examined two video games, Forza Horizon 4 and Troy: A Total War Saga, to measure sport efficiency. The Book3 excelled on the default decision and Ultra settings. It rendered 70 frames per second in Forza, a terrific efficiency. In the Total War battle simulator, the laptop computer rendered nearly 40 fps at Ultra settings as nicely.

An actual energy of the Book3 Ultra, nevertheless, is delivering terrific battery life and implausible efficiency. Yes, a few of that may be felt in your again as you lug concerning the Book3’s 4 kilos or so. Still, we frequently don’t see all-day efficiency in a laptop computer.

Keep in thoughts, although, that our video take a look at solely actually measures how lengthy the laptop computer can preserve the show lit and CPU energetic; looping a 4K video doesn’t actually push the laptop computer arduous, if in any respect. Our exams present that it lasts 786 minutes, or simply over 13 hours—that’s a full day’s work after which some. Looping a 3D benchmark time and again is an effective measure of how lengthy you’ll be capable of play or do strenuous work on the laptop computer’s battery earlier than it expires; there, the laptop computer solely lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes.

That could sound like an enormous distinction, nevertheless it’s fairly typical for a gaming pocket book and, underneath load, the H-series CPU and RTX 4xxx GPU basically act like a gaming laptop computer.

Mark Hachman / IDG

During the benchmark loop, although, the laptop computer shut off the fan about 50 loops in, dropping the body charge from about 30 frames per second to 10 fps or so—then down to three fps a bit later. That was wholly surprising. We requested Samsung for remark, however they hadn’t but responded after a number of days.

Still, there’s fairly a discrepancy between 13.1 hours of battery life whereas looping a video and just below two hours whereas enjoying a sport. Plan accordingly!

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Should you purchase it?

With extra selection by way of show, processor, GPU, and options than maybe ever earlier than, it’s tough to check the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra to the rest at the moment available on the market. The Book3 Ultra holds its personal by way of efficiency towards every thing however the MSI Katana, a finances gaming laptop computer that’s comparable on paper however little else.

Samsung compares nicely in efficiency, with little or no competitors in battery life—at the least when it comes again to enjoying again video. And video appears nice, too, on the Book3 Ultra’s OLED display screen. The worth definitely leans closely towards the premium tier, although not too far out of attain for what the Book3 Ultra gives.

Based on what we all know of the upcoming Asus Vivobook Pro 16X 3D OLED and final yr’s VivoBook Pro 16X OLED, we’d say the upcoming Asus Vivobook guarantees the stiffest problem to the Book3 Ultra. But it hasn’t arrived but. Right now, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra is the content-creation pocket book to beat—and for the second, nothing does.