On the plus side, it feels pretty peppy, at least in normal use, and the included AI features didn’t disappoint. Live captioning (currently only in the same language, until Copilot+ PC rolls out) was snappy and accurate, and Paint’s Image Creator mode quickly delivered AI art on command. But best of all, Samsung has finally succeeded in releasing a laptop with “all-day battery life.” The 18-hour, 43-minute benchmark on YouTube’s full-screen playback test is the highest standard for an Intel PC, and is enough to beat every Snapdragon laptop I’ve tested with the exception of the Asus ProArt PZ13.
buggy book
Despite some high points, I found myself frequently frustrated with the user experience when working with this laptop. We’ve already mentioned how annoying the keyboard is, but what makes that problem even worse is the fact that the system is simply full of bugs.
Photo: Christopher Null
I lost count of how many times my laptop failed to do something completely mundane, like loading the Samsung account login screen, closing a window, or even tapping the Copilot key on my keyboard to load Copilot. My review unit locked up once during login and repeatedly refused to perform a System Restore until I ran the “Use Windows Update to fix problems” recovery wizard. Oddly enough, while the system performed well during the stress test benchmarks, it struggled the most when it should have been smooth sailing.
Samsung also teased new AI features available with the system, including Transcript Assist, which turns recorded meetings into a summary document, and Chat Assist, which can “enhance conversations through suggested replies.” is being advertised. You have to read the fine print to understand that these are all features of Samsung Galaxy phones and are only available on your phone and via Microsoft Phone Link. So the Book5 is essentially just an oversized phone display.
The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 has a beautiful look and amazing battery life, but its overall instability and unfriendly keyboard make it a poor choice in its current state, especially given its $1,700 price tag. It’s almost impossible. Firmware and software updates may help resolve the former, but there’s not much you can do about your typing situation other than setting the price of your external keyboard.
