Galaxy laptop easy on the eye and the pocket
Book2’s screen is HUGE and it’s ‘a joy to use’
Samsung Galaxy Book2
From €699
★★★★★
Buying a laptop for college or home is an increasingly challenging task. There are myriad options in the Windows world alone when you consider screen, storage and processor configurations. Many of these are to be found in the €500 to €1,000 mid-range segment and Samsung has now added another option with its midrange Galaxy Book2.
The smartphone maker’s Galaxy Book range is comprehensive and not dissimilar to Microsoft’s Surface range with broad options across pricing and specification.
The Galaxy Book2 is a generalpurpose laptop, ideally aimed at home or student use.
Unboxing it reveals an attractivelooking laptop, well-styled with a nice case design. It’s not a particularly slim laptop and measures 15.4mm deep and weighs 1.57kg.
My test unit was equipped with an Intel Core i5 and 256GB of SSD storage. I have used an i3 version in the past, but home and educational users likely do need the extra oomph that the i5 brings.
Also useful is the second bay for an additional SSD drive, which you
LAPTOP SCREEN IS GREAT FOR VIEWING CONTENT
could configure as a back-up if you are concerned about keeping your data safe or just to add additional storage.
Windows 11 Home is pre-installed and there’s a backlit keyboard with numeric keys, useful if you’re a heavy spreadsheet user. The trackpad is large and nicely sensitive, and is far more usable than a mouse.
There are stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos and while they’re not the punchiest, they perform well while streaming a movie or TV show.
The built-in dual microphones are good and work well on video calls and the 720p HD camera is wellpositioned with a good overall performance on Zoom calls.
The LED screen measures 15.6” and has 1080p resolution.
While not the fanciest of screens, it’s huge, and really does perform well making this a laptop that’s great for viewing content.
The screen also has anti-glare that makes it usable under bright lights or outdoors.
Despite being a lower cost laptop, the Book2 is remarkably well equipped with connectivity options.
Divided on the left and right sides, there are two USBC and two USB 3.2 ports. There’s also a MicroSD port that allows you to read multimedia storage cards.
The 3.5mm headphone port doueral bles as a mic-in combo port and there’s a HDMI port for connecting to an external or larger monitor.
With Bluetooth 5.2 and wifi 802.11, there are options to connect to just about every periphor network type, wired or wirelessly.
For instance, you could add a USB CD drive if needed, or easily connect the laptop to a work or home projector via the HDMI and play content from a MicroSD card.
Battery life is good and I easily got through a day’s work with a good combination of emailing, web browsing and streaming.
While the i5 processor moves things along well, the Intel UHD Graphics performance is not spectacular. Playing newer PC games could be challenging but older games and other day-to-day graphics requirements are fine.
I’m also surprised that in a large laptop, the speakers are a noticeable miss by Samsung.
They’re fine for some streaming, but if you were watching a movie I’d recommend wearing Bluetooth headphones or plugging in an external speaker.
In a really competitive section of the market though, the Galaxy
SAMSUNG USERS CAN
ALMOST MERGE THIS AND THEIR PHONE
Book2 is a decent performer.
For Samsung smartphone users, the overall ecosystem integration could be attractive as you can almost merge your phone and laptop into a single device on your desk.
The screen size is a joy, connectivity options are excellent and it looks great. So while not a lightweight laptop, it’s a mid-range option worth considering for college or home.