Computers
Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 review

Productivity on the move

₹ 1,05,990

Sambit Satpathy 24 May 2022 04:45 PM

With offices and travel opening up after a brief hiatus (read as two years), we are slowly getting used to being on the move again. This means the need for devices that can be easily used on-the-go is also on the rise. Almost on cue, Samsung India recently launched its Galaxy Book 2 series of laptops.
It includes a range of laptops that are portable, multitalented, and some that are as flexible as a yogi. The laptop we have with us is all that and a bit more. Having spent the last few days using it for work and leisure, here’s our Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 review.

Design and build

To say this laptop is lightweight is an understatement. Not until you hold it in your hands do you realise just how light it actually is. But while it may be down on weight, it’s by no means down on premium-ness. 
Samsung has opted for a minimalist and understated look, which works quite well in our opinion. It will feel right at home anywhere from a quaint café to a high-level board meeting.

The metal chassis is smooth to touch, and the laptop’s build quality is top-notch without any hint of flex or creaks. This is not simply a laptop that opens and shuts, but one that can bend over backwards for you. The display turns almost 360 degrees at the hinges, and can then be used as a touchscreen tablet. The hinges feel solid, and give an impression that they are built to last. 
There’s a decent set of ports on offer, which should take care of your connectivity needs without the need for an external dock. You get one HDMI, one Thunderbolt 4, one Type-C, one USB 3.2, a memory card reader, and even the good ol’ headphone jack.

Display

Time and again, Samsung has delivered stunning displays on its devices, and the Galaxy Book 2 360 is no different. The 13.3in screen is just the right size when you’re working on the go, and the FHD AMOLED display is a treat for the eyes. You get punchy colours, deep blacks, and good viewing angles. 
Brightness levels are more than adequate, and everything is legible and easy to read even when outdoors. During a recent trip, we used the laptop while sitting at the window of the flight, and even with bright sunlight streaming in, the screen was perfectly legible.

This being a 2-in-1, you can use this device as a tablet as well. Touch response is quite good, and yes, it supports Samsung’s excellent S Pen. Unlike the Pro model, there’s no stylus bundled here, but we just happened to have one, and let’s just say it works really well. While we’re no artists, we could feel the ease with which one can write or sketch on this display using the S Pen.

Keyboard and trackpad

The compact size limits the keyboard to a number pad-less avatar, but it doesn’t feel like a big miss. The keys are well spaced out and offer a decent amount of travel and feedback. 
Samsung is offering a backlit keyboard, which is a boon for those of us who have to burn the midnight candle. The simple white light will make the keys easily visible if for some reason you find yourself working out of a dark tunnel.

The power button on the top-right corner doubles as a fingerprint sensor. In our time using the laptop, the sensor was accurate and quick enough to unlock the screen without much waiting. 
The trackpad is not the biggest one out there, but there’s enough space for comfortable use. It’s responsive, and at no point did we feel the need to use an external mouse.

Performance

The laptop is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Evo chipset, and our review unit has a Core i7 under the hood, which houses 10 physical cores – two performance and eight efficient. This is accompanied by 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. 
Intel’s Evo chipset is optimised for slim and compact laptops, and it showed in our time of usage. The chip was able to blaze through our office work, which for most parts uses internet-based services. Whether it was reading articles online, typing out reviews on Google Docs, checking emails throughout the day or chatting, the laptop was able to handle it all without as much as a stutter.  
Back home when it was time to unwind, we were able to watch OTT shows and movies with ease, and the punchy display just added to the overall experience. There are four speakers on board with support for Dolby Atmos.

They can get pretty loud, but all are downward-facing, so the audio output depends a lot on the surface your laptop is kept on. Let’s just say if you’re planning to watch a movie in bed, you’ll be better served rotating the screen and having the speakers face up. 
The laptop however misses out on a dedicated GPU, which stops it from being an absolute powerhouse. This is not a gaming laptop by any means and tends to struggle a bit when asked to do intensive work like video editing or creating magazine layouts on InDesign. 
The built-in battery easily survives a typical workday, which allows you to be on the move without being chained to a desk. When you do need to charge, the 65W Type-C charger can charge the laptop fully in a couple of hours.

Software

The laptop boots Windows 11 right out-of-the-box, and Samsung has added a few bits of its own, which can be super helpful if you’re steeped in the company’s ecosystem. 
These include quick Bluetooth pairing with Galaxy buds, Multi Control to use another Samsung device to extend the laptop’s display, or Quick Share to instantly transfer files between Samsung devices. There are other useful touches as well like the ability to limit the laptop’s charging to 85% in order to protect the battery. All these come together quite well for a well-rounded experience.

Verdict

There’s not a lot to complain about with the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360. It is a good-looking premium laptop that is easy to carry around and has more than enough power to handle work and a bit of leisure. 
But it is let down by its high price tag. Despite everything on offer, a near ₹1 lakh (and beyond) pricing doesn’t help its cause. There are similar laptops available from rival brands that are available for lesser amounts of cash. With a market as price-conscious as ours, the Galaxy Book 2 360 will certainly not be winning a lot of comparison debates.

Stuff Says

A well-rounded 2-in-1 convertible laptop let down by a high price tag and expectations
Good stuff
Bad stuff

  1. Premium design and build quality

  1. Lightweight for its size

  1. Good performance

  1. Day-long battery life

  1. No discrete graphics option

  1. Expensive

Specifications
Display: 13.3in FHD AMOLED touchscreen display
Processor: 12th Gen Intel EVOTM Core i7-1255U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x RAM / 512GB NVMe SSD
OS: Windows 11 Home
Dimensions: 20.2 x 30.4 x 1.3 cm
Weight: 1.16 kg