Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro (Core Ultra 5) review

Samsung’s design team clearly took one look at the MacBook Air and decided, “Yes, but let's make it even slimmer, lighter, and more practical.” The Galaxy Book5 Pro clocks in at a mere 1.23kg and 11.6mm thick—making it one of the thinnest and lightest 14-inch laptops that doesn’t feel like it’ll fold in half during turbulence.

The aluminium chassis feels premium but not flashy—Graphite grey with matte finishes and zero gloss, like a tailored suit that says, “I’ve already got the job.” The fit and finish are rock solid: no keyboard deck flex, no cheap creaks, and a hinge that opens easily with one hand without wobbling like it’s had too much whisky.

The full-sized backlit “Pro” keyboard is firm, quiet, and forgiving—comfortably spaced for long writing sessions and responsive enough to avoid typos unless you're genuinely incompetent. The glass clickpad is oversized and silky smooth, making gestures and multi-touch feel as natural as flicking a page in a hardcover.

At the heart of this machine lies a 14-inch WQXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X touchscreen with a resolution of 2880 x 1800, a silky 120Hz refresh rate, and anti-reflective Corning Gorilla Glass DX. If you’ve never stared longingly at a spreadsheet before, this screen might change that.

The contrast is infinite. The blacks are pure. The colour accuracy is wide enough to grade films on. It hits 120% DCI-P3, supports HDR content, and includes Vision Booster, which dynamically adapts to ambient lighting so you can work under halogen hellfire or on a sun-drenched balcony without resorting to squinting and guesswork.

Touch responsiveness is excellent—precise enough to annotate PDFs, zoom maps, or prod through presentations without feeling like you're jabbing a plank. No pen input here, but for most users, finger gestures suffice.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 226V might sound like a budget chip, but don't let the name fool you. This is from Intel's latest Lunar Lake architecture built with efficiency, AI, and everyday performance in mind. It features a hybrid 8-core design (4 Performance + 4 Efficient cores), a base TDP of 17W, and a turbo boost up to 4.5GHz.

This is joined by 16GB LPDDR5X RAM (soldered, mind you), and a snappy 512GB NVMe SSD. The memory is fast enough for demanding multitasking and won't bottleneck even if you're editing large media files or running Docker alongside Lightroom.

The integrated Intel Arc 130V GPU isn’t designed to replace a discrete GPU, but it does handle casual gaming, Figma design work, and even light Premiere Pro projects with a lot more poise than previous Intel integrated graphics ever managed.

Performance remains impressively consistent over time. Thermals are well managed, fan noise is minimal even under moderate loads, and there’s no sudden thermal throttling panic when you plug into an external 4K display and open Slack, Zoom, Chrome, and Photoshop at once.

Where other laptops bolt on AI like a party trick, the Galaxy Book5 Pro integrates it into the OS and workflow. Powered by an onboard NPU (Neural Processing Unit) that works in tandem with Intel’s Arc graphics and CPU cores, it delivers up to 40 TOPS of AI compute (47 in the Core Ultra 7) —yes, that’s a real figure.

Unlike other brands though, Samsung has gone to great lengths to make the experience practical. You get Live Translate: Real-time captioning and on-device translation for meetings and calls. Works without an internet connection and does a solid job at making you look bilingual.Photo Remaster: Cleans up old or badly shot images automatically. Surprisingly subtle. AI Select: Circle anything on screen—text, image, QR code—and get contextual results instantly. You also get Cocreator (in Paint): Generates digital artwork from sketches with eerie precision. Microsoft’s Copilot also gets in on the act with AI summarisation, email assistance, and productivity features across apps. And crucially, many of these features run locally—no cloud latency, no privacy breaches, no spinning wheels of doom. It’s not just “AI for AI’s sake.” These features are genuinely useful. And available now—not in some mythical future update.

Samsung claims up to 21 hours of video playback, and while that’s under lab conditions, real-world numbers are still solid. Expect 11 to 13 hours in mixed use with Wi-Fi, screen at 50–60%, and a mix of productivity and streaming. That’s a full workday and a Netflix wind-down without hitting 5% panic. Charging is quick and travel-friendly. The 65W USB-C charger is compact and can juice the battery to 41% in about 30 minutes, making this ideal for travel warriors and office-hoppers

Sound quality is handled by a quad-speaker system with Dolby Atmos, which delivers surprisingly full and directional audio. Bass isn’t thumpy, but clarity is superb. Great for conference calls, casual music, and the occasional moody film score.

The 2MP webcam comes with Staggered HDR and a bag of AI tricks: auto-framing, lighting adjustments, and face tracking. It's sharp, responsive, and professional enough for hybrid workers who’ve ditched the ring light.

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro is a suave, well-rounded ultrabook that balances power, portability, and a touch of clever AI without ever feeling forced. It’s not about pushing boundaries or grabbing headlines—this one’s for those who need their laptop to be as efficient and reliable as they are. With its gorgeous 3K AMOLED screen, lightweight build, and future-proof connectivity, it’s a practical choice for professionals who value understated excellence.

While the MacBook Air M3 may have the edge in raw efficiency and the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED offers a compelling alternative with its vibrant display and competitive pricing in the Indian market, the Galaxy Book5 Pro’s blend of style, functionality, and intelligent features makes it the more versatile pick.