Samsung's latest Galaxy laptop has an all-day battery and a gorgeous AMOLED screen offset by one divisive aspect

If you've been keeping up with the market, then you know that AI PCs only launched earlier this year.

However, due to the somewhat recent release of Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors (a.k.a. Lunar Lake), we're already on a new wave of far more powerful AI PCs and Copilot+ PCs.

Among the earliest of these new AI-boosted devices to enter the market is the brand-new Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 2-in-1.

Over the course of the last two weeks, I've been using this 2-in-1 AI PC regularly to check out its abilities and features. Here's what I've learned about it.

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Price and specs

Despite having a 16-inch display, this laptop is very thin. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

Pricing & specifications highlights

At the time of writing, the specific Core Ultra 5 228V Evo Edition configuration I tested wasn't available online for purchase, but it should be coming soon. The Core Ultra 7 configuration of the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 that is currently available at retailers comes with the S Pen and has a $1,699.99 MSRP. Since the 200S versions of Intel Core Ultra processors are relatively new, there aren't a ton of other laptops that this directly compares against. While it is pricey, it is within a range that is expected considering its specs and included S Pen Pro. Price rating: 4/5

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 Evo Edition configuration I received features an Intel Core Ultra 5 228V processor, Intel Arc 130V graphics, 32GB RAM, and 1TB SSD. However, at the time of writing, I couldn't find this exact configuration selling anywhere online, which means I don't know its MSRP. This is to be expected since this is a relatively new model. The version I reviewed should be released soon.

That said, another configuration featuring a heftier Intel Core Ultra 7 256V central processing unit (CPU), Intel Arc 140V graphics processing unit (GPU), 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD is currently available for $1,699.99 at Best Buy, the Samsung website, and other major online retailers. From this, we can deduce that the configuration I reviewed will cost less than $1,699.99 MSRP.

Since the 200S series of Intel Core Ultra processors is relatively new, there aren't currently a ton of other Copilot+ PC and AI PC laptops to directly compare this one against yet. We know that the 200S Core Ultras are much more powerful than the 100S ones. Although pricey, based on the components used, this 2-in-1 laptop is in an expected price range. Remember that the included S Pen Pro sells for $99.99 at Samsung on its own, and this adds to the laptop's overall price.

Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 — What's in the box?

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable, outlet adapter, and S Pen Pro. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

When I opened the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360's box, I found a USB-C to USB-C cable, an outlet adapter, and the S Pen included in the package.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Design and build

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 has four footpads on the bottom to give it better traction on surfaces. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central) This laptop looks absolutely elegant, and it feels very sturdy, too. There is a healthy range of ports available to meet your various needs. Despite having a large 16-inch display, the laptop is very thin. Regardless of if you're in a business or casual setting, this laptop will look good. The included S Pen Pro is very comfortable to use and provides a fantastic drawing experience. It's hard to stick a microSD card into the slot (and remove it), but the reader functions well. Design rating: 5/5

The Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is a pure example of sophistication and class. Everything from the metal case to the thin display bezel builds upon a standard of elegance that looks good in any setting.

While the screen bezel isn't the slimmest I've seen, it is very thin and has rounded corners that subtly add to the laptop's overall vibe. Meanwhile, this 2-in-1 laptop isn't just good-looking; it feels sturdy too. The casing is made of a metal material that feels nice to the touch and is very durable. Whenever I fold the screen back into tablet mode, the hinges work smoothly and hold the display at whatever angle I want it to, without any sense of straining.

Then, of course, there are the ports. Some thin laptops don't feature as many connection areas as thicker laptops, but this isn't a problem with the Book5 Pro 360. In total, there is an HDMI 2.1 port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB-A 3.2 port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack to meet my various connecting needs. I never felt limited when connecting devices and PC accessories to this laptop.

That said, I happened to be testing a Samsung Evo Select 1TB microSD card while reviewing the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360. So, I decided to insert it and do the sequential transfer speed tests on this laptop. However, I soon found that it was difficult to push the microSD card in far enough that it would stay in place and the laptop would recognize it. Since I'm not Edward Scissorhands, it got to the point where I had to use the S Pen to push the memory card in all the way. I also had to use the S Pen to pop it back out because my nail couldn't reach in far enough to eject the card. The microSD card reader functions well, but this all seemed way harder to do than I've ever experienced on any other laptop.

The wonderful S Pen of awesome

As with previous Samsung Galaxy Book models, the Book5 Pro 360 comes with an S Pen stylus. I spend many hours each year digitally drawing in programs like Photoshop or Adobe Fresco, so I was very keen to check out this S Pen Pro and its drawing capabilities.

I love that — unlike some other PC styluses on the market — this one is the shape, thickness, and weight of an average pencil. When I hover over the screen, the S Pen cursor follows along so I know exactly where the tip will make contact. What's more, the sensation the S Pen Pro makes when the pen tip touches the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 touchscreen is very smooth and velvetlike rather than the harsh plastic-on-glass feeling I often encounter. I'll even go so far as to say that this is the best PC stylus drawing sensation I've ever experienced (outside of felt-tip nibs for dedicated drawing tablets). I get a lot of minute control because the pen tip and touchscreen work so smoothly together.

The sensation the S Pen Pro makes when the pen tip touches the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 touchscreen is very smooth and velvetlike rather than the harsh plastic-on-glass feeling I often encounter.

I obviously advise against snapping it in half, but the S Pen Pro feels sturdy, as though it will last a long time if you treat it well. While cylindrical in shape, one side of the S Pen Pro is flat and attaches magnetically to various parts of the Book5 Pro 360 — the top center when the laptop is closed or the left and right areas under the touchpad when the laptop is open.

However, I tend to draw with the laptop in tablet mode, and so I was surprised to find that there isn't a magnetic area to hold the S Pen to the side of the screen like you can with some of the best 2-in-1s and their styluses. It's not the worst omission, but I definitely do find myself wishing I could magnetically place the S Pen on the side of the Book5 Pro 360 when using it in tent, laptop, or tablet modes.

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Software and apps

Software and apps

Several Samsung programs come preinstalled on the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360, including a video editor, notepad, and more. While these programs can be useful, you might be better served using different apps for the same jobs. You might want to spend time uninstalling certain programs to improve this laptop's performance. Software rating: 4/5

If you already have a Samsung device, then you likely know that this company has a good range of programs in its ecosystem that can prove very helpful. On the laptop side of things, the Book5 Pro 360 comes loaded with over 20 Samsung apps for video editing, note-taking, image organizing, smart transferring, and much more. There's even a Samsung Settings app, which is like a more minimalistic Windows 11 Settings window, for controlling various aspects of the laptop. That said, these Samsung apps aren't always as good as more common programs out there. For instance, you might be better served using Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve for video editing over Samsung Studio.

Since this laptop comes with Dolby Atmos speakers, it also comes with Dolby Access installed from the get-go. I'll talk more about the laptop's audio system later, but suffice it to say that Dolby Access allows me to choose between default presets or create my own customized ones for a better listening experience.

As with many laptops, this one comes with a short McAfee virus protection trial. But you don't need to stick with it if you aren't interested.

In fact, you should probably take some time to get rid of some of the programs that come installed on this laptop in order to make it run more smoothly. But that's usually the case with any laptop that you purchase.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Display

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 produced 100% of sRGB, 98% of AdobeRGB, and 100% of P3 in our colorimeter color gamut test. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Display highlights

In a color gamut test, the Book5 Galaxy Pro 360 display produced a fantastic 100% of sRGB, 98% of AdobeRGB, and 100% of P3. HDR+ further enhances the vibrant image quality of HDR videos and pictures. Since this is a 16-inch OLED, it's not surprising to see that it offers great contrast with the ability to produce true black. While not the brightest laptop screen, the monitor can reach 400 nits, which is better than some other OLEDs. The touchscreen always reacts well whether I'm tapping it with my fingers or the S Pen Pro. Display rating: 5/5

I've never seen an OLED display I didn't like, and the same holds true for the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360's AMOLED panel. In case you're wondering, AMOLEDs mainly differ from OLEDs in that they can typically produce higher refresh rates than OLEDs, but otherwise, the viewing experience can be very similar.

Right from the get-go, I could tell that imagery wasn't only crisp with its max 2880 x 1800 resolution but that it came through with a really good color range as well. To verify my eyeballed assessment, I used a colorimeter to run various tests on the display, starting with a color gamut test. The display produced a very good 100% of sRGB, 98% of AdobeRGB, and 100% of P3, which are great results. I further improved the visual experience by going into the Samsung Settings app to turn on HDR+ and adjust settings.

Following that, I ran a brightness and contrast test, in which I learned that the screen maxes out at a peak brightness of 400 nits. This is a pretty typical max brightness for a good OLED or AMOLED, but it might not get bright enough to be helpful in some very brightly lit rooms or outdoor settings.

HDR+ settings can be adjusted within the Samsung Settings app. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Meanwhile, the contrast test verified that the screen was producing 0.00 black even at max brightness. What this means is that the pixels completely turn off if they are supposed to be displaying black. So, unlike other display types, you get a true black color rather than a light grey coming through. As you can imagine, being able to display true black allows the colorful areas of an image to really stand out on OLED panels like this one.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Performance and thermals

Performance & thermals highlights

Overall, the Book5 Pro 360 offers solid AI PC performance. This laptop's Series 2 Intel Core Ultra NPU offers far better performance than Series 1 versions, but CPU performance wasn't much different. It does a great job of keeping itself cool and is never hot to the touch. Even when stressing the CPU, the fans never got very loud. Performance rating: 4/5

In my own experience, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 works very smoothly, and it didn't have any problems keeping up with the programs I used. It didn't even buckle when I was working with several layers in an Adobe Fresco file, which often can make other laptops struggle. Of course, I was also eager to run this laptop through various tests after hearing Intel say that the latest Intel Core Ultra Series 2 AI processors are far more efficient than Series 1 versions.

To start things off, I analyzed the laptop's Core Ultra 5 228V CPU by running Geekbench 6, followed by Cinebench R24. In Geekbench 6, the Book5 Pro 360 processor earned a multi-core score of 10,328, which isn't a bad result, but it turned out to be a lower score than many Core Ultra 7 Series 1 laptops we've tested (by 2,000 points or more in some cases). I had expected this Series 2 Core Ultra 5 to do better.

Meanwhile, in the Cinebench CPU rendering test, the 2-in-1 earned a 114 single-core score and a 594 multi-core score. This is where I expected the Book5 Pro 360 to score since it doesn't have a super powerful GPU to assist the CPU. For instance, as you can see in our Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra review, this laptop and its Series 1 Intel Core Ultra 9 185H scored a much higher Cinebench score of 958, but it also has a much more powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 L GPU.

In a Procyon NPU test, the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V earned a significantly higher score than the Series 1 Core Ultra processors we've tested.

After looking at the CPU, I used Procyon to test the CPU's NPU with the Intel OpenVINO Float 16 test. Here, the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 blew previous Series 1 Core Ultra's out of the water with an extremely high score of 905. Below that, the highest Series 1 score was just 351; that's roughly a 33% difference. What this means is the Book5 Pro 360's NPU helps the laptop undertake certain AI tasks far better than previous AI PC models.

Next, I tested the Intel Arc L 130V GPU by running a few different graphics tests in 3DMark. With Time Spy, the Book5 Pro 360 earned a score of 3,654, which is decently good and what I expected the result to be. In case you don't know, the Intel Arc L 130V is a more powerful integrated graphics card than the Intel Iris Xe, but it cannot stand up against dedicated (or discrete) graphics cards from AMD or NVIDIA for gaming or creative workflows.

After that, I tested SSD transfer speeds by running CrystalDiskMark. The laptop earned a read speed of 3,781 MB/s and a write speed of 2,600 MB/s, which isn't the best results I've seen (Galaxy Book4 Ultra and Book3 Pro both scored significantly higher) but very respectable overall. What this means is the device can open and load programs at a decent clip.

Finally, I ran Crossmark to check the laptop's overall system performance. Here, the Book5 Pro 360 earned a score of 1,701, which is basically the same score that the 2023 Galaxy Book3 Pro received (learn more in our Galaxy Book3 Pro review) and a bit lower than the 1,839 score of the Galaxy Book4 Ultra. So, it isn't the very best result, but it is a good place to be compared with similar laptops we've tested.

What all of these benchmarks tell us is that the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is more powerful and efficient than Core Ultra Series 1 AI PCs in some ways, but not necessarily with the CPU itself. Either way, it's a solid device performance-wise and a step up from previous Galaxy Book Pro laptops.

Thermals and fan noises

Overall, the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 does a superb job of keeping itself at a good temperature. To test its cooling abilities, I ran a CPU stress test for 20 minutes and then whipped out my thermal camera and took pictures. Unsurprisingly, the hottest parts of the laptop are the back vents, which peaked at 108 degrees Fahrenheit (F) (~42 degrees Celsius (C)). The second hottest area was the strip above the keyboard, which reached 107 degrees F (~41 degrees C).

None of the areas that I regularly handled ever felt hot to the touch. The center of the keyboard only reaches 99 degrees F (~37 degrees C). Even after using the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 for hours on end, it was never too hot to place on my lap. What's more, the fans never got super loud, even when running the stress test. When holding my decibel meter near my ear while sitting in front of this laptop, the device registered at 42.1 dB, which isn't loud at all.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Battery life

When the S Pen Pro hovers over the display, a cursor accurately appears on screen. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

Battery highlights

This laptop can last more than 12 hours on average, which means it has excellent battery life. The included charging cable is a USB-C, and it can be plugged into either of the USB-C ports. The long battery life makes this a great option for students and businesspeople. Battery rating: 5/5

I've been using the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 every workday for two weeks, and it has always had more than enough battery life to meet my needs. As such, it is a great laptop for anyone who regularly travels or needs to rely heavily on unplugged usage.

After using it regularly, I ran a Windows 11 battery report and found that the laptop typically tended to last an average of 12 hours and 57 minutes. That's more than enough juice to keep up with an average eight-hour workday and then some. I typically had the screen at around 200 nits of brightness, so the battery could run out faster if the display is at 100% brightness. Regardless, this longer-than-average battery life makes this a great device for business people, students, or anyone else frequently on the go.

On a slightly different topic, many of the laptops I've tested recently use a barrel plug for charging, so it is nice to see that this laptop utilizes a far more standard USB-C charging cable. I can plug this cable into either of the laptop's right-side USB-C ports to juice up the battery. It would have been nice if there was a USB-C on either side of the laptop to make it easier to plug into the nearest outlet, but that's just a minor thing.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Keyboard and touchpad

The touchpad is relatively large and is easy to navigate with. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central) The keyboard is incredibly shallow and can be hard to get used to. Having a full number pad makes it far more convenient to enter numeric data. A fingerprint reader allows me to quickly log in by resting my finger on the power button. Meanwhile, the touchpad is rather large and makes navigating the 16-inch display a breeze. Keyboard and touchpad rating: 3/5

The keyboard is going to be the most divisive part of the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360. On the one hand, it features a full number pad, which has made it a lot easier for me to enter numeric data into spreadsheets or documents. However, the keys don't travel much before they send a signal. It feels rather abrupt when typing on such shallow keys.

The first day I started typing on this laptop, it felt awkward; the satisfaction and confidence of knowing a key had been pressed was rather elusive, and I found myself making far more typing mistakes than usual. It wasn't until I'd been using the keyboard for a couple of hours that I grew more accustomed to it. That said, I could also see some people not being able to get used to this typing experience.

This is not only an AI PC but a Copilot+ PC, so it's no surprise that it features a dedicated Copilot button between the space bar and the arrow keys. Tapping this brings up Microsoft's AI Assistant or makes it go away again. Similarly, the function keys along the top of the keyboard provide useful quick controls like accessing Samsung Settings, adjusting screen brightness, opening the Display Settings window, toggling the touchpad on and off, adjusting volume, muting, changing backlighting brightness, disabling the camera, or locking the function keys.

On the top right of the keyboard, there is a blank button, which serves as both the power button and the fingerprint reader. I set up biometric sign-in when I first turned the Book5 Pro 360 on, and it never had any issues quickly sensing my finger and logging me in.

As for the touchpad, it's a relatively massive area that is roughly six inches wide and 4.25 inches tall. With this much space to work with, I find it very easy to navigate more minutely around the 16-inch display.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Camera, mic, and audio

There is no physcial shutter on the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

Camera, mic, and speaker highlights

The 2MP camera is crisp, but the images look a bit too saturated. While it is possible to disable the camera, there is no physical shutter cover for the webcam. Windows Hello facial recognition is not available on this laptop. During meetings, the microphone carries my voice clearly to my colleagues. Quad speakers can get rather loud but don't provide the fullest soundscape. Camera, mic, and speaker rating: 4/5

I attended a couple of virtual meetings while using the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 to test out the mic and camera quality. During these sessions, I was told my voice was clear, and there weren't any issues understanding what I said.

Additionally, I also found that the imagery that the camera produced was rather crisp and bright but a bit too saturated. As an example, my skin tone has some natural pink to it, but the camera pulled these colors out and made me look slightly sunburned. As another example, my computer chair is a soft pastel blue, but it comes through as a stronger color with this camera.

The 2M webcam tends to make imagery look a bit too saturated, for instance, pulling out the pinks in my face and making me look sunburned. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

While there is a key for disabling the camera, it's important to note that there is no physical built-in camera shutter on this laptop. I personally prefer the assurance of knowing I can block the camera from picking me up entirely, so if you're like me, then you'll want to use one of those adhesive camera shutter covers from Amazon. Additionally, this camera does not support Windows Hello, so you cannot log in using facial recognition.

The quad speakers (two 5W woofers and two 3.3W tweeters) are more than good enough for video calls, but as usual, they are no match for a dedicated set of computer speakers or one of the best PC headsets when it comes to music listening. These speakers are located under the laptop and visible as a mesh line near the sides. This placement allows sounds to bounce off of any surface that I place the laptop on and can amplify the effect pretty well.

A close up of the speakers on the underside of the laptop. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

While listening to playlists and podcasts, I found that these speakers could get exceptionally loud and could easily produce mid to high-range tones, but they didn't have the fullest bass quality. Of course, this is to be expected with any laptop. That all said, I don't immediately feel the need to plug in my best computer speakers or reach for my headset when using the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Competition

We're going to see more Intel Core Ultra Series 2 laptops as times goes on. (Image credit: Intel)

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is one of the first laptops on the market to feature the brand new Lunar Lake Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors, and as such, there aren't many devices that can directly compare against this 2-in-1 yet. That will certainly change in the coming months, though.

You only need to look at the previous model, the Galaxy Book4 Pro 360, to find a very similar, albeit not as powerful AI PC 2-in-1 that comes with an S Pen. You can find it toting the Intel Core Ultra Series 1 AI processors. As for graphics, it also has Intel Arc. So, if you want a more affordable AI PC but don't need the most powerful option, then this could be a good fit. It sells for $1,449.99 at Best Buy, but it will likely go on sale since the newer version is now available.

At this moment, the closest competitor to the Book5 Pro 360 spec-wise is the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED. While not a 2-in-1, it is an AI PC and Copilot+ PC that features the same Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 2 processor and also utilizes Intel Arc for graphics. However, instead of having a 16-inch AMOLED display, it has a 14-inch OLED. Additionally, it does not come with an ASUS Pen 2.0 stylus (but you can purchase one for $149.99 at Amazon). This laptop sells for $949.99 at Best Buy with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.

There's also the ASUS ExpertBook P5, which is currently one of the only other laptops available right now that features the new Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 2 processor and Intel Arc graphics. It's another 14-inch laptop, but instead of an OLED display, it has an LED screen. While the screen can be pushed back 180 degrees, it is not a 2-in-1. This laptop sells for $999.99 at Best Buy.

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Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Scorecard

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: Should you buy it?

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 has a gorgeous 16-inch AMOLED touchscreen that produces a fantastic color range. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

You should buy this if...

✅ You want a 2-in-1 that comes with a good stylus: The Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 has a fantastic touchscreen that works beautifully with the included S Pen. I find it's great for drawing in addition to screen navigation. Best of all, you can use it in laptop, tent, or tablet mode.

✅ You need a laptop with excellent battery life: If you need a laptop that can keep up with you through a full day of work or school, then this is an excellent choice to go with.

✅ You'd like one of the latest, most powerful AI PCs: AI PCs are projected to be 100% of the market by the end of 2025 (as mentioned in my Lenovo AI interview), but the newest wave of Lunar Lake processors like the one in the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 have far better performance than the initial Series 1.

✅ You're looking for a laptop with a great display: This laptop's AMOLED screen produces a fantastic color gamut, excellent contrast, and true black to really bring out details in videos or imagery.

You should not buy this if...

❌ You don't want a shallow keyboard: I've been able to get used to the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360's short travel distance, but that doesn't mean it's going to feel good for everyone.

❌ You need a laptop that has an Ethernet port: To be fair, most non-gaming laptops these days don't have an RJ45 port, but if you really need one, you could always purchase one of the best Thunderbolt hubs.

As far as Copilot+ PCs and AI PCs go, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is a solid contender that can easily handle various tasks. Its 2-in-1 build offers a lot of versatility, especially since it comes with an S Pen Pro for drawing, note-taking, or otherwise navigating on the 16-inch AMOLED touchscreen. It also has a very elegantly slim design and a strong build, which, when paired with its long battery life, makes for a fantastic on-the-go laptop.

It is very convenient to have a full number pad at your disposal. However, the shallow keyboard is arguably this laptop's weakest feature, and it might take some time before people adjust to typing on these keys. In the end, if you want the latest and greatest AI PC on the market, then the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 should definitely be something you consider.

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