Samsung announces four new Galaxy Book2 laptops at Mobile World Congress with Intel 12th Gen
With new processors, full HD webcams, secured-core PC designation, and more, Samsung’s sequel to last year’s Galaxy Book line of laptops looks great.
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Update March 17, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET:Preorder links have been added at the end of this post. Each Galaxy Book2 preorder includes a free gaming monitor.
What you need to know
Samsung is going hard on its PC line with a significant refresh to its increasingly popular Galaxy Book line of Windows 11 laptops. Today, at Mobile World Congress, the company unveiled the sequels to these devices, appropriately called Galaxy Book2 360, Galaxy Book2 Pro, and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360.
Additionally, while those Galaxy Book2 devices walk the line between consumer and business, Samsung is also announcing an addition to the series called the Galaxy Book2 Business with an Anti-Glare 16:10 display. That device aims at competitors from Lenovo, HP, and Dell, who have similar premium enterprise-level laptops.
All the laptops will ship with Intel’s latest 12th Gen processors announcedlast week. The Galaxy Book2 Business, meanwhile, will get 12th Gen Intel but with Intel vPro as required by many companies.
Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360
The Galaxy Book2 Pro and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 borrow a lot from the previous design, which was announced inApril 2021. And don’t confuse the new Galaxy Book2 with the ARM-basedGalaxy Book2 from 2018,ahem. But while the overall looks remain similar, all the internals have been updated to leverage the advantages of Intel’s latest hybrid architecture.
The big advances come from the hardware’s multi-media and video conferencing improvements, much of which is required or recommended for the3rd Gen of Intel’s Evospecification. For instance, the webcams go from 720P to 1080P full HD with a wider 87° wide-angle lens. Those cameras can do auto-framing, blur your background, and more “smart” features necessary for today’s video-conferencing-focused work environment. There is also now bi-directional AI noise-canceling for the microphones and speakers.
While the speakers are still AKG with Dolby Atmos, they are now 5W with “Smart AMP” for improved audio performance.
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The screens are still Super AMOLED with a 16:9 aspect ratio and full HD resolution to ensure maximum battery life. But brightness is now dramatically increased. In ourreview of the 360 model, we could only muster a paltry 286 nits of brightness. Samsung is now claiming 400 nits with these new displays and getting VESA certified for DisplayHDR 500.
Samsung is focusing heavily on integration with its Galaxy line of smartphones, including Link to Windows and the new exclusive"recent apps"feature that lets you quickly continue from your Galaxy phone to your PC. Its Galaxy Tab tablets can also “Second Screen” with its Galaxy Book2 laptops, including Samsung Multi Control (shared mouse and trackpad, copy and paste, etc.), PC screen savers, and utilizes the entire Tab screen for maximum screen space.
The 15-inch Galaxy Book2 Pro brings options for 5G (coming later) and discrete graphics using Intel’s newArc GPU.
There is also better SmartThings integration, and, for the first time, Samsung is building Bixby into the laptop for added voice controls that can be used to control your smart home features via SmartThings. Indeed, Samsung packs its laptops with nearly all the same apps on its Galaxy line of smartphones, making a more coherent ecosystem, which we praised inour review.
Like the previous edition, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 supports Samsung’s S Pen with less latency and support for Samsung Notes, which works across all Samsung devices. Samsung Notes now supports improved handwriting recognition, smaller fonts, and hyperlinks. More interesting is integrating Samsung’s AI object erase into the Samsung Gallery app, which lets you remove shadows and unwanted distractions from photos simply by circling the item with the S Pen.
Samsung is focusing more on the environment with these new laptops. Parts of these laptops use ocean-bound recycled plastic. The product packages have been reduced by up to 39% with less reliance on raw paper materials. Improved algorithms ensure the internal batteries last longer from charging and discharging.
Finally, there are some color changes, too. The Galaxy Book2 Pro now comes in Graphite and Silver colorways, while the 360 models get Graphite, Silver, and a new Burgundy.
The Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 will be available for preorder beginning March 18, 2022, and will be available at retail stores starting April 1. The Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 will be $1,249.99, while the Galaxy Book2 Pro will be available for $1,049.99. The company notes that these laptops will be available in even more markets as the company pushes to be more global in its PC offerings.
Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 and Galaxy Book2 Business
Pushing into the more budget-friendly territory, Samsung is also announcing the Galaxy Book2 360 (no “Pro”) and the enterprise-level Galaxy Book2 Business.
The Galaxy Book2 360 is similar to the Pro model with a 13.3" Super AMOLED touch display, 12th Gen Intel CPU, Dolby Atmos speakers, but does not include the S Pen. It likely has overall less performance and features compared to the Pro edition. But it makes up for it in price, starting at just $899, which is impressive for a premium, thin 2-in-1Windows 11laptop.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Book2 Business is an entirely different laptop. Samsung shifted the display to a preferable 14-inch, full HD Anti-Glare with a more modern 16:10 aspect (it’s not Super AMOLED). It has options for 4G LTE, up to 64GB of RAM, full HD webcam, stereo speakers, and uses Intel 12th Gen vPro processors.
Here are the full specs for the Galaxy Book2 Business:
Ports are more in line with business needs, including full HDMI 2.0, Kensington Lock, and even a full RJ45 Ethernet port.
Interestingly, for the first time, the Galaxy Book2 Business is the first Samsung laptop to use Windows Hello facial recognition (infrared) in addition to the fingerprint sensor. The rest of Samsung’s Galaxy Book laptops only use fingerprint for authentication.
There is no pricing yet for the Galaxy Book2 Business, but Samsung notes it will be available starting April in select markets.
Galaxy Book2 Pro 360
Do you want a Galaxy Book with the latest specs and infinite degrees of flippable freedom? That’s where the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 comes into play. Plus, you’ll get a free curved Odyssey gaming monitor with your preorder.
Galaxy Book2 Pro
A sharp form factor, the latest specs in Samsung laptop hardware, and a free Odyssey gaming monitor on preorder, all for a starting price of $599.
Galaxy Book2 360
If you want to save some cash and go with the less fancy version of the Book2 Pro 360, this is where you go. No Pro capabilities or 32-inch Odyssey monitor included, but you will get a 24-inch CRG5 Gaming Monitor as a preorder bonus.
Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer,podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.
