I want a laptop with a giant screen and some serious power but it has to be super thin and light. I also want it to have a touchscreen and a smart pen so I can use it like a giant tablet. Oh yeah, make sure it has good speakers so I can watch movies and tv shows.
Is this too much to ask? I don’t think so.
Samsung, trying to check all the boxes with their latest high-end laptop, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360. I took it for a test.
The first thing I thought when I opened up the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is WOW. The 16″ screen is huge and Samsung’s AMOLED technology shines… literally. The screen is bright and the colors pop. When Samsung launched the Galaxy Book series they said they took what they had learned by developing phones and tablets to build a better laptop and that’s exactly what is on display with their newest Book3.
The 360 is thin, and relatively light. It comes in at under 4 pounds and feels sleek when carried. This doesn’t take away from the fact that a 16″ screen is going to create a big footprint. Don’t get me wrong, this is a BIG laptop but doesn’t feel like the massive “desktop replacement” laptops of the past.
The laptop is barely thick enough to fit a single USB port along with a micro-SD slot and a headphone jack/microphone jack on the right side. On the left you’ll find a full-size HDMI port and two thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports. There wouldn’t be much room for more ports.
The trackpad on this large laptop is also LARGE! Samsung increased the size of the trackpad from their previous Pro model by 39%. I also like that the power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor so you can turn on the laptop and unlock the OS with one single press.
In addition to all of this, the screen is a full touchscreen with a Samsung S Pen included. I’m not a big “stylus” guy but with this massive screen and the ability to fold the screen back and use the 360 like a tablet, the S Pen makes perfect sense. The pressure sensitive S Pen has established itself as a worth competitor to the Apple Pencil.
Fold the 360 like a tent for what Samsung calls “Theater Mode.” It’s designed for watching movies or tv shows. There are 4 speakers built into the bottom of the 360 that now become front-facing speakers perfectly placed for that Netflix binge session. Nice touch!
My ONLY complaint about the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 (aside from how ridculously long the name is) is that it’s going to be too big for many people. The 16″ screen is gorgeous and the laptop is slim and light but many of us won’t want to carry around a laptop with this large of a footprint. If large laptops are your thing, this is as good as it gets.
I’m giving the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 (see? it’s SO long) a 4.5 out of 5 geeks. This is my favorite laptop in 2023 if you don’t mind the size. It’s available at most major tech retailers and directly from Samsung starting at $1,900.