You heard me. If I stopped reviewing laptops right now and had to pick just one, it’d be the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra. I didn’t even review that laptop, but our Managing Editor Sean Riley did, and he made me want one.
In our Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra review, we complimented the performance, battery life, and gorgeous display packed into a thin and light design. Yes, I can say those things about a number of laptops, so I’m going to break down exactly why the Galaxy Book4 Ultra sold me.
A caveat, however. There’s no way I’m spending $3,000 on a laptop. I don’t care how decked out it is — and this laptop isn’t even that stacked. However, if I happened to find this at 50% during the holidays, you best believe I’m going to snatch it.
Now, let’s jump into why I want the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra.
Best of both worlds
I’m a journalist, of course, but that’s not what is drawing me to the Book4 Ultra. I write fantasy for myself and a group of gremlins via planning hours-long D&D sessions, so I need a laptop that offers a comfortable keyboard and will survive long days.
I am also a gamer, so I want some decent graphics performance under the hood. I don’t need the best; I just need something to get me through my favorite games on minimum settings. And, of course, a beautiful display.
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra fulfills both of these requirements. I have never touched this laptop, but I trust Sean Riley when he says that this laptop features a clicky keyboard with great spacing and that its touchpad is so smooth that it doesn’t offer any resistance. That certainly sounds like a keyboard that I would tap dance on all day long.
Another key facet of that comfortability is the heat. The hottest that the Galaxy Book4 Ultra got was 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, which is below our 95-degree comfort threshold. The last thing I need to worry about is a laptop burning a hole through my pants.
Of course, there’s the battery life. On the Laptop Mag battery test, the Galaxy Book4 Ultra averaged 13 hours and 15 minutes. That’s more than enough to take me past work and give me five extra hours to spare. If I’m honest, 13 hours of writing in one day is more than enough to take me out.
Then there’s the performance. Yes, there’s the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, which is powerful in its own right, despite not keeping up with competitors. But I’m more interested in its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GPU. We didn’t run a swathe of gaming tests for Book4 since it’s not a gaming laptop, but an RTX 4070 GPU is more than enough for my needs on almost any laptop. Like I said, I don’t mind playing on lower graphics settings.
However, it does need to look good, and that’s what the Galaxy Book4’s 16-inch, 2880 x 1800, 120Hz AMOLED touchscreen display is for. First, the high resolution will make images look sharper, even if graphics are at lower settings. The 120Hz refresh rate gives me smoother visuals, so I can play fast-paced shooters without getting lost in the missing frames. And, of course, the AMOLED screen produces bolder colors and deeper blacks. At 81.8% DCI-P3 color coverage and 384 nits of brightness, the Galaxy Book4 Ultra offers a stunning display.
This next bit is slightly less important to me, yet it’s a great pro regardless. Yes, it looks like a discount MacBook, but MacBooks do look nice, even if I’m tired of the design in general. More importantly, the Galaxy Book4 Ultra comes in at 4.1 pounds and 14 x 9.86 x 0.65 inches. That’s light and thin enough to get me to carry it through my house without complaint.
Am I buying it?
Honestly, I’d love to buy the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra, just as soon as it gets to a more reasonable price point, like $1,499. I would never recommend purchasing this laptop at its full price; the specs simply do not warrant a $2,999 price tag. While the top-end configuration is perennially available for $2,500 or less directly from Samsung, that’s still not cheap enough for me.
I’ve seen RTX 4070 gaming laptops on sale for under $1,000; now that’s asking for a bit too much with the Book4, but I think it’s possible it could see a more significant sale. However, until the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra gets a nice 50% discount, I won’t be purchasing it. Of course, if money is no object, then yeah, live my dream.
