Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 (15-Inch) Review

The 15.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 (starts at $1,349.99; $1,549.99 as tested) is a refinement of the original convertible we reviewed last year. The main draw is a new 12th Generation Intel processor, boosting the 2-in-1's performance without changing its ultra-slim design and brilliant AMOLED display. A smaller 13.3-inch model and a non-convertible (clamshell) version are also available, but we've tested the hybrid flagship here. Weighing in at just 3.1 pounds, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360's portability is exceptional for a 15-inch-class laptop, and its tremendous 18-hour battery life boosts its mobility even further. You'll find a bit more power in some similarly sized and priced alternatives and even higher-quality design in a few systems such as the Dell XPS 15 OLED, but there are few real flaws here if you like a big 2-in-1.

A Super-Portable 15-Inch

The design of the Book2 Pro 360 is very similar to that of last year's model, but we're not complaining. We loved the thin and light build of the first, and this system is just as travel-friendly. It measures 0.46 by 13.9 by 8.9 inches (HWD), a beacon of portability among 15-inch laptops and nearly identical to the original.

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(Photo: Molly Flores)

The build quality feels high-end, too, not flimsy despite the Samsung's light weight. There's little to no flex in the chassis, it feels good to the touch, and it looks sharp. Our test unit had the graphite color option, but the Book2 Pro 360 also comes in silver and burgundy. Many of the design highlights are shared with the first Galaxy Book; you can check out that review for the key points rather than delving into them again here.

That review also has more details about the display technology and Samsung's history with AMOLED, but we should still touch on the display here. The resolution is 1,920 by 1,080 pixels (known as full HD or 1080p), and the image quality is very good. Details are sharp and colors are vivid, thanks to the AMOLED technology highlighted in last year's model.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

As with OLED laptops, the advantage over generic LCD panels is clear, particularly when it comes to color vibrancy and true blacks. AMOLED screens achieve this by lighting pixels via a self-emitting organic layer instead of a separate backlight. When electric current is applied, the red, green, and blue subpixels become their own source of light.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

As a 2-in-1 convertible (denoted by the 360 in its name), the Samsung's screen can flip and fold into multiple orientations. This is hardly novel in 2022, a decade after Lenovo's first IdeaPad Yoga, so it doesn't need much explanation. But at 15.6 inches, folding the keyboard all the way behind the screen makes for one nice, roomy tablet.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

Your mileage may vary on how useful this is (some users rarely or never use the touch screen, let alone flipping the system into tent or tablet modes), but it's a nice option to have. If you know you don't want the convertible form factor, Samsung is ready to oblige with 13.3- and 15.6-inch Book2 Pro non-360s.

Speaking of the keyboard, we're disappointed to say that the typing experience hasn't improved since the first model. This is surely due to the system's thin design, but the keys feel shallow and don't offer satisfying feedback. This is an occupational hazard with slim laptops, but you can find others with superior keyboards for more pleasant typing.

Ports and Extras

On the connectivity front, the Book2 Pro 360 is all in on USB-C ports: There are three in total, with one on the right edge and two on the left. One of the left-side ports supports Thunderbolt 4, and any of the three can charge the laptop via the supplied AC adapter. You'll also find a headphone jack and a microSD card slot, but no USB Type-A or HDMI ports. The Samsung supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth, and its front-facing webcam offers superior 1080p resolution instead of the usual 720p.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

A number of Samsung-specific software utilities add premium advantages to this laptop. A chief example is Samsung Security, which offers several privacy-oriented features including Privacy Folder, Secret Screen, Block Recording, and Security Cam. In order, these let you create a hidden folder on the solid-state drive, make it more difficult for snoopers to read your display over your shoulder, block unwanted webcam or microphone recordings, and provide login camera security.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

Also on tap is the Galaxy Book Experience, which is a hub for a wide range of supporting Samsung features. You can search for files, set live wallpapers, browse your synced photos, share files between devices, and more. Samsung Second Screen allows you to use a tablet as a second display for your Galaxy Book, a pretty neat feature that can mimic a desktop setup on the go.

Configurations and Testing: Galaxy Book Meets ‘Alder Lake'

While the 2022 model's design is very similar to the original Book Pro 360's, the internals have received a speed boost. Over the last few years, performance differences between single processor generations haven't been great, but Intel's 12th Gen “Alder Lake” chips have impressed us. The Samsung boasts one of Intel's P-series Alder Lakes, which were made for ultraportables. We don't expect any ultra-thin system to set speed records, but we'll see what it can do in the benchmarks below.

As mentioned, the 15.6-inch Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 starts at $1,349.99. That gets you a Core i7-1260P processor, 8GB of memory, and a 512GB solid-state drive. Our unit doubles the latter specs to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, which brings the price to $1,549.99. That's by no means cheap, but pretty reasonable considering the feature set and build of the laptop as a whole. The Core i7-1260P has 12 cores (four performance P-Cores and eight efficiency E-Cores) for a total of 16 threads.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

Samsung offers no possible processor upgrades, so your only option is bumping the RAM and storage (a single, unified upgrade selection) as in our test unit. The same choices are available for the 13.3-inch model. Intel's Iris Xe integrated graphics are the only choice, likely due to the system's slim design and thermal constraints, so if you want a game-worthy dedicated GPU you'll have to look elsewhere.

To see how fast these components work together, we put the Samsung through our usual suite of benchmark tests, comparing its results to those of some competitors whose basic specs appear below. This is a competitive field, with plenty of thin and light laptops to choose from.

We've changed our benchmark tests since we reviewed the first Galaxy Book Pro 360, so we can't compare the older and newer models directly. The rest of the field should provide plenty of context, however, and frankly most folks considering this convertible aren't people who bought the first edition last year.

Productivity Tests

The main benchmark of UL's PCMark 10 simulates a variety of real-world productivity and content-creation workflows to measure overall performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and videoconferencing. We also run PCMark 10's Full System Drive test to assess the load time and throughput of a laptop's boot drive.

Three further benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads, to rate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Primate Labs' Geekbench 5.4 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better).

Our final productivity test is workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Photoshop, which uses the Creative Cloud version 22 of Adobe's famous image editor to rate a PC's performance for content creation and multimedia applications. It's an automated extension that executes a variety of general and GPU-accelerated Photoshop tasks ranging from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving an image to applying masks, gradient fills, and filters.

On average, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 hangs with the rest of the pack, doing better in some benchmarks than in others. You won't mistake it for a professional workstation or content creation laptop, but it fits nicely into the tier below as a snappy desktop replacement. It's perfectly proficient for general use and office productivity. The P-series CPU shows its limits in comparison to the others, but in the grand scheme of processor performance, it still offers respectable pep.

Graphics and Gaming Tests

We test Windows PCs' graphics with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark, Night Raid (more modest, suitable for laptops with integrated graphics) and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs).

Integrated graphics always mean modest scores in these benchmarks, and today's set is no exception. The Asus Vivobook Pro and the Dell XPS 15 include an entry-level discrete GPU in the form of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, which is a clear step above the other laptops' Intel and AMD integrated graphics.

If you don't have a 3D-heavy workload or hobby and don't have any desire to play big-budget games, today's integrated graphics are fine. If you do need a laptop for those purposes, look for at least an RTX 3050 Ti, and for true 3D professional tasks seek an even beefier GPU.

Battery and Display Tests

We test laptops' battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100% until the system quits. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.

We also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its brightness in nits (candelas per square meter) at Windows' 50% and peak screen settings.

The Samsung's battery life is a big plus, offering just over 18 hours of unplugged runtime. That leads the pack by a wide margin, and really fulfills the laptop's billing as a smartphone-like mobile experience.

The display quality is also strong, with wide color coverage up there with the OLED creative systems and high maximum brightness. Our peak brightness reading is even a bit higher than Samsung's claimed 370 nits.

A Galaxy of Versatility

The Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 doesn't do a lot different from its predecessor, but an internal upgrade never hurt anyone. Its 12th Generation Intel processor puts this 2-in-1 in the mix with other premium machines, including some content creation systems, though it's not quite as fast given its slim chassis.

There aren't many clear downsides here; portability is the main attraction. Some alternatives like the Dell XPS top the Samsung's build quality and others edge its performance, but if you're looking for a versatile, productivity-focused desktop replacement, the Book2 Pro 360 delivers. The convertible form factor allows greater flexibility on the road, and the brilliant AMOLED display will make long work sessions a pleasure.