First look: Samsung's newest Copilot+ PC spotlights AI with some major improvements

IFA 2024 in Berlin saw a host of new laptops with novel features, like Lenovo's auto-rotating screens and phone-tapping share features, I was most excited to see Samsung's Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360, the first in the Book 5 series and the newest addition to Samsung's Copilot+ PC line.

When I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge, I praised its gorgeous display and ultralight form factor, noting that it was one of the best-performing (and best-looking) laptops from the first batch of Copilot+ PCs, despite some buying concerns of its own. 

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The next in the lineup certainly follows suit, with some added versatility in the 2-in-1 convertible form factor and an Intel processor swapped into this model instead of the Windows-on-ARM Snapdragon X Elite on the Galaxy Book 5 Edge. 

One of the themes we saw on new laptops announced at this year's IFA was a diversification of AI features across new platforms and hardware. The Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 supports that trend with Intel's new Series 2 Core Ultra 7 processor with a 47-TOPs NPU that Samsung says powers over 300 different AI features across 100 apps, including Google's Circle to Search, Chat Assist, and Live Translate. 

I had a chance to go hands-on with the Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 on Samsung's massive show floor at IFA and it's a device that looks immediately impressive with a bright, 16-inch display and surprisingly thin and light body. 

The AMOLED WQXGA+ touch display on this is just as gorgeous as the Book 4 Edge, with 500 nits of brightness, 2880 x 1800 resolution, and a smooth 120Hz variable refresh rate. 

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Popping it into tablet mode instantly makes it the kind of device you want to watch movies on or use creatively with Samsung's S Pen, and first looks with the Intel Arc GPU made for smooth, responsive graphics. Additionally, the screen mitigated glare quite well under harsh lighting.  

I didn't get to run any games, but I'm curious to see how this Intel-powered machine handles gaming in comparison to the Snapdragon chip, and if it can run as cool, especially with its ultra-thin form factor (and with 16GB of RAM).

One of the other elements of the Galaxy Book 4 Edge was its football field-sized trackpad, which some users (me included) said was a little too unwieldy. Samsung seems to have listened to the complaints, as it added adaptive palm rejection to the touchpad in the Book 5 Pro 360. 

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this new machine, as it's one of the most visually striking of all the new Copilot+ PCs, but similar to its Book 4 sibling, there are likely to be some buying factors to consider with the different configurations, exclusivity with Samsung devices, and most importantly -- the price.  

The Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 is available for pre-order now for $1,700, with general availability expected later in September.