REVIEW: Galaxy Book3 Ultra is Samsung's powerful hit

bet of Samsung for the 2023 premium notebook market, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra was announced with the line Galaxy S23 to clash with the MacBooks da Apple . For this purpose, the Korean company used a processor Intel Core i7 13th generation and graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050. Is the suggested price above R$ 18 worth it? See our everyday use and what to expect from the model.

Design and construction

With a touchpad that rivals would envy, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra it weighs 1,79 kg and can easily be carried from side to side and also lifted with one hand. The keys in the ABNT2 standard follow the pattern present in most models sold in Brazil, so the use was very smooth.

I have big hands and very small keys can be a big problem, but here I managed to make full use and deliver the texts I write to the showmetech. By the way, this review is also being written with the Galaxy Book3 Ultra.

The fingerprint reader under the power button is a hit that was really missed on the Galaxy Book3 360. In this more powerful (and more expensive) model, having an extra layer of security guarantees that only those who have a registered fingerprint will have access to the computer. As soon as you turn on the model, just touch your finger and access will be released in less than five seconds.

A Samsung sent us a Graphite color variant. The internal material seems to be a little more resistant than the model of this same line that I tested, but I noticed that the lid manages to leave fingerprints. I would put a shield on this part of the Windows notebook so that it doesn't get damaged or scratched.

The model is light enough to be taken wherever you want, and its keyboard with keys that are neither too small nor too big, met my type of day-to-day use. As a person who enjoys listening to music a lot, I missed the music playback keys present on my personal notebook. It's nothing serious, but that would be nice to have here to prevent an app from opening to skip, pause, or rewind a song.

Particularly, I found the touchpad larger than most of the models I've tested and it was useful when I used it, despite being easier to use a mouse.

ports and connectivity

O Galaxy Book3 Ultra It is sold in Brazil with a P2 headphone jack, but you can also buy Bluetooth models to listen to media. Analyzing the type of public that can and wants to buy a model like this, it is likely that they already have a wireless headphone.

In addition, there are two more USB-C ports that follow the Thunderbolt 4 standard and, due to this, can transmit images to up to 2 4K monitors or one 8K. They are also used for battery charging.

There's also an HDMI 2.0 port and a traditional USB-A port. As I use a wired mouse, I had to use the only USB-A port for this accessory. When I needed to put a pendrive, it had to be disconnected. It cost nothing to Samsung put another door like this one, but it's not something that is sorely missed.

Moving on to connectivity, here's the best of all worlds: this lightweight computer from Samsung reaches the Brazilian market with WiFi 6e e Bluetooth 5.1, which worked very well here. In my house, there is a 2,5 GHz internet point, which worked very well with the notebook.

Samsung's choice to remove the 2,5 mm jack from the model may be a problem for some people, but as someone who uses a wireless headset, it wasn't so much missed in everyday life. I missed one more USB-A port so I don't have to disconnect my mouse every time I read a traditional pendrive.

Camera

There's not much to say here about Samsung's notebook camera. The same lens as the Galaxy Book3 360 is here, and frankly, it's important not to set too high expectations. The lens won't disappoint, but at the same time, it's not anything top-notch. And unfortunately, there is no support for facial recognition. Check out this outdoor selfie:

You can take photos at up to 2,1 MP and make video calls (as well as record videos) in 1080p quality. An increase that makes a certain difference here is the Galaxy Studio Mode: it puts effects on the face, performs automatic framing and also activates HDR in just a few clicks. At the same time, here is the warning: it is not an increase that will give that boom in the quality of your video calls. The lens has a little problem pixelating the image, so I recommend that you use the notebook in places with good lighting.

As a premium model, I expected a 2k quality lens on this model, but I understand the idea of Samsung to have a model that wouldn't be so expensive in the markets it was launched. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra's lens could be better, but perhaps this evolution only occurs in the fourth generation.

Screen and sound

In addition to the dedicated processor and video card, the 16-inch AMOLED screen with 3K 1800p resolution (2.880 x 1.800 pixels) is a major highlight of the notebook. Samsung. Extremely bright and with a peak brightness of 500 nits, it performs well indoors as well as outdoors. I missed an anti-glare protection, as this is a premium model. The refresh rate was set to 120 Hz.

The model will work much better in environments with low sunlight, but when necessary, you can use the maximum brightness that will deliver a good visual experience. At times when I was indoors, I even had to lower the level to 60%, so the screen does its job quite assertively.

This is the same screen present in Galaxy Book3 360, but touch is not supported here. This means that it can only be used in the traditional way, but, according to the public of this model, until such a change makes sense.

As for the sound, it has a game AKG Quad Speaker (Woofer Max 5Wx2, Tweeter 2Wx2) that manages to fill all the space where it is placed. I'm a type of user who uses headphones more than listens to the sound from the speakers, but I was able to hear the voices of artists and actors with complete clarity and without errors. On its own, sound manages to do well, but there's also support for standards SmartAmp e Dolby Atmos, which make everything even more special.

Battery

notebooks from Samsung they manage to work for a long time before they go back into the socket and, once again, I was blown away. In addition to games, I also tested the model as if it were my personal notebook that I use for work. At 95% capacity at 10:04 am, it took 25:20 am to reach XNUMX% and enter power saving mode.

Charging time, done via USB-C connection, took 02h30 until 100% capacity was reached. Samsung sends a 100w power source compatible with the entire Galaxy ecosystem and other devices with this same input — that is, most current Androids, MacBooks and iPads. You can recharge your smartphone while using up your notebook's battery and, when necessary, plug it in just once a day.

The Samsung Settings software, which adds model-specific features, offers a battery saver mode where charging is paused when it reaches 85% charge. This prevents the component from losing charging cycles and ensures longer use. It is a configuration already seen in notebooks from other brands and that has become popular among smartphones, so seeing it here is quite a gain.

In games like Fortnite e Destiny 2, the total battery life was 03h30. The processor needed to pull a little more power to reach its maximum performance, but nothing that prevented considerable progress or a few matches. But we recommend that, in matches, always use the device connected to the socket.

Noise, heating and lighting

I used the model a lot for medium activities, but my way of using it requires several apps to be open at the same time: Google Chrome, Telegram, WhatsApp, Spotify and Slack. And I rarely heard the fans working to blow hot air out.

In games, however, it was natural for the noise to be higher to achieve the expected performance. But this is nothing that will disturb those next to you and the sound of the game (or music) will be louder than the noise of the fans.

About heating, I realized that it warmed up more than it should, but I managed to use the Galaxy Book3 Ultra on my lap for the two weeks I had him. This without that annoyance of looking like there's a heater over his legs.

The keyboard has an ambient light sensor that automatically turns on and off depending on where you are, and only white lighting is available. We remind you that despite being a premium notebook, this is not a gamer notebook, so one would not expect colors on the keyboard.

System

O Galaxy Book3 Ultra, like the other models in this line, arrives on the market with the One UI Book based on Windows 11.

Basically, the Samsung it allowed shoppers to use familiar smartphone apps on their computers as well. It is still possible to have the full operating system experience of Microsoft, but it is complemented by the applications that we have already seen on smartphones and tablets from Samsung.

However, as I said in the review of the GalaxyBook2 Pro e Galaxy Book3 360, this modification may have gone too far. For example: do you really need one more application from Gallery, when the Windows 11 Do you have one of these ready to use?

And do you really need a second File Explorer, which here at One UI Book is called Quick Search? The answer is clear: no. And we also have a Notepad by Samsung that can easily go unnoticed if you are a heavy user of Windows.

Not all additions have gone wrong: one of the best apps is Samsung Flow, which allows the continuity of the image of a Galaxy smartphone or tablet on the larger screen, in addition to everything copied on the second device, to be available on the light notebook of the Korean company.

If you have a Samsung cell phone or tablet, you can take advantage of QuickShare for quick file sharing between your notebook and these devices. It's a functionality that resembles Bluetooth, but that works very well for those who have products from the Galaxy ecosystem.

Another important addition is in the Samsung Pass, which is finally available for download on Windows and will bring that extra protection for your data.

In the most, the Samsung weighed the hand when placing applications that could be easily discarded.

Gaming performance

The processor Intel Core i7-13700H it reaches speeds from 2.4 GHz to 5.0 GHz and manages to do very well in titles that require a lot of performance power. Daily, I played a few games of Fortnite with the maximum settings and I had no problems with crashes. And there's another 32GB of RAM for performance, alongside an NVMe-style 1TB SSD.

In addition to the power of its processor, we must mention the dedicated video card, a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 for laptops. The model makes a total difference not only for games, but also for those who work with content editing for the internet.

Of course, when a game was running, the processor had to work harder and this generates more fan noise to get the hot air out. It's not loud at all, but it's worth placing the notebook on a base or table so the processor doesn't overload.

Even after working for 8 hours straight, the notebook managed to do well in games at any time. I also tested with Destiny 2 and I was really surprised with the quality of the games that the processor and video card provided.

At the same time, it is worth remembering that this notebook is not just for gaming. It will be able to run most of the most popular games nowadays, but the focus of Samsung is to deliver productivity in more tasks than that. Here, we have a state-of-the-art processor and a dedicated graphics card that can certainly be used for games, but not just for that.

synthetic tests

Here, we place the notebook so that the performance power of the processor and graphics card are measured through various tests. We remember that Samsung's light notebook was connected to the socket so that the maximum energy power is reached.

PCMark10

This application puts the computer to be tested in different situations to find out how the processor and video card would perform in practice. The Galaxy Book3 360 reached 6861 points and for comparison, the Galaxy Book3 360, with the processor Intel Core i7-1360P, had 5589 points.

Galaxy Book2 Pro that we tested in 2022, managed to reach 5.137 points.

Cinebench R23

This other application is more focused on testing the graphic rendering and here, it did not work: the high number of 11.776 points was hit in the Multi Core CPU test. In the Single Core test, the model managed to score 1.199 points.

The value is high: to give you an idea, the Galaxy Book3 360 achieved 8.833 points in the Multi Core test. The Galaxy Book2 Pro scored 8.735 points in the same simulation.

Price and availability

Available for sale from May 2023, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is sold in color Graphite with only one processor option, which in this case is a Intel Core i7. The suggested price of the model we tested is R$18.774 in Magazine Luiza.

A processor version Intel Core i9-13900H with 14 cores – six of them focused on performance and eight on efficiency, it also offers a maximum speed of 5.40GHz for all activities and has a suggested price of R$ 24.999. This more complete version has a video card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070.

Conclusion

Two weeks after using the model in my work routine, watching content and playing games, it is possible to say that yes, this notebook from Samsung has a high performance and, with certainty, is aimed at those who want and — mainly — can afford it. O suggested value of BRL 18.999 will limit access to this machine, and more affordable options may be considered.

The exchange of a Galaxy Book2 Pro to a Galaxy Book3 Ultra it may not be worth it, but if you have a 2021 model and would like to upgrade to access the latest features and those that will also be released in the future, purchasing is something to consider.

The very bright AMOLED screen, unified with a good processor and dedicated graphics card, manage to deliver a very complete package. This is made even better by the good battery life, which only needs to be recharged once a day. But are you willing to pay such a price? If so, the purchase will be more than assertive.

Technical specifications

MODEL	Galaxy Book3 Ultra
Colors	Graphite
Operational system	Windows 11
Processor	13th Generation Intel Core (with i7 or i9 options)
Video card	Dedicated NVIDIA RTX 4050 or 4070
RAM memory	32GB (LPDDR5)
Storage	1TB NVMe SSD + expansion space
Fabric	2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 16X (16:10 aspect ratio) 400nits 120 Hz 120% color volume (DCI-P3) 400nit (Typ) 500nit (HDR) - VESA HDR 500 authentication, HDR content only
Resolution	3K 1800p (2.880 x 1.800 pixels)
Dimensions	355.4 x 250.4 x 16.5 mm
Weight	16 inch model: 1,79kg
Audio	AKG Quad Speaker (Woofer Max 5Wx2, Tweeter 2Wx2) smart amp Dolby Atmos
WebCam	1080p Full HD with dual microphone, studio quality and noise canceling
Battery	76Wh (Typical)
Keyboard	3-line numeric, backlit island type
Charger	USB-C 100w, compatible with the entire Galaxy ecosystem
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6e (Gig+), 802.11ax 2x2 Bluetooth 5.1
other entries	1x MicroSD 1x USB 3.2 Type A 1x HP/Microphone 2x USB-C Tunderbolt 4 HDMI 2.0
Accessories	No
technology solutions	Galaxy Echo (Phone-Tab-PC-Wearable) Samsung MultiControl Second Screen Expert RAW (AutoShare) Quick Share & Private Share  phone link Samsung Pass
Availability in Brazil	As of May 2023
Price in Brazil	Version with Intel Core i7 processor and RTX 4050: R$18.774

Do you have any questions about using this notebook? Tell us us Comment!

See also other features

REVIEW: Galaxy Book3 360 hits the performance and has good battery

REVIEW: Galaxy Book3 360 hits the performance and has good battery

reviewed by Glaucon Vital em