Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra Review 2023

The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra ($2,399.99 as tested) might look familiar as soon as you take it out of the box for the first time. With the way it looks and how its keyboard works, it’s almost as if Samsung is trying to make a good copy of the MacBook Pro. Most of the time, it works. As we’ve come to expect from Samsung’s Galaxy Book family, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has a premium metal unibody frame and a bright AMOLED display. Even better, the company adds a huge tablet made of glass that would make fans of the MacBook Pro green with envy.

Samsung adds the latest 13th-generation Intel Raptor Lake processors (our review unit has a Core i7-13700H) and Nvidia’s entry-level GeForce RTX 4050 dedicated GPU to the good-looking case. Even though Samsung is marketing this more as a work system, you can play light games on it when you have some free time. Book Three of the Galaxy The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra was made to be as good as the best ultrabooks. It has the right features and price, like long battery life, good speed, and a good working experience. 

Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Specs

PROS

• Strong functionality and long battery life
• Stunning, high-performance OLED display
• A Windows Studio Effects-capable 1080p webcam
• Galaxy ecosystem and apps work well together

CONS

• Standard keyboard and mouse
• Sound quality may use some work

Price

The cheapest Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra laptop cost $1,799.99 in the US, while the best cost $2,399.99. The base model, which I reviewed, costs $2,399.99 (£2,649 or AU$4,875). Core i7-13700H CPU with RTX 4050 GPU. The current version with the Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU costs $2,999.99 (£3,049 or AU$5,610). Both are common in the US and UK. Samsung’s internet store. Australia cannot legally obtain them. Bring one from another nation or order one from a company or site that doesn’t offer them.

Display

The Ultra’s weight and size are astonishing. The metal frame shows fingerprints on the black Graphite surface. Samsung’s ultrathin Book series feels thicker than the Ultra. 14 inches broad and 1.8 kilos show the weight. This large power brick has a plug. 70mm x 75mm is three inches. It may be difficult to plug into the wall or power strip depending on how it’s installed. Samsung may reconsider with its next edition. The Book3 line’s revolutionary AMOLED 2X OLED is its best feature, and it’s here too. Perfect blacks showcase the screen’s high contrast ratio. In reality, its bright colors and light backdrops won’t affect office work. However, dark-mode fans will benefit. It shines in movies. gloomy scenes look gloomy, making the experience more authentic.

Ports

We noticed a coil whine when we opened and set up the Book 3. Laptop fans speed up to cool it. Fairly, they haven’t contacted us since. Instead, the Book3 Ultra allows air through a small grid of holes on the bottom of the frame. Fans hiss clearly but quietly. The Core i9/RTX 4070 makes greater noise. The Book3 Ultra has two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left. These ports can connect to a Thunderbolt dock to provide storage or 4K screens. The Book3 Ultra’s HDMI 2.0 connector can project to a single 4K external monitor if that doesn’t work. Samsung placed a headphone jack, microSD slot, and old-style USB-A mouse port on the phone’s right side. 

Audio

Samsung’s 1.6:1 display ratio allows a large keyboard and compact number pad on the right. This may aid right-handed writers. For left-handed persons, the number pad is the WASD keys. Games-capable machines benefit from this. Most of Samsung’s Book3 range is 16 inches, so any device you buy from this family should have the same keyboard and be useful. I’m not sure I can use Samsung’s chiclet keyboards because they have less key movement than I want. They’re comfy, but I’m not sure I’ll wear them often. However, manufacturers desire smaller systems with less key movement, therefore keyboards have narrowed. I don’t like that trend, but Samsung found a middle ground. Three ways to backlight something.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra is versatile. Its best feature is that it can handle most artistic, editing, productivity, and high-end gaming jobs. It’s pricey, but it can handle most tasks, so you won’t need to buy multiple computers. The Book3 Ultra’s popularity is due to its 13th-generation Core i7 CPU, which runs several apps and programs without a hitch. The GPU isn’t bad either. The RTX 4050 mobile chip is fast and new to us. Even though it can’t beat a game machine, it outperforms the last generation in speed tests and works well with the CPU. Adding a 4080 or 4090 decreases CPU speed, but there’s no indication.