On the plus side, things at least feel reasonably lively with regular use, and the built-in AI features didn’t disappoint. Live subtitles (in the same language only for now, until the release of Copilot+ for PC) were snappy and accurate, and Paint’s Image Creator mode quickly delivered AI art on command. But best of all, Samsung has finally done it by releasing a laptop that really, honestly, offers “all-day battery life.” Its benchmark of 18 hours and 43 minutes in a full-screen YouTube playback test is a high mark for Intel PCs and enough to beat even all the Snapdragon laptops I’ve tested except one: the Asus ProArt PZ13 .
Book with errors
Despite some highlights, I often found myself frustrated with the user experience when working with this laptop. I already mentioned the annoying keyboard, but compounding that problem is the fact that the system is simply buggy.
Photography: Christopher Null
I lost count of how many times the laptop failed to do something completely normal, like load the Samsung account login screen, close a window, or even load Copilot by tapping the Copilot key on the keyboard. My review drive even crashed during login once and refused to run System Restore repeatedly until I ran the “Fix problems using Windows Update” recovery wizard. Interestingly, the system worked well during the stress tests, but had more problems when it should have been going smoothly.
Samsung also talks a lot about the new AI features available in the system, including “Transcription Assistant” to convert recorded meetings into written summaries and “Chat Assistant,” which can “enhance conversations through suggested responses.” . You’ll have to read the fine print to realize that these are all features of Samsung Galaxy phones and that you can only use them through your phone and Microsoft Phone Link, essentially turning the Book5 into nothing more than an oversized phone screen .
The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 has a pretty face and amazing battery life, but it’s almost impossible to recommend in its current state due to general instability and an unfriendly keyboard, especially at $1,700. Firmware and software updates can help resolve the former, but there’s not much to do about the input situation other than pricing an external keyboard.