Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review (long-term): A perfect companion for work and entertainment

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 review Summary:

Editor’s rating: 4/5

Earlier this year, Samsung launched a new lineup of personal notebooks for the Indian market. It had 6 notebooks which included the Galaxy Book 2, Book 2 Pro, Book 2 pro 360, and Book 2 360. The Galaxy Book 2 360 sits between the vanilla Galaxy Book 2 and the premium Galaxy Book 2 pro 360 notebooks. It promises to give premium specs at a lower price than Pro versions. The laptop is lightweight, sleek, fast, and handy to carry around wherever you go. Priced at around Rs. 1 lakh, how does it perform over a longer period of time? is the notebook really worth the asking price? Let’s find out.

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360: Design

In terms of the first look, the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 has a pretty basic design that might not catch your eye from afar but the real deal gets noticed when you get closer to the device. It has a grey-colored metallic chassis and is 12.9mm thick. The backside of the display has a Samsung logo and the display is attached to the keyboard with sturdy hinges giving it good build quality. The display can turn 360 degrees and is a touchscreen.

The notebook is lightweight and easy to carry on the go. It weighs merely 1.16 kgs and is a convertible too as you can fold the screen back to use it in a tent position while watching something. The laptop is a fingerprint and smudge magnet which can be annoying.

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Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review: Display & Sound

The Galaxy Book 2 360 has a 13.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a pixel resolution of 1920×1080. The display gives visuals with rich and bright colors and a good level of detail. This is useful while watching content and drawing something in your notebook. The display has a refresh rate of 60Hz and never feels harsh on the eyes. The low refresh rate is felt while gaming. The display comes with 10-level of brightness and you can adjust it according to your needs. There are noticeable bezels around the display, especially the chin. The display supports finger touch and S-pen as well. Overall, the display is good apart from the low refresh rate.

The stereo speakers are tuned by AKG and are Dolby Atmos certified. They are at the base of the laptop and are loud but the audio lacks any kind of depth. Keeping the notebook in a tent position gives a better output of speakers as the sound doesn’t get muffled. The speaker quality could have been better.

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review: I/O Ports & Connectivity

The sleek notebook has Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, and USB Type-C ports on the left. There are USB 3.2 microSD ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right side. So, being slim doesn’t mean that the notebook has a dearth of connectivity options.

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review: Keyboard, Trackpad & Numpad

The keyboard looks decent and has an option for backlighting. The keys are large and responsive and evenly spaced so your fingers can type fast and easily. The keys are soft to touch and effortless to use. There is no Numpad, so the keys are larger. The trackpad is also large and responsive. The power button on the keyboard has a fingerprint sensor which makes logging in easier. The backlighting of the keyboard has 4 level settings- 30, 60, 100, and off. This helps you work even when the lighting in the room is low.

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review: Performance & Gaming

The Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 notebook is powered by an Intel 12th gen core i7 processor that comes with 10 physical cores- 2 being performance cores and 8 being efficiency cores. It has 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB internal PCIe 3.0 SSD memory. The processor is based on Intel’s Evo platform, that has specifically made for thin and light convertibles and laptops. The processor is fast, powerful, and performs maximum tasks with ease. Whether it is typing, browsing, video calling, and more, all these activities are seamless. There is no GPU which leads to downgraded gaming performance. There are thermal issues as well because the device gets hot when stressed. The middle part is especially really hot and this is inconvenient as this part rests on your lap. The notebook doesn’t consume much good power.

Coming to the software department, the Galaxy Book 2 360 runs on Windows 11 out of the box. It has all the features of Microsoft OS but Samsung has also included some of its tweaks like Studio mode or auto booting toggles (it lets you start the device as soon as you lift the lid). There are options for customizations and personalization. Bluetooth pairing is easy and there are options for the screen like preset color modes and HDR+. The battery can be protected if you limit its charging to 85% and one can toggle USB charging modes on or off. One can choose to throttle the processor to run silently without the fan, but since the thermal performance is poor, I would not recommend this. The notebook comes with pre-loaded Samsung apps which can be uninstalled if you don’t need them.

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Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review: Battery

The Galaxy Book 2 360 notebook has long battery life. If you spend hours on your laptop, the battery will easily last for 7-8 hours with light to moderate usage. There is an eco-mode that reduces the use of system resources and displays brightness to conserve battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 Review Verdict: Should you buy it?

The Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 notebook starts for Rs. 99,990 in India with a Core i5 and 16GB RAM variant. The notebook is pricey compared to the likes of Lenovo, Asus, and HP but all these come with certain sacrifices to lower the price. In comparison, Galaxy Book 2 360 has a fast processor, great display, large battery life, and clean UI. Though it lacks GPU, it’s a slight niggles that can be easily ignored.