Samsung Notebook 7 Spin 2 in 1 Review Cnet
Our Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex is a long lasting 2-in-ane with a gorgeous await and a bright display
For
- Amazing battery life
- Striking blue pattern
- Built-in S-Pen
- Lighter than XPS 15
Against
- Hinge could exist stronger
- Fingerprint reader disrupts typing
- QLED display pales to OLED panels
Tom'due south Guide Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex is a long lasting 2-in-1 with a gorgeous look and a bright display
Pros
- +
Amazing bombardment life
- +
Striking blueish blueprint
- +
Built-in South-Pen
- +
Lighter than XPS 15
Cons
- -
Swivel could be stronger
- -
Fingerprint reader disrupts typing
- -
QLED display pales to OLED panels
Samsung Galaxy Book Flex specs
Toll: $one,399
Processor: 10th Gen Intel Core i7 (Water ice Lake)
Retentiveness: 12GB of RAM
Storage: 512GB SSD
Display: fifteen.6" QLED (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Size: 14 10 8.ix x 0.vi inches
Weight: 3.iv pounds
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt three, 1x USB-C microSD reader, headphone jack
The Samsung Milky way Volume Flex is the visitor's latest attempt to stand up out in a field it'south had less-than-stellar success with: Windows PCs. But this 2-in-i laptop offers a mix of potent functioning with some unique features, to generally successful results.
From its bright 15-inch screen to its strong performance and striking color, the Milky way Book Flex is one of the all-time 2-in-one laptops you tin buy, one that brings Samsung back into the PC conversation. Even further, its nifty Qi-charging touchpad offers the kind of unique functionality we'd like to run across other laptop makers use.
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Nosotros also love the Milky way Volume Flex's fantastic endurance and solid performance, but there are some asterisks getting in the way. Specifically, its keyboard takes some getting used to, thank you to a questionably-placed fingerprint reader and shallow keys.
Still, this Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review volition evidence why Samsung'south made one of the best laptops around. In fact, it'due south so good that information technology won a recommendation for longest-lasting laptop in our Tom'southward Guide Awards 2021.
Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review: Toll and configurations
Samsung sells the Galaxy Book Flex in two sizes, each available in a atypical configuration. Nosotros tested the Galaxy Volume Flex xv-inch, which Samsung now marks downward to $1,114 — down from $ane,399. This laptop comes with a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 (Ice Lake) processor, 12GB of RAM and a 15.half dozen-inch QLED 1080p display.
Its smaller blood brother, the Milky way Book Flex 13-inch is normally $1,349, but Samsung has it on auction for $864. It as well packs an Ice Lake Cadre i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a thirteen.iii-inch QLED 1080p brandish. Both are old made in the fetching Royal Blue finish that you meet in these photos.
The Galaxy Book Flex arrived in May 2020.
Samsung Galaxy Volume Flex review: Design
Samsung is doing wonders with colors (the Fiesta Cerise Milky way Chromebook is a highlight) and the Majestic Bluish Galaxy Book Flex is no exception. But like that Chromebook, the aluminum Galaxy Book Flex chassis catches the calorie-free bouncing off of information technology, so you lot get a slope of hues.
Measuring 0.6 inches thick and weighing three.4 pounds, the Galaxy Book Flex is lighter than the Dell XPS 15 (0.five~0.seven inches thick, four.v-pounds).
Because it's a convertible two-in-1, you can rotate the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex's brandish up to 360 degrees to use it every bit a tablet or prop it up in brandish or tent mode. Since Samsung throws in its S-Pen stylus, I would have hoped the Galaxy Volume Flex'southward hinge were a bit stronger. Alas, when I tried to gently write against the 15.half-dozen-inch screen, I noticed a little wobble. Thankfully, the screen's heavy enough for this non to be a trouble when you use the Galaxy Book Flex in tablet mode.
Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review: Ports and S-Pen
You discover the Milky way Book Flex'due south faster Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports on its right side, next to its power button and S-Pen dock. The regular USB-C port, headphone jack and microSD reader are on the left side.
Samsung too throws in a USB-C to HDMI adapter and a USB-C to USB-A adapter. And while I presume I'd lose both of these relatively pocket-size parts, they're better than nothing. The Dell XPS 15 and HP Spectre x360 15 both pack USB-A and Thunderbolt three, plus HDMI.
The S-Pen, which protrudes ever then slightly, feels kind of unnecessary for this machine. When I popped it out of the PC, it showed a listing of potential commands on screen. These included taking and viewing notes, using the S-Pen to draw a region for a screenshot and even annotating the screen. The creative class, looking to doodle or describe or taking notes with handwriting rather than with their keys, will love the pick.
The best thing I can say nigh the S-Pen is that I adopt this method of taking a screenshot to how Windows x's screen capture tricks piece of work.
Samsung Milky way Book Flex review: Display
Capable of producing Loftier effulgence and vivid colors, the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex's 15.four-inch QLED panel is impressive. Watching the F9 trailer, I saw the glimmering gilded of a public statue that the coiffure sped around, verdant greens in mountainside copse that other cars drove past and a vibrant red in the double-decker bus that Vin Diesel fuel fought John Cena on tiptop of.
Taking the Galaxy Book Flex outside for a brief moment in the park, I found itsOutdoors Mode to prove useful. Under the glare of real sunlight, the Galaxy Book Flex's screen appeared a bit dim. But later hitting Fn + F10 to trigger this style, the screen regained some of its pop with text becoming more than legible and colors appearing more vibrant.
However, Outdoors Mode couldn't fight the glare for entertainment. When I tried to watch the F9 trailer exterior on a stoop, the added brightness didn't make Michelle Rodriguez whatever clearer, equally she was defenseless in the reflections.
According to our colorimeter, the Samsung Galaxy Volume Flex produces 158.ii% of the sRGB color spectrum and upward to 381.two nits of brightness. That brightness jumps to 536 nits when you lot plough on Outdoors manner. The 4K Spectre x360 OLED (258%, 483 nits), 4K XPS 15 (210%, 418 nits) and 4K XPS xv OLED (239%, 626 nits) are brighter and more colorful.
Samsung Milky way Book Flex review: Audio and cameras
Listening to The Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)" on the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex, I noted how it filled my medium-sized living room with articulate and authentic vocals and well-baked violin strings. That same quality came through in Ghostface Killah's "Cherchez La Ghost."
The 0.ix-megapixel webcam inside the Galaxy Book Flex is serviceable for Zooms, but it'due south too grainy for taking whatever serious video. It's sadly the norm for laptops, and shouldn't be a surprise or disappointment. I can't wait for some visitor to cadet the trend and put a serious webcam in a laptop, only for now, we recommend checking out i of the all-time webcams for your setup.
Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review: Keyboard, touchpad and touchscreen
The keys in the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex aren't the real problem: the layout is. Using the Milky way Volume Flex'southward shallow keys (like to the MacBook Pro's troubled and mostly-retired Butterfly keyboard), I hitting a rate of 65 words per minute on the 10fastfingers typing test, with an eighty% accuracy rate.
That's a ways away from my 80 wpm and 93% accuracy averages, but I don't blame the keys. The Galaxy Book Flex's fingerprint reader, which sits right nether the render central and takes upwards half of the infinite the right Shift key should, is the culprit. Because of that half of a Shift primal, which I oftentimes found myself trying to click before realizing the mistake I fabricated, I made a lot more than typos than I normally did.
Just like Apple didn't have to endeavour and reinvent keyboards with the Butterfly switch, Samsung didn't demand to break up the Shift key to give the fingerprint reader a new home. Admittedly, this new location makes it really easy to find the fingerprint reader. Simply it would have been but as easy to utilise in the top right corner where the Asterisk push button is, much similar information technology is on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Flex.
The Milky way Book Flex has a pretty big touchpad at 4.vii ten three.one inches, and it offers smooth and responsive navigations. The frosted-red rectangle (which offsets the cherry red keyboard deck) speedily registered my two-finger scrolling and three-finger gestures in Chrome. I wish this touchpad weren't so wide, equally I kept accidentally right-clicking it. But it seems like shooting fish in a barrel enough to go used to with time.
Similarly, the Milky way Book Flex'southward xv.vi-inch touchscreen speedily and accurately registered my taps and swipes equally I used the Start menu and opened the Activity Center. Folio scrolling in Google Docs too went smoothly.
Samsung Galaxy Volume Flex review: Performance
The 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 CPU and 12GB of RAM the Galaxy Volume Flex allow for speedy multitasking. I saw no stutter when I split my screen between 12 Chrome tabs, including Google Docs and Giphy alongside a 1080p YouTube video (with Slack open in the background every bit well).
On the Geekbench iv.3 general performance benchmark, the Galaxy Book Flex netted a 19,137 on the multi-core test. And while it falls under the 28,882 from the XPS 15 (Intel Cadre i9-9980HK processor and 32GB of RAM), that doesn't reflect poorly on the Galaxy Book Flex, as the XPS xv model we tested packs a beefier CPU and more than memory.
The 512GB SSD in the Galaxy Book Flex duplicated 4.97 GB of files in 26.54 seconds, which is notably slower than the 10-2nd and 12-second transfer times from the XPS 15 (1TB SSD) and Spectre x360 (1TB SSD), respectively.
On the Dirt three racing game, Galaxy Book Flex ran at 52 frames per second on Medium graphics at 1080p, but the Spectre x360 (Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU, 16GB of RAM) beat that with a rate of 118 fps.
Samsung Milky way Book Flex review: Battery life and Qi-charging touchpad
Talk almost a flex. The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex thrived on our laptop bombardment test (web surfing at 150 nits of brightness), posting a lengthy time of 15 hours and 44 minutes — and 13 hours and 14 minutes with Outdoors way enabled. The XPS 15 (4K non-OLED: 8:48, 4K OLED: 8:07) and the Spectre x360 OLED (vii:46) lasted much less time.
Samsung Milky way Book Flex review: Heat
The Galaxy Volume Flex stays cool under pressure. After streaming 15 minutes of HD video on Samsung's notebook, our heat gun picked up temperatures that fell under our 95 degree comfort threshold. Its underside (the laptop'southward hottest spot) ranged from 84 degrees Fahrenheit to 92 degrees by the frazzle vent, and its touchpad (74 degrees) and keyboard (82 degrees) were less warm.
Samsung Milky way Book Flex review: Verdict
Throughout this Samsung Galaxy Book Flex review, I've been impressed more than ofttimes than non. Astonishing battery life and decent 10th Gen Core i7 performance combine for a 15-inch laptop that is made for work, while its born S-Pen is a boon for the creative form.
That beingness said, while Outdoors manner helps the Galaxy Book Flex get brighter, yous'll notice an even brighter and more than colorful screen on the e OLED XPS 15. However, you'll be paying at least $345 more for Dell'due south laptop , and you also lose battery life. And compared to the $2,547 super-fast XPS 15 mentioned higher up, the $i,399 Samsung Galaxy Book Flex looks like a bargain.
Overall, the Galaxy Book Flex is one of the best laptops for creatives who want a large canvas for their next project.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-book-flex
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