Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra review: Samsung's take on a more professional Ultrabook

Before the official reveal of preorders and release dates, we had an opportunity to try out three of the latest in the Samsung Galaxy Book3 line of Ultrabooks in person. And so far, what we’ve seen has impressed us. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra was the biggest surprise so far, as we didn’t expect Samsung to dive into a thin and light laptop built for gamers and creatives.

We previewed the black 16-inch version and its sleek and sexy form factor belies its surprisingly heavier weight, which is an immediate giveaway as to the specs hidden within. The display is gorgeous and compared to similar machines, it’s still way more luxurious looking. 

Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Price & availability

The Galaxy Book3 Ultra starts at $2,199.99 / £1,849 (about AU$3,190) with options to configure it for higher specs at a higher price. Preorders will start later on February 14, with a planned release of February 22. 

It seems that this Ultrabook will only launch in the US and UK to start, going by the available pricing. The UK pricing is more expensive than the US pricing, reflecting the ongoing inflation crisis in that region. 

Meanwhile, if pricing information is released for Australia or for any other region, TechRadar will be sure to report on that, so stay tuned to our ongoing coverage, as well as any other Samsung news or product reveals.

Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Design

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Unlike the other two Ultrabooks we previewed, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is much heavier in comparison despite its still-thin form factor. It’s not quite a beast of a machine but its display size of 16 inches combined with the weight meant we immediately noticed the difference. It comes in two colors, black and light silver, with the one we previewed being black. Despite the very common color options, it possesses a sleekness that showcases its high quality, and its AMOLED screen is an absolute showstopper.

The keyboard is luxurious and I really appreciate how large and responsive the touchpad was. The webcam is a full 1080p, and I found it to have a nice clear image, with options like HDR and auto framing which improves the picture quality and focus.

The port selection is pretty solid with an HDMI port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a Type-A USB port, an audio jack, and a mini SDcard slot. But the fact that there’s no ethernet cable is a bit disappointing. Most buyers would most likely not plug in an Ultrabooks for internet access, but having the option is important to have.

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Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Performance

We couldn’t personally test out the performance of the Galaxy Book Ultra but the specs so far seem to be quite impressive. It features a 13th-gen Intel CPU, either a Core i7 or Core i9 depending on the configuration, and either an Nvidia RTX 4050 or RTX 4070 GPU. This makes the Ultra well-suited for either gaming or creative work, but we'll know more once we get a chance to test it ourselves.

Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Early verdict

All in all, this was the most interesting showing that Samsung had for us. Judging by what we actually tried out, as well as the given specs, we’ll have a high-quality and versatile machine made for both work and play.

The pricing is quite high, in line with high-end gaming laptops and Ultrabooks mind you but still a bit steep for the average consumer who’s a bit more price-savvy now than in the past. But it still looks to be a great investment and is definitely more than preferable to some of the other bulky behemoths we’ve seen this year. 

It remains to be seen what actual performance, sound quality, ventilation, and more will look like, but hopefully, those numbers will be just as impressive as what we’ve seen so far.