---
title: 'I Wanted to Love Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 Pro. Then I Saw the Price'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=DGHq80tRxBk'
video_id: 'DGHq80tRxBk'
date: 2026-08-03
duration_sec: 841
---

# I Wanted to Love Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 Pro. Then I Saw the Price

> Source: [I Wanted to Love Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 Pro. Then I Saw the Price](https://youtube.com/watch?v=DGHq80tRxBk)

## Summary

The video reviews Samsung's Galaxy Book 6 Pro laptops (14-inch and 16-inch), highlighting their premium build, excellent displays, and long battery life, but criticizing their high price and lack of the more powerful Intel X GPU. The reviewers conclude that alternatives like the MacBook Air or Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i offer better value.

### Key Points

- **First Impressions and Price Shock** [00:02] — The Galaxy Book 6 Pro feels premium with good trackpad and long battery life, but the price is a joke: $1,600 for 14-inch, $1,700 for 16-inch, and $1,900 for the reviewed config. None have the better Intel X GPU.
- **Comparison with MacBook Air** [00:42] — For most buyers, the MacBook Air is a better choice: it has better graphics with M5 chip, is much cheaper, and for the price of these laptops, you can buy a MacBook Pro 14.
- **Windows Alternative** [01:10] — Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7i Ultra is better for a similar price. Review coming soon.
- **Design and Build Quality** [02:07] — All-aluminum build, dark gray color with brushed metal finish, but fingerprints easily. 16-inch looks more special, 14-inch similar to MacBook Air 13. Both sturdy with minimal flex.
- **Display Quality** [03:26] — AMOLED panels (but all OLED are AM), 2880x1800 resolution, 120Hz, over 500 nits. 2.8K looks stunning on 14-inch. Wide color gamut, no screen door effect, but subtle PWM flickering at all brightness levels.
- **Keyboard and Trackpad** [04:30] — Keyboard is a letdown: low travel, mushy keys, small and squished keys, dim backlight. Trackpad is excellent: haptic, smooth, accurate, no palm rejection issues.
- **Ports and Connectivity** [05:37] — Right side: USB 3.2, headphone jack. Left: HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 4. No SD card reader at this price point, and no charging port on both sides.
- **Battery Life** [06:03] — Both last over 10 hours, 16-inch lasts about an hour more. Only XPS 14 with Panther Lake X chip beats the 16-inch.
- **Performance Overview** [06:42] — Snappy for everyday tasks, quiet and cool. Both have Ultra 7 356H chip (16 cores). Performance is good but falls on lower end of competitors.
- **CPU Benchmarks** [07:23] — In Cinebench, M5 Pro is way ahead, Samsungs near bottom, almost half as fast. Power draw averages 30-35W, not making the most of the CPU.
- **Graphics Performance** [08:28] — Only 4 GPU cores (vs 12 in X7). In Steel Nomad Light, base Intel graphics do terribly, not playable (below 60fps). Creative tasks like Photoshop and Premiere Pro struggle or fail.
- **Performance Modes** [10:09] — Optimized mode is better: minimal performance drop, significant fan noise reduction, cooler. Silent and quiet modes are irrelevant.
- **Software and Ecosystem** [11:09] — Samsung apps like Flow and Quick Share work well, but not exclusive to Galaxy laptops. Flow allows phone control and shared clipboard, Quick Share is like AirDrop.
- **Linux Compatibility** [12:02] — Linux did not work out of the box with Fedora 43/44 beta. Closest was a gray Fedora homepage with non-working keyboard/trackpad. Would be an uphill battle.
- **Upgradeability** [12:27] — Easy to open: four rubber feet, four Phillips screws. 14-inch: replaceable Gen 4 SSD and 66Wh battery. 16-inch: additional SSD slot and 77Wh battery. Soldered Wi-Fi 7.
- **Final Verdict** [13:08] — Hard to recommend at current pricing. Alternatives like XPS and MacBooks are better. Would be more competitive at around $300 off.

### Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro laptops have premium build, great displays, and long battery life, but their high price and weak graphics make them hard to recommend over cheaper and more powerful alternatives like the MacBook Air or Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i.

## Transcript

Galaxy Book 6 Pro. I've got the 14 here, the 16's behind me. Now, when we first opened them up, we did like them. You see, they feel very premium. They look trackpad, and they have long battery life. And they pretty much have no heat
or fan noise. However, their price is a bit of a joke. At the time we made this bit of a joke. At the time we made this video, our 14-in was priced at $1,600. And the 16-in, it starts at 1,700, but if you want the config we have, that'll
be 1, 900. What's worse is none of these models have the better Intel X GPU, which is the thing that makes Intel Series 3 Panther Lake so special, particularly when it's in thin and light laptops like these that don't have
dedicated GPUs. Look, right now, realistically for most buyers of this kind of laptop, the MacBook Air, it's just a better choice. It may not have Samsungs, but the Air's display is good enough, and its M5 chip, it has much
better graphics. Plus, the Air, and this is the icing on the cake, it is a hell of a lot cheaper. Heck, for the price of these laptops, you can buy a MacBook Pro 14. Now, if you are sticking to Windows, Lenovo's new Yoga Slim 7i Ultra is just
better for a similar price. We will have our review out on that laptop very soon, notification bell on so you just don't miss it. I'll list those plus some other They'll also be on our website, by the way, under the recommended alternative
people know that we have a section like that on our website, but it is useful situation like this. Anyway, since the main thing that we don't like about that they don't have an X chip variant, and that could certainly change, I'm
going to hand over to Sierra for our full review. But first, very quick sponsored review. We don't do that on trying to masquerade as unsponsored by using the favorite YouTuber term
partnered with. Sure, technically, in our case, Best Buy are partners. They did send these laptops in for review. But they didn't pay us for this video. published it, nor have they asked anything of us. With that said, over to
you, Sierra. Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pros look clean and modern in both the 14-in versions, thanks to what I assume is an all-aluminum build. Its dark gray color is a bit boring for my taste, but it does have a nice brushed metal finish to
it that makes it a bit more interesting and feel very premium. That finish also fingerprints. Between the two sizes, I feel the 16-in looks a little more special. They've kept it super thin and light with such a large screen, similar
to what you get with a MacBook Air 15. The Galaxy Pro 16 even weighs around the slightly bigger and giving you a larger screen. Don't count out the 14-in the same as the Air 13 and gives you a
similar build quality to the Airs, where they are absolutely excellent. Both the 14-in feel sturdy and only have a tiny amount of screen and deck flex. Their hinges are also stiff enough for using
the touchscreen, but you may notice some movement on a super bumpy train. about the chassis is the fact that the plate for the keyboard and speakers is a darker color. It makes it look a bit less cohesive than I'd like. I would
have rather seen the gray metal carried across the whole keyboard deck. Josh, on the other hand, liked the two-tone look and felt it made them look more unique. It's definitely subjective. Now, let's talk about the displays. Both the 14-in
panels are advertised as AMOLED, but almost all OLED panels on laptops are using active matrix technology, which is what the AM stands for, so don't be fooled into thinking this is a fancier screen than normal. I will say, it's
still an attractive screen though, and the specs are nearly identical across both of them. 2880 by 1800 resolution with a 120 Hz refresh rate and over 500 nits of brightness. That 2.8K resolution looks great on the 16-in, but frankly
stunning on the 14-in, where small text looks super crisp. Higher resolution screens do have a slight negative effect on battery life though, so keep that in display include the fact that both cover a wide color gamut, and we noticed no
screen door effect on either, which should make them enjoyable to look at. On the other hand, we detected some subtle PWM flickering on both screens at all brightness levels. Even though it's really hard for me to see with the naked
eye, it would likely be noticeable to those who are sensitive to this rapid flickering effect. All right, that's everything on the screen. Next, we'll the biggest letdowns on both of these
laptops. All three of us disliked it for different reasons. For me, I felt the keys felt low travel and mushy. Seth agreed with that and also found himself making a lot of typos as he is a touch typer. On top of that, Josh added that
a keyboard, where pressing the keys actually makes them go a bit deeper than the deck itself. This can feel a bit uncomfortable and awkward when typing, especially since they're so low travel in the first place. Some other cons on
keys are pretty small and squished, which can lead to mispresses, and its backlight isn't very bright, either. The only positives on this keyboard are the fact that the layout is standard, and it does feature a fingerprint reader
biometrics. On the complete flip side of that though, I love the trackpad. Firstly, it's a smooth and accurate haptic one that is a joy to use. Unlike experience any palm rejection issues on it, which was also nice. Seth did point
is that the feedback on this trackpad is less than what you might get on other similar laptops. He wasn't always sure if he was clicking near the center of 14-in and then felt it was more responsive. Josh preferred this setting,
too. As far as ports go on these Galaxy Book Pros, the selection isn't bad, but it's not groundbreaking, either. On the right side of the Book 6 Pro, we've got a USB 3.2 port, which does not specify its speed, and a headphone mic combo
jack. On the left, we have an HDMI 2.1 port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. It reader at this price point of around 1,800 to 2,000 dollars, especially considering Samsung is advertising this as a machine for professionals, and it
had a microSD slot last year. A more consequential miss, in my opinion, is that we don't have a charging capable port on both sides. For battery life, I was pretty pleased with both of these laptops lasting over 10 hours. The 16-in
with the larger battery lasted about an hour more, but both did well here, even impressive. The only laptop that beats the 16-in is the XPS 14-in with a Panther Lake X chip, which does come with other advantages like better
integrated graphics than our configs of the Galaxy Book Pros. The Yoga Pro 7i, which has a dedicated GPU, does the worst here, but there is currently a bug on that model. Josh will go over it more in his review for that one.
both the 14-in and the 16-in Samsung maintain their performance. Before we get into all the performance results, I just want to go over my experience actually using laptop. It was plenty snappy for things I and most people do,
stayed super quiet and cool during lighter use. I never heard the fans at all. Now, let's talk results. Specifically, both of these laptops come with the Ultra 7 356H chip from Intel's Panther Lake H range. These H chips are
16 cores compared to the non-H 8-core versions available in the non-Pro Galaxy Books. These laptops would be considered good in terms of performance of all laptops, but they fall on the lower end of competitors. You can see this in
performance tasks on the CPU. The performance of both chips is a little Yoga Pro 7i and MacBooks with the base M5 chip. Plus, they're way behind the MacBook Pro 14-in with the M5 Pro 15-core CPU, which is totally available
around the $2,100 mark. In terms of single core, the Macs tend to dominate. We see this spread widen even further in Cinebench, which tests the processors when they're fully maxed out. The M5 Pro chip is way ahead in both single and
multi-threaded here, and the Samsungs are near the bottom again, almost half as fast. They're on par with the XPS 14-in, which only feeds its CPU 25 watts. When we look at power draw, you'll see the Samsungs can burst high,
but then pull around 30 to 35 watts on average, which is not making the most of these CPUs. Even so, laptops like the MacBook Air pull 20 watts less than the 16-in Galaxy Book and still perform better. I just want to remind people
that just because they're doing badly here, doesn't mean they perform poorly. These laptops still offer what we tend to call good performance. On our website filter for all laptops with a certain performance tier. Back to the video.
Let's talk graphics. These Ultra 7H chips do not have the more powerful integrated GPU you'd see in X versions of these chips. These GPUs are simply labeled Intel graphics, which consists of only four GPU cores compared to the
12 in the X7 chip. In Steel Nomad Light, a gaming benchmark, these base Intel graphics do pretty terribly. The Arc B390 GPU is three times better and a little above Apple's M5 10-core. Above that, we again see the M5 Pro chip with
its 16-core GPU, and way above that, we have the Yoga Pro 7i, which has dedicated graphics instead of integrated graphics on its main chip. This means it's going to absolutely crush everyone else in our graphics test, but we want
to show you what else you can get around this price. Sure, the Yoga Pro 7i doesn't look or feel quite as special as these Samsungs, but even if you're a casual gamer, it's the best option on the list. On the other hand, the XPS's
do really well here, too, and they are much closer in style and quality to hammer the point home, here's how the test compared to some of these other ones. They're not even playable, well
below 60 frames per second on average, and this is one of our easier games to run. For creative tasks, we struggled to get these laptops to run Puget's Photoshop benchmark at all. We finally got a score on the 16-in, but it took a
while, and it still did poorly. In Premiere Pro for video editing, they didn't complete in our 10-minute cutoff, which is twice what the default cutoff is in that test. I could show you more, but we don't recommend these for
anything graphical. All the tests you've seen so far have been run on the laptops best available performance mode, high performance. We liked the optimized mode better though. You only see a minimal drop in performance for a significant
drop in fan noise and it even stays cooler to the touch. We felt that silent and quiet were both irrelevant because performance drops through the floor and it was already very quiet and optimized for light use. The fact that even during
a stress test like this one, it's only peaking at 42 decibels in that mode is pretty solid. Speakers are nice and they get loud, but they sound a bit forced at higher volumes. They're also lacking bass like most laptop speakers, not as
bass like most laptop speakers, not as phenomenal as the MacBooks or XPS's.
Samsung specific apps like notes worked well across devices, but he found the most use in Flow and Quick Share apps. Those ones are not exclusive to Galaxy laptops. You can put them on any Windows machine. Flow lets you control your
phone from your desktop and also has a shared clipboard across devices, which is super handy. Quick Share is like Apple's AirDrop for your PC and phone. Here's how the 1080p webcam looks and sounds on the Book 6 Pro 14 in ideal
lighting conditions. Here's how the 1080p webcam looks and sounds on the Galaxy Book 6 Pro 16 in ideal lighting conditions. Here's how the webcam looks and sounds on the Book 6 Pro 14 in normal lighting in my office. Here's how
the webcam looks and sounds on the 16-in in normal lighting in my office. So, we did try Linux and it didn't work off of our boot drive and we found out the USB drive was dead. Thanks to our wonderful Linux backers on Patreon and
YouTube, we had the time and resources to look into this further. I tried a new USB drive with both Fedora 43 and Fedora 44 beta and it didn't work out of the box. The closest we got was a gray Fedora homepage where the keyboard and
trackpad weren't working other than the screen brightness buttons. Then, when we tried to turn the laptop off, it moved into the install screen, but the arrow So, we had to hold down on the power button to force a reset. We think
would be an uphill battle even with more tinkering. Regarding upgradeability and maintenance, these laptops were surprisingly easy to open. Only four rubber feet you can pop off with four Phillips head screws underneath. For the
14-in, you can replace the full-size Gen 4 SSD and the 66 Wh battery. On the 16-in, we were pleasantly surprised by a whole additional full-size Gen 4 SSD slot on top of the drive it comes with and it has a replaceable 77 Wh battery.
Both have soldered Wi-Fi 7 cards, but at least you won't need to replace that in Samsungs are meant to be premium, business-oriented laptops with the Pro performance you need depends on what you're doing. If you get one of the
non-H chips, you'll get enough performance for basic tasks like web getting an H chip like we have, you'll get decent CPU performance for tasks with an X at the beginning, you'll also get some solid graphics for some light
gaming and creative work. Unfortunately, at their current pricing, we find these laptops a bit hard to recommend over alternatives like the XPS's and especially the MacBooks. Every laptop has tradeoffs though, which
bestlaptop.deals to weigh the pros and cons before deciding which one is right We like these Samsungs, but we think they'll be much more competitive at around $300 off. So, set a price drop notification on the site and we'll let
price. That's all we got for you today. Thanks so much for watching and I hope Thanks so much for watching and I hope y'all have a wonderful rest of your day.