Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 Review

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 is a new 2-in-1 laptop that can double up as a tablet whenever required. Its light and thin design makes it ideal for tablet use, while the Super AMOLED screen provides a big visual boost for video content. However, the lack of an S-Pen slot is an odd omission, while questions still remain over its performance and battery life. Keep an eye on Trusted Reviews for our upcoming review and final verdict.

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 is one of three new laptops that Samsung recently launched, with this model flaunting a 2-in-1 design so it can double up as a makeshift tablet. 

With a 360-degree hinge, the Galaxy Book Pro 360’s screen can fold right back up against the rear of the chassis, boasting a Super AMOLED touchscreen display featuring S-Pen support for doodles and sketches. 

Samsung has confirmed that it will bundle an S-Pen with the laptop, but there’s unfortunately no compartment for the stylus inside the laptop itself, which will be bad news for anyone who’s always losing things down the back of the sofa. 

This laptop also benefits from the same exciting features found with the non-convertible Galaxy Book Pro, including Intel’s 11th Gen processors, a gorgeous AMOLED display and a super-skinny design that allows the 13-inch model to weigh as little as 1.04kg. 

Samsung invited me to its Unpacked event to get a closer look at the new laptop, so check out my initial impressions below and keep an eye on Trusted Reviews for the upcoming full review. 

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 Price and availability

The 13-inch Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 has a starting price of £1199, which sees you bag an i5 Intel Core processor, 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. 

For the 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro 360, you’ll need to pay at least £1249 which gets you an i5 Intel chip, 8GB RAM and 512GB storage – essentially the same specs as before, just with a bigger screen and design. 

The Galaxy Book Pro 360 will be available to buy from 14th May. Pre-orders are available right now, with those who order before launch benefiting from a free pair of Galaxy Buds Pro. 

Galaxy Book Pro 360 preview

The Galaxy Book Pro 360 is a new 2-in-1 laptop from Samsung, which sees a major focus on portability above all else. 

It’s an interesting proposition from Samsung, especially since it launched another 2-in-1 computer (the Galaxy Book Flex2 5G) very recently. Is Samsung taking another stab at convertibles, or is the Pro 360 intended to sit alongside the Flex as another option?

After spending just under an hour with the Galaxy Book Pro 360, I can see that there are a number of differences to set the two machines apart, with the newest device arguably offering the superior package. 

For starters, the Galaxy Book Pro 360 is incredibly light. The 13-inch model weighs a dainty 1.04kg, which makes it more than 200 grams lighter than the Galaxy Book Flex2 5G. That doesn’t sound like a big improvement, but I could definitely feel the difference when lifting it up off the desk with one hand. 

It’s admittedly not quite as lightweight as the new Galaxy Book Pro, which boggles the mind with an 870g design, but that’s because Samsung has decided to use just aluminium for the construction rather than adding magnesium alloy to the mix. This means the Galaxy Book Pro 360 doesn’t compromise on build quality, with a sturdy chassis that feels just as solid as any ultrabook from the likes of Apple, Dell and Microsoft. 

I sadly didn’t get to try out the 1.39kg 15-inch variation, but judging solely from the spec sheet, I feel this weight is becoming a little too cumbersome for a device designed to fulfil tablet duties. 

With that said, the 13-inch and 15-inch models are both extremely skinny, measuring in at 11.5mm and 11.9mm respectively. For context, the Dell XPS 13 has a comparatively chunky 14.8mm height, despite being regarded as a slender laptop. This should make it very easy to carry the laptop around, or cram it inside a bag. 

Samsung has made a few sacrifices to the port selection to achieve such a skinny design however, with only Thunderbolt 4, a headphone jack and a microSD card slot featuring. That means there’s no space for USB-A or HDMI, which could be a deal breaker for those reliant on legacy ports. 

My one issue with the design can be found with the keyboard, as it feels a little shallow compared to other machines. Still, I have yet to type out anything substantial on the Pro 360, so I’ll remain optimistic until I’ve fully tested the keyboard. 

I’m also intrigued to see whether the skinny frame has impacted the performance. Since this was just a hands-on event, I wasn’t allowed to conduct any benchmark tests, but my previous experience with the lightweight LG Gram range has taught me that such compact designs can often bottleneck the performance. 

I’m confident that the Galaxy Book Pro 360 will still offer a competent performance that will comfortably sail through day-to-day tasks. However, I am dubious whether it can reach the heights of the Dell XPS 13 and Razer Book 13, especially when it comes to more demanding tasks such as content creation and gaming. I’ll have to wait until I receive a review unit to find out for sure. 

Either way, I find the ‘Pro’ moniker misleading, as the Galaxy Book Pro 360 does not sport a discrete graphics card like the MacBook Pro, and so it isn’t really intended for professionals who need a machine for 4K video editing and animation etc. 

Unlike the standard Galaxy Book Pro, Samsung’s new convertible does not support LTE, which means you’ll need to be within range of a router to get internet access. Samsung has at least provided support for Wi-Fi 6E, meaning it can take advantage of the very latest router technology for speedy and reliable network connections. 

The one area that the Pro 360 decimates its non-convertible Samsung sibling is in the display. While both feature the AMOLED technology that hikes up the contrast for a gorgeous picture, the Pro 360 features the Super AMOLED variant that reduces the amount of sunlight reflected off the screen. This improves the display’s visibility in bright environments, which is important for outdoor use. 

The Super AMOLED display is a big jump up from the traditional LCD laptop screens, resulting in incredibly punchy colours that make your Netflix/Disney Plus shows dazzle just that bit more. The resolution is capped to Full HD, but I personally think that having this Super AMOLED technology is more important than pushing up the pixel count to 4K. It certainly looked great during my hands-on time.

Galaxy Book Pro 360 specs