Samsung Electronics launched its new laptop, the Galaxy Book5 Pro, in January this year. The Galaxy Book5 Pro stands out with various artificial intelligence (AI) features. If you display a photo on the touchscreen and draw a circle, it retrieves information about the subject, and it also has a feature that automatically improves the quality of the photo.
The keyboard of the Galaxy Book5 Pro has a dedicated button to operate Microsoft (MS) 'Copilot' chatbot. It is convenient to ask Copilot whenever you have a question. You can also watch videos and other content vividly with the high-performance display.
However, the hefty weight of over 1.5 kg (16 inches) makes it cumbersome to carry. Considering that competitor products from companies like Asus and Lenovo start at around 1.5 million won for the same screen size, the price of over 2.4 million won is burdensome even taking the AI features into account. I used the Galaxy Book5 Pro for a week.
◇ AI for photo editing and quality improvement
The Galaxy Book5 Pro's advantage is its ability to implement high-performance AI features. It is equipped with the 'Intel Core Ultra Processor Series 2' supporting up to 47 TOPS (trillion operations per second) neural processing unit (NPU). By utilizing the Galaxy Book5 Pro's 'AI Select' feature, you can simply draw a circle on the touchscreen to search for information about the subject. When I displayed a photo of Gwanghwamun on the touchscreen and drew a circle to search, an explanation about Gwanghwamun appeared instantly. It accurately recognized objects in photos, even if they were low quality or small.
The AI-operated photo editing function is also useful. After displaying a photo through the 'Samsung Gallery' application (app), pressing the 'Remaster' function improves low-resolution photos to high resolution. It allows intuitive comparison of photos before and after correction. After improving a blurry coastal landscape photo with the remaster function, I could see the sea more vividly. The AI eraser feature lets you remove unwanted elements from photos. For example, it can easily remove accidentally captured pedestrians and fingers.
Pressing the MS Copilot button at the bottom of the keyboard opens a chat window with the chatbot. Before going out, I asked, 'Let me know the weather in Seoul today,' and related information was displayed immediately. This alleviates the hassle of having to open a browser window and log in to use the chatbot.
◇ 25-hour battery life… weight and price are burdensome
The Galaxy Book5 Pro measures 355.4 mm wide, 250.4 mm deep, and 12.5 mm thick for the 16-inch model. It features a 'Touch AMOLED' display that not only delivers high quality but also allows for touch input similar to a tablet PC. At the bottom, there are four speakers equipped with Dolby Atmos technology. When watching movies, the high-quality and rich sound enhanced the immersion experience.
Another advantage is the high-capacity battery that can last up to 25 hours. I left the laptop unattended for four days without charging it, and the battery only dropped by about 30%. If you only perform simple tasks like document writing, you can easily last 2 to 3 days without a charge.
However, the hefty weight was burdensome. The Galaxy Book5 Pro 16-inch weighs 1.54 kg. It is 340 g heavier than the lightweight LG Electronics Gram Pro (16 inches, 1.2 kg). The Asus 16-inch 'VivoBook,' which has the same screen size, weighs 1.5 kg.
While the AI features of the Galaxy Book5 Pro are useful, considering the low frequency of real-life usage apart from the chatbot, the launch price of 2,458,000 won may be burdensome.