What you need to know
- Samsung has announced the new Galaxy Book4 Edge with Snapdragon X drive in sizes 14 and 16 inches.
- These are Copilot+ PCs with a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU running at 45 TOPS.
- The laptops feature 2.8K AMOLED touch displays, quad-speaker audio with Dolby Atmos, and the Galaxy AI suite of tools.
- The 14- and 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Edge can now be pre-ordered from Samsung. Prices start at $1,350 and $1,450and Samsung is giving away a free 50-inch Crystal 4K TV.
The world of Windows PCs has had a busy day, with seemingly every major manufacturer jumping in to unveil new AI laptops powered by Snapdragon’s ARM-based systems-on-chip (SoC). Qualcomm equipped.
Samsung joined the fray, introducing its own new Windows on ARM laptops. The Galaxy Book4 Edge is available in 14- and 16-inch sizes and, according to the company, is “built from the ground up for AI.”
The new Galaxy Book4 Edge is already available is available for pre-order on Samsung’s website starting at $1,350 for the 14 inch model. The 16 inch model starts at $1,450. If you pre-order through Samsung.com or the Samsung Shop app, you’ll also receive a free 50-inch Crystal UHD 4K TV. The devices are expected to ship on June 18, 2024.
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 14
Price: From $1,350
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100)
GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon
R.A.M: 16 GIGABYTES
SSD: 512GB, 1TB
Advertisement: 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, 16:10, AMOLED, 120 Hz VRR, 120% DCI-P3, touch, 400 nits (500 nits HDR)
Webcam: 2MP (1080p)
Audio: Four speakers (2x 4W woofers, 2x 2.7W tweeters), Dolby Atmos
Wireless: WiFi 7
Ports: Two USB4, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio
Battery: 55.9 Wh
Dimensions: 12.30 x 8.81 x 0.43 inches (312.4mm x 223.7mm x 10.9mm)
Weight: 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg)
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16
Price: From $1,450
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100 or X1E-84-100)
Graphic card: Qualcomm Adreno
NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon
R.A.M: 16 GIGABYTES
SSD: 512GB, 1TB
Advertisement: 16-inch, 2880 x 1800, 16:10, AMOLED, 120 Hz VRR, 120% DCI-P3, touch, 400 nits (500 nits HDR)
Webcam: 2 megapixels (1080p)
Audio: Four speakers (2x 5W woofers, 2x 2W tweeters), Dolby Atmos
Wireless: WiFi 7
Ports: Two USB4, USB-A 3.2, HDMI 2.1, microSD card reader, 3.5mm audio
Battery: 61.8 Wh
Dimensions: 13.99 x 9.86 x 0.48 inches (355.3mm x 250.4mm x 12.19mm)
Weight: 3.4 pounds (1.54 kg)
With the 14- and 16-inch sizes, Samsung aims to appeal to users who want portability and those who can’t live without enough screen space for more demanding multitasking. Both sizes are built to a high standard and have a premium feel, which is not unusual for Samsung laptops.
These new models are made from recycled plastic, glass and aluminum and are available in sapphire blue. The 14-inch model weighs 1.18 kg (2.6 pounds) and is 10.9 mm (0.43 inches) thin, while the 16-inch model weighs just 1.54 kg (3.4 pounds). and is 12.19 mm (0.48 inches) thin.
Both are very light and slim laptops, but Samsung still has four speakers with Dolby Atmos tuning and a decent selection of ports. The smaller model has two USB4, HDMI 2.1 and a 3.5mm audio jack, while the larger PC has USB-A and a microSD card reader.
The touch AMOLED displays offer the same specifications and functions, but in different sizes. Both feature a crisp 2880 x 1800 resolution, a variable 120Hz refresh rate, 120% DCI-P3 color reproduction, and up to 500 nits of brightness with HDR enabled. Otherwise they reach 400 nits. Samsung’s displays are always impressive, and these seem to be no different.
As far as performance hardware goes, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips are at the heart of it. The Galaxy Book4 Edge 14 has the X1E-80-100 version with 12 Oryon CPU cores, 3.4 GHz frequency and 4.0 GHz dual-core boost and an Adreno GPU with 3. 8 TFLOPs. The larger 16-inch model offers the same chip and the more powerful X1E-84-100 with a 3.8 GHz frequency, 4.2 GHz dual-core boost and a GPU with 4.6 TFLOPs.
All SoCs feature a 45 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for local AI acceleration, used for the new Windows 11 Copilot+ features and Samsung’s own Galaxy AI (more on that below). All Galaxy Book4 Edge laptops come with 16GB of RAM and either a 512GB or 1TB SSD. Samsung claims the 14-inch model can run for up to 18 hours on a charge, while the 16-inch model manages a maximum of 22 hours.
It is worth noting that the 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Edge has a full numeric keypad, which many users cannot do without. The equipment is rounded off by a 1080p webcam above the display and a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello.
The Samsung Galaxy AI Difference
The new Galaxy Book4 Edge is a Copilot+ PC thanks to its Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with 45 TOPS performance, but Samsung wasn’t satisfied with that. Galaxy’s own AI is also included and includes a range of tools best used between Galaxy devices. Although I recently switched from a Galaxy phone, I’m reconsidering my decision due to the new cross-platform AI compatibility.
Samsung says you can now connect your Galaxy phone to a Book4 Edge with Link to Windows to enjoy all the AI features on a larger screen. For example, if you use the Mirror Circle to Search with Google feature, the results will appear on your PC so you can easily copy and paste them. Chat Assist and Live Translate, two of the most popular Galaxy AI tools, will also be available on the Book4 Edge.
Samsung says Copilot Voice can also be used to send messages, set reminders and alarms, and more on your mobile device when connected to your Book4 Edge. This makes this a great laptop for anyone investing in the Galaxy ecosystem.
A quick look at AI PCs and Copilot+
We’ll be talking a lot more about AI PCs and Copilot+ in the foreseeable future, and it’s worth explaining what these terms actually mean.
An AI PC has an NPU inside that handles local AI tasks, freeing up the CPU and GPU for other work. While there are some great AI PCs on the market with Intel Core Ultra and AMD Ryzen chips, Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X-series chips have taken things to a new level. This is where the term Copilot+ comes in.
Microsoft has created a new umbrella term to identify certain next-generation AI features for Windows. Only PCs with an NPU capable of at least 40 TOPS are called Copilot+ PCs, and for now that only means laptops with Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus.
The Copilot+ features make me pretty excited about the future of Windows 11, which I can’t always say. Most notable is the Recall feature, which runs in the background and allows you to search for anything you’ve seen or done on PC in any app. Microsoft says this data is stored locally without sending any information to the cloud, addressing some privacy concerns.
Live Captions can translate more than 40 languages into English when you watch or listen to pre-recorded and live video or audio, and Windows Studio Effects also gets some new lighting and styling features. Auto Super Resolution will be particularly useful for gamers who want to upscale in real time. Not all features will be available immediately, but they are expected later this year.