Samsung Galaxy Book 2 review: the Amateur Surface

About two years ago, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would be compatible with ARM processors, including Qualcomm's Snapdragon line of chips found in mobile phones. At the time, I wrote that this gives you a perfect opportunity to produce the ideal Surface Pro: a computer that's thin, light, always connected via built-in LTE, and has tremendous battery life. Microsoft has released several new LTEs, but it has yet to be harvested by an ARM chip instead of Intel's more power-hungry processors.

That's where Samsung's new Galaxy Book 2 comes in. The $ 999 Galaxy Book 2 is essentially the same kind of machine as Microsoft's popular Surface Pro: a tablet with a detachable keyboard and full Windows 10 experience. But the Book 2 is also one of the new Connected PCs that are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 processor.

On paper, the Book 2 is the Surface Pro I've been looking for: an always-connected, ultraportable computer that will last more than a full day away from an outlet. But, it's often the case, what's on paper does not always line up with reality.

To the untrained eye, the Galaxy Book 2 is virtually indistinguishable from Microsoft's Surface Pro. It's a thin tablet with a built-in, infinitely adjustable kickstand, a keyboard that magnetically attaches to the bottom, and a pressure-sensitive pen for writing and drawing. The Book 2 is roughly the same size as the Surface Pro, right down to its 1.75-pound weight (without a keyboard).

One thing that is different is the display: the Book 2 has a 12-inch, 3: 2 OLED touchscreen (with Samsung's Super AMOLED branding) that's pixel-dense and color-rich. It also gets bright enough to use the tablet outdoors. The screen is a little smaller than the Surface Pro's, but I'm not aware of it, but it's a bigger picture than the Pro's already big bezels.

Other differences can be found on the sides, where the Book 2 has two USB-C ports, which can be used to charge the computer, and a fingerprint scanner in the upper right corner behind the screen. I prefer a face-recognition camera over a fingerprint scanner for logging in a laptop, but it is fast and reliable.

Samsung has equipped the Book 2 with side-firing AKG-tuned speakers that sound rather thin and flat. They work well for conference calls, but using them while watching video or listening to music is not very pleasant.

Included in the box is a full-sized keyboard with backlit keys and a large trackpad. It's a nice keyboard that's easy to type, but it's only a few times as good as it is for the Alcantara keyboards that are available for the Surface Pro. However, Microsoft does not include its keyboard in the box, which costs an additional $ 159 on top of the price of the Surface.

The same can be said for the Book 2 S Pen Stylus: it's a perfectly functional, pressure-sensitive stylus, complete with an eraser on the back, that's not quite as nice as Microsoft's $ 99 Surface Pen, but Samsung includes it in the box .

Overall, the Book 2 is not a major issue, but it is a major issue. Given the price differences between the devices (LTE-equipped Surface Pro), most of this can be excused in favor of the Book 2.

Inside, things are a bit different. As I noted, the Galaxy Book 2 eschews the traditional Intel processor options for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850, a modified version of the Snapdragon 845 found in many smartphones, that's specifically designed for Windows computers. It's 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. (There are no other options or spec levels to choose from Book 2.)

The Book 2 is one of the first devices to hit the shelves with the 850, and it's the first one I've used. My initial experience with the prior generation Snapdragon 835-powered Always Connected PCs was less than positive: I ran into a number of app compatibility issues, and the performance was sluggish and frustrating.

Unfortunately, while the 850 is improved on the prior-gen chip, it still suffers from many of the same issues. The Galaxy Book 2 ships with Windows 10 in S Mode, which limits the apps you can install in the Microsoft Store by default. But even then, I ran into several utilities I could not use because they are not compatible with the ARM platform. Other apps that I could install, such as LastPass, would not run and just crashed on launch.

It also allows you to work in a more flexible way, as well as to work with others. , email, Slack, Word, and other productivity apps, Book 2 starts to buckle under the pressure. Performance in Slack is so laggy and frustrating that I end up ditching the desktop app and using a browser tab to access it.

The Book 2 will also be where you are going when you are in the process of doing business in Cortana. I'm guessing the 4GB of RAM is a big limitation here – even Samsung's own Galaxy Note 9 smartphone has more RAM on board – it's just as likely to be the processor just getting overloaded.

On the plus side, the Book 2 is silent because it has no fans, and it stays cool, even when I'm juggling a lot of tasks. And its battery life is great: while it does not hit the 20 hours that claims Samsung, I am able to use it. I've never used an Intel ultraportable PC with this much battery stamina.

All of this makes the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 rather frustrating. It has a great, super portable form factor, long battery life, and built-in LTE, which should make it a great computer for road warriors. But then it's hampered by its processor platform and lack of RAM, which makes it hard to work efficiently. Those who only have a handful of tasks for their work may have an issue with the Book 2's performance, but anyone who thinks that it will have a lot of impact on the book.

Samsung may have come closer to making my dream computer, but the book does not have enough of the problem.

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