What you need to know
- Samsung has announced the new Snapdragon X-powered Galaxy Book4 Edge in 14 and 16-inch sizes.
- They are Copilot+ PCs with a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with a speed of 45 TOPS.
- The laptops feature 2.8K AMOLED touchscreens, quad-speaker audio with Dolby Atmos and the Galaxy AI suite of tools.
- The 14- and 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Edge are now available for pre-order through Samsung. Prices start at $1,350 and $1,450respectively, and Samsung throws in a 50-inch Crystal 4K TV for free.
The world of Windows PCs has had a busy day, with seemingly every major manufacturer taking action to show off new AI laptops powered by Qualcomm’s ARM-based Snapdragon X-series Systems-on-Chip (SoC).
Samsung joined the fray to unveil its own new Windows on ARM laptops. The Galaxy Book4 Edge is available in 14- and 16-inch sizes and is “designed for AI from the ground up,” according to the company.
The new Galaxy Book4 Edge is already here 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. When you pre-order via Samsung.com or the Samsung Shop App, you will 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
RAM: 16GB
SSD: 512GB, 1TB
Display: 14 inches, 2880 x 1800, 16:10, AMOLED, 120 Hz VRR, 120% DCI-P3, touch, 400 nits (500 nits HDR)
Webcam: 2MP (1080p)
Audio: Quad speakers (2x 4W woofer, 2x 2.7W tweeter), 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 (312.4 mm x 223.7 mm x 10.9 mm)
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)
GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
NPU: Qualcomm hexagon
RAM: 16GB
SSD: 512GB, 1TB
Display: 16 inches, 2880 x 1800, 16:10, AMOLED, 120 Hz VRR, 120% DCI-P3, touch, 400 nits (500 nits HDR)
Webcam: 2MP (1080p)
Audio: Quad speakers (2x 5W woofer, 2x 2W tweeter), 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 (355.3 mm x 250.4 mm x 12.19 mm)
Weight: 3.4 pounds (1.54 kg)
With the 14 and 16 inch sizes, Samsung wants to meet users who require mobility and users who cannot live without sufficient screen space for heavier multitasking. Both sizes are built to a high standard and feel premium, which isn’t unusual for Samsung laptops.
These new models contain recycled plastic, glass and aluminum and are available in a sapphire blue finish. The 14-inch model weighs 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg) and is 0.43 inches (10.9 mm) thin, while the 16-inch model can only reach 3.4 pounds (1.54 kg) while it is 0.48 inches (12.19 mm) thin.
They’re both very light and slim laptops, yet Samsung includes 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 adds USB-A and a microSD card reader.
The touch AMOLED screens offer the same specifications and features, albeit in different sizes. Both have a sharp 2880 x 1800 resolution, a variable 120Hz refresh rate, 120% DCI-P3 color reproduction and up to 500 nits brightness with HDR enabled. Otherwise they reached 400 nits. Samsung’s displays are always impressive, and these appear to be no different.
Delving into the performance hardware, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips take center stage. The Galaxy Book4 Edge 14 has the X1E-80-100 version with 12 Oryon CPU cores, 3.4GHz frequency and 4.0GHz dual-core boost, plus 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 frequency of 3.8 GHz, 4.2 GHz dual-core boost and GPU with 4.6 TFLOPs.
All SoCs have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with 45 TOPS of power for local AI acceleration, which will be used for the new Windows 11 Copilot+ features and Samsung’s own Galaxy AI (more on this below). All Galaxy Book4 Edge laptops are listed with 16GB of RAM and 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 reaches a maximum lifespan of 22 hours.
It’s worth pointing out that the 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Edge has a full number pad, which many users can’t live without. Rounding out the specs are a 1080p webcam above the screen and a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello.
The Samsung Galaxy AI difference
The new Galaxy Book4 Edge does a good job as a Copilot+ PC thanks to the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with 45 TOPS of power, but Samsung wasn’t content to stop there. The native Galaxy AI is also included as a set of tools that are best used between Galaxy devices. Although I recently switched from a Galaxy phone, this new cross-platform AI compatibility is making me reconsider my decision.
Samsung says you can now connect your Galaxy phone to a Book4 Edge with Link to Windows to get 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.
According to Samsung, 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. That makes this a great laptop for those invested 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 near future, and it’s worth explaining what these terms actually mean.
An AI PC has an NPU 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 another level. That’s where the term Copilot+ comes into play.
Microsoft has created a new umbrella term to identify certain next-generation AI features coming to Windows. Only PCs with an NPU capable of carrying at least 40 TOPS will be called Copilot+ PCs, and for now that only means laptops with the Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus.
Copilot+’s features make me quite excited about the future of Windows 11, something I can’t say is always the case. Most notable is a Recall feature that runs in the background, letting you search any app for anything you’ve seen or done on the PC. Microsoft says this data is stored locally without sending information to the cloud, which alleviates some privacy concerns.
Live Captions can translate more than 40 languages into English when watching or listening to pre-recorded and live video or audio, and Windows Studio Effects also gets a number of new lighting and styling features. Auto Super Resolution will be especially useful for gamers who want to scale up in real time. Not all features will be available immediately, but are expected this year.