In 2022, Samsung introduced the wonderfully thin and lightweight Galaxy Book 2 Pro laptop, which in its 13-inch format weighed only 870 grams. Since then, I’ve been eagerly awaiting a follow-up, but none have quite reached that level of portability. The Snapdragon-based Galaxy Book 4 Edge is the best attempt so far. It weighs only 1.16 kg and has a maximum thickness of 1.1 cm, tapering elegantly towards the edges. And despite being a larger laptop, featuring a 14-inch screen, it’s still impressively light.
Despite its lightweight design, the laptop feels solid, thanks to the aluminum chassis, which provides stiffness with minimal flex in the screen lid. Samsung describes the color as “sapphire blue,” but it’s difficult to see anything blue about it. It looks more like typical aluminum gray, and even the keyboard buttons are in a light gray tone.
The keyboard is well-arranged and offers a mechanically satisfying click, though it’s somewhat flat with low travel. You also get a couple of dedicated shortcut keys on the keyboard: one for the Samsung Settings app and another for quickly switching between performance modes. These modes allow you to choose between higher performance with more fan cooling, several balanced intermediate modes, and a quieter option.
Plenty of ports
While it’s not entirely silent, the fans rarely spin up, and when they do, it’s not very loud. The quiet mode is also great for saving battery if you’re only browsing or sending emails.
On the sides, you’ll find two USB 4 ports, a headphone jack, and, impressively for such a thin laptop, an HDMI port. With USB 4, there’s always DisplayPort support through that connection as well. So with the power adapter also using USB-C, there’s a small chance you might run out of ports. A docking station with more ports might be a good idea.
Some models of the Galaxy Book 4 Edge come with a micro-SD card reader on the side, but the version I tested does not. It’s unclear why; it must cost Samsung more to have two different chassis than to just include a card reader in all models.
Beware of overheating
The processor is the Snapdragon X Elite, a slightly better variant with extra boost on one or two cores simultaneously. This provides a noticeable increase in single-core performance, and the benchmark results are very convincing—not quite at Apple M3 levels but closer than other Snapdragon laptops I’ve seen. However, multi-threading is more relevant for Windows, and here, Samsung’s laptop surprisingly falls behind. Other laptops with the Snapdragon X deliver better performance.
It seems to be related to overheating of the CPU during extended periods of load. The laptop can get uncomfortably warm on the underside, so I wouldn’t recommend using it on your lap when performing demanding tasks. It also tends to spin up the fans more frequently than other Snapdragon X laptops. That said, it’s still not a slow laptop, but like other Samsung laptops, it’s not at the top of its class if you’re looking for the best benchmark results.
Brilliant OLED screen
The screen is one of the highlights of the Galaxy Book 4 Edge. It features the same excellent, high-resolution AMOLED display as Samsung’s 14-inch laptops from earlier this year. With a dynamic 120 Hz refresh rate, vibrant colors covering up to 120% of the DCI-P3 spectrum, brightness up to 500 cd/m2, and VESA Display HDR 500 True Black certification, it offers an outstanding viewing experience.
With its excellent HDR performance, streaming movies on the screen is a delight, and the built-in speakers provide good detail with Dolby Atmos support. However, the bass lacks depth. You can’t expect too much from a small laptop, but a bit more bass would be appreciated. The maximum volume is also relatively low. The glossy screen surface still provides good glare protection. While there is touchscreen support, unfortunately, there’s no built-in support for Samsung’s S-pen stylus.
A 56 Wh battery (listed as 55.9 Wh) provides reliable runtime for typical office use. However, under full CPU load and with 120 Hz refresh rate at high screen brightness, it can quickly drain the battery. Lowering the brightness and moderating usage can extend battery life up to 20 hours, which is hard to complain about. Samsung’s mobile charger-like power adapter is also impressively compact and easy to carry around.
Not the AI I was hoping for
All the Microsoft Copilot Plus features are available and work as expected, except for Recall, which is not yet activated on any device. I had actually hoped for a bit more from Samsung. They are leaders in AI functionality on the mobile side, with their Galaxy AI features being among the best—from live translation to smart, context-based searches and image manipulation.
There was a real opportunity here to integrate these features into the Galaxy Book, perhaps taking a “Copilot Plus, but even more” approach. When Samsung itself markets the laptop with the tagline “Galaxy AI meets Copilot Plus,” I got my hopes up.
However, the only “Galaxy AI” feature here is that you can link your Galaxy smartphone (if you have one) and use Galaxy AI functions through it. Samsung Notes and Samsung Gallery are available as Windows applications, as is a full suite of Samsung apps that always come preinstalled on Galaxy Book laptops, but without the AI functionalities that make them exciting on mobile.
In summary, the Galaxy Book 4 Edge remains a fast, sleek, and delightfully lightweight laptop with a fantastic screen as its best feature. The battery life is good, though several competitors offer better performance. The question is whether it’s worth the price. Samsung is asking for nearly $2,180 for it, making it the most expensive laptop in its class so far. It feels like they need to improve the Galaxy AI integration first to justify the cost.
Specifications
Product name: Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge NP940XMA-KB1
Tested: September 2024
Manufacturer: Samsung
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100, 12 Oryon cores, 3.42 GHz, dual-core boost up to 4 GHz
Graphics: Adreno X1-85 1250 MHz
NPU: Hexagon, 45 TOPS
Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5X
Storage: 512 GB SSD
Display: 14-inch glossy AMOLED, 2880 x 1800 resolution, 120 Hz, multitouch
Webcam: 1080p
Connections: 2 USB-C 4, HDMI, headset jack
Wireless: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3
Operating System: Windows 11 Home
Other features: Backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader
Noise level: 0-36 dBa
Battery: 55.9 Wh, 1 hour 35 minutes (under high load, full brightness) to about 20 hours (low load, low brightness)
Dimensions: 31.23 x 22.38 x 1.09 cm
Weight: 1.16 kg
Price (tested model): $2,179.39
