Samsung Galaxy Book 3 360 review

Not too long ago, it looked like Samsung was giving up on laptops. But these days, its Galaxy Book range is arguably stronger than ever. The 2023 lineup includes a total of four devices, with a brand-new Galaxy Book Ultra joining the refreshed Book 3 Pro, 3 Pro 360 and 3 360.

It’s the latter that’s our focus here. Despite being the most affordable of the quartet, the Book 3 360 has plenty of premium specs and a price tag to match.

But should it be your next convertible laptop? While there are a few key flaws, the answer could be yes for many people. Here’s our full review

Design and build

• Thin and light
• Premium build
• Good port selection

Portability is the name of the game for the Galaxy Book 3 360, and that’s reflected in its weight. At just 1.16kg, it’s the lightest of Samsung’s 2023 laptops, and one of the lightest convertibles you can buy. While the 13mm thickness isn’t quite class-leading, it remains a very thin and light device that you can take almost anywhere with you.

Crucially, build quality isn’t sacrificed to get there: it’s just as well-built as we’ve come to expect from Samsung laptops. The slick aluminium chassis is available with either a Graphite (dark grey) or Silver finish – the former that you see in photos looks great in person. However, it would’ve been nice to see more colourful options.

The 360° hinge feels tough enough to survive plenty of transformations, especially between laptop, tent and tablet modes. Each of the convertible modes work well, feeling sturdy and secure.

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That thin design doesn’t leave much room for internal cooling or battery capacity, but there are still plenty of ports. You get 2x USB-C (both Thunderbolt 4), USB-A, HDMI and 3.5mm audio jack – that’s more than many laptops in this category.

Intel’s Thunderbolt 4 technology is particularly significant, allowing you to connect anything from external monitors and docking stations to a power supply or external storage device. The 65W USB-C charger included in the box isn’t much bigger than a phone charger, and can easily be used to connect other devices.

Display and audio

• 13.3in Full HD (1920×1080) display
• Touch and S Pen (included) support
• Decent speakers

The display is one of the highlights of the Galaxy Book 3 360. It’s a 13.3in OLED touchscreen that delivers a great all-round viewing experience.

Colour accuracy is top-notch, too. According to our testing, you can expect full coverage of the sRGB and DCI-P3 colour gamut, plus nearly full AdobeRGB. It makes the device a solid choice for the likes of photo and video editing.

However, there are a couple of drawbacks to be aware of. The first is that it’s only a Full HD (1920×1080) resolution, with most laptops around this price offering something higher. You’ll also have to make do with the regular 60Hz refresh rate, rather than the 90- or even 120Hz models that are beginning to appear.

It’s also a highly reflective screen, so you may notice your own reflection unless you keep the brightness high. But it can go up to 500 nits, so this isn’t a major issue – even outdoors.

Being OLED, the panel also capable of both vibrant colours and deep blacks, making it really enjoyable to use. If you were in any doubt about its quality, there’s also Vesa True Black 500 certification and support for HDR10 video.

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The display supports touch input, but also Samsung’s S Pen stylus, which is included in the box. With the keyboard flipped out of the way in tablet mode, it’s a great option for digital drawing or taking notes. It’s very responsive, yet offers plenty of control over both precision and pressure sensitivity. However, it slides across the glossy display too much to give a true pen-on-paper feel.

Streaming a film or TV show looks great, but also sounds good thanks to the built-in speakers. They deliver crisp, detailed sound, including a useful hit of bass. You also get Dolby Atmos support, although only a small percentage of content supports it. But even without it, audio is impressive.

Specs and performance

• 13th-gen Intel P-series processors
• Decent performance, but not the best
• Plenty of internal storage

The Galaxy Book 3 360 is powered by Intel’s 13th-gen processors, the latest at the time of writing. Specifically, these are from the P-series, which are more capable than U-series but less powerful than H-series. They generally strike a good balance between performance and affordability, something which is reflected here.

On the model we tested, the Core i5-1340P combines with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. But there’s also a Core i7-1360P option, plus models with 1TB of SSD storage or just 8GB of RAM. The latter isn’t recommended, though, as you may run into problems while multitasking.

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In general, performance is slightly underwhelming compared to what the Core i5-1340P should be able to handle. But that’s not unusual for Samsung laptops, which tend to slightly reduce performance in order to maintain a slim chassis with minimal cooling.

The device does get a little warm on the underside at high loads, especially in the quieter modes, but never uncomfortably hot. You can tweak this in the Samsung Settings app, where it’s one of several different modes. A silent fanless mode, quiet one (which only triggers cooling in emergencies), balanced default mode called Optimised, and High Performance (for maximum performance but also lots of cooling) each have their benefits, with a shortcut key on the keyboard allowing you to quickly switch between them.

Software and battery life

• Runs Windows 11 Home
• Lots of extra Samsung software
• Impressive battery life

The Galaxy Book 3 360 runs Windows 11 Home out of the box. Microsoft’s operating system works well on convertible devices, making it the obvious choice here. But unlike some laptop makers, Samsung has added plenty of its own software too.

With the company’s own version of Settings, you have options for using a Galaxy Tab tablet as a second screen, quickly sync Galaxy accessories such as earbuds or seamlessly share content with a Galaxy phone. Samsung clearly wants to get you into its diverse ecosystem of products and services, which makes sense. But it can be very annoying if you don’t own any other Samsung devices.

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However, the most intrusive extra software is the Norton 360 antivirus app, which comes pre-installed with a 30-day free trial. It constantly bugs you to register, with a view of upgrading to the paid version. But with Microsoft Defender already in Windows 11, it’s not necessary for most people.

There are a few other pre-installed Samsung apps, but these are genuinely useful. Tools for simple video editing, Bixby voice commands and S-Pen compatible apps are worth trying and can be uninstalled if you don’t want them. Even if you can ignore most of it, there’s no denying that all this bloatware is annoying.

One potential concern when combining a powerful Intel processor and bright OLED display is battery life. The Book 3 360 only has a 61.1Wh battery, but Samsung has done an excellent job of keeping power consumption to a minimum.

Even after couple of three-hour sessions of processor-intensive work or intermittent usage throughout the day, there’s charge to spare. When you are running low, the small size of the charger and 65W power makes it relatively quick and easy to top up.

Price and availability

The Book 3 360 might be the most affordable device in the 2023 Galaxy Book range, but it’s by no means a budget laptop.

While the cheapest Core i5 model costs £1,099 in the UK, it’s not available in the US. There, you’ll have to step up to the Core i7 version reviewed, which costs $999.99/£1,399, and there’s the option to pay even more if you want 1TB of storage.

That pricing puts it up against the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy. Samsung’s own Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 is the most obvious alternative, but most models are significantly more expensive. But the likes of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and 12.9in iPad Pro (2022) are also worth considering.

The Galaxy Book 3 360 is undoubtedly a premium laptop, but it’s not great value for money.

Verdict

When looking at 2023 Galaxy Book lineup, it’s easy to disregard the Book 3 360, but it’s got a lot going for it.

Highlights include an excellent touchscreen display, solid battery life and a tough 360° hinge, all within an impressively thin and light chassis. A fairly generic design still looks the part, while the port selection is very good for such a portable device.

However, there are compromises in other areas. While performance is fine, it’s unsuited for demanding workloads. The resolution of the display could also be higher, and there’s plenty of bloatware over Windows 11 which can get annoying.

But if you’re looking for a versatile everyday device, none of these should be dealbreakers. The Book 3 360 is still one of the best convertible laptops you can buy.

Specs

• Display: 13.3in, 16:9 OLED, 2880×1800, 60Hz 
• Processor: Intel Core i5-1340P, Core i7-1360P
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe 
• Memory: 8/16GB LPDDR5
• Storage: 512GB/1TB SSD 
• Ports: 2x USB-C (both Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB-A 3.2, HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack 
• Camera: 1080p front-facing 
• Wireless: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
• Battery: 61.1Wh 
• Charging: 65W USB-C (included) 
• Operating system: Windows 11 Home 
• Colours: Basalt Grey
• Weight: 1.16kg
• Dimensions: 30.4 x 20.2 x 1.3cm

This article has been translated from an original posted on PC för Alla.