I was a huge fan of last year’s Samsung Galaxy Book Pro. Going into the new year, last year’s model was still my top choice for an ultrabook with horsepower that can run both Windows and Linux natively and well. So when Samsung announced the 2022 Galaxy Book2 Pro they instantly had my attention and when preordering opened up in March I was hitting refresh to be one of the first to get one.
There were a few new features that had me hooked. First, the updated Intel processors – Alder Lake chips have been showing decent performance increases and there were times when I noticed the Galaxy Book Pro just wasn’t as snappy as my M1 MacBook Pro. Second, and this was a big one, the 15″ Book2 Pro was announced that it would have the new Intel Arc discrete GPU. Third, the Book2 Pro was supposed to have 5G built in and when you’re buying a laptop for mobile, not having to do a hotspot sounds great to me. They highlighted these features into their press release.
After my preorder, I originally received a delivery date for the first week of April. Then I received an update closer to that date for late April – early May timeframe. It’s a new product, supply and demand always happen. But then I received a notice my order shipped during the first week of April – far earlier than the revised estimate. Great!
2 business days later, I had my Book2 pro in hand. It looked exactly like the 2021 model – which is fantastic. Side by side you really can’t tell the difference between the two. The only cosmetic difference is a minor difference in the sticker on the laptop. And they’re both SO light. Both of these laptops combined weigh the same as my single M1 Macbook Pro!
Can you guess which one is the 2022 model from the picture below?
In my hand, I immediately noticed Samsung beefed up the bottom cover panel and it is noticeably sturdier. That’s a great improvement and if you’re wondering about buying a discounted 2021 model or the new 2022 model, this would be a big factor for me.
However, what arrived was not what was on the website when I ordered. I was led to believe that ordering the 15″ Book2 Pro with the Core i7 processor, I would be getting the model with the discrete Intel Arc GPU. The GPU is important to me. I’m already using an eGPU with the first Galaxy Book Pro because the Iris Xe graphics are … very weak. I also thought this model would come with 5G connectivity. I booked the laptop, started installing my core applications, and then I went about testing the system using 3DMark to see how much it had improved.
What I quickly discovered is the Galaxy Book2 Pro I received has Intel Iris Xe graphics and no 5G connectivity. I am going to return this Book2 Pro but only because I prefer to wait for the model that does have discrete GPU. The 5G connectivity was a nice to have, but the GPU is a critical item for me. I will be buying the Intel Arc GPU model as soon as it becomes available. Apparently the Arc GPU launch was only in *South Korea* – a key datapoint Samsung and Intel marketing conveniently left out of their launch materials.
Having already set up the laptop, I figured why not run some benchmarks.
The Book2 Pro is noticeably faster than the prior generation. Applications open up a little faster, editing an image is a little faster, and in the end it does feel like a true generation upgrade on processing. I attribute this entirely to the new Alder Lake CPUs and this is exciting in an of itself. The benchmarks bore out the same result.
Below are benchmark results for both the 15″ 2021 Galaxy Book and 2022 Galaxy Book2. I’ve benchmarked 3 configurations for 2 of the 15″ model laptops:
- 2021 Galaxy Book Pro, Core i7, embedded Intel Iris graphics, Samsung 980 Pro SSD 2TB
- 2021 Galaxy Book Pro, Core i7, NVIDIA RTX 3090 eGPU, Samsung 980 Pro SSD 2TB
- 2022 Galaxy Book2 Pro, Core i7, embedded Intel Iris graphics, Samsung default SSD 512TB
For the benchmarks, I ran 3DMark via Steam and ran the Time Spy and CPU Profile benchmarks. I then ran CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 on each system and recorded the results.
Now immediately you should point out the NVIDIA 3090 compare is unfair and you’re absolutely right. However, I was curious what it looks like as a comparison – never once thinking it was a fair fight. Similarly the default SSD Samsung ships in the Galaxy Books is atrocious performance-wise, and while it’s unfair to compare it to the Galaxy Book with a Samsung 980 Pro SSD, it’s interesting to see the results. Recommendation #1 if you buy a Galaxy Book of either model year, upgrade the SSD first.
| Benchmark | Measure | 2021 Book Pro + Iris Xe | 2021 Book Pro + RTX 3090 | 2022 Book2 Pro + Iris Xe | 2022 vs 2021 (Xe) |
| Time Spy Score | Overall | 1,671 | 11,193 | 1,868 | 12% |
| Graphics | 1,516 | 16,491 | 1,645 | 9% | |
| CPU | 3,986 | 3,969 | 8,161 | 105% | |
| CPU Profile | 1 thread | 726 | 698 | 679 | -6% |
| 4 threads | 1,818 | 2,033 | 2,652 | 46% | |
| Max threads | 2,553 | 2,468 | 5,102 | 100% | |
| CrystalDiskMark (MB/s) | SEQ1M Q8T1 (Read) | 2,208 | 3,364 | 3,204 | 45% |
| SEQ1M Q8T1 (Write) | 1,187 | 3,422 | 3,411 | 187% | |
| SEQ1M Q1T1 (Read) | 1,004 | 2,605 | 2,587 | 158% | |
| SEQ1M Q1T1 (Write) | 1,666 | 2,871 | 2,785 | 67% | |
| RND4K Q32T1 (Read) | 466 | 339 | 302 | -35% | |
| RND4K Q32T1 (Write) | 382 | 274 | 284 | -26% | |
| RND4K Q1T1 (Read) | 30 | 76 | 70 | 133% | |
| RND4K Q1T1 (Read) | 142 | 125 | 121 | -15% |
The results show a significant CPU performance gain with the new Alder Lake chipsets and a multithreaded workload. I noticed in my user experience the laptop was noticeably faster on certain compute intensive operations. However, the moment any GPU intensive work is required, the system struggles. There is a 9% improvement with the latest Iris Xe, but that’s definitely not enough to warrant an upgrade. The CPU is where you will see performance gains.
Users in South Korea have been able to purchase the Intel Arc model with the A350M GPU. They have also done some benchmarks. For example, this Galaxy Book2 user tested a Core i5 model with Intel Arc GPU and shows a Time Spy score of 3,512. That’s nearly 2x the score I was able to get on the Core i7 with Iris Xe graphics. And that is why I’ve returned my Book2 and will wait for the Intel Arc GPU models to come to the US.
So the best ultrabook in 2022 is (for now) currently the Galaxy Book2 Pro with an eGPU. And in the near future, we will be able to purchase the model with Intel Arc graphics. I do think that will hit the sweet spot for a compromise of ultra-portability while having a decent graphics performer.
