Samsung Unveils Galaxy Book2: 12-Inch, Snapdragon 850 with X20 LTE, 20 Hrs
by Anton Shilov on October 18, 2018 11:00 AM EST
Samsung today has introduced the Galaxy Book2, its newest attempt to create an always on, always connected convertible PC. For the new 2-in-1 notebook, Samsung opted to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 850 supercharged mobile SoC and rates the battery life of the device to 20 hours. Like the rest of the Windows-on-Snapdragon systems, the Galaxy Book2 runs Windows 10 S. Meanwhile, unlike the original model, the Galaxy Book2 will be offered in only one configuration (at least initially).
The Samsung Galaxy Book2 detachable notebook comes with a 12-inch sAMOLED display featuring a 2160×1440 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio. The device is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 SoC (four Kryo 385 cores at 2.96 GHz, four Kryo 385 cores at 1.7 GHz, Adreno 630 GPU) which is accompanied by 4 GB of DRAM, and 128 GB of NAND flash storage. The system’s wireless connectivity includes Snapdragon X20 LTE modem (Cat 18, 5CA, 4x4 MIMO, up to 1.2 Gbps DL, up to 150 Mbps UL and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
On the wired side of things, the Galaxy Book2 is outfitted with two USB Type-C connectors, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5-mm TRRS audio header. When it comes to imaging, the convertible PC uses an 8 MP rear camera, and a 5 MP front-facing sensor. As for audio, the system has a built-in microphone as well as Dolby Atmos-badged stereo speakers. Since the Galaxy Book2 is a convertible machine, it has the same set of sensors as tablets, including an accelerometer, a gyro, a light sensor, and a geomagnetic sensor. In addition, the system has a fingerprint reader for a biometric authentication.
The first-generation Galaxy Book used Intel’s dual-core 7th Gen Core m3 and Core i5 “Kaby Lake” processors along with a standalone LTE Cat 6 modem (up to 300 Mbps DL). The switch to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 850 boosts both LTE performance and battery life of the laptop. Furthermore, without disclosing capacity of the battery it uses, Samsung rates Galaxy Book2 for up to 20 hours of autonomous work, up from 10 hours in case of the previous-gen convertible. It should be noted that the 256 GB SKU from the previous gen has not carried over.
Moving on to portability of the Galaxy Book2. Samsung claims that the system is 7.62 mm thick (0.3 inch) and weighs 840 grams (1.85 lbs), but does not elaborate whether it mentions the tablet itself, or the tablet with the keyboard.
| Specifications of the Galaxy Book2 | ||
| Model 12-e011nr | ||
| Display | 12-inch, 2160×1440 216 PPI |
|
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 4 x Kryo 385 at 2.96 GHz 4 x Kryo 385 at 1.7 GHz |
|
| Graphics | Adreno 630 GB | |
| RAM | 4 GB | |
| Storage | 128 GB | |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac Wi-Fi | |
| Bluetooth | ? | |
| WWAN | Qualcomm X20 Gigabit LTE Cat 18, 5CA, 4x4 MIMO, up to 1.2 Gbps DL, up to 150 Mbps UL |
|
| USB | 3.0 | 2 × Type-C |
| Cameras | Front | 5 MP |
| Rear | 8 MP | |
| Other I/O | Microphone, stereo speakers, audio jack, trackpad, MicroSD card reader, etc. | |
| Battery | ? Wh | |
| Battery Life | 20 hours | |
| Dimensions | Width | 287.5 mm | 11.32" |
| Height | 200.4 mm | 7.89" | |
| Thickness | 7.62 mm | 0.3” (?) | |
| Weight | Tablet | 839 grams | 1.85 lbs (?) |
| Tablet+KB | 839 grams | 1.85 lbs (?) | |
| Price | $1000 with keyboard and stylus | |
Samsung’s Galaxy Book2 will be available online from Samsung, Microsoft, and AT&T, for $1000 starting November 2. Later in November the product will be available in retail from AT&T, Spring, and Verizon. While the price of the convertible laptop does not seem particularly cheap, it should be noted that the Galaxy Book2 bundles both the keyboard and stylus, rather than being sold separately (for up to $250 on competing products).
Related Reading
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- Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 850: A Second Generation For Windows
- HP’s Snapdragon 835-Based Envy X2 2-in-1 Available for Pre-Order, Starts at $999
- Lenovo Unveils Miix 630 2-in-1: Windows 10 S, Snapdragon 835, Gigabit LTE, 20 Hrs
- ASUS Announces the NovaGo (TP370): A Snapdragon 835 based Windows 10 PC
- Microsoft Launches Windows 10 On ARM: Always Connected PCs
- Microsoft and Qualcomm Collaborate to Bring Windows 10 & x86 Emulation to Snapdragon Processors
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WithoutWeakness - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
$1000? Who is buying these things? I'm sure it has a great screen and supports touch/pen input but I have a hard time figuring out who is paying $1000 for 4GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a hamstrung Windows 10 install that is locked down to Windows Store apps.SL4KR - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
$750 for just the tablet is a big ask.HStewart - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
I could see it worth it had a real x86 based process - but an emulated systems which Microsoft themselves does not trust enough to make a Microsoft Surface system with it. I have the original Samsung TabPro S with Intel Core M process which likely runs x86 programs faster than this thing. I yet to see Windows for Snapdragon device in real life.Wilco1 - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Windows runs natively, there is no emulation unless you download an x86 application. I can certainly see myself getting a device like this for email and browsing on the move - better than a plain tablet, and at 20 hours it's more efficient than a typical x86 laptop.HStewart - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
"Windows runs natively, there is no emulation unless you download an x86 application."Ok you can run as many as Windows 10 Apps natively you want. But here is keep thing why this is basically Windows RT 2.0, Microsoft does not even have a device on this stuff.
Wilco1 - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Well maybe they will - the current models are way too expensive (particularly the i7 ones at well over $2000 with keyboard) and too power hungry (~8 hours), so using a 7nm Cortex-A76 based CPU for these would be a much better choice.HStewart - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Microsoft is notorious for making their device well over price. Plus by the time 7nm models of ARM are available, Intel will have CPU's that would much better and longer battery life than the ARM cpu. Keep in mind when you mention $2000 Surface Pro A similar equip Surface Pro actually still has twice the memory and storage - and is less than $1000. With modern i5 CPU, it will like have more performance than ARM cpu - especially with native application. Keep in mind that Windows for ARM does not run 64 bit applications.It would extremely naïve to think that Intel is not researching and will not have something significantly better in 2019.
Wilco1 - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
7nm Arm chips are already on the market right now. The cheapest Surface Pro costs at least $1100 with keyboard (https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/microsof... ), and that's just an i5 with half the battery life of this, so not equal specs at all.It's extremely naïve to believe that Intel will have some magic chips in 2019 to save the day - man you will be so disappointed...
leo_sk - Monday, October 22, 2018 - link
Performance of i5 is much better than snapdragon. It is extremely naive to think that this tablet can do some magicSantoval - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
"It would extremely naïve to think that Intel is not researching and will not have something significantly better in 2019."The low power Ice Lake CPUs (made at 10nm+ and with expected quite better power efficiency than that sole Core-i3 Cannon Lake 15W CPU with disabled iGPU Intel released a while back) are expected to be released in late 2019, not earlier. "Late 2019" might then slip into "early 2020" if Intel faces new problems, which can certainly not be ruled out.
Intel at 10nm+ fixed the manufacturing issues and low yields they had with 10nm (with the help of ASML), while Ice Lake is their first new architecture since Skylake, so additional power efficiency and performance is expected from both fronts. The question is if they are going to honor their (latest) schedule this time or slip again. They say they are merely testing and validating the fixes, so if that's true and was not BS to keep their stock from falling further, we might indeed see Ice Lake CPUs, from bottom to top-mainstream (the HEDT ones will be released a bit later, while the server ones almost a year later) in Q4 2019.