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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- Lenovo’s Miix 630 Snapdragon 835-Based 2-in-1 Now Available
- 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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HStewart - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Yes and Microsoft did not even release a Surface Pro with this ARM processing - something is really fishy with that fact.Wilco1 - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Sounds fishy indeed. Perhaps Intel gave them an offer they couldn't refuse - standard Intel practice, like "contra revenue" when they were trying to enter the mobile phone market.HStewart - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
I referring to part that even though Microsoft created Windows for ARM (RT 2.0) that they don't even support it with there own products. Well AMD is worst, making deal with China with CPU and likely includes security leaks.10101010 - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
AMD the worst? Microsoft gave China a special government-access backdoor version of Windows decades ago and has continued to supply China with spyware operating systems. Intel has supplied China with backdoored chips for many years. AMD is only doing what has been already done many times already by companies far bigger than AMD. It's not good, but it doesn't make much of a difference at this point.Speedfriend - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Really? where is the proof to back up your conspiracy theory claims?abufrejoval - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Wrong question. Just ask yourself: If China wanted all of the above, who could afford to refuse them?Taking a stance can be expensive and once you have learned not to refuse the government of the country you live it, it becomes much easier to accept that governments may rule some parts of the business, except taxes.
faiakes - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
$1000 for a mobile phone SoC?!?I suppose some phones cost more than that now but why not use the 8th Gen Intel Core Y-Series processors, like Core i7-8500, i5-8200Y, m3-8100Y at 5W (10 less than the previous gen!).
Add another USB-C or two while you're at it (or a mini HDMI/Display Port) and have a genuine success in your hands...
Honestly, is it so difficult for someone at Samsung to think of these things?
sonny73n - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Most companies, Samsung included, don’t care about consumers’ wishes. They just design something and throw it out there. If they don’t succeed, they’ll just try something else. It’s a hit or miss thing. They just don’t have the abilities to learn. They don’t even bother to get on tech sites to read the comments about the reviews of their products.Between this $1000 thing and a Dell of similar price, I’d take the latter.
yeeeeman - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
This is Samsung trying out this market. I think the profits are much larger compared to an Intel platform since Intel usually asks hundreds of dollars for an i5/i7 CPU, whereas Qualcomm sells them for peanuts. I still hold my opinion that these kinds of tablets won't gain traction. The battery life argument is not really interesting. Tablets with Intel CPUs also have great battery life. The 4G modem is also not a big deal. Yeah, it is fast, but there are already tablets from Intel side with 4G modems and it could go as far as having the X20. The biggest issue here is compatbility. These tablets cannot run ANY x64 app. Get that in your mind. Also, 32bit apps run noticeably slower in emulation mode. Sure, Windows + office runs natively but Windows you take it for granted. Office apps are usually static. Google chrome will run on emulation. Photoshop will run on emulation. Not many games are even compatible in emulation mode. All the hacks, tools, stuff that you have on windows won't work, will be buggy or will work very slowly on this.Someone said here that this is made for day to day use. Mail, browsing, spreadsheets. Sure, but why not spend a few more bucks and get a device that is not limited to that? Also, have you seen how slow the snapdragon 835 runs in general? Do you believe that 30% more performance will make it snappy?
This is a nice idea, but the price is too much. This tablet should cost max 500-600$ to be interesting.
PeachNCream - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
"Sure, but why not spend a few more bucks and get a device that is not limited to that?"This thing costs $1K so someone could also spend many less bucks and get a device that has fewer limits.