CES 2025: Samsung unveils Galaxy Book5 and Book5 360 powered by latest Intel chips

The juggernaut that is CES has begun to roll through with new chips from Intel and a swathe of accompanying laptop announcements. The biggest we’ve seen so far is Samsung’s unveiling of the Galaxy Book5 Pro and the company’s low-cost 2-in-1 convertible Galaxy Book5 360.

Three models have been announced in total – the 14in and 16in Galaxy Book 5Pro and the 15in Book5 360 – and all come with the latest Intel Core Ultra 200 (Series 2) CPUs inside.

These are essentially faster versions of the Series 1 chips unveiled by Intel at IFA in Berlin last year, meaning faster performance cores, faster efficiency cores, a big leap forward for graphics performance and – of course – better AI performance courtesy of a boosted on-chip NPU (neural processing unit) with 47 TOPs of processing power.

Specifications, prices, release dates

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro

• 14in or 16in Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X (18-120Hz VRR, 500 nits, 120% DCI-P3 colours)
• 12-core (14-thread) Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) CPU
• 16GB RAM
• 512GB or 1TB SSD
• 63Wh (14in) or 76Wh (16in) battery, with up to 25 hours battery life
• Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7
• Dimensions: 312 x 224 x 11.8mm (14in); 355 x 250 x 12.5mm (16in)
• Weight: 1.23kg (14in); 1.56kg (16kg)
• Price: from £1,499 inc VAT
• Availability: Pre-order on 22 January, on general sale 7 February 2025

Samsung Galaxy Book5 360

• 15.6in AMOLED touchscreen (60Hz, 500 nits, 120% DCI-P3 colours)
• 12-core (14-thread) Intel Core Ultra 5/7 (Series 2) CPU
• 16GB RAM
• 2566GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD
• 68Wh battery
• Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7
• Dimensions: 355 x 228 x 13.7mm
• Weight: 1.46kg
• Price: from £1,249 inc VAT
• Availability: Pre-order on 22 January, on general sale 7 February 2025

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro laptops will come equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 7 chips with 12 cores and 14 threads (Samsung hasn’t specified whether this is the 265U or the 255U, although there isn’t that much between them). This is backed by 16GB of RAM and 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage.

Customers looking to purchase a Samsung Galaxy Book5 360 will get the choice of either a Core Ultra 5 or Core Ultra 7 Processor (again which specific model isn’t clear just yet), 16GB of RAM and either a 256GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD.

Despite the improved performance over the Series 1 chips, it appears that we’re going to retain the improved battery life we’ve so far seen from new Intel-based machines. Samsung is claiming a battery life of up to 25 hours of local video playback for its new laptops, although that’s from the largest of the laptops, the 16in Galaxy Book5 Pro, which comes with a whopping 76Wh battery.

We’d expect the 14in Galaxy Book5 Pro, which comes with a smaller 63Wh battery, and the 15in Book5 Pro 360, which has a 68Wh battery, not to last quite as long. However, given what we’ve seen from recent Intel machines, including the excellent Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406), we’d still expect battery life to be an improvement over what we’ve become accustomed to from older Windows laptops.

Neither of the new models looks particularly interesting from a design perspective. They appear to have the same dimensions as the Book4 Pro and Book4 Pro 360 from last year. That’s mildly disappointing. However, one thing we don’t mind at all seeing again is Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X OLED display panel technology. Both Book5 Pro models get 2,880 x 1,800, 500-nit panels with 120Hz VRR support and 120% DCI-P3 colour reproduction.

The 2-in-1 machine won’t be quite as easy on the eyes, with a lower resolution 1,920 x 1,080 resolution touchscreen and a refresh rate of only 60Hz, but it has the same peak brightness and colour reproduction specifications.

The new Samsung Galaxy Book5 laptops will be available for pre-order in the UK from 22 January 2025 before shipping to customers from 7 February. Look out for our full review at around that time.