Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review: a stonkingly brilliant powerhouse

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a masterful laptop – but then you’d expect it to be; it is a premium-priced machine. It sits above the already-powerful Book6 Pro and Galaxy Book6 as a top-end productivity and media powerhouse.

After several years without selling laptops in Europe, Samsung returned in 2020 and since then has been selling some pretty tasty models like the Galaxy Book Flex, Galaxy Book Ion, and Galaxy Book S. The Book6 is the latest to join the lineup and is clearly a key rival for Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup and laptops like Asus’ ProArt and Zenbook S.

While the Book6 Pro starts at a very palatable £1399 (14in), the Ultra has a starting price of £2999 for my 16in, 1TB model. It’s a high price, of that there is no doubt.

However, this laptop has a huge array of cutting-edge specs. As well as the latest Intel and Nvidia chips, you can specify 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of memory, while storage options range from 512GB to a huge 2TB PCIe SSD (as I mentioned, I have a 1TB model). The supported wireless standards are among the latest around, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

As with other Galaxy Books, this Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra offers a range of what Samsung calls Galaxy Connected Experiences. These are essentially features designed to work with other Samsung Galaxy devices. You can access your other devices messages and photos, for example while you can also continue things on your PC that you started on your phone. You can also easily drag and drop files between your PC other devices and even use a Galaxy Tab as a second screen.

As with setting up any new Windows 11 PC, the process of actually getting started is rather painful, with stacks of screens inserted by different departments at Microsoft – the company previously streamlined this, but it has now grown again. The user experience of this is so poor, and because Microsoft already has my payment information, I accepted a free trial of Microsoft 365 and it then automatically set up to bill me for a year’s subscription in a month’s time (I cancelled it obv).

Design & build: choosing not to stand out

The 15.4mm-thick design of the Ultra is strikingly similar to the less angular version of Apple’s MacBook Pro, but there are some welcome improvements. The touchpad is much larger and as such there’s a lot more palm space when typing. The keyboard is also impressive, though it looks tiny compared to the trackpad (the size is fine, however).

The display also doesn’t have the Mac’s webcam notch at the top of the screen, which is most welcome. And face sign-in thanks to Windows Hello works extremely well.

As mentioned, Ultra is available in just this 16in grey model – there is no 14in version as with the Pro and standard variants of the Book6. And all the models come in this rather standard-issue-type grey colour.

As you’d imagine, it’s not exactly light at 1.89kg (1.79kg if you don’t have an Nvidia GPU on board). This is a little heavier than the equivalent MacBook Pro, but the difference is very small.

It’s a shame there isn’t a USB-C port on the right-hand side of the device. Two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports on the left is OK, but it hardly shouts flexibility having to bend the USB-C power lead around to the left side – more options are needed here. There is a USB-A on the right, and Samsung has clearly reasoned it is better to provide legacy device support than add a USB-C. Additionally, there’s a line-in/out headphone jack plus an HDMI 2.1 port that can support 8K at up to 60fps.

Performance: blistering pace

Samsung has decided to side with Intel exclusively this time around, opting for the chip giant’s very latest chips built on its 18A process. In Intel’s usual head-spinning marketing jargon these are classified as Intel Core Ultra Series 3, which gives you up to 16 cores with up to 50 percent faster processor performance than previous Intel chips and a 50 TOPS integrated neural processor (NPU).

Our review model had the Intel Core Ultra 7, though it can be configured up to Core Ultra X9 if you so choose. Intel Arc graphics provide a high base expererience that’s a significant 70% improvement on the previous generation, but my £2999 review model boasted a Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 chip which provided stunning performance (RTX 5070 is also available) partly thanks to 8GB of GDDR7 memory.

Our chosen benchmarks – PC Mark 10, 3D Mark and Geekbench – were powered through in no time at all. The GPU benchmark in particular was breezy. The fan wasn’t too noticeable during this high-load time, but it was audible. The fan does spin up regularly. Again, it is fairly quiet but is still noticeable.

Samsung has worked hard on the cooling inside this laptop. The Ultra has a different fan and heatsink setup than the Galaxy Book6 Pro or standard Book6. A vapour chamber is used. For the Ultra, it has a larger surface area than even the one in the Pro, meaning that high loads can be sustained for longer and allowing air from the fan to transfer heat away more easily. Samsung claim around a 35 percent improvement in performance over the previous generation.

Galaxy Book6 Ultra also has a dual path outlet fan over and above its processor to prevent any overheating. There’s a larger inlet grille as well. The bottom line is that these laptops will perform longer and stay cooler than the previous models.

Screen & sound: super sharp, super loud

Like the Pro, the pin-sharp display used here is a stunning WQXGA+ (2880×1800 pixel) Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel that’s also a touchscreen. Windows 11 is better than ever with touch and so that’s always a welcome extra in my book.

The display has a dynamic refresh rate between 30Hz and 120Hz, while the display has an anti-reflective coating and it’s protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass outer. The coating reduces reflections significantly and this is very noticeable if you’re under strip lights or other harsh lighting. It would also be useful outside in bright sunlight though there was none present during our testing period unfortunately.

Peak brightness is up to 1000nits for SDR content and the display also has a very low true black rating and it is indeed excellent for watching dark scenes on video or for viewing darker images.

I was very impressed with the sound quality of the Book6 Ultra’s speakers – the Ultra has an upgraded sound system compared to its brothers. There are two up-firing tweeters plus four force-cancelling woofers, arranged to reduce distortion. As such I think it would be a great laptop for on-the-go media production and it’s naturally great for consumption through streaming services or otherwise. The webcam is a perfectly serviceable 2MP 1080p Full HD model.

Battery life: reaching for the stars

Battery life is cited up to 30 hours out of the box (a five-hour improvement on the Book5 lineup), though as with other manufacturers, Samsung makes more a thing of just saying ‘all-day’ battery life. In reality, you can get to the 20 hour mark if you eek it out for general use, though this would mean you had to be frugal. Video tests can get you up to 22 hours, but real-world use is definitely lower than this.

Fast charging the 80Wh battery at up to 140W will get you 63% of charge in 30 minutes, though as with many laptops these days, UK and Europe users won’t get a charger in the box. This is a trend I don’t like at all, because you basically have to buy a new charger separately unless you happen to have one that’s powerful enough – it’s not like a phone where you probably already have a charger that is good enough.

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra verdict

The Galaxy Book6 Ultra is one incredible laptop. The starting price is high, but whereas others might start lower, they quickly get expensive when you add the type of options that the Ultra includes. The Pro variant also starts at a far more palatable price and if you find the Ultra is reaching heights you can’t reach then that really is the Book6 for you. I guess weight is also a consideration if you are travelling a lot. And of course there is no 14in variant.

But if money is really no object and you don’t mind the weight of this 16 incher, then you won’t be disappointed in any way with what the Ultra can offer you. It’s one of the best do-anything laptops we’ve ever seen and it’ll set you in good stead for the future.

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra technical specifications