Benchmarked: Galaxy Book S is thinner, lighter, faster than MacBook Air

[itsMe]

That 8CX is nothing to brag about. It's downright embarrassing compared to Apple's Ax series. The A12X (from 2018) scores 1100/4600 and the A13 scores 1300/3400.

If this Galaxy Book S running Windows is halfway decent, then Apple should definitely be able to make the switch from Intel to their own ARM-based CPUs.

[Sanjiv Sathiah]

The 8cx is not some sort of world beater, nor is that something I am suggesting. However, it is more than adequate for its implementation in the Galaxy Book S making Windows on ARM something to get excited about in the context of the MacBook Air-class of ultrabooks for MacBook Air-like tasks.

[S.Yu]

The 8cx is not some sort of world beater, nor is that something I am suggesting. However, it is more than adequate for its implementation in the Galaxy Book S making Windows on ARM something to get excited about in the context of the MacBook Air-class of ultrabooks for MacBook Air-like tasks.

I would get somebody on the original Windows might want to try out this cut down Windows, but I don't get how it would make sense for a MacOS user.

[Pere]

#17 This is not a cut down OS, it runs the full Windows 10 Professional. And don't worry, it will make a lot of sense for MacOS users too, Apple is expected to release their first ARM laptops this year, using their own processors.

[S.Yu]

#17 This is not a cut down OS, it runs the full Windows 10 Professional. And don't worry, it will make a lot of sense for MacOS users too, Apple is expected to release their first ARM laptops this year, using their own processors.

I'm highly skeptical as to how MS got to port a "full Windows 10 Professional" to ARM at this stage, in fact they may not want to make it a complete Windows 10 Professional since there's room for tweaking the features on a platform that's not meant to cover the exact same range of usage scenarios as x86.

[Pike]

#17 This is not a cut down OS, it runs the full Windows 10 Professional. And don't worry, it will make a lot of sense for MacOS users too, Apple is expected to release their first ARM laptops this year, using their own processors.

This is incorrect.  The Samsung Galaxy Book S runs Windows 10 Home edition.  It's on Samsung's own Galaxy Book S website listed in the specs.  I can also verify that I updated my own Book S to the latest 1909 version update of Windows 10 Home.  It runs great!

In my experience, not everything will be compatible and run/install on this laptop.  I was not able to install Virtual Box to try and run some emulated OS installs.  The installer said it was incompatible.

I was able to install Chrome just like any other Windows PC.  I also installed Steam and Battle.NET just fine.  Since all these programs are emulated the games do not run very well.  Interestingly, Diablo 3 ran the best out of the few I tried.  Torchlight II crashed when I tried to change the display resolution to 1080p (its native res).  Titan Quest didn't run very well at all, probably due to being much more CPU intensive. I didn't try more resource intensive games, especially any FPS style, as I know it won't be an enjoyable experience.  I was limited to touchpad only during my initial testing over the weekend.

That said this is certainly not a MacBook Air killer.  It does have the best form factor I've seen of any Windows or Mac laptop out there, due to how incredibly thin and light it in.  I was surpised how much smaller this is compared to my Acer Chromebook 14 that I would compare to the MacBook Air I used for work a few years back.  Personally I'm a Windows guy, so I will never own a Macbook for personal use, but I know they have their place and are great for some users.

The screen is absolutely stunning on this.  I don't know if it's IPS or TN, but it has stunning color and doesn't seem to get bad at an angle either.  The speakers are incredible as well.  Best I've heard from a laptop, and I have no idea how they made them sound so great given the form factor.

I would give this notebook a 8.5/10 overall.  The only reason I can't go any higher is due to the non native application support and only supporting emulated 32-bit software.  That and the 23 hour battery claim for video playback is pure hyperbole.  At best I'm thinking 12-15 hours on a charge is more accurate.