Michael Crider
We got a preview of Samsung’s new premium laptop designs at CES, when the company showed off the gorgeous Galaxy Chromebook. Today that design language extends to Samsung’s Windows laptops, with the Galaxy Book Flex, Galaxy Book Flex Alpha (Flex α), and Galaxy Book Ion all available to buy, showing off some cool blue colors and accents. They’s showing up in retailers like Best Buy now.
The Galaxy Book Flex is the highlight of the line, thanks to configurations with top-of-the-line specs and a gorgeous QLED display (the same tech seen in Samsung’s gaming monitors and TVs), though it’s only 1080p. It’s available in 13-inch and 15-inch varieties, with specs topping out at a Core i7 10th-gen processor, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. Both machines use a 70 watt-hour battery, which is impressive in laptops so thin and light (just 2.6 pounds for the 13-inch model).
They also include a fingerprint reader stylus, the be better to make use of that 360-degree hinge. and check out the aluminum body—the “Royal Blue” finish is an eye-catcher. The high-end 15-inch model is $1400—pretty fair for the specs—with the 13-inch mdel at 8GB/256GB is $50 less.
The 13-inch Galaxy Book Flex Alpha is a cheaper alternative, starting at $850 for a model with a Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. It still uses that QLED display. Its design isn’t quite so flashy (though that bright blue fingerprint reader looks neat), and it uses a smaller 54Wh battery with a sold-separately stylus. Upgraded storage and memory is available.
Rounding out the new Galaxy Book lineup is the Ion, a more conventional laptop that does away with the convertible form factor. Though it comes in a 13-inch version, the 15.6-inch has an extra user-accessible RAM and SSD bay available, making more powerful upgrades easy. The magnesium alloy body keeps the weight down—just 2.14 and 2.62 pounds, respectively. They still feature the QLED display and big 70 watt-hour batteries, with 8GB of memory and 512GB of storage on both models. The 13″ and 15″ models are $1200 and $1300, respectively.
Source: Samsung
