Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra 16 with RTX 4070 in review: High graphics performance in a business-like notebook

The dark gray of the Galaxy Book Ultra looks sober and inconspicuous. The underside and the keyboard frame, both made out of plastic, are hardly indistinguishable from the metal display lid, at least visually. Everything appears to seamlessly fit together, and no gaps are to be found.

Torsional stiffness is high. Only a minimal bending of the very flat case can be elicited. The display, which can be easily opened with one hand thanks to its weight and up to 135°, also appears extremely solid. Only the hinges wobble a little too much.

What is really striking is the lack of larger ventilation slots. Air exchange is only possible through the baseplate and via the very subtle grilles on the sides.

The thickness of 16.8 mm (our measured value) is difficult to beat. This measurement is all the more remarkable in view of the strong hardware. On this note, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is also rather restrained in terms of weight.

The range and number of ports seem minimalistic, but they match the equally minimalistic case. At least the most important ones are on board. There is one HDMI port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports next to it, so all video outputs are right next to each other. There is also a card slot, one USB-A for a mouse or printer and an audio jack.

The range and number of ports seem minimalistic, but they match the equally minimalistic case. At least the most important ones are on board. There is one HDMI port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports next to it, so all video outputs are right next to each other. There is also a card slot, one USB-A for a mouse or printer and the audio jack.

Transfer speeds via our AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60 reference card are unsurprising. Most rivals also achieve around 80 MB/s. The Gigabyte AERO 16 and Dell's XPS 15 9530 show that it can be done much better here. This saves a few minutes when copying a filled card, but not more.

The lack of a LAN port won't necessarily be missed. At least in the vicinity of the router, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 transmits more than 1 Gbit/s without a cable. Our measured values fall within the average range for multimedia notebooks and for the Intel AX211 WLAN module used.

Only when transmitting on 6 GHz via Wi-Fi 6E does the module fall short of the expected rate despite repeated tests. However, this was not the case during receiving, so we can rule out a hardware error.

For such a compact laptop, the Full HD webcam delivers quite decent results. Images look high-quality in sufficient light. No color deviations or image noise were observed. Only in a weakly-lit room or in twilight does image noise emerge and the frame rate also seems to decrease.

The dual array microphone performs well enough when it comes to suitability for video telephony. It picks up the voice from different directions and at various distances without changes in volume. Although voices sound clean for the most part, they also sound a little distorted at times. However, this is only noticeable if you pay close attention to it.

As usual with OLED panels, we detected PWM-induced image flickering. The frequency of 240 Hz is in a range that may be noticeable for sensitive people. Camera sensors also have no problem exhibiting this effect.

However, the effect is much less pronounced than in a classic monitor with LED backlighting. On such a panel, larger areas are deactivated. On an OLED display, on the other hand, it is always only a very small area of pixels that turn black for a short time. This serves to increase the display's lifespan, among other things.

The powerful hardware allows you to work quickly, even with complex applications and intensive multitasking. The Intel Core Intel Core i9-13900H is rarely fully challenged in simple tasks, as is the RTX 4070. The graphics card in particular only reaches its limits in current gaming titles due to the very limited power consumption. Nevertheless, we observed almost consistently playable frame rates at the highest level of detail.

However, the system is predestined for image and video editing. 3D rendering poses no major problems either. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra can be run very quietly, but then loses some performance. The behavior in battery mode is also remarkable, as 3D performance remains high. Video editing on the go thus seems feasible.

The smaller configuration with the Intel Core i7-13700H and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 requires a few more compromises. A clear difference in speed is likely to be noticeable in particularly complex tasks. Should you indeed want to play a game now and then, the stronger variant would be naturally more advantageous. 

The Intel Core i9-13900H CPU belongs to the high-end segment and is outperformed by few mobile processors. With 14 cores, 20 threads, 24 MB L3 cache and a high peak clock, it is certainly capable of processing complex tasks. In the slim Galaxy Book, however, the CPU has to make do with a reduced power consumption of a maximum of 75 W. As a result, it lags far behind an Intel Core i9-12900H of the previous generation, for example, but is much more economical.

The Apple M2 Pro 10 Core shows that things can be done even more efficiently. It only needs 27 W for a marginally worse score in the Cinebench R15 endurance test. Nevertheless, the i9 in Samsung's Creator notebook is on a good level when you consider the limited space and cooling options.

The comparison with the Galaxy Book3 Ultra with the Intel Core i7-13700H shows that the CPU is more powerful under short-term load. The "smaller" notebook of the two performs significantly better in our CPU evaluation across various measurements. It seems that the i7 copes better with lower power consumption than the i9. The roughly identical CPUs mainly differ in the maximum achievable clock rate, which cannot be exploited during lower power consumption. For example, we measured a maximum clock rate of 3.7 GHz in Cinebench R23. Theoretically, up to 5.4 GHz is possible.

On the other hand, the faster i9 processor can once again assert itself in the Cinebench R15 endurance test when computing power is needed for a longer periods of time. The advantages of the stronger, but also louder cooling (compared to the i7 variant) then become apparent.

The use of Optimized mode can result in some unusual dynamics. For fractions of a second, 75 W is allowed, just like in Silent mode and even in battery operation. In contrast, the power consumption for longer periods is limited to 45 W. In Silent mode, this value drops to 30 W.

The performance modes are also available in battery operation. PL1, which sets the power consumption for up to 32 seconds, is then reduced by 10 W. In Silent mode, on the other hand, it remains at 30 W, which is actually sufficient, as will be shown below.

More benchmarks and comparison values can be found in our CPU benchmark list.

The limited power consumption is hardly noticeable during normal use. Compared to the more powerful models, program starts are slightly delayed. Compared to a fast business notebook, on the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra has an advantage. The many cores of the CPU and the support provided by the dedicated graphics chip can be fully exploited here. 

Fast working and multitasking do not cause the system any problems. In addition, the efficiency factor should not be overlooked. The very similarly equipped Gigabyte AERO 16 OLED has a lead of 40 to 50% in most benchmarks. However, it needs to consume twice as much power to stay ahead.

The laptop's CPU performance are echoed in the system performance: the smaller Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra also shows better rates here. However, the i7-13700H continues to demonstrate that it can handle the 75W limitation much better than the i9-13900H.