Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 14 laptop review - Near-silent companion powered by Snapdragon X Elite

Note: We have recently updated our rating system and the results of version 8 are not comparable with the results of version 7. More information is available here.

The exterior of the Galaxy Book4 Edge 14 closely resembles that of the Galaxy Book4 Pro 14, but with a subtly more silver/light blue tone (Sapphire Blue). Measuring just under 11 millimeters thick, this laptop is remarkably slim—thinner even than the MacBook Air 13. Its slightly reduced weight compared to the Pro 14 is attributed to the thinner chassis and a marginally smaller battery.

While the build quality is excellent, the screen lid flexes slightly, which can be particularly distracting during touch interactions. A key distinction in the design is Samsung's choice of UFS storage for the SSD, similar to the larger Galaxy Book4 Edge 16. This decision means the storage capacity is non-upgradable, presenting a significant drawback when compared to the Intel model, which offered two standard M.2-2280 slots for expansion.

The two USB-C ports do not support Thunderbolt; instead, they offer USB 4.0. The Snapdragon version also features a modern Wi-Fi 7 module. There are no differences in input devices or the display compared to the Galaxy Book4 Pro 14. For further information, please see our test report.

The Galaxy Book4 Edge 14 features three energy profiles: Quiet, Optimized, and High Performance. By default, we conducted our benchmarks and measurements in the preset Optimized mode. The High Performance mode delivers improved multi-core performance (+33% in Cinebench 2024 Multi), but it also results in noticeably louder fan noise. However, single-core and GPU performance do not see significant benefits from this higher setting.

The Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) features 12 cores, with a maximum clock speed of 3.4 GHz and a dual-core turbo of up to 4.0 GHz. Power consumption measurements indicate that the TDP configuration is similar to that of the Galaxy Book4 Pro 14 with its Intel processor, likely peaking around 50 watts for a few seconds before stabilizing at about 20 watts. In native benchmarks, the performance remains strong and fully adequate for everyday tasks. During single-core tests, the Snapdragon even outperforms its AMD and Intel competitors, although Apple's M3 SoC still holds a performance edge.

As expected, performance sees a slight decline in the emulated tests, causing the Edge 14 to rank at the bottom of our comparison table. However, performance remains consistent in battery mode. For more detailed CPU benchmarks, please refer to our technology section.

The subjective assessment of the performance is excellent, with ARM Windows running very smoothly. However, there can be compatibility issues with non-native applications. While x86 apps can be emulated with minimal performance loss, some apps may fail to launch, or accessories might not function due to missing drivers. It’s advisable to check in advance whether the desired apps are available as ARM versions. Qualcomm provides an informational website, and Microsoft has a blog post detailing the limitations of ARM systems.

We could not conduct the latency test on the Snapdragon notebook; however, there were no dropped frames during 4K YouTube video playback.

As mentioned earlier, Samsung has replaced the two M.2-2280 slots found in the Galaxy Book4 Pro 14 with its own soldered UFS memory, which cannot be upgraded. Of the 512 GB of storage, only 391 GB is available after the initial setup. The transfer rates are satisfactory and remain stable. Additional SSD benchmarks can be found here.